How much $$ to give our kids for souvenirs...

[mrstxcop]

Hello all...

when dh and i went to disney on our honeymoon, almost 14yrs ago, we didn't really buy to many souvenirs...maybe a couple of t-shirts...

now we will be going for 7 days with our 2 girls, 13 & 7, and it will be their first trip...

i am wondering what is a good amount to give our daughters to use for souvenirs...i was thinking $100 each, but i have no idea...is this too much or about right given the prices in the gift shops...

also, do the shops in DTD have the same souvenir items as they have in the parks or is there different stuff in every shop???

thanks!!!

 

[pookybean]

i give them $10 per day, so that will be $80 for our trip next month. at first i doled it out per day using $10 disney dollars but keeping up with everyones change was a mess so last trip we used the gift cards and basicly said when its gone its gone.

i do have a couple of "rules" when in the park to stop the we want that NOW...if the ride dumps you in a gift shop (i know most of them do....) then you can not get anything. the only exception to that is star tours. most of the items can be found at dtd or even in the resort gift shops. and i try to save the shops in the park for the way out. both of those seem to really help them think about what they want rather than impulse buy. if there is something **I** want for them (ie: mickey ears or autograph books) i will buy it, but i try to leave it up to them.

 

[Alesia]

My DD8 saved her own money for souvenirs. She managed to save $150. she did manage to spend it all, but I'm sure she would have been just fine with less.

 

[dzneelvr]

Gift buying can be a real mess because there are SO many neat things in WDW! When our DD and DS were small, they earned money between trips and then they could spend what they had--we kept track on paper so they could figure out what to spend and prioritize. It always proved to be a good learning lesson.
Also, rule was that if you bought something you had to carry it. Not mom or dad, but you! Disney merchandise will be found in all the parks and DTD; logo'd items are unique whether in a park or resort. Believe me, you'll have as much trouble as your kids keeping a lid on spending I know I do.

 

[mrstxcop]

okay, thanks guys --- so $100 doesn't sound too unreasonable to me then, after what i've read...

i do like the idea of the gift cards and no buying anything in the ride dump gift shops...

also, regarding the "you buy, you carry" rule --- i like that idea as well, it completely makes sense...however i seem to remember from my first trip that we could have things sent to the room, if we bought anything...BUT i do not remember if there is a charge for this or not...can someone clarify that for me please???

thanks again...

 

[nopdwife]

mrstxcop..First let me start off by asking where you found your police wife signature pic at. My hubby works for the New Orleans Police Dept.
As for the amt. of money to give your kids..We took our 3 girls in 2007 and gave them each 100.00 for their own gifts. They were 13, 10 and 7 years at the time. We didn't buy them anything but a few gifts from the Disney Outlet in the Mall. We did put 50.00 on a gift card to start and it was easy to just keep the receipt wrapped around each card. We decided to use the remaining 50.00 in cash as we didn't want them to be stuck with a Disney gift card once we got home. The closest Disney store is 40 min. away and we don't drive that way often. This year we are looking into buying those prepaid Am. Express gift cards that can be used anywhere. I say we're looking into it because we don't know if they accept them at the parks. If it's possible then we are buying those so if there is any money left on it after our trip, they can use them anywhere back home!

 

[WantToGoNow]

I think $100 sounds quite reasonable. My kids (7 and 5) are saving every penny now for our trip in late November/early December. My ds has $50 saved now (and his birthday is in 3 weeks) and dd has about $25. I am also putting back $5 each week for each of them (that they don't know about) that I will give them. So they will each have around $150 - dd will have a little less but she is going to be getting a special "gift" while we are there - we miss her birthday by 3 days (check out on 12/6 and birthday is on 12/9) so I am going to buy her a special "fun card" and leave it for her the day we go to DTD.

 

[ancestry]

Ours our a bit younger - 6 year old twins. We are only giving them $25 for the entire trip. We are on the DxDP so they don't need it for snacks or anything only for souvenirs.

 

[housetomouse]

I provided the coins for penny pressing, but aside from that we gave them $20 each for the whole trip- feeling kind of cheap now lol!

 

[aprilmommy0205]

My children had their birthdays right before we left last year. Anyone who asked what they wanted/needed for their bday was told Disney Dollars or a Disney gift card. I kept their money separated in envelopes. Every time they asked for something, I said sure and whipped out their envelopes. It was amazing how little they actually wanted when they realized they were spending THEIR money and not mine!

ETA: Each had about $100, but spent no where near that.

 

[EthansMom]

Last trip, we let each of our kids spend $75. That was just for toys, tshirts and other souvies. We paid for food, snacks and candy.

 

[Goofy'slady]

We just took our girls 10.5 & 3.5 to cash in their coins they've been saving since Dec of '08 this past Friday and each one had about 24 dollars each; not to mention that our oldest has saved her recent Easter gifts of cash from her Oma & Opa (Dutch words for grandma and grandpa) so as of now she has 76 dollars. I'm not sure if grandma (my mother) will giver her money before our trip to spend or choose to give her some for her 5th grade graduation gift as this trip is our gift to her for graduation. My mom and aunt will probably give our 4yr old a few dollars to add to what she's already collected either way we think both of our girls are set.

We're on the DDP so there's no need for them to spend their money on snacks or anything else - they're really free to buy whatever they want. I'm thinking 76 dollars is plenty of money for a 10.5 yr old who is about as cheap as they come when it comes to spending her own money. And really, what would a 4yr old want for more than 24 dollars anyway, if there is something she really wants and is short of purchasing it herself by a few dollars we'll certainly step in and make up the difference so that she can have her very own souvenir like big sis. Like so many other trips past especially last year's Disney trip in May and Busch Gardens, VA trip in August our youngest usually forgot she had money of her own to spend and was made to spend it on the last day we were there and can ya guess what she picked? Hair scrunchies! Now if that doesn't scream Busch Gardens I don't know what else does.

T.

 

[W21981Brick]

My son(8) has been saving since Christmas for his souvenirs. I think he has $54 saved up for the trip. He can use that for all the little things he can't live w/o and I will get him a few tees. I know he wants a walking stick when we have gone on our hikes lately and I told him mabey he can buy one from Disney w/ his money!

 

[disneycrazy2004]

My kids save their own money over the year - birthdays, chores.....
Last year they both had $200.00/each and had no problem spending it. Once its gone, they can't ask for more. And they did really well manage their money.
This year so far, they have around $160.00 each for the trip, so we will see how it goes. I love the idea of them having their own money - that case we never argue on what they should spend it on.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Our boys save for the trip, and we match their savings when we get there. Any money that they do not spend, they get to keep (including our matching funds).

When we used to just give them the money, they put little thought into their purchases and spent everything in the first few days. Then we tried spreading it out - only giving them a certain amount every day - but they still spent the money on purchases that they later regretted. They now think through their purchases more carefully - and they come home with money left over.

Never miss an opportunity to teach life's lessons early...

 

[mrstxcop]

mrstxcop..First let me start off by asking where you found your police wife signature pic at. My hubby works for the New Orleans Police Dept.
As for the amt. of money to give your kids..We took our 3 girls in 2007 and gave them each 100.00 for their own gifts. They were 13, 10 and 7 years at the time. We didn't buy them anything but a few gifts from the Disney Outlet in the Mall. We did put 50.00 on a gift card to start and it was easy to just keep the receipt wrapped around each card. We decided to use the remaining 50.00 in cash as we didn't want them to be stuck with a Disney gift card once we got home. The closest Disney store is 40 min. away and we don't drive that way often. This year we are looking into buying those prepaid Am. Express gift cards that can be used anywhere. I say we're looking into it because we don't know if they accept them at the parks. If it's possible then we are buying those so if there is any money left on it after our trip, they can use them anywhere back home!

Hi nopdwife...honestly...i have no idea where the blinkie came from --- a lady from another board i belong to sent it to me a looonnggg time ago --- i do have it saved in my photobucket account and if you like, i can send you the image link ... i don't know if that will work to allow you to use it or not...i tried sending it to another officer's wife on this board and she was not able to link it...let me know!!!

i love the idea of the Am Ex cards...i would think we can do the same with prepaid Visa or Mastercards...i would think one of those 2 are accepted in the parks...

does anyone know if the kids buy souviners can they be sent back to our room for free or is there a charge for that service???

thanks!!!

 

[roscoepc1]

My girls have their own money...they saved their fall fair prize money from last fall.

They have about $100 each. I told them we would not tell them what they could or could not buy...but we would carry a notebook all week, and they would write down what they saw, where it was, and how much $$, and we would go back on Friday and buy their favourites....that way there's no regrets.

 

[pennymom]

Be careful with the Visa/MC gift cards, and keep a very good record of exactly how much is left on them. I've heard that if you need to call the company to check the balance, there's a $2 fee . And it can only be used as a credit card, not as debit. So if you try to buy something that's $10, but there's only $9.75 on the card, it won't go through, unless you can tell the cashier exactly how much to run it for and pay the difference in cash. I've read posts on other threads about how frustrating it was for adults, let alone kids.

 

[baz212]

In May 08 when DS was 4 almost 5 he had about $75 of his own to spend plus we bought him a couple of t-shirts, pins, the potato head box, and build your own lightsaber. He spent his money on a yeti toy set, a Power Ranger figure and Disney ravers and a few pins. We had brought along a good amount of traders from ebay, and one time we bought him a set of atraction vehicles so that he wouldn't spend his own money on something that we had already bought for hid bday and shipped home. This year he has about $100 cash saved and got $50 Disney Dollars for Easter.

We always cover all food etc. Last year and this year he was told we will buy a couple of shirts and pins and 1 or 2 larger souveniers the rest he will have to purchase w/ his money. Of course his Nana is coming this year, so I expect a lot more stuff to come home with us. Good thing we're driving

 

[momofrrr]

when our kids were younger and we had to manage their money for them I would use sandwhich bags with their names on them. I would just pull it out and hand it to them when they saw something that just had to have. They could easily see just how much, or how little, they had left. It worked very well for us. They would do extra chores thru the year to earn extra $ and would always save their birthday and christmas money for the trip. Grandma was always good for an extra $20 each as well. Have a great trip!