Money for souvenirs

[katiepen]

This will be our first trip to Disney March 19 thru March 25, 2010 and we were wondering on what amount of money to give our children for souvenirs? DS is 18 and DD is 8. And should we put it on a Disney card, cash or ???? I was thinking the card with a set amount, let us visit all the parks see whats there and then decide on most desired and get them the last day or two of our trip. Suggestions appreciated.

 

[dpknoll]

My DD8 saves up coins all year for her Disney spending money. She usually winds up with around $200 in change. We always buy her a Disney gift card so that we aren't carrying around a lot of cash. It is easy to use and after every transaction her balance is printed on the receipt. Having her spend her money really makes her think twice about what she really wants to get. The gift cards are taken just about everywhere - she has never had a problem using it (even in the countries at Epcot). Have a great trip =)

 

[kellyg403]

In the past we have given the kids the 50.00 visa gift cards and sometimes they will have a little cash from birthdays and such. I would suggest that you buy some tshirts or something before you leave, the Disney store usually has good sales on them. The ones in the parks are quadruple the money. This will help make their money go farther.

My ds's usually end up spending all their money in Germany buying the 'good' candy. Normally all of them end up spending their money in Epcot so we shoot for that being a last park of the trip!

Kelly

 

[Cinderella3]

My son is 12, we usually have him safe his birthday money and change usually ends up with any where from $200-300. He uses that for anything extra he wants, shirts, games etc. Using his own money makes him choose wisely on what to buy hope this helps

 

[tr-ray]

I love the prepaid Visa cards (or Disney cards). DH and I usually use those for all of our expenses, instead of travellers checks or bringing our own Debit cards.

Most places you can get them for a few $$.

The only drawback is making sure you keep track of how much you've spent. We would keep our reciepts, and and at the end of the day kind of write them down & do some math so we knew what we had left to spend.

 

[Cinderella3]

My husband and I use our room key, which is attached to our debit card for our expenses at WDW. works great and dont have to worry about losing debit or other cards

 

[joandegennaro]

Since you are leaving soon having your kids save for the trip is out of the question. We plan well in advance of our trips so our girls know that they will only have what they save. This is however going to be our 4th trip in 5 years so I will give you the advice from our first trip. We gave each child $200 to spend as they saw fit. Each night I would write down what they had spent in a note book and what they had to spend for the rest of the vacation. I found that planning to save the purchase until the end of the trip may result in the item not being available (ie the right size ect.)

On the second trip they knew 9 months out and saved their own money. We bought and paid for 1 sweat-shirt for each as well as 2 pieces of jewlery.

3rd trip- again they knew well in advance and each girl had saved $300 Canadian. We gave them American at par to their Canadian. Because we got 2 Disney Gift cards of $200 for each week of our 2 week stay we decided to give them that also as a special treat.

This trip DD 16 almost 17 hasn't really saved any money but has spent it on cloths and concert tickets. She will only get the $100 we decided to give each girls for their B-days that fall around the trip. DD11 almost 12 has saved over $150 of her own money so she will have much more to spend.

 

[design_mom]

Wow! Some people give their kids (or their kids save) a lot of money for souvenirs. We give our kids about $25 each to purchase the souvenirs of their choice. That's enough to get a decent-size plush, or a couple of pins, or whatever trinkets they wish for. We place no real restrictions on what they choose to purchase with that (even if we think it's junk) -- but we do urge them to look around before making their final decisions (usually buy in the second half of the trip).

DH and I also usually buy a few other things, but they're things we choose to buy (usually shirts, etc). As in, "Would you like this? I'll buy it if you want it." not "What would you like to have?"

 

[mjkacmom]

Wow! Some people give their kids (or their kids save) a lot of money for souvenirs. We give our kids about $25 each to purchase the souvenirs of their choice. That's enough to get a decent-size plush, or a couple of pins, or whatever trinkets they wish for. We place no real restrictions on what they choose to purchase with that (even if we think it's junk) -- but we do urge them to look around before making their final decisions (usually buy in the second half of the trip).

DH and I also usually buy a few other things, but they're things we choose to buy (usually shirts, etc). As in, "Would you like this? I'll buy it if you want it." not "What would you like to have?"

Same here! I can't imagine wasting hundreds of dollars on souvenirs!

 

[littlbugmom]

My kids are 9 and 5. We gave them each $15 in Disney dollars to use at a gift shop. While on any vacation, they know we will visit a gift shop towards the end of our trip. They don't pay much attention to the gift shops at the parks because it's not part of the day, kwim? Our "gift shop day" is whatever day we go to DTD. In fact, my kids almost never ask for stuff so I sometimes stop at an outside merchandise stand and tell them to pick something out. I love doing that cuz who doesn't like getting something unexpected.


That said, I do buy my kids gifts throughout the year and bring them with us to WDW. They know they will get a small gift every afternoon when we return to the resort for downtime. It's usually stuff like pool toys, Disney tub toys, Hannah Montana perfume for my dd, disney matchbox cars for my ds, a new webkinz wearing a disney shirt, etc.... As they get older, small gifts in the afternoon will probably be harder to do....for now, it's great.

 

[pixarmom]

We give our kids (pre-school to pre-teens) Disney Gift Cards for Christmas before their trip - usually $25 or $30, and they can choose what they want to buy. We usually limit the amount to no more than $30, because otherwise they tend to focus on the shopping (instead of just having fun!) and they have a hard time making decisions about what to buy.

Then, like designmom, we usually buy t-shirts or other useful items for them while we're there. I agree with littlbugmom that the extra unexpected surprises are fun (and usually appreciated!)

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We usually plan well in advance, so the kids know to save their birthday money (etc.) for our trips. This time, however, it is a surprise trip, so I'm not really sure how to handle it. I think we are going to give each child a $50 Disney card as part of their surprise, to use as they see fit. We usually don't pay for their spending since they have their own, but feel it isn't fair to do that, since they won't have a chance to save this time.

 

[WickedNicole]

I love the idea of a prepaid Disney card. I think that's what DS will be getting for his bday present before we go Now, how much money does a 5 year old need? $100 should be plenty, right? We don't do shirts, and would buy all snacks & candy.

 

[balletmom97]

I love the idea of a prepaid Disney card. I think that's what DS will be getting for his bday present before we go Now, how much money does a 5 year old need? $100 should be plenty, right? We don't do shirts, and would buy all snacks & candy.

How long will you be at Disney? I'm thinking that $10-ish per day sounds about right. Little kids don't need to spend a lot of money to have fun, but should have enough to get a little something special to them.

When my kids were younger, we would tell them they had $X per day and that they could use it day by day, or all at once. That money was for snacks, souvenirs, video games, or whatever...we only paid for admissions and meals.

IMHO, it made it easier for them to grasp the amount of $ available. If you tell a 5 year old they have $100 to spend, they will likely feel like they are *rich*. If they know that they have $10 per day, then it is easy to see that by buying a $20 toy they are using 2 days of money. KWIM?

Now, at 13 and 16, their spending money is whatever they save. We may supplement as a surprise, but it is not something they expect.

 

[MyVirtueAidan]

Luckily my kids don't ask for much but I budget them about $15-$20 a day... They have saved a lot with chores, birthday money, and holiday money... Anyone who ever asks what to get my kids I tell them a Disney GC... Too bad they don't have Disney Dollars anymore!

 

[scrapbookmommy]

My children will be 6 and 14 when we go to Disney in May. I plan to give them $50 each. DD will have bday money since her bday is just a few days before we leave. She plans to take that to Disney. DS just had his birthday so it will be harder for him to keep his money until then but we will see. I plan to give them $5 a day for whatever snack they want since we are not doing the dining plan. I will also buy them the refillable souvenier mug and maybe a shirt. The rest will be up to them to buy if they want something. I like the idea of using the prepaid Visa cards so I think that is what I will do with their money. That way I'm not stuck trying to keep straight who's money is who's.

 

[flipflopmom]

We gave the girls $25 in disney dollars each. They saved/earned money, grandparents gave oldest DD money for Disney for receiving Principal's Scholar and Presidental Fitness Awards for the Year. Youngest (age 2) didn't have quite the same opportunities to earn money, so we spent a little more on her. I bought stuff at the Disney store on sale and gave them for Easter. DH and I decided that we would buy their ears, lanyards, autograph books, pay for trip to Harmony Barber Shop, and a t-shirt. We also got some cheap pins online to trade. Their money was spent on charm bracelets, and Ariel doll for little one, and a gymnast Mickey necklace and fake hair for oldest.

 

[scrapbookmommy]

It's usually stuff like pool toys, Disney tub toys, Hannah Montana perfume for my dd, disney matchbox cars for my ds, a new webkinz wearing a disney shirt, etc.... As they get older, small gifts in the afternoon will probably be harder to do....for now, it's great.

Where can I find Disney matchbox cars? DS would love those.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We make our kids save their allowance. That's it. If they don't do so, then they are out of luck.

 

[DonnaBelle2005]

This year they will get a Disney GC (I am really missing the Disney Dollars!).

They use allowance $ and any other money that they have saved (from good grades, money from family, etc.). Last Aug my DS 9 had about $65 and my DD 7 had about $75.

We do NOT buI y them souveniers. We tell them that us paying for the trip (Disney hotel, tickets, food) is their gift. We do buy a couple of family pictures and DH/me get ourselves something small.

We buy Disney stuff on clearance at the Disney stores - we are lucky that we live 20 minutes from two stores. We buy them t-shirts and small trinkets before going on the trip so that they know NOT to ask us for gift $.

I would tell your kids to start saving for the trip.....or if you are giving them monehy - don't give them "as much" as you might normally give them. Depending if your DS is going off a little on his own - he'll need a little extra $ than the DD would need.

Good Luck!