My New Least Favorite Thing At DLR

[ehrawn]

Shopping for souvenirs... argh! I'm at DLP so this will be brief, but Gramma gave the DD5 and DS3 money to buy things at Disneyland and it has done nothing but kill the magic. Take a picture with Mickey? "No, I want to look in this shop." Ride the Jungle Cruise. "No, I want this stuff animal, or this lolly pop, or this pen, or this or this or this." "When were done with Splash I want to go to Build a Bear." Argh!

That is all. Carry on.

 

[Aladora]

Shopping for souvenirs... argh! I'm at DLP so this will be brief, but Gramma gave the DD5 and DS3 money to buy things at Disneyland and it has done nothing but kill the magic. Take a picture with Mickey? "No, I want to look in this shop." Ride the Jungle Cruise. "No, I want this stuff animal, or this lolly pop, or this pen, or this or this or this." "When were done with Splash I want to go to Build a Bear." Argh!

That is all. Carry on.

My solution to this is simple.

DS is allowed to take pictures of any and all items he wants to buy. On our last day at DL, we go through the pictures together and he can pick which ones he REALLY wants, up to the amount of $ he has.

Works like a dream!

 

[jina]

My solution to this is simple.

DS is allowed to take pictures of any and all items he wants to buy. On our last day at DL, we go through the pictures together and he can pick which ones he REALLY wants, up to the amount of $ he has.

Works like a dream!

Great ideal! Gotta add that to our routine: each trip DD4 can pick out 1 souvenir (up to a certain $ amount - usually $20). and we buy what she wanted the most on the last day on our way out of the parks. We only go into shops if it's at the exit of a ride, or on our way out of the parks.

 

[Dot2Vegas]

Shopping for souvenirs... argh! I'm at DLP so this will be brief, but Gramma gave the DD5 and DS3 money to buy things at Disneyland and it has done nothing but kill the magic. Take a picture with Mickey? "No, I want to look in this shop." Ride the Jungle Cruise. "No, I want this stuff animal, or this lolly pop, or this pen, or this or this or this." "When were done with Splash I want to go to Build a Bear." Argh!

That is all. Carry on.

Sorry!! We've been there with the kids and it totally ruins the magic.
We have a rule now that we shop for souvenirs on departure day and not during park time. They can browse through the shops for fun on the way out of the ride but we dont purchase anything.

 

[2tinkerbell]

I allow x amount of time everyday for DD to look in the shops. She can either take a picture or write down the possibilities. The last day, she gets to purchase what she wants.

We had not been to Disney for a number of years and the biggest thing was for her to spend 2 hours in the World of Disney store. I sat outside and she went through and looked at things. When the time was almost up, she came and got me and took me through to see all the things that she wanted me to see. My friends, who were with me, gave up because we were there so long. My DD was in heaven.

Our last day is a time to have breakfast at GK and then shop. Fun way to end a vacation.

Limit the time spent looking, decide on a way to keep track of what they want (pictures are great) and decide on a time to make the purchases.

 

[crystal1313]

We had to make the above rules too. They can look, but only buy the last day. This last trip DS6 was obsessing over what he wanted. He could not make up his mind. I had to help him determine what he would like best. LOL. After implementing the rules though, both boys are much less whiny and are ok when we tell them we are only looking right now (where before they would get upset) We usually limit their purchase to one for $20 or less.

 

[wenrob]

Giving my kids a set time for when we will shop solves this issue for me. I also give them a short list of what they can get, that way we're not searching every shop we see. "We're going to do this, this and this and then after this you may look for A,B or C for X amount of time." As long as I stick to what I said, they pretty much don't hassle me.

 

[pixiewings71]

We had the same rule, we would look around but no buying until the last day of the trip. We usually take "cuts" through shops so we look as we walk through, that way the kids can see things they might want but they know we aren't stopping to shop until the last day of the trip. Works great for us.

 

[nikkislaght]

I do it the other way round.... I let him buy what ever his money will let him buy on the first and second day... that way we can get it over and done with.. he knows once his money runs out.. its food and drinks from me and thats it..!!!
By allowing him to get what he wants that first day.. the problem of not wanting to go on a ride because I have money in my pocket is no longer an issue..

My son has SPD and will obssess over something too, so to allow him to get it and get on with his trip is the way we go...

 

[kkmcan]

Only downside is if you see something you really want you better buy it because you could come back and find it is gone and sold out. I can't tell you how many times I've told my kids to wait til the end of the trip or find a better deal or really think about their purchase etc and we came back later or the next day and it was gone. Then I end up with sad kids and me rushing all over the park to try and find it. Happened so many times now that I just tell me kids if that's what they want they have to carry it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I guess it's in the eye of the beholder -

When we visited DL for the first time as kids, we (3 of us) each had $1.00 to spend (yes it was a looooog time ago).

As in OPs case, we "spent" that dollar all day "I'm going to get this" "I'll get that and we'll share". Or "lets all get the same thing, so we'll match". In the end all 3 of us bought Mickey ears. And still have them some 40 years later.

I'm in the camp of let them spend it when they want, it'll either be early in the day or toward the end of the trip. But, either way, it's their adventure.

 

[bumbershoot]

Shopping for souvenirs... argh! I'm at DLP so this will be brief, but Gramma gave the DD5 and DS3 money to buy things at Disneyland and it has done nothing but kill the magic. Take a picture with Mickey? "No, I want to look in this shop." Ride the Jungle Cruise. "No, I want this stuff animal, or this lolly pop, or this pen, or this or this or this." "When were done with Splash I want to go to Build a Bear." Argh! That is all. Carry on.

While I understand, and I am tormented by a his and and son who adore shopping....I just want to mention that the kids probably still feel the magic. I remember finding the perfect stuffed Mickey or whatever, and how it made me feel. Perfection.

 

[bayoulife4me]

We haven't bought a souvinir for our daughter in a while due to tight budget. So, we begun an allowance for her. We're explaining that by saving up moneys, she can get some Disneyland item but not everytime or not too expensive. Also, her allowance is for other things like Chuck E. Cheese visits, arcade games, or candy. Tough lessons for her in the future but she will get into the budget scheme of things.

 

[JennyN]

We have a slight variation on the problem. It's me they can't get out of the shops, everyday I buy things and it has been known to happen that when we get home we find that I have bought 2 of something because I have forgotten that I have already bought it.

 

[djmeredith]

I was in the same boat OP! My 4 nephews each had a certain amount to spend, and I made the mistake of not setting any rules until we were at Downtown Disney on arrival day. They wanted everything they saw, including wanting to spend their money on expensive "junk" items that I knew they would regret. I quickly said no one could spend any money on our first day, but that there would be no restrictions after that. That turned out to be a mistake too though because then I ran into OPs problem of them wanting to shop rather than enjoy park time. It was my mistake for not laying any ground rules, but they didn't have this problem at all at WDW last year so I thought we would be good. Oh well, live and learn!

 

[Chrisfilm]

I hear you. That was the hardest part of the trip. My 3 yr old is usually so modest about buying things in the real world. I was ready to spoil him rotten. But his "need" for everything jumped at is unexpectedly and caused a lot of whininess we aren't used to!