Souvenir budget for 6 yo DD?

[FourLeafClover]

Leaving in less than 2 weeks for a short, first-trip to MK. Would love to get DD a Disney gift card for souvenirs and set a limit on spending. But I have no idea what is a good amount? She tends to like smaller things, but may want everything with Cinderella on it! Is $40 or $50 good? Less? More?

I did alread get her a suprise costume dress to wear for our Cinderella dinner, as well as a princess autograph book.

Thanks!

 

[mom2travel]

I think the amount depends upon what you are comfortable with and the length of your trip. I would guess $50 is plenty for what you're calling a short trip. We have stayed away from gift cards because it is easier for kids to see how much money they have left if you use cash. Each of our kids gets their designated amount of money in a ziplock baggie with their name on it - when it is gone, they are done!
The hard part for me is keeping myself from buying them extras because I like something!

 

[mnmhouston]

As my 6 yo doesn't yet know the value of money and I don't want her bugging me in the parks all week ("can I afford this, can I afford that?"). I buy cheap things, a different character item for each day, and ship them to the hotel. Once we are there, Mickey, leaves a gift for her in the room while we are gone for the day. She doesn't ask for much in the shops because she knows she will have a gift in the room. Mickey also leaves the items in different places each day, so there is also a hunt involved. She really gets into it.

This trip she is getting a lanyard with trading pins (ebay purchase), princess water guns for the pool, a minny t-shirt, disney pals crossword puzzle and princess pen, a magic tinkerbell washcloth (the one that appears in water), and a disney travel cup with built in straw. That's all I have so far, still collecting.

 

[woodkins]

When my dd was 6 she was in 1st grade and had learned about money etc, so we gave her $50 in Disney Dollars so that she could visually count out the money that she had. She managed it well and carefully chose what to spend it on. It was a great amount for our 6 day trip. We did tell her that we would buy her any snacks and one shirt as a souvenier, anything else was from her $50. It was a great learning tool and we have done it on every trip since then.

 

[Taja]

Oooooh! A princess and patience trip! *LOL*

I like the idea of actual cash or Disney Dollars for you DD, in what ever amount you prefer.

And I like woodkins' idea of letting her know that you would purchase her one t-shirt (or other item of your choice), as well as approved snacks--with an occasional treat! The rest comes from "her" money!

 

[FourLeafClover]

Thanks guys! It sounds like $50 would do it. She can always use any leftover at the store.

 

[jsphotography]

I got this idea from someone else on here and it worked GREAT! She was 5 when we went last year for the first trip, and I saved a TON of money going this route...

before the trip I went to target and the disney store and found little things on clearance... the same sort of things we would find in the parks like princess dresses, mickey/minnie dolls, little princess figures, new puzzles... and I brought little notes from the princesses and minnie/mickey, so every night when we got back to the hotel there was a fun new toy/dress and a note from her favorite characters inviting her to whatever we were doing the next day (cinderella invited her to CRT, Mickey invited her to Chef Mickeys.. and so on) It meant so much more to her because Cinderella gave her the puzzle or Mickey picked out the mickey&minnie dolls.. she loved it!! I think the most expensive thing I brought her was a princess dress from target she could wear to 1900 Park Fare, but most of the time it was just little things under $5.

everytime we walked through the parks and she would see something, literally all I had to say was "wow look at that! but lets see if Cinderella or Mickey leaves you anything special again tonight!" and thats all it took, she was so excited she'd just keep right on going to the next ride/show. To be honest I don't think we bought any new toys or anything in the parks, and yet she still came home with a whole bunch of new toys and dress up clothes! The other great benefit was that everything already fit in my suitcase going home, instead of having to try and pack a bunch of new toys!

worked great for us! :0)

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I was going to say $50 just by reading your title line of the post. That is enough to get a plush or two and maybe some candy or trinkets with possibly some left over.

 

[Mommy2JulietJocelyn]

each of my girls had $50 for our trip of 7 days. if they wanted something I would tell them whether they had enough money and how much was left over. They are also pretty good about not buying things the first day or 2 we are there because they know most of the things can be found at DTD. We always go there near the end of the trip. They will look around and want t o get a lot but I remind them of what they have seen and asked for to help them decide what they want to buy. Even my 4 y.o. is pretty good about it this way. It all depends on your child and what works best. Mine do use gift cards not paper money.

 

[punch423]

I got this idea from someone else on here and it worked GREAT! She was 5 when we went last year for the first trip, and I saved a TON of money going this route...

before the trip I went to target and the disney store and found little things on clearance... the same sort of things we would find in the parks like princess dresses, mickey/minnie dolls, little princess figures, new puzzles... and I brought little notes from the princesses and minnie/mickey, so every night when we got back to the hotel there was a fun new toy/dress and a note from her favorite characters inviting her to whatever we were doing the next day (cinderella invited her to CRT, Mickey invited her to Chef Mickeys.. and so on) It meant so much more to her because Cinderella gave her the puzzle or Mickey picked out the mickey&minnie dolls.. she loved it!! I think the most expensive thing I brought her was a princess dress from target she could wear to 1900 Park Fare, but most of the time it was just little things under $5.

everytime we walked through the parks and she would see something, literally all I had to say was "wow look at that! but lets see if Cinderella or Mickey leaves you anything special again tonight!" and thats all it took, she was so excited she'd just keep right on going to the next ride/show. To be honest I don't think we bought any new toys or anything in the parks, and yet she still came home with a whole bunch of new toys and dress up clothes! The other great benefit was that everything already fit in my suitcase going home, instead of having to try and pack a bunch of new toys!

worked great for us! :0)

That is such a cute idea!
I'm defnetely going to do that also!
Thanks

 

[badblackpug]

I also think that $50 is more than adequate, but I agree that actual cash is better. At 6 kids still see a credit/gift card as a magical card you swipe to get stuff. I don't think that they equate it with real money. I think that it is better if the child can actually see their money dwindling. I think it helps them decide whether they really want that thing or whether it is an impulse buy.

 

[CdnCarrie]

My 2 probably spent around $100 - $125 each this past winter. $50 seems a little low to me. Some of their money was Christmas money from their grandmother so it didn't all come out of our pockets. So in actuality I guess it was Christmas gifts. Without that perhaps $50-$75 would be good.

My kids are ages 3 and 6.

 

[Inurdrems9]

My DD 7 gets around $100-$150 to spend when we go. She usually does not spend most of it until our last day there.