Souvenir buying advice for those on tight budgets

[kathy884]

Now that my son has his own money, we buy one refrigerator magnet and if he wants anything else he has to buy it himself. Last time he bought a Mickey phone case and Mouse ears camera strap -- probably spent around $70. DH and I don't buy anything except a refrigerator magnet. This is true for almost all vacations, not just Disney.

 

[I'mfarfaraway]

I know everyone has their own opinion on how much to spend. I've seen some that budget as much as $100/day per person while others might have a budget of $100/trip per person for souvenirs. I know souvenirs are not cheap at WDW. I guess I am just curious what those of you who are on a tight budget plan to spend on souvenirs per person per day. I know we will have 4 kids with us when we go and I don't want them to end up with just junk, but I don't want to break the bank on things either. What is the average?

(If money is no object for you, please don't comment with high amounts. That won't help me at all. Thank you for your understanding!)

When we went for our first time my husband kept every map, napkin etc. that we came in contact with. Then for Christmas to surprise me he got a fancy box, Disney stickered it up and put all those mementos plus some pictures he had printed out in it. Very on a budget and one of the best gifts I have ever gotten.

 

[lahobbs4]

Last year I ordered from the disney store when they have sales. Nobody had a clue where it came from and I didn't have to mess with carrying things back in luggage. It was the best

Sorry - just re-read yours and saw you meant for the kids with you. This was for people at home!

 

[cjparker0110]

Thanks for all of the responses. I guess I should have mentioned we will NOT have a car. The last few times I was there I had a car and stayed at my aunt's house and pretty much avoided buying souvenirs. But I was single then. My kids will be 6, 5, 3, and not quite 2 on this trip so I don't even have an idea of what to spend or what they will like. I remember as a kid I usually got a t-shirt and one stuffed toy. My parents would usually pick up little things to surprise me with later (pencils, magnets, etc.).

 

[cjparker0110]

When we were kids we were given a total $ we were allowed to spend on souvenirs. We could get anything we wanted but once we spent our allotted amount we were done.
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We were given a certain amount as well when I was a kid. Mom would give it to us as soon as we arrived at the hotel and then we had it for the trip to spend as we please. Of course, they would buy other little things for us, too. I remember when I was 10 I was given $50 for the trip. Adjusting for inflation that would be around $170 today. I don't think I could swing that for each child, plus important people back home, on top of the rest of the trip. I guess we'll see what happens in the next year and a half. One never knows the future.

 

[dkrauss]

What we do is put money away during the build up to the trip. Previously we've decided what the amount will be. Then we split that amount and get 2 (for my wife and I) Disney gift cards. Each of us gets a card and that's our souvenir money for the trip! We order the cards off of the Disney store site so we can get personalized cards. Last trip I had a Darth Goofy card........and my wife had Tink!

Doing souvenir's this way allows us to save up and control the budget...........

Doug

 

[Paigesmom2013]

I'm planning to give each girl , 2 and 5, a $25 gift card in their Christmas stocking for our trip in February. I'm mentioning gift cards to relatives as a possible present since my kids have so many toys. I try to stay out of all the gift shops. ( I get too mad when I see how expensive stuff is and start muttering to myself!) I may also order family tshirts off Etsy.
Last trip we had a car and got shirts and some other stuff at Target.

 

[cjparker0110]

When we went for our first time my husband kept every map, napkin etc. that we came in contact with. Then for Christmas to surprise me he got a fancy box, Disney stickered it up and put all those mementos plus some pictures he had printed out in it. Very on a budget and one of the best gifts I have ever gotten.

I really like that story. My wife is into that sort of thing. She is always making gifts and personalizing them for people. I've never been one to do that, but I bet she would love such a thing. I'll have to try to remember that later on. Thanks!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The local Walmarts at Disney have a dedicated section of WDW items. You might want to check them out.

 

[busymommy2pink]

We stick to a strict budget and only bring cash. Each person in our family gets $100 for the 10 days we go. We have a no junk rule. Each trip they usually bring home $30-40. They also out of that buy their best friend a souvenir too. Our main go to is I get a towel or two, magnet of our hotel, this year I will get a park magnet and a Christmas ornament. We never get shirts as we rarely wear character shirts outside of our trip. The girls buy Epcot passports every trip, they love them. They still trade their original investment of pins from our first trip. They are bored of them After the 1-2 years haha. I find most of Disneys souvenirs priced well, at least as a Canadian. If an amount is hard for them to understand maybe make an item limit? A toy, a candy and a shirt? That should ring no more than $50 per kid. Good luck and have fun!!!! We also love pressed pennies!

 

[ldymcbth]

Oh, and just an FYI on how to save money, too - we no longer buy for family/friends unless we are getting them something for a birthday/christmas gift. We used to always buy the nieces/nephews, etc something and found that it wasn't really appreciated and just took up valuable time and money. And you can really find Disney items so cheaply in many places - no need to buy it with the parks' pricing!

 

[missmun52]

My 10 year old gets a $100 personalized disney gift card as one of his gifts. He knows that's all he has to spend and makes wise decisions. He will get money from grandparents as well and will often add that to the amount we give him.

For my 3 year old we spent less than $50. I don't buy things I KNOW will just end up in a pile he will never use at home. Our rule at home is, if you cry for it you have guaranteed it won't be yours so I let them know they should think about it and if they still want it later in the trip they can buy it. We have exceptions to this for things I know they love and will play with like Legos.

We also buy them disney t-shirts from disney online for almost every day of our trip on sale around Black Friday/ Christmas for about $5-8 each and save them until we get there so they have NEVER asked for any clothing since I pull out a new fun shirt each day. I have also scored some great clearance items for less than $5 at my local disney store and outlet.

The outlet by disney also has great deals if you can get there. One year we took the bus on our non Park day and it was cheap and fairly easy.

When we first went to disney we were on a very tight budget as my hubby was a new college graduate and I was in school, fast forward almost 10 years later and we both have careers that have grown and while we can afford more we generally don't spend much at all. For me it's wiser to buy a t-shirt for $8 than $30-40 in parks for a similar one.

 

[myrtleturtle]

We spend maybe $50 for 4 people for 5 nights. Before the trip I buy the kids some small things in the dollar spot at Target, glow bracelets, necklaces, wands, there's always stuff with Mickey and Minnie, the princesses, cars etc. That keeps away the "I wants."

 

[kcpinwdw]

I try to focus my family on experiences, not stuff. So we have relatively big budget trips but I feel we spend (relatively) very little on souvenirs. We usually come home with a stuffed animal or two per kid. They are obsessed with those babies in blankets. Last trip my son discovered pin trading so I surprised him with a starter set, so I bet we will add a pin or two each trip now also. So maybe $75 per kid total? I did spend at least $30 of quarters on pressed pennies though, super fun, super cheap, and the kids LOVED finding new ones and adding them to our penny books.

 

[k5thbeatle]

.... I don't want them to end up with just junk,...)

That pretty much rules out about 95% of the stuff they sell doesn't it?

 

[epcotty]

we don't like to go past $20 per person per day for souvenirs. We still get good stuff but usually only one souvenir (occasionally 2) per person per day

 

[cjparker0110]

We also buy them disney t-shirts from disney online for almost every day of our trip on sale around Black Friday/ Christmas for about $5-8 each and save them until we get there so they have NEVER asked for any clothing since I pull out a new fun shirt each day. I have also scored some great clearance items for less than $5 at my local disney store and outlet.

That's brilliant actually. Something I had not even thought about. I may need to look into that. Do you do that from the Disney store? Or just scouring ads for other places?

 

[GatorMama]

We didn't spend much compared to several of the responses here and I did not even consider ourselves to be frugal on this trip. We used our MBS to pay for almost everything and our total was just a hair more than $800 at week's end. For two adults, two kids and an infant. That $800 included close to $200 in tips. And maybe $50 on food and alcohol not covered by the dining plan.

We got: R2-D2 ears, sequin Minnie ears, two large men's t-shirts, 4 coffee mugs (three are for friends who will pay us back), a light up Sorcerer Mickey hat (our new Christmas tree topper!), three keychains (that will act as christmas ornaments), two autograph books, one pressed penny book, one foam sword, two build your own light sabers, a photo album, two dinosaur puzzles (will be Christmas presents), one stuffed animal for our youngest son and a 2015 Christmas ornament.

Oh AND that awesome beach towel that was the purchase with purchase because I LOVED it. I planned my shopping based on which stores offered the towel. LoL

 

[vinotinto]

We don't always buy a souvenir. Only if we see something more unique that is going to be used. We've purchased (total): a Jedi Training t-shirt, an Anna-Elsa flip doll, a pair of earrings, a cap, and a build your own R2D2. That's for 2 adults and 2 kids. I think we've spent about $100 total over the last 4 trips for 4 people.

 

[missmun52]

That's brilliant actually. Something I had not even thought about. I may need to look into that. Do you do that from the Disney store? Or just scouring ads for other places?

Usually from the disney store online. The shirts will be on sale for $8 but you get additional percentages off when spending a certain amount which can bring them down to around $5. If you live where it gets cold look out for summer clearance and you can often get shirts for less than $5.