Spending Budget for kids?

[J'aime Paris]

How do you guys handle setting a budget for souvenirs? not just for yourself but specifically for your kids? I know Disney is full of amazing souvenirs and it's easy to get caught up in the "gotta have it" mindset. I am planning to preload giftcards to use for souvenir purchases but I don't know what a realistic amount to budget would be

What are the ages of your children?
I think the concept of money and value need to be age appropriate.

DD was only 2 on her first trip to WDW. So she didn't care about souvenirs. We bought her a stuffed Piglet on that trip...

When she got to the age where she was really into all the movies and characters, we were much more generous. Easily hundreds of dollars...costumes, dolls, stuffed toys, ears, etc....

And by the time she was a teen, she still enjoyed the trips but was way less impressed with the merchandise. Maybe a pair of ears and a tshirt for remembering that trip.

 

[DisneyMama811]

What are the ages of your children?
I think the concept of money and value need to be age appropriate.

DD was only 2 on her first trip to WDW. So she didn't care about souvenirs. We bought her a stuffed Piglet on that trip...

When she got to the age where she was really into all the movies and characters, we were much more generous. Easily hundreds of dollars...costumes, dolls, stuffed toys, ears, etc....

And by the time she was a teen, she still enjoyed the trips but was way less impressed with the merchandise. Maybe a pair of ears and a tshirt for remembering that trip.

we are hoping to go in February at which point they'll be 5yrs and 7.5yrs

 

[J'aime Paris]

we are hoping to go in February at which point they'll be 5yrs and 7.5yrs

Well, that was certainly the age of spending in our house, lol!
But we also did 2-3 trips per year....so DD became very aware of souvenirs by those ages.

Maybe take a peek at shopDisney. It will give you an idea of price points. $25 doesn't buy much at WDW. Heck ears go from $25-35 alone... Tshirts can be $20-35. Stuffed toys start at $17 and go up from there.

Good luck and have a great trip! (They are only "little once" was my mantra)

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

My kids are 6, 9 & 12. We go once, sometimes twice a year to WDW usually for 2 weeks at a time and for the next 2 trips we are putting universal in the mix. Our kids receive an allowance every week but they rarely spend it, they are saving up for some big ticket items like a nintendo switch lite or personal laptop. We give them each $25 Disney and Universal gift cards for Christmas, Easter and their birthdays. They are welcome to supplement with their own savings. As they get older the $65 spirit jerseys and $90 loungefly backpacks are what they really want so they only wind up getting 1 item with their gift cards each trip.

 

[Jeskova26]

I try not to plan it out too much and let my kids know that they should be happy with what they have but if I feel something is really going to be appreciated, I will get it.
I recently got my boy Woody and Buzz at HS right before they paraded by and once he saw them, I gave him the toys and he was floored and so happy. He sat there on the side of the road just playing with his new friends for an hour

 

[MrsPete]

How do you guys handle setting a budget for souvenirs? not just for yourself but specifically for your kids? I know Disney is full of amazing souvenirs and it's easy to get caught up in the "gotta have it" mindset. I am planning to preload giftcards to use for souvenir purchases but I don't know what a realistic amount to budget would be

Our budget is zero.

We realized very early in parenthood that when you buy souvenirs, too much of the trip becomes about buying. Kids start rushing through experiences so they can reach choosing time. And what happens to most of the stuff? It goes into next spring's yard sale.

We introduced the "no souvenirs" concept when our kids were in early elementary school, and we got no pushback from them. They understood that they took multiple vacations (not just Disney) each year -- easily 2Xs as many as their friends. They understood that we splurged on experiences.

 

[LiveLifeLoud]

We don’t set a budget but it’s also not a free for all. We know we will buy a few things but we mostly base it on if we think they’ll use it and enjoy it. If we think it’s an impulse buy we won’t buy it. We also usually don’t buy anything on day one or two.

Last trip DD13 got cold on arrival day in MK and we didn’t bring a jacket. She wanted a sweater and loved a certain spirit jersey. I told her ok but she didn’t realize it was $75 until she checked out. I wasn’t in the store so she tried texting me when it rung up but I didn’t respond fast enough so she just got it. I was fine with it and it was a really nice thick one. She wore it so much that trip and once we got home. She loved it.

By the end of the trip we had gotten some ears and a few other things. On the last day she started with wanting a stuffy after getting her a dumbo one earlier. No particular one but she really wanted one. A big one. I vetoed that. It was an impulse buy and she’d never use it and it was too much to take home.

We don’t do Disney often so we like some souvenirs.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

I am in the $50 gift card camp. She can bring extra money but she knows it is just $50 from me. I have veto power only on items that we can't safely get home on the plane. She can buy whatever sparkly, plastic junk she wants. Last trip she blew most of it in the Beach Club gift shop on departure morning next to the dining plan people loading up on useless snacks. I might need another strategy next trip!

 

[winterwhite]

Our budget is zero.

We realized very early in parenthood that when you buy souvenirs, too much of the trip becomes about buying. Kids start rushing through experiences so they can reach choosing time. And what happens to most of the stuff? It goes into next spring's yard sale.

We introduced the "no souvenirs" concept when our kids were in early elementary school, and we got no pushback from them. They understood that they took multiple vacations (not just Disney) each year -- easily 2Xs as many as their friends. They understood that we splurged on experiences.

We don’t do them either. Maybe a small toy - but we are just not “stuff” people.

we let them pick a cool magic band each year or make one at the store in DS. My in laws are “stuff” people so they have learned that “stuff” comes from grandma and grandpa, not mom and dad, not Santa or the Easter bunny. My daughter wanted a costume, so she and I made one together (mostly me, but she picked out fabrics).

my kids know that somebody somewhere had to make those things they want to buy, and we are very conscious of what we buy at home in terms of clothing etc, so they’re just not really drawn to the miles of stuff. We tend to let them earn the ability to choose where we go (parks or experiences) or what snacks we can get.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I use a couple strategies that others have mentioned. I usually tell DS that I'll pay for his meals, but snacks and "extras" are up to him. I will buy him something he can wear as a souvenir since he always can use clothing, but anything else is up to him to buy. We've been doing things this way since he was 6, and it works well for us. In addition:

1. I let DS ask for Disney gift cards for Christmas and his birthday, and over the years he sometimes gets anywhere from $50-$300 (!!yikes!!) this way.

2. DS has been getting an allowance since he started school, and we have him divide it between 3 banks: one for long term saving (college fund), one for giving, and one for doing whatever he wants with it. He tends to hang on to his spending money until he has enough for a big purchase, so one year he brought $100 that he'd saved up from that.

3. We have a strategy when we're in the parks and see something we like: we take a picture of the person holding the item, take a picture of the price tag (with the barcode), and take a picture of the shop where we found it. When we're waiting in line, we scroll through the pictures and decide what we like best, and we delete the price tag and shop photos from the other items. At the end of the day/trip, we go back and get the souvenirs we liked best (when we buy depends on where we found it and if we're at WDW or DLR). The one time we couldn't find something, we had the barcode to show the CM and she was able to find it in another store and they held it there for us. This has helped us a ton with budgeting and making good choices about what we bring home.

He's been a super sweet kid about all this since we established the guidelines way back when (he's 13 now), and he loves to buy me things and get snacks to share when he's got extra money on his gift cards. I started the picture thing when he was 3 or 4, and we love looking back at the cute photos of him holding toys and things from our trips then.

 

[becauseimnew]

We give the girls $50 cash, it used to be GC but we found it that they were more thoughtful about their purchases if they had the cash in hand.
Also, we have rules - no toys or anything that you can buy at home.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

What we do is for 3 months before we leave we load their allowance ($20 a week) onto gift cards, and they end up with $240 each for souvenirs for Disney portion of our trip and we give them each $50 for the three universal days. They get nothing above this, when their cards are empty they’re done. Amazing how they budget when it’s their money they’re spending and not ours.

 

[Merlin's Magic]

It depends on the age. For under 7, it's one souvenir per park, plus a pin to remember their favorite ride, celebration, etc.
For under 12, I make decorated envelopes, one for each park, and put $20-$30 in each. They can spend it however they like, and we'll still buy 4 pins.
Over 12, we'll set a fair amount and give it up front, before the trip starts.

 

[5Tulips]

One item. $25(ish) or less.

Three kids, multiple trips. It works for us. Anything more is on them.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

Honestly, I feel like we're going to be changing it up this year because our kids are older and want different things than they used to. It used to be 1 toy under $25 per kid and 1 clothing item under $25. But, my children are 11, 7, and 7 now. And they just don't care so much about the toys or Disney shirts. So, this year I'm giving them each a $50 gift card. They can spend it on souvenirs or food or whatever else they may want and if they want something that costs more, they have to use some of their own money.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I’ve always done $50 per kid on a gift card for whatever they want to spent it on. Candy, balloons, trinkets, plush, whatever and I don’t tell them no if they want to waste it on stuff I’d never buy for them. Anything over that I pay for and they have to ask. When my daughters were teens, I upped theirs to $100, but they were also responsible for buying their own snacks and meals at carts if they chose to split up from us at that point.

 

[DodgerGirl]

When I used to go to Disneyland a lot as a little girl my mom and dad would always make me save my money for stuff I would find in Disneyland and on almost every vacation I would always buy myself a brand new purse and the day before the trip I pack my coin purse and fill it with my money and put it in my bag ready for the trip. But when I usually went I usually bought plush characters because they were a cheap price and by the time my trip was over i'd come with a purse full of plushies. The best thing I can recommend your kids to do is to make a list like a shopping list for the supermarket and write down what souvenirs they most want that are really cheap in the parks to find
Some souvenir suggestions I recommend are,
1. Disney Character plushies,
2. Disney Character keychain flashlights,
3. Adventureland Jewelry for girls,
4. Souvenir Disney coins that your kids can make at the penny press,
5. Star Wars plushies,
6. Marvel Action Figures or a Rocket or Groot plush,
7. Disney jigsaw puzzles,
Avoid toys like character dolls because you can get them almost anywhere back home
But other than that it will be a good chance for your kids to learn about saving money and earning a prize for a job well done
Hope this advice helps DisLiss

 

[brevebelle]

We've got a trip coming up in June, and we're giving the kids a $50 Disney gift card each day to spend. They also have their allowance ($5 a week), and any money they make from selling toys/books they've outgrown at an upcoming neighborhood yard sale, to add to their funds if they choose to spend it there.

 

[AdrienneP23]

We roll on a case-by-case basis in our family. My kiddos are 4 and 6, so we are in prime toy stage over here. However, we fly, so anything that can't fit in the luggage gets vetoed by mom and dad. Also, mom and dad immediately veto anything that we deem too expensive. The kids like to shop, but they recognize the fact that mom and dad can and will say no. On a typical trip, my daughter will pick a pair of ears and a jewelry item, my son ends up with some sort of plastic weapon, they both get a plush to sleep with at the hotel, and we always say yes to any small "activity" item that will keep them busy during a nice, sit-down dining experience. We also do the pressed pennies, so that feels like a real treasure to them as well. They don't ask for a ton, so I don't feel bad giving in when they do find a souvenir that catches their eye.

 

[ChiGirlMom]

We set a $25 limit each. I make them check price tags to make sure they stay in budget. If it’s like $26-28 we let it slide but I am not hauling a $300 castle home.
Plus at their age(5&7)they lose interest quickly. We just got home beginning of April from WDW and their purchases are not being played with. 7 just told me she wanted to donate(we clear out toys for donation several times per year) her birthday Build A Bear. That thing was whined for over several months and costs the same as an American Girl doll! So $25 it is!