Spending Money for Kids

[tchull]

This will be my daughter's first trip, so I'm sure I'll get carried away with buying for her. We did get her a $50.00 Disney gift card though for her to spend however she wants. I bought the gift card at our local Walgreens.

 

[spiderdust]

Here's how we do it...

For a couple of months before we go to Disneyland, we offer to give my oldest daughter her allowance in Disney Dollars instead of cash (it's completely her choice... usually she wants the Disney Dollars). If she has a birthday (or Christmas) before we go, we'll give her some Disney Dollars (maybe $10 or so) as one of her gifts, or mention to friends that she might like some as a gift.

Whatever she has in Disney Dollars when we get there is her spending money for the trip. If she wants a pretzel or cotton candy, she buys it with the Disney Dollars. If she wants a stuffed animal or a pin, she buys it with that. Once her Disney Dollars are gone, that's it.

She also usually brings along some of her own money and uses that if she goes to Build-a-Bear or the Lego store (although we have Build-a-Bear and Lego stores at home, so that's less of a draw when we go to Disneyland), but so far this has worked out pretty well for us.

Of course now she has a little sister, a toddler who doesn't yet get an allowance, so I'm not sure how it'll work for future trips. If she has to buy her own pretzel and then we buy one for her sister... that might cause some jealousy. Since our upcoming trip is a last-minute one, we haven't had time for her to save up any Disney Dollars. We've put some money on a Disney Cash card (every time we were near the mall, we stopped in the Disney Store and added $20 or so) so we could probably use that money for some food and one souvenir for everyone.

 

[Sleestack]

Yes you can get the cards there. I saw them in many places.
Everything is expensive. To give you some ideas of prices:

My dd got a stuffed toy (small) $20
tshirt pirates $24
pen $5.50
notebook $14
ear rings $14
necklace $22
Bubble blower $10 (these are so cool!!!)
ears $15

Son got:
A star wars gun $49.99
bubble blower $10 (I wish I would have gotten one for me!)
lightsaber $12
ears $12

We always flip for the ears, and the snacks are so crazy high priced that I pay for those too. but the rest they save up for prior to the trip. Ice cream bar $5 Tiggers Tail $5 Drink $4 To a kids pocket... ouch! (Well, ouch to mine, too!)