Spending Money for Kids

[Shimmer]

I am sure that it varies by family, but I'd like to get an idea about how much spending money would be reasonable for my kids (ages 3, 4, and 10). They have Mickey ears and t-shirts. We typically don't like a lot of cluttery things.

Also, can you buy Disney gift cards at the park? It seems like getting one for each child would be an easy way to keep track.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I would imagine you could get gift cards there, but I never have. Instead of giving each one a certain amount, you could just tell them they can pick one t-shirt and one mouse ears hat each. It would be easier for the little ones to understand.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

We gave our kids strict instructions for souveniers on our last trip (and are doing the same for our May 2010 trip).
They were allowed ONE lego kit under a certain dollar amount from the Lego store (favorite place!!!)
We paid for 2 tshirts for each child - beyond that, they had to use their own money. This year we may have to adapt that rule, since there is no way DD will leave DL without an authentic Princess costume! So the boys may get an extra tshirt or two out of the deal!
They were each allowed to purchase ONE "stuffy" (mostly for little dd who lives for stuffies!)
They were allowed to pick ONE other toy/item, but they were not allowed to buy it until our final day at the parks (to ensure that they didn't purchase the first thing they saw, then get sick of it and want something else by the next day!)
We weren't concerned so much with how much money they spent as with how much stuff they bought - we didn't want to pack a whole bunch of junk to haul back! In the end, they all picked the same toy, so it worked out fine with respect to "equal value" purchasing.

Best of luck - the marketing experts at DL are indeed experts - the kids are inundated with "buy this and you will be happy" advertizing, so we spent a ton of time discussing purchasing with the kids beforehand. We also had a policy of not "shopping" until the end of the day - by that time, they were too tired and just wanted to go to bed! I know, I am an evil parent to deprive my children so!!

 

[rentayenta]

I try and always start with some amount that I never stick to. One trip DH said $25 per kid. I peed myself with laughter.

I try to stick to $50 per kid not including anything I buy prior to the trip.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I am sure that it varies by family, but I'd like to get an idea about how much spending money would be reasonable for my kids (ages 3, 4, and 10). They have Mickey ears and t-shirts. We typically don't like a lot of cluttery things.

Also, can you buy Disney gift cards at the park? It seems like getting one for each child would be an easy way to keep track.

You can buy gift cards in the parks at the Emporium for sure and probably at a bunch of the other stores, at the outside ticket booths, and at the World of Disney in downtown Disney. If you want to buy gift cards before your trip and you live near a Disney Store, you can get them there too. My brother bought some there for my sons for Christmas.

Here are some price examples for things that caught the attention of DS8 and DS10 earlier this month (and, no, they didn't buy all this stuff, they didn't have enough $$ LOL. We make a list as we see things and encourage them to think on it for a night or two before spending their money and regretting it). Extremely tiny collectible characters (packets of 3), $5.95. Small stuffed Disney characters, $12.95; price increasing with size. Individual Star Tours Disney action figures: $9.95. Pins: $6.95 and up. Ball-cap style hat, kids size: $13.95. Vinylmation 2" figure: $9.95. Disney Star Wars puzzle set: $10 or $11. T-shirts for kids seem to start around $18 these days. We haven't bought Mickey ears lately, but last I remember they started around $15 for the most basic and went up from there. Those annoying light-spinner things (that my boys thank goodness seem to have grown out of) are at least $12-$15 I think. Most of this stuff sounds cluttery to me, so I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but it gives you a starting place on price points to expect.

 

[Pollito916]

I'm not sure about $ amount, we haven't set one for DS3 before, but generally keep it low, under $50.

As for giftcards, you can get them at the Disney Store ahead of time if you live near one.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

One trip DH said $25 per kid. I peed myself with laughter.

 

[NewbieMouse]

I'm going to give my daughters each a $50 gift card that they can spend as they like. They're 5 and 6 - that may work for your 10 year old. The younger ones may be better off with a "1 t-shirt and 1 toy" (or whatever) kind of guideline.

I should mention that they're not going to get the gift card until the last day - so there will be no 'buyer's remorse'. That way when we see stuff beforehand, I'll just say, "Put it on the list for our $50 shopping spree, and we'll come back for what you have chosen..."

 

[JosieGirl71]

You can buy gift cards on the Disneyland website. Also, if you have a Disney store near you, you can purchase Disney Dollars which are a lot of fun. The benefit to Disney Dollars over gift cards is that the gift cards aren't accepted at some, if not all, ODV carts and the Disney Dollars are.

Also, I would think your 3 and 4 year olds would need less spending money than your 10 year old. Younger children usually like smaller items and older children tend to like more expensive items.

 

[CSS1996]

We always give our kids a set amount on a prepaid gift card. That way they know once it's gone, it's gone and if they don't spend it all on vacation they still have it for later. It's work perfectly each time we have went on vacation. It's amazing how much they think about wanting something before actually buying it this way.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

You can buy gift cards on the Disneyland website. Also, if you have a Disney store near you, you can purchase Disney Dollars which are a lot of fun. The benefit to Disney Dollars over gift cards is that the gift cards aren't accepted at some, if not all, ODV carts and the Disney Dollars are.

Last time I went to my local Disney store and tried to buy Disney Dollars I was told that they didn't have any. When I asked if they knew when they would get some more in, I was told that all the Disney stores have discontinued selling Disney Dollars.

I was in Disneyland earlier this month though and found that they are still being sold at the parks and World of Disney store. I bought mine at the Emporium.

 

[SaraK]

We ended up spending $200 on our son while we were there last week. I have a hard time saying no while on vacation!

 

[JosieGirl71]

Last time I went to my local Disney store and tried to buy Disney Dollars I was told that they didn't have any. When I asked if they knew when they would get some more in, I was told that all the Disney stores have discontinued selling Disney Dollars.

I was in Disneyland earlier this month though and found that they are still being sold at the parks and World of Disney store. I bought mine at the Emporium.

That's good to know. I always like to buy some before our trip as a way of saving. We always used them for parking and ODV carts.

 

[DisSarahK]

We plan to follow the same philosophy on our September trip as we did on our first trip two years ago. This year our children will be 6.5 and 4.5 on our trip.

First of all, Minnie Mouse will leave them small presents each night while they're sleeping--these were HUGE hits on our first trip and I was able to pick up the presents on the cheap before our trip.

On our last trip, we went into Mad Hatters (I think that was it) and bought mouse ears for the children on our first day--no extraneous souvenier shopping allowed on that day!

On the second day we went into the souvenier shop in Toon Town and bought a Disneyland magnet for our fridge at home--we buy one from every vacation and the children love helping to pick it out. We also stopped in California Adventure at a shop there to fill a box of Potato Head parts.

On our third (and final) day, we went in a shop and allowed them each to pick out a SMALL stuffed animal.

That was it for souveniers. Nothing that broke the bank and we didn't provide dollar amounts to the children.

 

[Mom2micayla]

We're kind of strict on the souvenirs. We allow the kids 1 or 2 things each, tops. And never more than $50, total. When I travel with just my girls, I usually give them $40 each (gift card, typically) and they can spend it anywhere and anyhow they want. Once it's gone, it's gone. When the boys are with us, I let my little guys pick out something with a lot of direction from me or DH. They aren't quite old enough to get the idea of how to budget yet.

I just find the DLR souvies to be so overpriced and not the best quality. Plus I know my kids... they just HAVE to have something or "I'll just die, Momma!" type of thing. Then get back for a day and it's at the bottom of the toy box.

 

[lorasmom]

When we vacationed there (instead of day tripping like I do now), I did $20 per kid, plus one thing (on my dime) at each park, DTD, etc.

We usually do Disney Dollars for their spending money... they think they're fun.

 

[tanyaewa]

I let the boys pick one Sweet *treat* each day - ice cream, candy floss, frozen lemonade etc.
They loved the experience of choosing their own and making a good choice
And they each got a personalized t-shirt that was waiting at the hotel when we arrived
And then they each were presented with a funky Mickey glass at the park on the last day.

That's it. The trip & the experience was enough *stuff* for them I think. They really seemed satisfied

Here's the cool shirts!! I got them from lovely gal on Etsy. I can't count how many people stopped us to say how cute they were!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/43123267/custom-listing-for-tanya

 

[iheartdisney]

I remember (and now am very sorry about!) when we were small, my mom gave us a dollar limit on vacation. Which we spent trying to get as much as we could for that ammount, and usually ended up with a bunch of little cheap things and never anything *COOL*
And because i remember that, my kids (7, 6, 4) get a thing limit, not a dollar limit. Which is usually one toy, and one mystery pack of pins. Last trip, DD7 got a puffle ($7), DS got the new Yoda potatohead ($12) and DD4 got the baby Dumbo plush ($25) so we made out pretty good.
I try to keep their items around $20. Some of the cheaper toys are just that- cheap. Avoid the polly pocket-type sets like the plague- the clothes didn't fit, the paint was flaking off the first day we had them...awful! i actually called to get our money back on those, and the lady on the line knew exactly what we were talking about!

 

[CdnCarrie]

We were just in Florida this winter with 2 boys ages 3 and 6. I think they each spent just over $100. Maybe $125. I know I had $350 budgeted for souvenirs and miscellanous like laundry. We did go over budget and the grownups didn't get much. LOL.

They got stuff from both WDW and from US.

One son got -

stuffed Yeti
stuffed Figment
Villians set of figures
Spiderman action figure of some kind
Venon (spiderman villian) stuffed character (LARGE!)
pirate sword from POTC
shield from Epcot
Bedtime Stories DVD


Other son

light up spinny toy which amused him greatly at night on the buses
Diego lego set
Spiderman stuffed character (LARGE!)
Captain Hook hand thingy
Figment plushy
(won a stuffed turtle at the games in AK)
Peter Pan set of figurines
something else that I'm forgetting. His brother got the DVD and the younger one got something to.

Think that's it. We didn't buy any clothing for the kids this time.

But their grandmother gave them a little bit of U.S. currency at Christmas for their January trip so some of this was Christmas gfts from Grandma.

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

Last Big trip was in December and my dd is 5 and she picked out a princess tiana dress $65, Princess tiana tiara $15, Princess Tiana playset $20, and that was just visiting the Tiana store in New Orleans. LOL
My son who is 1, got a ball, an outfit, a blanket, some cars and maybe a playset. Not sure about the prices on those tho.
Also, shirts for dd was about $25 and ds was $22.
We also have no set limits for souvenirs, we just buy things that will make them happy. for example, light up bubble guns can be found in fantasyland for $10 and those were the best item bought! They loved it!
I wouldnt be able to set a limit and stick to it, because Im the one picking out cutsie stuff for the kids.
On the last weekend trip in March, I think the kids each received toys in the amount of $40 or so? Not to bad for a small trip.

Have a great time!