Spending money - how much?

[sherreis]

Just wondering....

budgeting for our trip in November. Not including meals, how much spending money do you allot? We have me (loves to shop but I can hold back), DH, DS6 and DS11. This is the boys' first trip to DW and I haven't been there in 17 years.

What are your favorite things to buy?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Grandpa pays for the entire extended family EVERY year. *
2) This includes allowances for souvenirs.
3) The family usually is given
. . . $25/day per child
. . . $30/day per adult
4) This typically takes them through the week, with change to spare.
5) But, for a first trip, I would double this.

* I am grandpa.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Will you be my Grandpa too? Just kidding-that's great that WDW is a family tradition, you must have some wonderful memories!

 

[Rella Bella]

Just wondering....

budgeting for our trip in November. Not including meals, how much spending money do you allot? We have me (loves to shop but I can hold back), DH, DS6 and DS11. This is the boys' first trip to DW and I haven't been there in 17 years.

What are your favorite things to buy?

We have a 10 yr old son, he was 6 on our first visit and we've handled this two ways.

First off, there are TONS of things for boys to want to buy. Pins, badges, guns, swords, lazers, hats, glow in the dark toys, pictures of them screaming on roller coasters, not to mention the t-shirts & sweatshirts that they might actually use when they get home. Almost every ride ends in a store and everytime he comes up with one or two must haves.

On our first trip we had no idea, we weren't prepared to have to deal with this and it was a constant discussion of you can't have everything. Not fun.

Then we tried you can buy one thing everyday... this worked okay. But what has worked best for us is to give him one large bill. $100.00 works the best. He knows he can buy whatever he likes with it, but it's his money so he is very discriminating.

He usually carries it for a quite a while before he will even break it. He really likes having that large bill. We are careful to help him keep track his wallet but it's been a good lesson in responsibility. I usually buy him a sweatshirt or t-shirt as well, most boys won't spend their own money on clothes.

As for amount, we usually budget about $100 per day for water, soda, ice cream (not meals) and souvies for the whole family (3). We rarely spend that much but we know we won't come up short. And I agree with Rusty that on your first trip you'll probably spend a bit more.

Have fun planning, it's a big part of the adventure! Rella

 

[Evil Queen]

1) Grandpa pays for the entire extended family EVERY year. *
2) This includes allowances for souvenirs.
3) The family usually is given
. . . $25/day per child
. . . $30/day per adult
4) This typically takes them through the week, with change to spare.
5) But, for a first trip, I would double this.

* I am grandpa.

Granddaughter and Great grandsons up for adoption here!!

Anyway-I don't buy many souvies where ever I go, including WDW (just back from a trip to Nashville-my souvie total $1.59 plus tax- )

I give DS10 $25.00 every 2 days of trip and myself the same. I come back with money,DS doesn't. But we've been a few times in his lifetime, so each trip he gets less and less. First trip was $50.00 a day for each member of my family.....

 

[exwdwcm]

1) Grandpa pays for the entire extended family EVERY year. *
2) This includes allowances for souvenirs.
3) The family usually is given
. . . $25/day per child
. . . $30/day per adult
4) This typically takes them through the week, with change to spare.
5) But, for a first trip, I would double this.

* I am grandpa.

that is so generous!

i am taking about $400 this trip (5 nights/6 days, just DH and I). We have free dining, so I plan to use maybe $100 towards water, snacks and a few OOP meals. Some towards alcoholic drinks, the rest for souveneirs! DH is taking about $200, he is not hugely into disney, so doubt he will buy anything other than food/drinks!

 

[Kitty347]

I took my grandson for his 1st visit in 2004. The trip was a Christmas gift and we went in May. Among his gifts at Christmas and his birthday (in Jan.) we gave him $50 in Disney dollars, so he had $100 to spend on the trip. By giving him Disney dollars, he wasn't able to spend it prior to the trip (which he may have been tempted to do!). He did most of his spending at DownTown Disney and I bought him a hat and a sweatshirt as well. He was very discriminating when it came to spending his own money. We made a list of things he thought he really wanted and where we saw them, and he did purchase a small item each day at each park. We put off most purchases until towards the end of the week. You'd be surprised how many "I gotta have it!" things we never bought!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Will you be my Grandpa too? Just kidding-that's great that WDW is a family tradition, you must have some wonderful memories!

1) No problem.
2) I have you on the list.
3) You are 279th in line.

 

[ntsammy5]

Will you be my Grandpa too? Just kidding-that's great that WDW is a family tradition, you must have some wonderful memories!

And very little money left!

 

[ntsammy5]

that is so generous!

Some towards alcoholic drinks!

I like the way you think! I figure $100/day, excluding meals.

 

[nightowlky]

LOTS!

 

[drewswife]

We arre goin in Nov also. I can't wait. What I usually do is give each child $100.00 to spend plus they are allowed to bring their own money (b-day, toothfairy, etc.) I put each of their money in a seperate envelope.

By doing this they think twice about each item they want to purchase. Sometimes they will see something expensive at the beginning of the trip and wait to make sure they really want it.

The only thing I buy besides this is they each get one tee-shirt and one sweat-shirt.

I learned the hard way that is is very difficult to get out of every gift shop without the pleading but I really need it.

 

[denisekayt]

We're a family of 3, my DH, DS (8) and myself. On our last trip I budgeted $200/day, this was for both meals and souvies. Some days we spent less than that, other days we spent more (especially the day when we buy our clothing items!).

Like the previous poster, we also do the "you can pick one toy each day" with DS (and then I usually buy him some pins and clothing separate from his "one toy"). This has worked really well for us and keeps us from having the old I want everything arguments. I like the giving him a large bill idea though...maybe in a couple of years when he's a bit older and I wouldn't worry about him losing it so much!

In the end I think we came back with a bit left over, but not as much as you would think!

Denise

 

[eliza61]

We have teenage boys now but when they were younger we allowed 2 souviess over the entire trip. We tried very hard to get them to wait until we had atleast visited all the theme parks. We told them they wanted to make sure they saw all the choices. Of course as 1 poster said, Unfortunately just about every ride dumps into a store so it's really hard some times. I always buy everyone a tee-shirt. My dh and I will buy coffee mugs (I think they have some really cool ones there) and I will buy a mickey watch for myself (usually a very inexpensive one). I think $300 is routine for us.
Budget way more!!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I usually buy one or two new t-shirts ($25ish each), some random park shopping, and then do the majority of my shopping at World of Disney, since I get the AP discount there.

Sometimes it is amazing how the "little" things add up- I usually end up spending at least $10 on postcards alone!

Don't forget to factor in $ for souvenir photos, if you're a fan of those!

For a first trip, I'd suggest taking about 1.5 times the money you think you'll need! Like the old "pack half the clothes and twice the money and film!"

 

[Va-bear]

1) Grandpa pays for the entire extended family EVERY year. *
2) This includes allowances for souvenirs.
3) The family usually is given
. . . $25/day per child
. . . $30/day per adult
4) This typically takes them through the week, with change to spare.
5) But, for a first trip, I would double this.

* I am grandpa.

So great!!! First, I thought "what a great grandpa!" (and great family obviously!) Then, at the end I thought "what a GREAT GREAT grandpa!!!" Keep p the good work!

 

[hulagirl87]

we are on the dining plan when we go in september, so i'm going to bring about $400 for any extra food and then souvies! my obsessive pin habit, the gotta have its, and such

 

[lizardqueen]

For the four of us (DH, me, DD 3 and DS 1) we are taking about $600 for 7 days. We are on the dining plan, so no worries about food except for 1 or 2 meals, plus any additional water or snacks. Sometimes I think this is enough and sometimes I worry. It is my kids first trip and I am sure that I will want to buy them everything. Also, in-laws are going and will probably spend a small fortune.

 

[sherreis]

Thanks everyone. You've given DH and I some ideas to think about. I also didn't know about the rides emptying into gift shops. That helps a lot in being prepared ahead of time. We stopped at the Disney Store in one of the malls last weekend and the boys went crazy with all of the little light-up toys there. I can only imagine how much worse it is in all the gift shops.

Also, Rusty, we're all up for adoption as well. You're a terrific grandpa and your children/grandchildren will always have these wonderful memories. I was talking to my mother last night about our trip and then saying that hopefully we'll go again in 3 yrs and then take our new granddaughter (DSD had a baby in April) with us and my mother's response was "that's her parents job to take her." I like your philosophy a lot better.

 

[lrathslag]

Hi there -
We went to WDW last October with our children (5,7,9). We really didn't spend tons on souveniers. We got each of the kids a t-shirt and a lanyard for their pins. I think we allowed them to buy 2 pins each then they had money from grandmas that they used to purchase an additional 2 pins. They really liked the pins - suprisingly weren't interested in any stuffed animals, swords, etc. We tried to get them to purchase something different that they couldn't get back home. I think they maybe spent about $100 each for the week. Have a great time - it is a blast!