spending money

[rrobin3051]

We have 5 children we are taking to disney ..here are the ages:
17 year old girl
15 year old boy
9 year old boy
9 year old boy
23 month old boy

How much spending money should we give each of the children(not the baby)
So far each of them has $108, is that enough for 9 days, we will provide all meals of course.

 

[brymolmom]

Will some of your kids WANT to spend more than that in 9 days...depending on the child (and if he/she usually wants everything they see) - YES. But, is just over $100 enough for them to spend - IMO - DEFINITELY yes - especially if you are providing food AND snacks. Basically - they will want to spend some on video games....souveniers....and maybe a drink or ice cream if you aren't right there (with the older ones) - that is plenty.

My kids are younger - but I usually buy them a couple Disney-ish things at home (Disney store -- $2.50 shirt for example) - so they have some never worn, new things there anyway....and then we let them get 1 - 2 souveniers during our stay.

That's it for us. The vacation is stimulating and fun enough without buying everything in sight too.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

We went this past fall dh, me, ds10, dd6, dd2. We took 400. for the whole family to spend this is what we purchased.

2 t-shirts adult (us)
1 sweatshirt toddler(2yr old)
tinkerbell purse(2yr old)
key chain for souvinor for baby sitter
mickey mouse watch(dh)
POP refillable mug(me)
couple smashed pennies(kids)
Epcot "Leave a Legacy" spot on wall (family)
2 hats (dd6 and ds10)
2-3 alcoholic drinks (very high)
2 spinning light things (ds10 and dd6)
face painting (dd6)
3 cds from the kodak place only 2.50 at Walmart, but 13.99 each at Disney
Trinkerbell pin from my husband and kids )they gave it to me as a thank you for planning our trip) Family
snacks around Epcot (Family didn't want to use snacks for this)
Charm bracelet w/ 3 charms
2 disney pens for autograph book ( ours died on the second day) (dd6 and ds10)
5 pins for my sons year of a million dreams lanyard we recieved when getting off of space mtn (dd10)
Medium stuffed baseball mickey (ds10)
stuffed minnie (dd2)
stuffed tinkerbell(dd6)

There were things my dd6 wanted like 75 dollar dress up outfits. I just wouldn't do. But I felt like we did pretty good. I begged the kids to get T-shirts they didn't want one

 

[ndgqccmiller]

We went this past fall dh, me, ds10, dd6, dd2. We took 400. for the whole family to spend this is what we purchased.

2 t-shirts adult (us)
1 sweatshirt toddler(2yr old)
tinkerbell purse(2yr old)
key chain for souvinor for baby sitter
mickey mouse watch(dh)
POP refillable mug(me)
couple smashed pennies(kids)
Epcot "Leave a Legacy" spot on wall (family)
2 hats (dd6 and ds10)
2-3 alcoholic drinks (very high)
2 spinning light things (ds10 and dd6)
face painting (dd6)
3 cds from the kodak place only 2.50 at Walmart, but 13.99 each at Disney
Trinkerbell pin from my husband and kids )they gave it to me as a thank you for planning our trip) Family
snacks around Epcot (Family didn't want to use snacks for this)
Charm bracelet w/ 3 charms
2 disney pens for autograph book ( ours died on the second day) (dd6 and ds10)
5 pins for my sons year of a million dreams lanyard we recieved when getting off of space mtn (dd10)
Medium stuffed baseball mickey (ds10)
stuffed minnie (dd2)
stuffed tinkerbell(dd6)

There were things my dd6 wanted like 75 dollar dress up outfits. I just wouldn't do. But I felt like we did pretty good. I begged the kids to get T-shirts they didn't want one. I had this info and I hope it helps.

 

[Simbee3]

I think that is enough. Though with the older kids I would probably give them a couple more dollars to have in their pockets. But that may not even be necessary.
We have a water bottle that we have been collecting our change, and our $1 bills in at the end of each day, which really worked out for us last year. Last year we didn't even start that until about June. With that we were able to save about $400 which they didn't even spend more than half.

So, hopefully being that we started in April we will be able to save more. Another idea is if your kids get an allowance they can save that to have as their spending money.

 

[rrobin3051]

I think that is enough. Though with the older kids I would probably give them a couple more dollars to have in their pockets. But that may not even be necessary.
We have a water bottle that we have been collecting our change, and our $1 bills in at the end of each day, which really worked out for us last year. Last year we didn't even start that until about June. With that we were able to save about $400 which they didn't even spend more than half.

So, hopefully being that we started in April we will be able to save more. Another idea is if your kids get an allowance they can save that to have as their spending money.

Water bottle is a great idea. All that money they have is from allowance and such. We are on a tight budget and going to disney with a family this size is costly. If I have it I will try to give more, but that is all their money they have earned doing chores and side jobs and such. They are not very needy kids so Im sure it will be enough, I just hope so. Thanks again everyone

 

[Simbee3]

We are on a tight budget and going to disney with a family this size is costly.

I hear you. I feel like going with a family the size of mine is expesive, and we have to stick to a budget. So, I can totally understand what your saying.

 

[cheyennemama]

If anything, I'd give the 2 teens more money. They might just want some money to burn. If you have it, I'd give to them. If not, I don't think anyone will be lacking. $100 is enough for one nice expensive souvenir and a few smaller ones.

 

[srgibbs]

That is more than a gracious amount. We have a 6yo and a 3yo and of course they are younger but they probably each spend around30-40 dollars in a 8 day trip. We usually let them each get 2 things. They can go to Goofy candy co. in downtown disney and use all of our leftover snack credits for candy on the last day to take home and to friends. DS usually gets something star wars and autograph book and DD gets autograph book and something princess related.

 

[dzorn]

Don't give either DD ages 5 & 8 money. They save for souvineers. They find a money loose change or birthday etc. They know it goes in their banks for vacation. They can buy what they want. With that in mind I usually pick them up a new T-shirt and a few small things before we go that they don't see use until we get there.

Denise in MI

 

[italianfamilia]

Boy I'm feeling like a cheapskate. I was planning on 30 for each of them, grandma gave them 20 each, and their nana is giving them i think 20 each and that is it. They can pick one souvenior. They have somethings from the Disney on Ice shows, and the past trips to DL. I feel that one thing is enough, as the trip and spending the time together is also a souvenior.

 

[TheDizMom]

I think it's plenty! We had our kids do chores for the month before we left to earn spending money for our trip. I did it more to get them to start working a little harder at picking up their stuff and I also gave them extra money if they got along well that day and didn't fight with each other. They each got $35 and it was plenty. They are 6 and 10 by the way. We also planned that we would buy them each a few things from us on the trip. I think we spent about $50 on each of them ourselves. So I think $100 for each is more then enough.

 

[jakoky]

When we went on our last two trips(first to WDW then to DL), i gave my kids each around $100 but they also saved a lot of money on their own(they were 13, 11 and 9 on the first and 14, 12, and 10 on the next)...actually, when we went to DL they had wayyyyy too much...my oldest had well over 400 and my younger two had close to 400...they saved birthday money, allowances...they are now saving for our DL trip in sept but i am not sure they will have quite as much as last year..and i wont be giving them anymore than i have the last two trips....i would think the amount you are giving them is great and your older two could maybe earn some extra...have fun
sharon
me, dh, dd-16-, ds-almost 14-, dd-11 1/2-
WDW-Dec 04-first disney experience for my DH, DD, DS, DD and first time at WDW for us all
DL-MAY 06-first time at DL for DH and kids , and my 9th(but the first 8 were all by the time i was about 13) so it was all new to me
COUNTDOWN IS ON....WE ARE GOING BACK TO DL SEPT 15-25!!!!!

 

[MomofKatie]

Our 8 year old DD saves her own money for WDW. On our last trip, she brought $50, and she got several nice things. It was just the right amount. When we went to WDW in 2005, she brought $125, but she really wanted Pal Mickey ($70), so she had to save more $$$ for that.

We don't make her pay for food (other than candy) or drinks- sometimes we treat her to something special like BBB or a bigger ticket item. But she likes having her own $$ that she can spend her own way.

 

[kerry34]

My kids also save up their own money so whatever they bring varies from child to child. This past trip the three older kids had anywhere from 75-150 dollars and my two younger ones each had 50.00. We did end up buying the younger ones a little something extra since they do not have the opportunities the older ones have at earning money outside of the house. The kids also get disney money for christmas birthdays and in their easter baskets. They also get a little extra from relatives before the trip as well. In general though their spending money does not really come from us.