Suggestion concerning souvenirs and kids

[skateshome]

I know the "bring your own" advice and it's a good idea.....but here's what we do and it really seems to work quite well.

If we are at Disney for 7 days we will set several "souvenir days". For example
Sunday to Sunday we may have Monday, Wed, and Sat. as a souvenir day.
This means they can get something (PUT A PRICE CAP ON IT) on those days. My 6 and 7 yo do great with this, so when we are looking they know ahead of time they are going to be able to get something and can "shop" instead of just
picking up everything and saying "I want". Works great for us so I thought I would pass it along.

 

[I'd rather be diving]

I like that idea. Thanks.

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

When we took my son at 4 years old, we told him he could pick ONE souvenir. (In addition to Mickey ears, of course.) He found what he wanted on the first day, but we knew we'd be able to get it elsewhere so we had him wait to be SURE that's what he wanted. There were only a couple of instances throughout the week where he said, "Oh, can I have this?" And we'd have him compare--do you want this new item or the one you picked out before? His first choice ended up being they one he stuck with after weighing his options.

 

[Smile&Nod]

When my kids were young I gave them a daily "allowance" (my budget was $10 a day but it could be any amount that you are comfortable with). We were there for 7 days so $70 a kid.

They got their money each day so if on day one they saw a $15 item they did not have enough to buy it, and we promised to return if that was still what they wanted. When they wanted a $5 light up necklace that would last one night we said sure - do you have the money for it?

My older daughter (10 at the time) ended up bringing about half her money home and spending it at the bookstore (part of the deal - they didn't have to spend it). Younger daughter 5 at the time ended up spending hers on "dress up" stuff on her last day - and she played with it for a couple of years.

Fast forward to college - same concept - here is your budget (enough for 4 years at an in-state school). Go where you want but this is what we are providing. Youngest finished in 3 years and had about 15k in the bank to start her life with! The concept teaches them young to save for what they want and it made it easy if the "I wants" crept into the conversation - "sure, you can buy that"

 

[goofy4tink]

My dd's first trip, back in '99, she was 5 about to turn 6. Rather than spend every day listening to 'I want that' or 'Can I have that?' I decided to give her a daily amount....$5 seemed to work for her at that age. Man, it was really interesting to see how she did. She would invariably wait until we got back to the resort each night to buy something. I would buy one big thing at the end of the trip.
As she got older, the amount went up. It didn't take long before she had been so many times that there really wasn't a lot that she wanted to buy!!! That was a blessing!

 

[myadventurebook]

I don't have kids of my own, but I actually ghost-wrote an article recently on budgeting a WDW vacation with kids, and souvenirs was one of the things I touched on. One of my ideas was this: give your kids a gift card.

You don't have to hand it to them for the whole trip, but you can explain it to them beforehand. For example, if you are giving them $50, let them know what types of things they will be able to buy with that money. Maybe look online at some WDW products so they can get some sort of idea. Make sure they know that when their gift card is up, their souvenir buying is over. You can be lenient of course. If they need $1 to finish their purchase, for example, that's fine.

When it comes time to pick out their things, make sure to remind them that this is a final purchase. Have them pay for the souvenir with the card themselves. It will make them feel more adult, as well as go a small way towards teaching them the "value of $1." Of course, age is a factor here. A very young child may have a harder time with this.

My BF and I use the gift card method on ourselves on trips. It really works! I usually give myself $100-$150, and I really do look at things differently and make wiser purchases when I'm only spending what's on my card.

Another idea, as someone already mentioned, is to pick a souvenir day and/or only allow one souvenir. This is what my parents did for us on our trips. We were allowed to pick out one thing on the last day of our trip. It could be from any store that we went to over the course of the week. I think this one works well too because you know your child really wants what he or she chooses to buy.

 

[GillianP1301]

I'm pretty lucky in this regard, my DS (4 on his first trip to WDW and now 6) doesn't asked for a lot of stuff in the gift shops. He loves to look, but I very rarely get asked to buy anything. So when he does ask, I know it's something he really wants. I let him know he can have x number/dollar worth of things on the trip and then he decides if what he's looking at is what he really really wants. At the end of our trip, if we haven't gone through our souvenir budget, we head to the gift shop for a final chance to pick some things up.

This year, I'm trying something a little different. He's obsessed with money and the value of things, so he's earning Disney dollars from now until our vacation time and I'll then exchange those for real money/gift card and that will be his own to spend on whatever he wishes while we're there. Using this is a bit of a learning experience for him, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[GigiDisneyfreak]

When my kids were younger I used to give them a limit. Now that they are older we have a different plan. My one daughter is 21 (in college) I will buy her a hat. We always get a new hat or ears every time we go. Anything else she is old enough to buy on her own. I will buy my 15 year old a hat and she has a choice in the months before we go if she wants something she can either get it or save the money for Disney. She has an envelope I put the money in for her. So an example with her is we go to Costco, she wants me to get her the 24 pack of Gatorade for lunch for school. I want to buy the Costco brand which is a 30 pack and costs $5 less. I can get the Gatorade or she can agree to get the Costco brand and put the $5 that I would have had to pay for the Gatorade in her Disney fund. She always agrees to the cheaper one so she can fill her Disney fund.

 

[CalSea12]

SMile and Nod, I love your idea! If only Disboards had a like button lol

Honestly I think I will start doing this with my daughter. She is 2 1/2 and is already getting into that "gimmie" stage. I think on this next trip I am going to give her a "budget".

I really love the college idea, plus it will prob keep her in state

 

[juliebug1997]

That's a great idea. I'm sure my husband would like to put me on a spending schedule like that!!!!

 

[lizabu]

I gave my kids a gift card with a set amount on it and told them that's it. You can blow it all on the 1st day or make it last. Older Dd was broke by day 3. Younger DD made it to the second to last day.

 

[chrismb22]

Don't forget, especially with younger kids there is the factor of SPACE. I want to give my son leeway to get whatever he wants (within reason of course) but I am really worried about dealing with this on the plane and don't want to pay to have it shipped. I just know he is going to pick out the biggest toy in mouse gears.

Just reminding people they might want to mention that when discussing souvenir criteria.

 

[Funfire240]

That's a great idea. I'm sure my husband would like to put me on a spending schedule like that!!!!

My dh would love it too...I always go overboard. Then again I feel like I'm in the minority here. A Disney trip is something that only happens once a year so we have no limits. I will talk them out of something if I feel appropriate but for the most part if they want it they get it.

 

[chrismb22]

Oh and we are going early December so there is the Christmas thing to worry about. More toys!!'

PS I could have put that in the first post but it was #666 and it was freaking me out.

 

[Belleandtinker]

We've tried a lot of different things and got tired of saying "no" all the time.

One year, we did pressed pennies - which was silly, fun and cheap. So my DS could get as many as he wanted each day.

Another year, we did one per day (with a price point in mind).

Also the days we did the pirate treasure hunt, sorcerers game and Agent P games, we found that he asked for way less.

 

[chrismb22]

My dh would love it too...I always go overboard. Then again I feel like I'm in the minority here. A Disney trip is something that only happens once a year so we have no limits. I will talk them out of something if I feel appropriate but for the most part if they want it they get it.

I am guilty of this too

 

[chocovrdmicears]

My dh would love it too...I always go overboard. Then again I feel like I'm in the minority here. A Disney trip is something that only happens once a year so we have no limits. I will talk them out of something if I feel appropriate but for the most part if they want it they get it.

This is me too. We go once a year. I don't put spending limits on my kids because I struggle with them at Disney too. But to be fair, our kids are older (10 & 12) and don't ask for everything and anything.

 

[disneyshea]

We're doing gift cards for each of the kids (they just got them in their Easter baskets, so it's a two-fer).

I also like the idea of souvenir days. We may try that next time to see which way works best.

 

[Skjhjb]

SO thankful my kids were older for our first trip in 2012. They all had their own savings for spending money.

This trip, both the girls have jobs, so they have been saving spending money for their own souvenirs. DS just had a birthday (the big 13) and has some snow shovelling money saved up.

We told the kids we would pay for ears for everybody, but souvenirs are on them. DD #1 has actually set aside $100 just for snacking her way around the world in Epcot...LOL

 

[skateshome]

Hey everybody.
Thanks for the other suggestions as well. I think depending on the age of the child all these would work pretty well.....except for the "I get them anything anytime they ask crowd". . Good luck with that going forward. Just kidding...everybody is different but I just thought I would put a proven to work idea out there and glad several have chimed in so I know how to plan as the girls get older.