Suggestion concerning souvenirs and kids

[karabeunso]

I have a 10 y/o dd and this summer will be her third trip to WDW. Each she has had a set amount of money that she can spend however she wants during the trip and she has done remarkably well with deciding what she will get with her money. She thinks long and hard each time she wants something to see if it is something she REALLY wants to spend HER money on. It is a completely different ball game when it is hers and she knows how much she can spend and how much she will have left.

She earns her money by doing chores and for this year's trip she has been going through old toys and selling them on eBay or Craigslist to make money. I monitor the whole thing, but she is in charge of taking the photos and writing the descriptions. She helps package up sold items and helps me take them to the post office. Not only does it clear out some clutter, but she is learning that if you take good care of your "stuff", it could be worth something down the road.

 

[aaturner]

We have always done a few small things during the week, telling the boys to look around everywhere and make sure of what they want. We have been lucky and most of the larger items we have always found at World of Disney and we have them shipped home. Then we just get one big box and its like Christmas from our Disney trip!

 

[Lees75]

Can I ask a silly question? Having never been to WDW before, what types of things do people buy as souvenirs? When we are there in Oct, DS will be 10, nearly 11, and DD will have her 8th birthday there. I have told her she can choose her own birthday present while we are there. But most of our family are giving them money to spend on our trip as well. I can see that DD will want to buy princess things and other girly stuff, but am not sure what DS would buy. And for me? What do adults buy themselves as souvenirs? I also have to consider space, given we are coming from Australia

 

[Soccer and Swim Mom]

We often dont buy any! My daughter will go through the stores and look. Ive told her that Mickey comes to our room at night and always leaves a present. All things ive packed in the suitcase (sale Disney items from Disney store or Zulily. ) I sprinkle glitter on her pillow every night from where Tinkerbell flies through the room.

I have bought items at the park but I charge them and have sent to our room. Then Mickey and Tinkerbell will bring it on their nightly visit.

Whenever walking through all the gift shops we look at all the items and say, "Thats nice...maybe Mickey will bring that for us tonight."

 

[Skjhjb]

Can I ask a silly question? Having never been to WDW before, what types of things do people buy as souvenirs? When we are there in Oct, DS will be 10, nearly 11, and DD will have her 8th birthday there. I have told her she can choose her own birthday present while we are there. But most of our family are giving them money to spend on our trip as well. I can see that DD will want to buy princess things and other girly stuff, but am not sure what DS would buy. And for me? What do adults buy themselves as souvenirs? I also have to consider space, given we are coming from Australia

I plan to hit the Christmas store for a couple ornaments for my tree. And since it is our 20th anniversary trip, I really want to do the "pick a pearl" in the Japan pavilion in Epcot and have it set as well.

Last trip my oldest bought an Alice in Wonderland teapot, a cool Beatles satchel from the UK pavilion, and a knitted black and white Steamboat Mickey. My DS had to make his own light sabre while there, and I can't remember what our other DD bought! DH isn't a souvenir guy....he'd rather buy a drink or two (or three..lol) and hit the duty free shop for alcohol on the drive home.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

We really encourage buying souvenirs that are substantial and unique. You can buy t-shirts and plastic toys etc, but kids either grow out of them, or they wear down. They even just get tired of them, and they are forgotten or thrown out.

When my daughter was 5 we encouraged this too. She hunted the whole vacation, and we wound up buying her a $40 picture frame that is 3-dimentional "resin" mold that has 4 princesses surrounding the frame. She still uses it 6 years later, and has a picture of her and her best friend in it.

She will probably continue to use it all through high school.

 

[magrudersmakes3]

We always went overboard and on our last couple of trips, we have set an amount for the trip for her. She can spend it however she wants, but once it's gone, it's gone. I can't believe how fast we went from I need everything to I want to save my money for this item. I feel that is teaching her more than just buying her everything she wants.

I wish I could say that I never give in when she hits the limit, but I have done it. I call it the Disney spell

 

[skateshome]

Can I ask a silly question? Having never been to WDW before, what types of things do people buy as souvenirs?

First.....welcome to America!!!
Second.....you can basically get ANYTHING you want at Disney, from toys, to clothes, to cookware and appliances. They'll slap a mouse on just about anything and everything.

 

[DJWMom]

We did gift cards for our kids. I held on to them, but we reminded them each day how much they had left on them. They ended up getting something from each park and dtd. It worked out really well. They were a lot more careful about what to get because it was "their" money. Our youngest even shared the $5 he had left on his with one of his brothers so his brother could get something that was a few $'s over what was left on his card.

 

[nighttowll]

Can I ask a silly question? Having never been to WDW before, what types of things do people buy as souvenirs? When we are there in Oct, DS will be 10, nearly 11, and DD will have her 8th birthday there. I have told her she can choose her own birthday present while we are there. But most of our family are giving them money to spend on our trip as well. I can see that DD will want to buy princess things and other girly stuff, but am not sure what DS would buy. And for me? What do adults buy themselves as souvenirs? I also have to consider space, given we are coming from Australia

Some things we've bought:
T-shirts
Pajamas
Costumes
Ears or hats
Lanyards and pins
Stuffed animals / pillow pets
Jewelry or accessories like scarves, shoes, bags - things we can use or wear, We especially like any of the Pick a Pearl places or the kiosk in Epcot where you can make your own bracelets and necklaces to help support women in Africa
Candy or bakery items
Glow in the dark toys for at night, like necklaces, those spiny light up things, or light up swords.
Bubbles
Pressed pennies and pressed penny book
Legos from the lego store wall where you can choose your own pieces. This is always a big hit.
Disney park themed board games, cards, or puzzles we can play as a family like TOT Clue.
Disney park themed movies like the TOT movie.
Picture frames
Ornaments
Mickey shaped or Disney kitchen stuff - cups, mugs, tumblers, plates, Mickey shaped pancake or waffle maker
Personalized embroidered items like towels

As far as how we handle souvenirs, I've found that coupons work great. We give each kid a set number of coupons say 1 for a T-shirt, 1 for a pair of ears, X number for snacks, x for pins, maybe a couple for some type of jewelry or special toy I know in advance they will want like a build-your-own-light saber. I usually have a pretty good idea of which days they will need a snack and which days we will be somewhere with a special toy, so I can usually anticipate pretty well stuff they will want to buy. I add all that into the budget, and then issue them coupons given out each morning. It works great. They know ahead of time exactly what they are getting each day, but it's still a surprise that morning, and they still have the freedom to choose from within the category of the coupons. Things like shirts, they have the whole trip to pick out which they like the best. Anything extra, they have to use their own spending money saved before we leave to buy. It works great. There's no arguing, whining, or questions about what they can or can't have. You have a coupon, you can have it. You have your own money, you can have it. Otherwise the answer is no, so don't ask.

I don't like gift cards because they have too hard of a time keeping track of how much they've spent and how much money is left. Especially, if it's one gift card with all the money for the whole week. They handle cash better, or the coupons which is a physical thing they can hold for each day, so it's easy to know if they have any left or not.

I usually print them out small on card stock, business card size, and pull the designs from the design thread. They can then put them in the pouch of their lanyard, a pocket, or a small bag to take to the parks.

 

[thewesterberg]

We have found that a gift card with a preset amount on it works well for DS. We combine this idea with a little notebook that he carries in his drawstring bag - as he see things he "can't live without" we have him write down what it is that he is wanting plus the price. He does that throughout the trip. It helps when on Day 3 he sees something he desperately needs to have and he can compare it with what he couldn't live without on Day 1. Helps him prioritize and also remember things throughout the trip.

It also seems to cut down on the "junk" purchases and helps him narrow down what it is that he really is wanting to bring home. The only thing I really try to steer him away from is the toys that you can pick up at Target for a fraction of the price. On our last trip to DLR he ended up using a lot of his money to supply his churro cravings! (We told him mom and dad would spring for one churro a day, the rest was up to him!) He came home with money on his gift card, and he used it to buy a Disney Infinity figure from the online Disney store.

 

[phoebusII]

We have found that giving the kids a set amount for how much they can spend during our stay works well. DD went through a "gimmee" phase. "I need, I want, etc." But with the set amount, she quickly learned to make better choices. I was amazed that from the first day, she would quickly go from "I need this" to "I'll think about it".

DS has always been a much wiser shopper. He won't spend his money frivolously. If he really wants something, he'll buy it, but always comes home with some of his money left over. His item of choice the last few trips has been Legos, there isn't much else he wants.

 

[rapunzels]

We do the gift card... it makes all the difference in the world that it is their money... so they try to make better decisions on what they choose... I still may purchase them 1-2 more things that is not included in their limit.. but they will be things I pick out like a lanyard pin or maybe a night shirt.

I would not be able to stick with a souvenir shopping day... mainly because I don't want to have to put myself in a position to say, "no, it's not Tuesday".. or "no, it's not Saturday".. ect. On top of that, most things you will see in multiple stores, but occasionally you will find things that are scarce or not at multiple places. I don't want to have to go back to a specific park, just to go buy something we couldn't find at other stores... like a specific shirt, hat, toy ect.. Like last year, my daughter bought a cheshire cat at HS, that had an enormous long tail (maybe 3 ft) that wraps around his body, and tucks in... we only saw that at HS... I was glad we bought it the day she found it... there was only 1 left on the shelf....
...same thing 2 trips ago, we found my DD9 a plaid purple Mickey hat only found at Mouse Gears at Epcot.. I found myself a plaid pink flower hat only found at a kiosk outside of AK... But then my DD11 found a bright pink sequin Mickey hat, that I think was at multiple stores, so the chances of her finding her hat on her shopping day were good, but for my DD9 and I, not so much, we would have missed out on what we wanted... (that trip was all about hats )
So gift cards are the way to go for us!!