Who has the money for Disney souvenirs?

Since we go regularly, we bring a lot with us. We always bring our ears with us, so no wanting that we get there. Tinkerbell visits our kids our first night there and gives each of them $50 in Disney dollars or gift cards. That is their spending money for the trip. Sometimes we will splurge and give them something, but they are very good at staying in their budget.
 
Do you let them have anything they want since it is a vacation?

Pretty much.

But my kids are older now. During our last trip (January) DS12 didn't ask for anything except $$ for his arcade card.

I usually spend about $200 on DD for clothes, a purse, stuff like that.

During our summer trips I usually spend about $400 in MouseGear, World of Disney, & Animal Kingdom on souvenirs. This includes stuff I buy for both sets of grandparents.
 
We go to Disney once every 1-2 years.
Our first trip, we brought home scads of junk that went straight to the bottom of the toybox at home.
After that, we started letting each child have ONE item of their choice around $25, and one cup/mug/plate. The $25 toy usually soon ends up in the toybox, but the cup/mug/plate is always a hit and these items are used and enjoyed as reminders of our trip nearly every day. I'm really big on helping the kids choose souvenirs that are WDW-specific or that remind them of some favorite part of the trip. I don't like to buy stuff at Wal Mart or Dollar Tree ahead of time, because those things are just for the sake of *Having Stuff* and generally don't hold memories like true "souvenirs."

My children are still pretty young. As they get older we may re-assess our souvenir strategy but for now we are setting a precedent for not just buying up everything that catches their eye.
 
When we went back in 2009 I still lived at home with my mom so my kids got $200 each to spend. We moved out on our own in Feb 2010 so when we went this past Feb we did not spend so much. My son has a job so he spent his own money. I bought most of our souvies at wal-mart. I got a tshirt with the year on it that they were selling at WDW for $12 where it was $25 at Pop. The only difference was it said Florida on it. I think the only thing we bought at WDW was a stuffed stich.
 


We ask for gift cards for the kids for Christmas and birthdays for our trips...which they can use.

But honestly - I have never set a budget. If we want something we usually get it. But my kids go to Disney once a year - so they don't ask for a lot. Typically they each want a Disney Baby - and then maybe a couple of extra little things here and there. They usually have planned out before we leave home what they want and stick pretty closely to that.
 
This is why grandma & grandpa are coming on vacation with us! ;)

(kidding -- they're coming because I love my family and am excited to have them & my brother with us, but seriously, they know no limits when it comes to spoiling DD)
 
When we go, my kids each get a t-shirt of their choice and a few pins. They take their own money to buy whatever else they want. Once they run out of money, that's it. At some point in the trip, we hit the outlets and WM to see what's there. They usually wait until the middle of the trip to spend anything and usually come home with some of the money.
 


We go to the Disney outlet during every trip (only about 10 minutes from DTD) and let the kids pick what they want. The prices are at least 50% off, but often much more. It is merchandise directly from WDW and is run by WDW with Disney CMs. I've found WDCC pieces there for myself for 1/2 off. The kids often will pick up dolls or plush, while we get tees, hats and sweatshirts. Our last trip in November most of our stuff was 75% off. I got my granddaughters tinkerbell baseball hats on our last trip for .99 as it was a special that day. They also carry, merchandise from the resorts and cruiselines.

We go here too. This is where we let each of the kids choose one thing, and I usually get things for the people who are feeding our cat/taking in our mail/etc. We also give each of our kids like $20-$25 that they have earned at home to spend however they wish. It is usually spent on one thing. My dd was 2 on out last trip and all she wanted was a balloon. so that's all we got her. We have SOOOO much stuff, that really we don't need any more. We are not souvie people either.
As for the pins, we buy them beofre we go from disneystore.com or reputable sellers on ebay. We also pick some up from the character warehouse, because sometimes they will have them for $.99. We have about 100 for this trip that we will give them in the mornings to trade.
Otherwise we bring our light spinny thingies, and mouse ears from home.
 
Our agreement with dd has been one item from each park. Last trip it somehow got stretched to one time each day but still not too bad. She loves the stuffed animals (and they are all displayed in her room) and that is usually what she picks. For the last two times (2006 and 2008) we were there they were around $28 a piece.

She has never been one for t-shirts but I expect that to change next trip.

My plan is for her to get a gift card in her Easter Basket and then she can continue to add a bit out of her allowance each week, but if I know her father that will end up being in ADDITION to the "one item in each park" deal. :laughing:
 
My girls had Disney jars. Anytime the older two got money from a relative (MIL and Aunt send them all $5 for each holiday such as halloween and valentines), they asked for money as part of Christmas presents to spend at Disney World, etc. MIL & FIL collect their coins into a jar (they do this whether there is a disney trip or not) and the girls got all of that, which ended up being a good amount. The older two ended up $120 I think. One came home with $30, the other came home with $10. The baby ended up with $75 and she came home with less than $20.

This was our first trip, and we don't plan to be able to go back for 3 or 4 years.
 

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