Souvenir money for 9 and 5 year olds

[Wdw1015]

We are taking our first Disney trip in October and I'm curious what to do about souvenir money. I'm wondering if I should get them a set amount for the whole trip and say to spend it how you'd like but once it's gone, it's gone.

Or is it better to give a certain amount for each park or even each day?

And what is that amount?

What have you done in the past that worked for you?

 

[Molly812]

Personally I think this is not a one size fits all question. Will your 5 yr old be able to understand the number sense involved in how much money they actually have and understand how to budget it? My guess (being a kindergarten teacher) is probably not but you know your child best. Your 9 year old I would think would be more likely to be able to handle a budget. Also. Will your children get upset when the money is gone?

 

[ashg8r]

You have to do what's best for you - they are probably old enough to have a set amount for the whole trip, amounts vary wildly depending on what you are comfortable with, how much is normally spent on vacations, have they been saving money, etc.
We have a 6 and 4 year old and will probably go in with $60 (that they have earned/saved). We will talk about being able to buy a several things Vs 1 or 2 larger things and let them decide that. We are not big shoppers and husband hates buying a lot of "junk" (my DDs and I are the big Disney fans) so we try not to go overboard.
I also usually do small gifts (princess nightgown, new shirts, Sofia bracelet, small light up toy, etc) some mornings, helps keep from getting the "gimmes."

 

[dprincessmom]

For the 5 year old I would set a budget in my head and try and track it accordingly. The amount I would think should be the same for both kids but the 9 year old can control his/her own spending and will probably be more selective if it is "her" money. Typically, I give her $25 and we plan far enough in advance that she has the opportunity to save her allowance. She will also tell people when asked what she would like for birthday or holidays, that a Disney gift card/money for Disney would be wonderful. She usually has $100 (some in cash and some in gift cards). On the last couple of trips she came back with cash left over.

 

[alc571]

We have always done the "here's $50 on a gift card - buy what you want" route. Our son is a lot more careful with his money when it's "his" money and not our money. We will still buy him the occasional thing (treat, little toy, etc.), but otherwise he uses his money. It's always lasted him until the end of the trip because he wants to see everything in every park before he decides what he wants. It also helps teach him about money and budgeting.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

We don't really set a budget at the beginning of the trip. The biggest thing we do is not allow anyone to buy anything for the first 3/4 days of the trip. I have found that with my boys (and my DW) for that matter it really cuts down on impulse buys. If any of us sees something that we think we really want at the Conch Flats General Store when we check in to OKW we wait a while to make sure we really want it. That has helped us keep the kids spending under control.

 

[TempleOT]

My kids are 8 and 5. They went with equals amount of souvenir money that family gifted to them--$65/per kid. Now, my husband is a cast member, so we get a discount in the gift shops, so this amount bought them 4 nice souvenirs each. I know without the discount it wouldn't go nearly as far. They had the money on giftcards and spent it throughout the trip, although I did encourage them to wait until a few days in before starting the spending. It worked well for them and they understood they had a set amount (the 8 year old more than the 5 year old).

 

[lizard1]

I find it harder to figure out how to do souvenirs at Disney because not all merchandise is available everywhere and there really are cases where you see something one day and then it is gone the next and nowhere to be found for the rest of your trip (so you can't just wait until the end of the trip to buy stuff). If I am the one putting the money out for the kids, I also have a difficult time setting a specific amount as to how much they can spend because of their greatly varying interests- for instance one year all my 3 year old wanted was a hairbrush, but her older sister wanted something that was much more expensive.

One thing that I have seen done (that I do to some degree) is to give each child a certificate for whatever you want to buy for them. For instance, one certificate for a shirt, one for a toy, one for a balloon, one for a candy treat, etc. While this may not limit the dollar amount you are spending, it does limit the number of things you are getting for them. I have done something similar in the past. My kids can use their money how they choose. Then, I will tell them I will buy them one hat or shirt and will buy them one toy (my youngest will be 5 for our next trip, so I probably will give them a dollar amount versus just telling them they can get a toy). This way, they will get what they really want and will use/play with and there won't be fighting over me spending more on one child than another.

 

[Wdw1015]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate your feedback! These are great ideas!

 

[Thing 1]

What works for us may not work for you but this is what we do with DS now 8 and have been doing so since he was old enough to ask for things there. We tell him we do not buy anything in the parks until the last day because we don't carry anything with us. We can make a picture of something he see's and then he can make a choice on the last day and we make sure we have time to go back to the park to get it. Some trips we might say one toy and one shirt or something. We simply are not stuff people and we don;t want to make the trip about shopping. We walk quickly and with purpose out of ride exit stores and we just don't go into most gift shops. The one exception is the tatoonie gift shop. DS loves it there and we try to plan that area for the end of trip purchase. We have made trips to the lego store a few times as well but those are planned and not part of our normal plans.

 

[Mainemama]

We have taken several trips with the following strategy, and it has worked well for us. If Christmas or a birthday is right before (or reward for good grades, etc.) we give each child a $50 gift card. This is used however the child likes. We also allow each child to choose how much of their own saved money to bring. Our kids only use their saved money to deposit in the bank or take on trips, so I feel comfortable giving them discretionary money. They have never chosen to bring more than $40, and they often bring money home (they know it is theirs... That toy doesn't look so appealing when they have to pay for it!) I have had a kid pick ears, toys, stuffies, key chains, even a snack! When it is gone, it is gone. I have given more guidance to the 4 year old or 5 year old (if you buy this, you will have enough left for something small, etc.), but they have never challenged it. I have 2 very different shoppers, too: boy buys something immediately, usually after seeing someone else with it. He does not step into a store again. Girl looks in every store she can and typically waits until the last day. We obviously pay for the kids' foods, and I buy them each at shirt if they want, but all other souvenirs come from their stash. We did have one trip where the middle kid's behavior was so bad, he was not able to shop. He just couldn't pull himself together to go into a store. So, the money went back into the piggy bank! Our trips have ranged from 4-6 park days. If we are combining Disney with something else, the same amount of money covers all places on the trip.

 

[MandiC]

Our kids got gift cards for Christmas from grandparents. That was their spending money. I told them if they didn't ask for a bunch of stuff along the way that on our last day I would buy them any one pin they wanted. I believe one was $10 and the other was $15, my girls were 7 and 9 on our trip. Do what works for your family. I didn't *want* my kids bringing home a bunch of 'stuff', I wanted their souvenirs to be meaningful and special to them and I think that kind of gets lost if it's just a bunch of things they see here and there.

 

[ammag]

My kids save up and we give them a disney gift tardis with their money on it, helping the younger one. Our last trip my mom ended uo just buying. Them a toy because it was a surprise trip, but I gave my daughter a lanyard full of pins to start trading. This time the kids are 8 and 4 and both have birthdays before the trip so they will save up, my daughter saved $140 and if she doesn't spend it she will take chrome, giving her the power over her own money definitely made her frugal on our first trip at age 5 I expect the same this time. We already know a few items they want and will help them plan.
My daughter held a lot of money until the end tour but she ended uo buying thigns she didn't love at the end and regretting it later. This time I will remind her if she finds what she wants to buy it then.

Does anyone know if we can add a certain amount to a child's magic band? Link a gift card of only theirs?

 

[kmb584]

I used to just buy my daughter whatever she wanted, within reason, but since we go twice a year I was forever lugging home a ton of things that were played with a few times then discarded. My daughter's now 6 and for this trip she'll have her own spending money and once it's gone, it's gone. She's been putting loose change in a jar since November and I cashed it out yesterday for $137. I'll give her the $3 to make it an even $140 and purchase a Disney gift card in that amount.

 

[smiths02]

For my 9 year old, he got a $50 gift card plus he can take his birthday money. He understands this concept, and he knows I am budget conscious, so he knows not to constantly ask.
My 2 year olds, I think I'll just tell them no for everything until the end
I am taking along glow sticks, princess tiaras, coloring books, stickers, autograph books, etc (plus my older son is getting a bunch of pins for birthday/Christmas) they all got lots of Disney them shirts, swimwear, shoes.
My kids have been trained from an early age that we don't buy everything we see in a store (grandma/grandpa break the rule).

 

[julie1072]

As a few people have mentioned as well, it depends on the child. I have 2 girls, and the last time we went, they each had their own Disney GC with $100 on it for a 9 day stay. They each bought something the very first day (stuffies that they slept with). After that, they both thought carefully before purchasing anything. They were reminded that once the money was gone, that was it. They were 9 and 5 at the time, and we had no trouble at all. In fact, my youngest was looking for things to use the rest of her card for at the end of our trip!

 

[kangaroodle]

The only problem with a large amount of money on a gift card is that the child might not use all of it. If you are not planning another trip soon, this money is "stuck" there. When my kids were young I bought them Disney Dollars. They are much more tangible than a gift card. They still sell them at WDW. Even easier.....I made "fake" Disney Dollars by printing ones from the internet. While they are not legal to use in the stores, my kids paid me with them and then I paid for the item they wanted. This is a very easy way for the child to visualize how much he/she has spent and how much he/she has left---even if they are very young..

 

[HCinKC]

Our 6yo had about $85 (from saving and gifts) and that was it for the length of our vacation. If he saw something he wanted, we would talk about how much money it would cost, what he'd have left, how many days we had left, and what parks we still had to visit. It worked really well for him. He didn't regret any purchases. DH and I had also already agreed to buy him ears and a shirt. ODS knew that and could spend his money on other things. We went for SWW, and ODS and I had already talked about SW items for sale. He knew what he wanted prior to the trip, and he stuck to it. He had money leftover and was able to buy an extra item that he liked.

Oh yes, he had cash. I kept it for him, and would give it to him at the register. We didn't want to do a gift card because any leftover money would be stuck. We wanted any leftovers to go back in his "spending piggy". Turns out, he spent almost every dime lol. Still glad we had cash though.

 

[robndani]

My kids are 5. When we were there in February I gave them each a $25 Disney Gift Card (which I held on to, of course). I let them spend that on whatever they wanted. Besides that, I told them they could get little things here and there or they could get one "big" thing each towards the end of the trip. They chose the monorail set & pirate Mickey ship!!!! I don't make them stick to a budget, it's too hard for ME, but I also don't let them get everything they want at every park, every day.

However, if we didn't go to Disney 2-3 times per year, I'd probably just let them get whatever they wanted! LOL

We've also done the thing where we take pictures on my phone of some of the things they liked, then we sit and look at it towards the end of the trip and they choose what they want the most!

HAVE FUN!

 

[wallskm]

We gave ours a $50 gift card each to pick out whatever they wanted. We encouraged them to wait a couple days before buying anything and had planned shopping time. I like the idea of taking pictures of what they like and deciding what they want most, may have to do that next time. There were some things we bought that we did not make them pay for (ears, and some story books that WE wanted them to have). I thought they did very well!