Disney spending.

[disneychrista]

I am not one to buy a bunch of "stuff." I also would not buy my 5yo a $200 light saber. I would buy each child a T-shirt and then ONE toy. Maybe I am cheapskate like @2TxAgs said.

 

[David G Farr]

We gave our 3 (ages 15, 10, and 9) a $50 Disney gift card each to use on whatever souvenirs they want. That’s more than enough money for a decent, reasonable souvenir.

 

[AndreaDM]

I just took my 2 little granddaughters (3 & 5) for the first time a few weeks ago. We went to DS on our arrival day for dinner and some shopping, I let them each pick out one thing at World of Disney, they both picked out a plushie. The next day at MK my daughter bought them each a pair of ears, that was it as far as purchased souvenirs. But, we had lunch at the castle so they got wands, and in Epcot they got free Nemo sticker books and all the KidCot cards. Those along with their 1st visit pins and a few pressed pennies, they thought they were the bomb! Of course there was also cotton candy, popcorn, ice cream...

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Like calories, spending doesn't count at Disney!

 

[Mle8308]

Ive already figured out our dining, room and tickets, gas to get there and all that, im just talking about souvenirs for all of us. Maybe some T-shirts, Bags, things the kids would want. My husband & 5 year old wants a light saber from Star Wars so I know that's about $400 but I was thinking maybe $1,000 for spending??? Is that to high? Like I said im not sure how expensive things are down there lol

Things are expensive and the other posters here have given some great advice. As far as the light saber for the 5 year old, not sure if you are aware, but the child won't really be able to play with it. It's more of a collectible to put on a wall or a shelf. It's made of metal and it's heavy. Great for an adult fan, but kind of a waste for a 5 year old. There is another shop that is again doing a build your own lightsaber that is geared towards kids, it's under $50 and they can play with it. It might be Tatooine Traders. There is also a build your own RC droid for about $100, maybe another option for the 5 year old.

 

[MrsPete]

@hopson2019.....It may seem that you're hearing from a bunch of cheapskates who don't want you to enjoy any Disney souvenirs.

Speaking only for myself, I'm in favor of putting your limited park time into experiences /not shopping.

 

[Silvarra]

Also, don't forget pins. There may not be a lot your 2 yo would want, but you may find they like trading pins. Those can go from $10 up, depending on series and all that. Even your 5 yo will probably like them. With us, both our kids are big into the trading pins, so it can get kind of expensive. I'd recommend getting a lanyard through Etsy or Amazon, they can sometimes run cheaper than the parks, and there's more variety. You can also buy pin sets on Ebay to give you a base to trade with. They do make nice souvenirs when you go home, too.

 

[Meglen]

Also, don't forget pins. There may not be a lot your 2 yo would want, but you may find they like trading pins. Those can go from $10 up, depending on series and all that. Even your 5 yo will probably like them. With us, both our kids are big into the trading pins, so it can get kind of expensive. I'd recommend getting a lanyard through Etsy or Amazon, they can sometimes run cheaper than the parks, and there's more variety. You can also buy pin sets on Ebay to give you a base to trade with. They do make nice souvenirs when you go home, too.

If you buy pin sets not from Disney you run the risk of getting scrappers.. so please only buy Disney pins from Disney and get a discount from sales or during promos. The less scrappers in the mix the better.

 

[LAS2AMS]

People hate me for perpetually writing this, but asking this forum for advise on spending is never a good idea. Everybody has a different level of discretionary spending, and everybody spends it differently. Some users will spend their entire discretionary spending on elaborate, expensive trips to Disney while others will prefer a more modest vacation, spending the excess money elsewhere, or contributing more money to their kids’ college savings account. And of course, more than one poster has literally went bankrupt from overspending at Disney.

My best advice is to budget the entire trip out in advance , and follow the budget while at WDW.

 

[jacksmom]

You can buy things along at your own pace to take with you for a daily gift or one big arrival gift, things like Disney themed beach towels, sunglasses, tees, swim wear, flip flops for pool, magic towels, light up necklaces/bracelets, Disney pins for trading, small stuffed Mickey/Minnie’s, autograph books, small fans, etc. then limit spending to a certain amount each day or for the whole trip. Small things like pin trading and collecting pressed Penny’s go along way. I always put together my quarter and pennies In advance to take. Also having my own light ups helped with the nightly wanting to buy something for the nighttime parades/show. The dollar store, Target and Amazon are good resources along with Disney store online. If you need a number to budget, I would say $25 a day is a reasonable amount, they can spend it each day or save up for something bigger like a Lego set at Disney Springs.

 

[RamblingMad]

The quality of the merchandise has dropped over the years. Check it out before you spend the money. The last time we went we didn't buy anything. She said everything looked cheap.

 

[mickeyfan100]

Like calories, spending doesn't count at Disney!

AMEN!!!

 

[bakerworld]

Little kids like something to hold in their hands so we'd tell them to look around, wait until further in the holiday to select one item, dependent on the cost. We found this worked well and many of the souvenirs lasted until they were done being littles. My kids (34, 37, 40) still enjoy a Disney tee, dependent on the material.

 

[Cheezaman]

We always bought stuff in advance and left it "from Tink, or Mickey, etc." for them to find in the morning. Disney Pjs, tshirts, light up toys, binoculars for AK, and so on. that made the budget go much further, and they didn't seem to want very much. I think they both had around $50 of grandma or birthday $ on a gift card that they could spend on whatever they wished.

This is so smart! Doing this with my toddler when we go. He won’t know the difference.

 

[DisLiss]

Our kids provide their own souvenir money. They save allowance money, birthday money, yardsale money, etc. Always have, even when they were little. And we packed little trinkets for on the way to and from wherever we happened to be vacationing that year. It always worked beautifully for us. DH & I don't spend much on souvenirs, either, so it's just not something we consider to be a big part of a trip.

So, tops, my kids may have $200-$250 available to them on a vacation, even now when they are much older. It's an amount they feel is more than enough, as they often bring money back home with them.

 

[Misha72683]

We did a souvenir a day during our last trip and we will do that again. We didn't really set a price limit, bit we thought 5 items each was more than enough. I know they got mouse ears, plastic lightsabers, stuffed animals and Christmas tree ornaments, all of which still grace our house 6 years later . The mouse ears are in the dress up trunk, the stuffed animals still lay on beds, the light sabers are loved for battles and the ornaments go on our tree with love.

We are sticking to one item a day for this coming trip, especially important because a) we are flying and b) Grandma is coming and she tends to go overboard with the kids, so setting a firm limit is good. But I know the kids want ears and ornaments and the boys want to share a droid and lightsaber. I am budgeting around $1500.

 

[isabellea]

Our average is probably 100$ per kid and that included our tradition of each kid choosing a Christmas ornament for the tree.

When my daughter was 2.5yo, she really wanted a Mickey head bracelet and stuffies. We still have them…

For the lightsabers, my kids have the 35$ plastic ones you could build at MK or Tattouine. They played a lot with them in the backyard when it was dark outside but my oldest’s broke so I told her she can have another one next time we go. At 12yo she’s old enough for the pricey ones but if she wants that one, she’ll have to pay the difference with her own money with the plastic one. On the other hand, DH wants to build the nice lightsaber at Savi for himself. I’m still on the fence for a droid…

My youngest turns 10yo during our trip and her birthday present will be the Wild Africa trek. In the past, she also chose a drum made in Africa from AKL and a nice haunted mansion waist bag.

Finally, every trip we do, I buy a pool towel. That way, we have a souvenir of our previous trips whenever we use them at the pool or beach. Those are my favourites souvenirs!

 

[1GoldenSun]

If you want the light sabres and can afford the light sabres, get the light sabres.

 

[DisneyTexan]

We gave our 3 (ages 15, 10, and 9) a $50 Disney gift card each to use on whatever souvenirs they want. That’s more than enough money for a decent, reasonable souvenir.

I have a similar story -- I gave my college student (a.k.a. limited money young adult) a gift card for our trip so that she wouldn't have to ask for every little thing. However, a few days into the trip she still had not spent any of it! I told her that if it wasn't spent by the end of our last full day, then I was going to "repossess" it on our last morning so that I could spend it on lunch before going home! I ended up using the gift card to buy our lunch. Oh well, I tried.

 

[Where’s the beef]

My kids will each get a $50 gift card and that’s for anything they want outside of what I’ve already planned to pay for. Meaning souvenirs but also meaning if there’s a Mickey pretzel that catches their eye but I have a backpack of snacks, they’re more than welcome to use their money for it.