Souvenirs for Kids

[Jack Kerouac]

For those with young kids (mine are currently 8, 5, and 3), how do you approach souvenirs? We went to WDW in April 2022 and we gave the boys about $200 each to spend over the four park days. The two main reasons for that were we thought it was going to be a trip we wouldn't make again for many years and my parents paid for nearly everything else. Souvenirs happened to be our largest expenditure on the trip.

Now that we are DVC owners (April 2022 was the most expensive free trip I've ever taken), we will be going every year. I'm reluctant to have the same souvenir approach as we did in April 2022. But knowing my boys, especially my oldest, they will be finding something every day at the parks. How do you look at souvenirs for your kids? Do you do a certain dollar amount per park day or trip, or something else? Our boys have some birthday money they will bring in the form of gift cards and savings, along with some money we will provide. But I really don't want our WDW park days to be focused on the "stuff."

 

[snowwite]

For those with young kids (mine are currently 8, 5, and 3), how do you approach souvenirs? We went to WDW in April 2022 and we gave the boys about $200 each to spend over the four park days. The two main reasons for that were we thought it was going to be a trip we wouldn't make again for many years and my parents paid for nearly everything else. Souvenirs happened to be our largest expenditure on the trip.

Now that we are DVC owners (April 2022 was the most expensive free trip I've ever taken), we will be going every year. I'm reluctant to have the same souvenir approach as we did in April 2022. But knowing my boys, especially my oldest, they will be finding something every day at the parks. How do you look at souvenirs for your kids? Do you do a certain dollar amount per park day or trip, or something else? Our boys have some birthday money they will bring in the form of gift cards and savings, along with some money we will provide. But I really don't want our WDW park days to be focused on the "stuff."

Mine are grown now but we went pretty much every year for about 10 yrs. I used to let them do penny press and autographs when they were younger. As they got older I gave them each $50 in Disney Dollars. If they chose to save it they had more next year. So times they got something I would have felt was wasteful but it was their gift so I went with it. Ex DS got a light up spinner at Fantasmic. DD got yet another dis beanie. I also grabbed some Dis stuff on sale during the yr and packed it so I could surprise them.

 

[nw6675]

For DD11, we usually wait until about the last day and shop at Epcot. We usually spend about $150. It keeps us from buying as much on impulse, gives her time to mentally choose, and gives us something to look forward to. Plus, no lugging stuff around.

I know someone else who buys 1 item at the end of every day. I'd say budget $15-25 a day like that.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

Mine are grown now but we went pretty much every year for about 10 yrs. I used to let them do penny press and autographs when they were younger. As they got older I gave them each $50 in Disney Dollars. If they chose to save it they had more next year. So times they got something I would have felt was wasteful but it was their gift so I went with it. Ex DS got a light up spinner at Fantasmic. DD got yet another dis beanie. I also grabbed some Dis stuff on sale during the yr and packed it so I could surprise them.

During our April 2022 trip, my oldest approached stuffed animals as a N+1 problem, meaning he was always in need of one more than the number he had already bought. Now they sit in various storage containers with the other stuffed animals that I purge from every once in a while. My middle son was always a bit more strategic and bought things he liked and still does. We had to help our youngest find things to buy just so we felt like he wasn't getting the shaft. He will be 3.5 when we go in August, so I'm sure it will be quite different.

 

[lanejudy]

Your oldest in particular, and maybe the middle child, can start to understand a "budget" and spending it all or saving for bigger. What we did with DD starting when she was about 7 was we told her she had $X for the week but she would get it in equal amounts each day $Y. She could spend that small amount each day or she could save it to put with the next day's money to buy something more expensive. The first year she spent nearly all each day on little junk or candy treats. No stuffy or tshirt or such. After that, she learned to save some of it. It can be hard for you to stick with that budget, but it's an important lesson. If you do it with the older boys, might as well include the younger one but I wouldn't expect him to really grasp the concept.

 

[sponica]

Apparently my 6 year old is the best sales person in the world, based on how much we brought home this time around. My only real rule is to try to keep it in the 25-35 dollar range. I think we ended up with a stuffed groot, an animal kingdom RC safari jeep, and a Disney 100 Minnie. She also conned her Nana into the Topolino's Mickey Mouse.
Although this haul was less than the last time around...so success?

 

[Anna131517]

They each get a $100 gift card. They’re good at staying in that and not going over. The oldest never ends up spending his, our middle contemplates carefully for a couple days and spends every dollar, and our youngest spends it all on the first princess dress and accessories she sees.

 

[Lilsia]

We just put a limit on how many items that they could get. There were limits to size since we were flying, and we were not buying expensive collectables. But they were able to buy 2 of the typical toys that they sell. We found that to be easier since it is often hard to get exactly the amount if you were to give them something like a gift card. There will always be some money left or they will be short.

 

[JenLovesMM]

When our kids were younger and we were in the parks for a few days, we explained before going that when they found something they wanted we would take a picture of it. Towards the end of the trip, they could go through the pictures and makes choices based on the money they had. It wasn't always easy but it certainly curbed the "I absolutely need this now" then a few hours later "but I also really need this too" and having no money left by day 2. I'm sure that strategy wouldn't work with all kids but it worked well for ours.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

We give them each $100 gift cards. I bite my tongue as much as I can and let them get what they want, but I am FIRM that once it’s spent, that’s it. They’re really good and don’t whine once it’s gone, and now they check out ShopDisney in advance so they have a ballpark of what is available and prices.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

For those with young kids (mine are currently 8, 5, and 3), how do you approach souvenirs? We went to WDW in April 2022 and we gave the boys about $200 each to spend over the four park days. The two main reasons for that were we thought it was going to be a trip we wouldn't make again for many years and my parents paid for nearly everything else. Souvenirs happened to be our largest expenditure on the trip.

Now that we are DVC owners (April 2022 was the most expensive free trip I've ever taken), we will be going every year. I'm reluctant to have the same souvenir approach as we did in April 2022. But knowing my boys, especially my oldest, they will be finding something every day at the parks. How do you look at souvenirs for your kids? Do you do a certain dollar amount per park day or trip, or something else? Our boys have some birthday money they will bring in the form of gift cards and savings, along with some money we will provide. But I really don't want our WDW park days to be focused on the "stuff."

We go fairly often and have since they were around 5, several times per year. To prevent the trip being all about stuff and coming home with a bunch of things we don't need, we capped souvenirs at $25-100, some of our trips are only 1-2 day trips so $100 would be crazy to spend in one day, could do it easily but not necessary. We also limited what they could buy so they weren't buying things we'd never use/enjoy again. It's a balance too to help them not spend all their money on day 1 of a trip, so it encouraged our kids to really think deeply about the items. Most times, they'd never even spend all their money when they had such big decisions to make. We'd have them do chores around the house to earn their spending $$ or they could bring a little of their savings. As they've gotten older, they don't want wands, toys, etc. so it's easier in that regard but now they eat more so I suppose it just evens out dollar wise ;0

Our last trip, I don't think we bought any souvenirs for anyone.

 

[HopperFan]

Such a great way to teach spending restraint. We gave our kids about $30-50 depending on their ages at the time for their souvenir. It was very clear, very firm that once it is gone it is gone. So if early in the week they picked something up we said "Are you sure because that means you won't have any money left if you see something else." 9 out of 10 times they decided to wait and almost every trip ended up with something from World of Disney just before we left. They still talk about that and how they will use with their kids. And they could always supplement with their own money. Every year my family went to the shore & boardwalk and it was up to me to save what money I wanted for souvenirs. A very old lesson I still appreciate.

And we still have a few of those choices hanging out here.

 

[ak517]

My parents generally showed no restraint when my brother and I were growing up and I have a similar attitude now (a new Pandora charm, bag, and ears are common purchases for me on each trip). Conversely, a family friend of ours had the approach that each child got one souvenir period for the duration of the trip. Both are obviously extremes.

I will soon be a first time parent, and all of these tips are helpful little mental notes to stuff away for me for later. One additional one I might add is the room in the suitcase. We generally travel light and I expect to continue that with our little one (aside from their infant/toddler needs) so if it won’t fit we can’t get it (and I don’t trust shipping from park to home). This will definitely restrict purchases to smaller or more compressible items.

 

[dawnball]

When our kids were younger and we were in the parks for a few days, we explained before going that when they found something they wanted we would take a picture of it. Towards the end of the trip, they could go through the pictures and makes choices based on the money they had. It wasn't always easy but it certainly curbed the "I absolutely need this now" then a few hours later "but I also really need this too" and having no money left by day 2. I'm sure that strategy wouldn't work with all kids but it worked well for ours.

That's what we did last year with a 5 year old and it worked really well. This year he's saving his allowance money and doing extra chores to earn more money.

When my older kid was little, we "didn't buy souvenirs." Instead we bought dry clothes when they were drenched by a rainshower/fountain, or we'd buy a practical toy for the trip home. They were generally very appreciated and we always had a story/memory to go with them.

 

[snowwite]

We just put a limit on how many items that they could get. There were limits to size since we were flying, and we were not buying expensive collectables. But they were able to buy 2 of the typical toys that they sell. We found that to be easier since it is often hard to get exactly the amount if you were to give them something like a gift card. There will always be some money left or they will be short.

I had forgotten all about flying restrictions and my son got a toy pistol at POC. We had to be searched but he was allowed to take it home. I was sternly spoken to about it though.

 

[sponica]

My parents generally showed no restraint when my brother and I were growing up and I have a similar attitude now (a new Pandora charm, bag, and ears are common purchases for me on each trip). Conversely, a family friend of ours had the approach that each child got one souvenir period for the duration of the trip. Both are obviously extremes.

I will soon be a first time parent, and all of these tips are helpful little mental notes to stuff away for me for later. One additional one I might add is the room in the suitcase. We generally travel light and I expect to continue that with our little one (aside from their infant/toddler needs) so if it won’t fit we can’t get it (and I don’t trust shipping from park to home). This will definitely restrict purchases to smaller or more compressible items.

I grew up in a one souvenir household, now I have no restraint... Although this last time around, we made 2 week long trips in 10 months, the first trip was the first time in 4 years so we went way overboard. This time I went in with some guard rails...

 

[accm]

When our kids were younger and we were in the parks for a few days, we explained before going that when they found something they wanted we would take a picture of it. Towards the end of the trip, they could go through the pictures and makes choices based on the money they had. It wasn't always easy but it certainly curbed the "I absolutely need this now" then a few hours later "but I also really need this too" and having no money left by day 2. I'm sure that strategy wouldn't work with all kids but it worked well for ours.

This is what we do with our kids (3 and 5 at our last trip), and it worked really well. They wanted to buy pretty much everything they saw, but after the first day, instead of asking me to buy it, they'd ask me to take a picture of it.

They each picked something at the end of the trip to bring home.

 

[Cherrychip]

Going into our trips I tell my kids that we are going on the trip to have experiences, not to buy more things we don’t need. They each get a small amount of souvenir money from us and from their grandparents which they generally use to pick out a souvenir on the last evening of our trip. They can also bring their own money if they want. But I try to keep purchases to one or two small items each as we really do have way too much clutter at home as it is. I generally speed walk us through all the gift shops at the ride exits and we don’t browse until we are at the end of the trip and ready to spend our souvenir money.

On the other hand I do try to say yes more often to requests for snacks/food treats at Disney than I might at other places so they feel like they are getting something every day but it doesn’t come home with us!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Going into our trips I tell my kids that we are going on the trip to have experiences, not to buy more things we don’t need. They each get a small amount of souvenir money from us and from their grandparents which they generally use to pick out a souvenir on the last evening of our trip. They can also bring their own money if they want. But I try to keep purchases to one or two small items each as we really do have way too much clutter at home as it is. I generally speed walk us through all the gift shops at the ride exits and we don’t browse until we are at the end of the trip and ready to spend our souvenir money.

On the other hand I do try to say yes more often to requests for snacks/food treats at Disney than I might at other places so they feel like they are getting something every day but it doesn’t come home with us!

I started typing a response and realized I was just going to reiterate everything you already said here. We're not big on Disney souvenirs, the kids already have so many toys, and I want my kids to understand that the experience - and the privilege of going on these trips - is the point.

Our family is really fortunate that my kids have been able to experience WDW several times already in their short lives, but it's important to me that they know that this kind of thing is not the norm, it's not a right or a given, it's something we are fortunate and privileged to be able to do. We don't go on a trip like this and then, expect MORE. Instead, we go on a trip like this and we are grateful for the opportunity just to go.

That said, I love the gift card method. Of course they're going to want some of the things in the gift shops, they'll want to bring something home. I love that giving them a gift card with a set amount on it forces them to really decide what is special enough to spend it on. I love that it teaches them the value of a dollar, encourages decision-making AND sets boundaries while also giving them a feeling of independence and power. I tell my oldest (youngest doesn't really get it yet) that the money on that gift card is hers to spend as she wants, but to spend it wisely, because when it's gone, it's gone.

As far as the amount, I feel like $200 a kid is a lot especially if you're doing annual trips. Our last trip was after a 3-year covid-and-new-baby-induced hiatus. We were there 12 days, she had $100 gift card and didn't spend it all. For the older kids I might give them each $50 and then throughout the year, encourage them to save their money (whatever they get as an allowance maybe, gifts they gift for birthdays or the holidays) for any extra Disney spending.

 

[Merlin's Magic]

We have done frequent enough trips that souvenirs are a bit more structured. I encourage them to get A souvenir that reminds them specifically of that trip. We will purchase a pin for each park, usually something that was important: a first time on a roller coaster, or a meet & greet they really wanted to do, or something of that sort. We'll also do the silhouettes when we find them.
The actual number of toys and such that have made it home have been remarkably low. A first Mickey Mouse. A porg. We always stop by the Lego Store and bring home a container of loose pieces or minifigs. Basically, the rule has been that if we can easily get it elsewhere, we weren't going to pay Disney prices, but that it's fine to have something to remember a trip by.