Spending money for solo teen

[Bork]

So DS17 is heading to WDW at the end of March with the school marching band. They will be performing at the MK and then they get 1 day at each park and 1 day at Universal. They get a $25 gift card per day for food. I know that won't go far for him.

How should we handle extra spending money without giving him a pile of cash to lose?

 

[dez1978]

Are travelers checks still a thing? Thats what I had on my High school band trip but that was 20 some years ago.

I'd ask your bank about a debit/credit card. That way there is still the protection if it's lost. Can you link a card to his reservation so he could charge with his magic band? Or maybe enable applepay or samsung pay on his phone? I think everywhere at Disney can use that too. Or get him Disney Gift cards. That way you can give him one to use everywhere at Disney and can also add it online so that if he loses one you can transfer the $ from that to another card.

 

[sponica]

I had a debit card at 16, so I'd use that.

 

[soniam]

You could do a gift card, either Disney or VISA. VISA will require a fee. I don't think the Disney's do, but they are only good with Disney.

 

[Bork]

They are staying offsite, so no room charge. Are Disney gift cards refillable? I'm thinking it would be better to keep the amount smaller and have him text if we need to add more money. He'd obviously need something else for the Universal day.

 

[dez1978]

They are staying offsite, so no room charge. Are Disney gift cards refillable? I'm thinking it would be better to keep the amount smaller and have him text if we need to add more money. He'd obviously need something else for the Universal day.

you could have like one large gift card and give him one with a smaller amount and transfer $ from one to the other online. Like I only take a gc with me into the parks with 100$ on it and if I need to I can move $ onto it from my phone while I'm there. But if I lose it I can go online and move the $ to another card.

 

[snikki]

When my son went for his senior trip he had just turned 18 that week. He had a voucher for one QS meal each day, one fireworks dessert party at Epcot and one pizza party. He took around $200 in cash and then used his debit card that he had for years but had really just started using it much. We share the same bank so if he ran out of money or something happened I could transfer him over cash. It worked well. He really didn't plow through much cash like I thought he would. He spent maybe $300 over 5 days (4 Disney, 1 Universal) and used his debit card for almost all of the purchases so he came back with almost all of his cash. I was also worried about him losing his cash or wallet but he did really well.

 

[happymommy]

When my kids were old enough, I just added them as users to my credit card. They had that and it was safer than too much cash. Amex was the first one, and it’s easy as I can set a limit to their spending.

 

[wdw&sonny]

I'd get a separate credit card in your name with him on it. It will begin to establish his credit so he can get his own in a few years. It is difficult for young adults to get a first credit card with out a co-signer. Better to have him on your card now than when he is in his 20s and on his own. Set up the card as automatic payment from his bank account.

 

[lockets]

Electronic gift card on his phone. I purchase through Target and screenshot it and when I need to use it the CMs just scan the QR code from my phone. If he needs more $ in the middle of trip just purchase another one. They don’t refill but when you purchase from target it’s delivered over email within the hour. Usually takes less than 20 minutes.

 

[Turksmom]

you could have like one large gift card and give him one with a smaller amount and transfer $ from one to the other online. Like I only take a gc with me into the parks with 100$ on it and if I need to I can move $ onto it from my phone while I'm there. But if I lose it I can go online and move the $ to another card.

FYI- you can't transfer a partial balance from a Disney gift card. If you have $500, you have to transfer the full amount.

 

[HopperFan]

They are staying offsite, so no room charge. Are Disney gift cards refillable? I'm thinking it would be better to keep the amount smaller and have him text if we need to add more money. He'd obviously need something else for the Universal day.

When my kids used to travel to Disney or anywhere with school sports teams I would put $ in an envelope for each day. If they didn't spend it all they had extra to add to the next day. It worked, while some kids ran out of money mine never did (and likely came home with profits). So now I would do the same but with gift cards, one per day that way the other cards stay at the hotel in their bag, like the money envelopes. You can buy both Disney and Universal gift cards.

Jump to last summer whole family trip to both parks. I wasn't going to lay out my cc for every meal and snacks so I gave each adult kid a gift card for Disney and one for Universal. Each had $ per day for each park. Anything extra they wanted they paid for themselves. It worked out fine. We were covering food average cost, but extras on them.

 

[DL1WDW2]

We are currently a family with similar questions and more with Band Trip.
A few parents have commented … the band doesn’t “perform” in public viewing and now we are confused.
And you mention staying off property for school trip.
So it’s Disney , the company that knocks on door of hotel room on property to check for child trafficking that also has off property band trip ? Now I m really confused.
Hopefully somebody has experienced a school band trip and can explain .
We have family members that are changing plans to vist for this but now we are thinking need more info.
Thanks in advance Appreciate anything related .

 

[Kjdisney]

When my kids were old enough, I just added them as users to my credit card. They had that and it was safer than too much cash. Amex was the first one, and it’s easy as I can set a limit to their spending.

We did the same thing. AMEX let me add them on when in mid teens. We also added them to Costco Visa. Bank of America let’s you set up student checking accounts as well. I think you can do that as early as 13.

 

[Skippyboo]

You could buy a Disney and Universal gift card to supplement . Disney also accepts Apple Pay. Universal has a wallet feature in their app where you can store a credit card to charge stuff.

 

[SteveH]

@Bork It's been around 10 years since our son did band at Disney. We sent him with about $100, plus his Debit card. Not much money on it but we did add more during his trip. As a safety precaution we had one of the bad parents that could have helped with a fund transfer if he lost his debit card.

We managed both of our kids debit cards for a while, keeping most money in savings and transferring as they got old enough to be responsible.

@DL1WDW2 some of those questions should be asked to either the band director or whoever is running the trip. I would get a hold of them asap and get all of your questions answered. With Covid its had to say what they are going to do with their performance time, ours was a combination of marching band and just other band students so they had a session with one of Disney's conductors and created their own recording.

I think what you'll find is there are some tour companies that run these trips with various pricing options, to save money some may staff a nearby offsite hotel. It's usually up to the band director and band parents to supervise the students at the hotel... not the hotel staff. Disney does room checks, not just for trafficking but also looking for possible other tips, guns, drugs, etc.

 

[Best Aunt]

I would give the kid at least a little cash. Sometimes the system goes down and credit cards aren't accepted. It doesn't happen often, but if your kid is paying for their own food, you want them to be able to eat.

 

[Bork]

We are currently a family with similar questions and more with Band Trip.
A few parents have commented … the band doesn’t “perform” in public viewing and now we are confused.
And you mention staying off property for school trip.
So it’s Disney , the company that knocks on door of hotel room on property to check for child trafficking that also has off property band trip ? Now I m really confused.
Hopefully somebody has experienced a school band trip and can explain .
We have family members that are changing plans to vist for this but now we are thinking need more info.
Thanks in advance Appreciate anything related .

It is our understanding that the band will be marching along the parade route at the Magic Kingdom and the choir will be performing at Disney Springs. We have over 350 students going on this trip.

We were also told that 3 private security guards will be on duty while the students are in their hotel.

Thanks everyone for the tips.

 

[jimmymc]

If you don't want to give him cash and if he doesn't have a card, I would suggest Disney and Universal gift cards, plus a little bit of cash to cover the difference.

 

[Eastern]

I got authorized user credit cards for all my kids when they were teens. If they lose it, no big deal. Plus like someone said, they start to get a credit history. Give him another $40 for his wallet just in case.