Disney Advice?

[couponteen101]

*** We told her about the trip on her birthday, and her reaction was priceless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSvP4ozuwA8


We are heading to Florida in May and I was wondering what type of spending money we should have for the park. We are going for 2 days with a 11 year old. We don't want her to have so much that she wastes it, but we also want her to have enough to get the things she wants. What do you think would be a fair amount for 2 days? Her food is all taken care of, so it is really just souvenirs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[lizzie bargain]

Last time I took my daughter she was 9 and was totally into the pin trading. I bought a package of fairly plain, inexpensive pins( maybe $20-25 for 5 and then she had a great time trading with the Disney staff members for any ones she liked that they were wearing on their lanyards around their necks. So if you have a lanyard take that if you think your daughter would be interested. Also there is some type of factory outlet mall that has cheaper Disney souvenirs -google that and if you have time take her there for her shopping instead. I can't really give you a dollar figure but maybe just have a talk ahead of time about waiting until the end of the day or trip to buy-otherwise every 5 minutes she will see something else she likes. You could talk about what she is wanting ahead of time and what she will really use and treasure once she is home as things are very expensive there- for eg limit stuffies to one small one etc. Some of the best memories are free-for eg a picture with one of her favourite characters etc. You can also google the Mousesavers newsletter as they have lots of money saving tips. Have fun!

[bargain_hunter_lola]

We're going next year so I've been researching as much as possible.

One tip that I thought is fantastic is to buy a Disney gift card and let them spend that. When its gone, its gone. No arguing or begging for more. Whatever amount of you set, they (with an adults help) need to budget and make sure they don't waste it.

Not sure of an actual amount though, I haven't been in 4 years so I can't remember the average cost of items. Maybe you can google and then figure an amount that way?

Good luck and have fun!

[Zonny]

This is a really subjective question. Some folks would give their kid $200 or something, others would limit it to under $50.

When we went, we really didn't have a dollar amount in mind for DS to spend. But we had five days at Disney, seven days in Florida in all, and we explained to him (age 7) that he could not get any souvenirs the first few days, that would give him time to think about what he wanted rather than buying stuff the first day, then seeing something else he wanted.

In the parks themselves the things are marked up of course, there's lots of local stores that sell the same things, even the grocery stores have some, for a lot less money.

As it turned out, there was only ONE thing he wanted and it was at Discovery Cove, a giant stuffed stingray. I have never spent $75 on a stuffed animal in my life, and don't expect to do so ever again, but this was indeed the only thing he wanted, and the stingrays were the thing he loved most about the whole trip. So that's what he got, nothing else, and was satisfied with that.

Have a great trip!

[couponteen101]

Thanks for all of these tips! I have a strong feeling she is going to want a cheetah from animal kingdom and she will probably be into the pin trading. She currently doesn't know we are going, but she did get a ton of money for her birthday so she will be using some of her own, but she has to save most of it. I think we will do the Giftcard idea because the she know what she has to spend and won't waste it! I think I mightdo that for myself too.

[Shwa Girl]

OP, a Disney trick we learned from Amerifriends in Florida. People purchase Disney like memorabilia either at the Dollar Store or Walmart USA. It may have been made in the same place anyways

[Shwa Girl]

OP, a Disney trick we learned from Amerifriends in Florida. People purchase Disney like memorabilia either at the Dollar Store or Walmart USA. It may have been made in the same place anyways

Some have even bought Disney items from here, and taken them on their trip.
http://www.walmart.ca/search/disney/N-32

[psbudrow]

I took the kids a few years back and stopped at the Disney store at the outlet mall and the stuff was 50-75% off what it was in Disney Parks. So everyone got Eyeore, Minney etc stuffed animals or Shirts. The parks are supper expensive. But she will need some Mickey Mouse ears....no getting away from that.

[couponteen101]

After reading all your advice, I talked to my parents, and they decided that we will buy the giftcard. They seem to think $150 is fair for both days. At first I thought it was too much, but over the last year she has been such an amazing tiny human. Having to take on a few extra responsibilities due to my moms illness and never really complains. I can wait until she finds out she where we are really going! Thanks again fr all your help!

[couponteen101]

I added her reaction to finding out about the trip in the first post, it is the sweetest!

[Zonny]

I added her reaction to finding out about the trip in the first post, it is the sweetest!

Cute! I especially like the first comment to the video:

"take this off emily or i kill u"

[couponteen101]

Cute! I especially like the first comment to the video:

"take this off emily or i kill u"

haha ya, we all cried with laughter when we saw that. Funny part was, she was there when we were uploading it. Haha