My 7 yo DS has saved up $29 so far for our Nov 12-16th trip. He will likely earn another dollar/week until then making his total around $35. I was thinking that I would offer to buy him a t-shirt or sweatshirt, and he would have to use his own money for anything else. Does that sound fair?

I think it is totally fair. We are doing almost the same thing with our 3 and 7 year olds. The 3 year old doesnt have any money, so we'll give him some. He can buy a toy or what ever with it. Then we'll get him something like a tshirt that we want him to have. That way he is in charge of buying what makes him happy. I'll probably give him $30 to spend. The 7 year old has $25 in birthday disney dollars and about $40 in her bank. I will buy her a tshirt (or maybe a new jacket because she needs one). She can spend her money as she wishes.

We will also have grandparents with us that will buy them something (or lots of somethings!)

The first year of my daughter going she was 6 and I told her 20$ a day so 100$ total but she really didn't spend much over 50$. She did't hardly notice there was things to buy. The next time was different. She was 7 and fell in love with a princess dress, shoes, wand etc.... So she spent most of her money on that. I would limit the daily amount so they dont blow it all the first day. if they see something they really want then they can plan out their spending for it.

Just a suggestion....we hit the character warehouse first for the t-shirt/sweatshirt purchase. Saves us money and gets that first "spend need" out of our system.

He will likely earn another dollar/week


Slightly off topic, but this line made me stop and think that perhaps I'm giving my daughter too much allowance. She's 9 (almost 10), and she gets $5 a week in allowance, plus another $5 a week that goes straight into her savings account.

Is this considerably more than the standard rate?

To address the original posters question, I would say that $35 doesn't go very far at Disneyland. If you don't go to the park very often, souveniers can really add up. I always like to reward my daughter for her saving efforts by matching what she's saved up on her own, usually $0.50 per $1 she's saved. So or example, if she's saved $20 of her own money, I'll match $10 of it.

Slightly off topic, but this line made me stop and think that perhaps I'm giving my daughter too much allowance. She's 9 (almost 10), and she gets $5 a week in allowance, plus another $5 a week that goes straight into her savings account.

Is this considerably more than the standard rate?

To address the original posters question, I would say that $35 doesn't go very far at Disneyland. If you don't go to the park very often, souveniers can really add up. I always like to reward my daughter for her saving efforts by matching what she's saved up on her own, usually $0.50 per $1 she's saved. So or example, if she's saved $20 of her own money, I'll match $10 of it.
We've given our kids an allowance rate of half their age - this way there is no negotiating blues (I can't change your age! ;) ) and they do get a 50 cent raise on their birthday (woohoo!). They put some in a giving box & some in savings.

My son chose to take only $27 of his $50 savings to DL last year because he wanted to buy a big Bionicle when we got back. He managed to get the pirate set he loved plus a Goofy street sign and was quite pleased with his spending. My daughter, on the other hand, took all $60 (and she was not yet 4yo! She's quite the saver...) and blissfully spent it all on various princess goods.

Our policy was to take only a notepad & pen into the park each day to record which souvenirs they liked, the cost & place of sale. We then designated one day (our last at DL) for shopping; the night before, they went over their lists & chose what they wanted most & could afford. This avoided long deliberations over spending, carrying packages everyday, and sad cases of buyer's remorse - they got to check out all the shops & all the possibilities. We parents were willing to buy hats with names, name tags, and books they loved. Like someone else mentioned, grandparents were also available for extras, but overall I was quite impressed with how the system worked for everyone. :)

By the way, my friend also does the matching plan. I think that is very kind & a nice gesture, especially if your kids are a little older & planning to purchase something really big & special (jacket, snow globe...).

$35 seems very reasonable.

on our last trip I gave each of my kids $30 Disney Dollars to spend as they wish, just before we left their grandparents gave them each $20 to spend, giving each child $50
total for 5 days, we also have the rule about waiting to do the shopping, Ours is the next to last day (I have learned from experience that I can lose a whole day shopping if we wait for the last minute...) that gave them time to shop arund and make up there minds,

And $50 was a challenge for them to spend, they both came home with money, which they are saving for the next trip.

Have fun

Slightly off topic, but this line made me stop and think that perhaps I'm giving my daughter too much allowance. She's 9 (almost 10), and she gets $5 a week in allowance, plus another $5 a week that goes straight into her savings account.

Is this considerably more than the standard rate?

Charlie doesn't get an "allowance" at all. He earns $1 each Thursday by collecting the feedpans from the horse stalls at the barn and piling them in the feed room.

To address the original posters question, I would say that $35 doesn't go very far at Disneyland. If you don't go to the park very often, souveniers can really add up. I always like to reward my daughter for her saving efforts by matching what she's saved up on her own, usually $0.50 per $1 she's saved. So or example, if she's saved $20 of her own money, I'll match $10 of it.

We go to Disneyland at least once a year...sometimes as much as three times in a year, so I don't think he really needs a lot of souveniers each time we go. This is really why I am trying to find a reasonable limit and make him pay for some himself.

I really like the idea of taking a notepad and making notes of what he may want to buy, then discussing it and buying it later.

I think $35 wont go very far at DL either...for our trip, I'll be giving my oldest (who will be 6) $20 a day to spend for five days and I think that may be a little bit more reasonable than $35 for a whole trip.

I think the amount of money and how far it goes has more to do with what the children are used to and what they are interested in. My kids are not used to getting something new everytime we go someplace, and are often happy with a small item. One of my daughters favorite things on the last trip was a necklace she made from beads. I think it was about $6. My sons favorite thing was a chevron car from Autopia. If I gave them each $20 a day two things would likely happen. 1) they would be overwhelmed trying to quickly find something to spend it on. 2) I would end up with a bunch of plastic crap to fill the toy box with. If I give them a small amount they will choose wisely, and get things they really like and use.

I think the amount of money and how far it goes has more to do with what the children are used to and what they are interested in. My kids are not used to getting something new everytime we go someplace, and are often happy with a small item. One of my daughters favorite things on the last trip was a necklace she made from beads. I think it was about $6. My sons favorite thing was a chevron car from Autopia. If I gave them each $20 a day two things would likely happen. 1) they would be overwhelmed trying to quickly find something to spend it on. 2) I would end up with a bunch of plastic crap to fill the toy box with. If I give them a small amount they will choose wisely, and get things they really like and use.I agree. I also don't have an issue helping out if they find something they really like, really want, but just don't have the money for (ie snow globe, scrapbooking stuff, etc...) My kids are 15-20 now, and this has served them well. I also found that giving them a set amount, then deciding to add to it if need be, made them more selective.

I think going a few times every year would definatly lower the amount of spending money given. As I mentioned above I gave Hailey 100$ to spend, but that was her first vacation anywhere, ever. She has been a few times since and I have lowered the money amount. The last trip the only thing she bought was a Build a Bear and clothes for it. She DIDN'T even want anything else! She said 'no, my snowball is just what i wanted!' We are going in Jan and she'll be 10 soon and im thinking 50$ is just right for her 4th trip.

$35 plus a t-shirt sounds just right.

That $35 can buy a lot of pins, Beanie Babies, special pens, or whatever your son's heart desires.

Way to go, Rhiannon.

My kids, 2 and 4, will each have $50 to spend. I want them to get 50th shirts and they always get the traditional plush friend to take home, their choice. But I will let them each pick one thing, that they want. Last trip, my oldest was 3, and he picked a $25 Buzz clock. He STILL loves it!

My kids get an allowance, $5/week. That said they also get an additional $5 to put into the bank and $5 to put in their Disneyland savings box at home. We are heading to Disneyland in May and by then they will each have about $80 saved up in their Disneyland boxes. My daughter, age 4 when we go, wants to buy a Princess Dress and my son, age 6, wants a hand-held fan he saw 2 years ago when we went (way under $80). They will be able to take some money to the park everyday and can decide if they want to buy something or save for something bigger later in the trip. They already understand about saving money as they practice with their allowance (son saved for 3 weeks to get a lego set he really had his eye on, and my daughter saved for 2 weeks to get a fish). Some weeks there is nothing they desire so they don't spend the money.

I think that if you go to Disneyland a few times a year a smaller amount of money would be appropriate (we go once a year so they save up throughout the year). When we went on a family vacation this summer I allowed the children to pick something as a souvenier. My 6 year old and 3 year old each picked a stuffed lion priced at $8 each. My one year old didn't really want anything so $16 was what was spent for the vacation and they still love the lions and it brings back memories of the vacation for them.

We don't make buying things a priority so if they see something in their travels then fine but usually they are too busy with rides etc. to be to interested in buying things.

We don't make buying things a priority so if they see something in their travels then fine but usually they are too busy with rides etc. to be to interested in buying things.
We go often so for mine (and they are teens) buying has become a low priority. One thing I came up with early on was giving them a set amount of money each trip for snacks. Otherwise, they nickle and dime me with churros/dole whips/sodas.... Now that they are older, CamelBaks have become their friends, so they don't have to spend their snack money on sodas. And are more willing to pack snacks to add their snack money to their spending money... Last trip, 8 days, and I doubt any of them had more than 1 churro the whole trip.

Wow! My kids will be getting $10 in Disney Dollars for Christmas and that's all they are getting for our trip to Disney World in April. But we got the dining plan so they'll get a special snack each day with that and we'll let them go to Downtown Disney the last day we are there to pick something special to buy. Knowing my kids it'll be a Mickey shaped lollipop or something similar.

Little update for anyone who care (and it's ok if you don't ;))...Charlie (7 yo) has been working really hard, asking for extra chores out at the ranch like cleaning out the horse trailer and the hay barn and has earned quite a bit more money than I expected. But all the extra help was really nice! He got some money from my sister-in-law and has close to $50 now. I expect he'll be at $50 or more before we leave, Nov 12.

We have discussed writing down everything in a notebook and then talking about it before buying and he actually thinks its a "great idea, Mom!" He's acting very grown up about it all. It's so cute!

I think this is just one more great way that a family trip to Disney is more than just "vacation" it teaches choices and responsiblities and consequences. Miss B is always saving for her next Disney trip but I have a fun story to share from our just completed one. On our way TO our final destination (Kasa de Krock & DisneyLand) we stopped at my surrogate nieces home for the night. Her 'new' hubby wanted to do something special for Brandy so he ran to target and got a deluxe uno game so we could play uno after dinner (it's her fav game). Now both my niece and I were doing the um the 4 dollar deck of cards would have been FINE but he felt the need to get the more grand deluxe set. Brandy was IN love and decided she MUST have the same set. I was very firm and said you have 2 choices, you can wait and ask for it for Christmas OR you can use some of your Disney dollars (she had real cash) and buy it now and not have as much to shop at Disneyland, (did I mention her favorite word is SHOP?) it took her a little while but she ended up deciding that she really just couldn't wait til the holidays for that wonderful Uno set so she chose to spend some of her money in advance but it was great watching her make the choice. When it got time to shop at Disneyland she was fine when I said nope sorry you can't afford that you can afford this and this but then you're finished shopping for this trip.

We did pretty well on our recent trip. Both kids got a toy mid trip. Hannah got a light chaser to play with while we waited for fireworks, and Harrison got a Buzz gun. We paid for those. Grandma bought them both a hat on day 2. We bought them a jacket/ sweatshirt one cold evening. Hannah brought $20 from her bank, and her $20 disney dollars. She used it for a Build a bear ($24), an ariel figurine and some beads. We also bought Harrison a bear at build a bear. He had $10 from his bank and we paid for the rest. I also bought them both a Christmas ornament.

They got things through out the trip, but we didnt get to crazy with our spending!

. Brandy was IN love and decided she MUST have the same set. I was very firm and said you have 2 choices, you can wait and ask for it for Christmas OR you can use some of your Disney dollars (she had real cash) and buy it now and not have as much to shop at Disneyland, (did I mention her favorite word is SHOP?) it took her a little while but she ended up deciding that she really just couldn't wait til the holidays for that wonderful Uno set so she chose to spend some of her money in advance but it was great watching her make the choice. .

MammaSilva, Miss B sounds like such a delightful person. You must be very proud of her. What a wonderful mom you are. :)