With all the tempting merchandise available for sale at the Disney theme parks, families might have a hard time deciding how much to spend, and what to buy. This week, we asked our Parenting Panel: How do your families plan and use their souvenir budgets?
Chris, also known as GusMan, is always planning his next family trip to the Walt Disney World Resort and loves to help others plan their trips, as well sharing his experiences. Chris writes:
Having a vacation budget is a very important thing. I know that many Disney guests plan their expenditures very tightly so that they don't have to go home to a mountain of bills for a vacation that is now over. Items such as transportation, lodging, tickets, and even food, to some extent, can be planned out and budgeted within a reasonable percentage. While there are variables in every budget I think the one that gets overlooked the most, or at least underestimated quite a bit, is the category regarding souvenirs.
Lets face it. From the moment you step in a park or resort, you are within only a few footsteps from a point of sale counter. There are some great and unique items alongside many of your average, and dare I say “typical” items to take home as a token of your vacation. The problem is that it is so hard to estimate what you might want to set aside for shopping during your trip. Here are some tips from my experiences:
- If this is your first Disney vacation, take your original souvenir budget and double it. Seriously. Unless you are very strong willed and will surely stick within what you set aside, make your estimate bigger. Maybe try to keep it to the original amount, but then know that you have a “reserve” of sorts. I say that because you will run into that one item that will be a splurge—and you will want it even though it is above your budget. There is nothing really wrong with that sort of thinking. In fact, I think it keeps the budget “real” and within what might be typical of a guests first visit.
- Know what you would really like to use at home. To elaborate, if you are not really the kind of person that cooks or bakes a lot, will you really use the Mickey-shaped baking dish? To my discredit, there have been items purchased while on vacation that I did not use for a few years. You just need to think about if it is something you really want before plopping down the cash and not just an impulse buy.
- Keep track of what you spend/your receipts. Disney makes it really easy to buy things on property. This also means that it is easier to blow your budget. Keep track of what you are spending by reviewing your receipts at the end of the day. I know this is not the most magical way to end your day, but if you want to keep on track, its necessary.
- Decide what you will allow your kids to spend—and make this well-known. This can be a real learning experience for kids as they learn the value of a dollar. Give them a certain amount for them to spend, and help them see how much they get for their dollar. On top of this, if they are of the age and maturity to do so, this would be a great time for them to earn spending money for their trip, as well. They will soon learn that the $7 bag of candy may be nice, but, for a few dollars more, they may want that plush that will not simply disappear in 15 minutes.
- Budget for gifts for friends. This can be a real expense and you need to know that even gifts for a few close friends can set you back a substantial amount.
While not a tip on how to stay within budget, my wife and I remind ourselves of a simple rule when it comes to that special or hard-to-find item that we simply fall in love with. If you see it, and you want it, you should get it then and there. Don't wait to get it later or wait to see if it is going to be elsewhere. Don't wait for the next trip. There is a good chance that if you wait, it won't be available and you wont be able to find it outside of the parks. I learned this lesson the hard way a few times. Do still keep your budget in mind, but take everything into consideration so you don't have buyers regret later.
Parenting in the Parks columnist Adrienne Krock’s three boys are now 15, 13, and 10. They’ve been visiting the Disneyland Resort since they were each just weeks old and Annual Passholders since their 3rd birthdays. Adrienne writes:
When I shop for souvenirs, I want to find something that we will use once we return home. On vacations, I want to give my children some control over their souvenirs but I also hate seeing them buy items that I find wasteful. I have to reconcile my pragmatic and frugal tendencies with giving my children the power and teach them the lesson of budgeting for their own souvenirs.
As Disneyland Annual Passholders, we rarely have a specific souvenir budget. Sometimes I impulsively buy an item because a child sees something unique and falls in love with it. Sometimes I buy an item and save it for a birthday or Christmas gift. Other times, if a child wants something, he buys it with his own money. When we went to the Walt Disney World Resort (WDW) on vacation, each boy had souvenir budget. Knowing we were going to WDW, friends and family gave the boys money for various birthdays and such in the year before the trip, earmarked for spending on our trip. The boys chose how to spend their money (with some age-appropriate guidance from mom and dad,) but I paid for some items I wanted the boys to have. For example. I knew I wanted each boy to have a special T-shirt from WDW, so I let them help pick the shirts, but I bought them.
I tend to place one restriction on souvenirs: I do not want the children buying a game or toy that they could possibly purchase somewhere else. I try to guide my children toward items unique to the parks. Over the years, I prefer certain types of souvenirs over others:
- T-shirts – Hands down, no other souvenir gets more good use than T-shirts. Not only do they wear their Disney park shirts at the Disney parks, but they wear them anywhere they go where they can wear T-shirts: school, vacations, playing with friends, running errands, etc.
- Hats – Our boys (and my husband!) regularly wear baseball caps on campouts and on local trips to the Disneyland Resort. A few years ago, my youngest son begged me for the fuzzy Chip and Dale hats. Normally, I would not purchase hats like those—when would they wear them outside of that vacation? Because we so regularly visit Disneyland, my son really puts those hats to good use! He often wears those on our day trips to Disneyland.
- Christmas tree ornaments – Each year we buy at least one special ornament for each of our sons. Often we find these ornaments on vacation, to remember the special place we visited that year. Sometimes we find ornaments featuring our favorite characters—and who can resist those?
- Collector’s pins – I try not to let the boys go overboard on collector’s pins. Each of my sons has favorite characters or interests that lend themselves to certain pins. Each boy has a lanyard and, from time to time, we add another pin to their collections. Fortunately, we manage to keep the collections reasonably sized. Their entire collections fill only one lanyard. Each pin means something special to the boys.
- Keychains and zipper pulls – All of my boys have backpacks and duffle bags they use. Sometimes we find key chains or zipper-pull ornaments featuring their favorite characters. We use these to decorate and even help identify each boy’s personal bags.
- Coffee mugs – OK, so this tip works mostly for the oldest two kids in our house: me and my husband. We love large coffee mugs and often use travel mugs. Some of my best mugs came from Disney theme parks. So if you’re looking for practical but special gifts for mom, dad, or any other adults in your family, do yourself a favor and consider a coffee cup. They work for tea, too!
Elizabeth, who posts on our MousePad message board as eabaldwin, has been a Disneyland Annual Passholder since 2010. She and her husband have two daughters, Katie (4) and Josie (2). Elizabeth writes:
Being Annual Passholders, we don’t have set strategies for buying souvenirs each time that we go. There are many times when we go to the parks that we don’t buy anything at all. Usually whether or not we buy something depends if we are going up for a reason, like a holiday or for someone’s birthday, or if we are just going up just because we want to go have some fun at Disneyland. We tend to avoid stuffed animals and candy as souvenirs at any time. We have found that clothing tends to last longer than many other items.
Our go-to souvenir has become a pin. They are fairly inexpensive (relative to many other items available), and our daughters like to wear them on their lanyards. They are allowed to pick out new pins for special occasions. For example, we usually go up around their birthdays, so they can pick one for their birthday. Once our oldest daughter was 40 inches, and could ride so many more rides, we let her pick out a new pin to celebrate. She had been looking forward to riding Splash Mountain for about nine months before she was actually tall enough. She is very proud of the Splash Mountain pin that she chose that day. We also get the runDisney pins that they have available for races that we do. We like that they are budget friendly and we also like that pins don’t take up a lot of space. Several pins take up much less room than several stuffed animals. It is cute to listen to our daughters tell when and how they got each of their pins.
When we went to the Walt Disney World Resort, we helped our girls choose souvenirs that would be useful. They each got T-shirts and a dress. Since we go so often to the Disneyland Resot, we tried to find things that were specific to WDW, or that said WDW on them. T-shirts and clothing is also something that we don’t tend to buy as often at Disneyland. When our oldest daughter outgrows her WDW souvenirs, her sister will get to wear them, too.
Of course, there are always the times where we end up with a souvenir out of necessity. We have several hats because I forgot to bring one up for the day, or the one that I grabbed was too small. I think we have also acquired a long sleeved T-shirt because someone got cold at night and we needed something to help keep warm.
I am very easily convinced to buy the purchase with purchase items. We have a couple of beach towels and a Mickey watch, because we have spent enough money to qualify to buy those items. Honestly, those beach towels are some of my favorite purchases. They are a really good quality and we use them a lot.
As our children get older, I could see us giving them a budget to spend on souvenirs. They could also be allowed to bring their allowance to spend how they choose.
It's your turn—keep the discussion flowing!
Visit the Parenting in the Parks forum on our MousePad discussion board, and share your opinions about this topic or many others, or send your suggestions via e-mail. Reader-submitted tips might be used in a future article, and you might be selected to participate in an upcoming panel discussion!
