A question for kids....

[la79al]

Please ask your kids a question for me. I want to know, if a kid has their own spending money at WDW would they want to buy a specific tshirt, stuffed animal, whatever that they pick out or would it be better if their parents surprised them with something.
I am asking because we are taking DSS 10 and DSD 6 to DW in June and they are not gimme/I want kids at all but they will have their own spending money to get whatever they want. I know I can get some of the stuff a lot cheaper before we leave though so I am wondering whether I should go ahead and get the tshirts and stuffed Tinkerbell now or whether DSD would rather buy them herself.

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

I think its important that kids make choices and start earning/spending their own money early on. Could they pick out something small ahead of time, but keep a small amount of money to take with them for spending too?

 

[Tinkerbell2002]

5 year old ds said he wants to pick his own stuff out.

 

[ryka]

When we went last year we got them a shirt, bathingsuit, glow necklaces, a towel, lanyard, pins and a couple of toys that we got before we went and left them as presents from tinkerbell. They each had about 75 in disney dollars that they could spend on whatever they wanted but once that was gone then that was it. They were really good with buying things themselves and trying to spend as little as possible. We are going to do the same thing this year.

 

[Darcy03231]

Last time we went I bought some stuff at the Disney store when it was on sale (ie $1.99 t-shirts, etc) and brought it as presents each day from Tink. They also had their own spending money to buy what they wanted while we were there. My kids like to be able to pick out thier own stuff.

 

[3boyzmom]

DS 6 & DS9 vote for pick out their own suff.

 

[daisyduck123]

DS9 said "Pick it out myself, of course!!"

DD12 said, "Both"......(she can't make up her mind).

 

[mandysbus]

Our DS was 5 when we went last summer and I'll admit that we did try to steer him towards some things...he really is into the pirate thing and a lot of the toys in the pirate gift shop at the Magic Kingdom are the same exact things that they sell at local stores (figures, megabloks) they are just twice the price at Disney. So...at the parks we kinda steered him towards items that could only be found at disney (Pirate figures from the original ride, a T-shirt, Trading Pins, some unique things at the lego store at DTD).

 

[TENIA66]

dd 13 "own money, own choice"

ds 7"both, i want my own money and surprises too"

ds2 "toys"

 

[dbarker]

DS8 likes the surprises Mickey leaves (usually t-shirts). But, he must get to pick one thing out himself. I've been very lucky w/ him in regards to spending. Each trip he only picks one thing he really, really wants. DS19 on the other hand always wanted everything he saw.

Last summer DS8 picked out a POTC play set. I saw the exact same thing at Walmart when we got back home...for less $. The one we got meant more to DS b/c he got it at WDW.

We limit ourselves to one souvenier per trip that we get to pick. I also buy some thing ahead of time for Mickey to leave for us. Usually it is practical stuff like matching shirts.

 

[LuvMickey36]

My daughter (she's 18 now) always had her own spending money with the "when it's gone it's gone" theme. We always bought her one special thing that she got to pick out that we paid for. Like a shirt, figurine, etc. Usually something that if she had $100 this would take up at least 1/3 of that. The only rule was she had to look around. Not pick the first thing she saw. Give it a day or so to make sure it was what she really wanted.

Good Luck & have fun!!

 

[Stephres]

Ick, we let DS7 pick out his own gift last time we went. He selected a nightime toy, a box with a string that lit up. It's hard to explain, but they were selling them everywhere at night. We thought it was a terrible idea, but let him pick it out. It broke within 5 minutes of purchasing it. We exchanged it and then it broke again about 10 minutes later. I think as long as you realize that your kid might pick out a disposible toy, you'll be ok.