Is a $40 GC enough for souvenirs for a 6yo?

[MagicMakerJB]

We have our first trip booked for February 1st staying on the POP to celebrate my daughter's birthday, we were thinking of declining mousekeeping and giving her the GC so she can it spend it on her own souvenirs but honestly don't know how much she could get out of $40? Is she going to be able to get a few small things? Only one big thing? Nothing at all? Are we being waaaay too cheap with her?? Need some expert input here

 

[verleniahall]

WAY too cheap- she wont get much for that

 

[verleniahall]

take a look at shopdisney.com for pricing of items

 

[MagicMakerJB]

take a look at shopdisney.com for pricing of items

Thank you!! How much would you suggest?

 

[tinkerjo]

It depends what you have already and what you want her to able to buy. $40 will buy her a couple smaller things. Disney is pretty expensive. There isn’t a thread on here not long ago that talked about how much to give kids but it is all individual. We are more about the vacation and less about “things” so my kids would spend $40 worth of churros or dole whip. A six year old will want hat/ears, autograph book, lanyard and trading pins and a stuffed animal at the very least. A lot of this can be purchased online beforehand and save a lot of money. ( maybe a Disney Halloween costume or 2 you can maybe find after Halloween for her to wear in the parks if she is into that) Then give her the items when you get to your hotel with the gift card for whatever else she may want. 6 year olds have little knowledge of money and budget so you may have to remind her several times how much she has left

 

[Wayland10]

We did $20 per kid per day- if they didn’t spend it one day it rolled over. It worked well enough- no tantrums, but occasional moments where my kids had to really think about what they wanted, which isn’t a bad thing!

Edit to add- a lot of that budget came from GCs given by family members or saved up allowances.

 

[unrequited23]

My kids (4.5 and 7) each had $50 the last trip (8 days) and that was sufficient. We did buy them hats since we forgot to pack theirs plus some snacks.

 

[Brett Wyman]

A mickey ice creamn pen is $12.99 if that's any example. However once you get to the $20-35 dollar range there are a lot of decent toy options. We give our kids $20 a day, for gift shop snacks(i.e. candy) and souvenirs, and let them add it and carry it over or whatever.

 

[jbehr12]

We have our first trip booked for February 1st staying on the POP to celebrate my daughter's birthday, we were thinking of declining mousekeeping and giving her the GC so she can it spend it on her own souvenirs but honestly don't know how much she could get out of $40? Is she going to be able to get a few small things? Only one big thing? Nothing at all? Are we being waaaay too cheap with her?? Need some expert input here

One big souvenir averages $40, sm for $25. For her birthday it depends how much you want her to have, but if you want it memorable I’d say at least $75, maybe even $100. I realize it sounds crazy for pretty much anywhere else but for Disney it’s right on par.

 

[Brett Wyman]

For $100 you can take home the Monorail or massive CInderella's Castle

My kids prefer small toys spread out across multiple days.

 

[Bjkandma]

Mickey ears - iconic Disney are $27.99 and up. A stuffed animal is $30. Sweatshirt\hoodie $40+ (kid size, adult -$65). Plasti c cup $8+. Just a pencil is like $7. You will find magnets and key chains around $10. Kids costume jewelry $14.99 and up.

I would give her the $40 but plan on supplementing. Take pictures of her wearing or holding what she wants. Sometimes it's not actually getting it, just a picture will do.

 

[disneydreamer781]

It's Disney so I'd say at least $100.

 

[disneydreamer781]

You could also do $20 a day. Depends on what she likes. She may enjoy little trinkets. If she has pierced ears, Disney has some really cute earrings and other jewelry like necklaces. I always find it fun to look through the jewelry spinners.

 

[jlb727]

I don’t think that’s too cheap. It’s enough if you decide it’s enough. She would just have to learn to stretch her money and choose carefully. Forty dollars is enough for one nice toy at WDW. However, if you want to give her more spending money, then do so. It just depends on how many toys you want to lug home.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We frequently do a dining plan when traveling with children which takes the onus of additional funds for their personal edible goodies out of the discretionary budget. I suggest parents provide $50.00 per week for souvenirs and so far there have been no complaints.
Last trip he was on, my grandnephew, had $30.00 for a 5 or 6 night trip. He bought himself a toy light saber for 15 or twenty bucks and frittered the rest away in manners that made him happy. During the same trip, DGD, had $60.00, and mostly bought trinkets for various stay at home family members ( a coffee mug, stuffed toy, etc). We bought her some Mickey Mouse costume jewelry and all in her circle were happy.

Is 40 dollars enough for a 6 y/o during your trip length? I would say yes but YMMV.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I think its enough for fun stuff, thats what we did all the snacks and stuff we paid for, my kids had 50 gc and it was plenty. My son bought a monorail and it was 19.99 then some little stuff. you can always take a trip to the disney outlet

 

[MrsDuck]

You decide what's appropriate for your kiddo. I don't think $40 is too cheap for a 6yo and you can always supplement on a case by case basis if necessary!

 

[lanejudy]

we were thinking of declining mousekeeping and giving her the GC so she can it spend it on her own souvenirs

I just wanted to comment on this...the perk for declining housekeeping is an egiftcard, not a physical card. If your plan is for your DD to have the physical card to use, you’ll need to bring or buy one.

As for the amount - as others have said, that largely depends on your family’s budget, values or expectations. It would be fine for my family but others would expect to spend more.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[DisArmyWife215]

I don’t think that’s too cheap. It’s enough if you decide it’s enough. She would just have to learn to stretch her money and choose carefully. Forty dollars is enough for one nice toy at WDW. However, if you want to give her more spending money, then do so. It just depends on how many toys you want to lug home.

I agree. Set a limit, whether it be the $40 or more, and use this as a learning opportunity. It's never too early to teach the value of money and a budget. FYI-We did $50 on our first trip when my daughter was 5 and she choose the smaller stuffed animals, some candy and a few other small things. Plenty of shopping was done and she had fun deciding on what to get.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Most everything we saw in the gift shops was at least $20 . Even pins were $10.