Best of Resourceful Disney: Surviving the Disney Souvenir Gimmes
Originally posted December 2, 2010:
You know the drill. We’ve all been there. You’ve saved for a couple of years to take your family on the dream vacation of a lifetime, and five minutes into the first day at least one of your children is in tears because you won’t let him have a six inch tall stuffed animal that costs $39.99. Walt Disney World has such amazing shopping opportunities, that I have known locals to visit the parks simply to shop! Clearly the deck is stacked against you when you head into Disney’s four theme parks…someone is going to want to buy something.
Before I share my tips on surviving the souvenir gimmes, I need to disclose something. I am that mom who – with a very straight face – can look into the eyes of her beautiful little children and speak the words that strike fear in every child’s heart: This trip IS your souvenir. I am not a shopper myself, so we have worked very hard to not raise tiny consumers. They are fascinated by products and love to look at them, compare them, talk about them (oh my gravy, how they love to talk about them), but they understand completely that they cannot have them. But of course you want to purchase something for your kids to remember their amazing vacation. Here are some tips to get you through the whining and fighting.
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While planning our first vacation to Walt Disney World, I spent several months reading The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, which I still believe to be the best book available for planning a trip to the World. One of the aspects I love most about the book is that it tells you in the ride description if a ride is likely to scare your child. Want to know if a ride is going to make your three year old cry for the rest of the day? Then take a look at the ride description and search for special comments such as, “Terrifying to many young children.”