We give our kids a budget that is theirs to spend how they want; we also let them keep what they don’t spend for when they get home. They can also use their own savings of course.
For a five day trip to DL I think we did like $50 per kid. I might offer to buy them a piece of clothing if I thought they would wear it in real life. But their budget is for their toys, candy (they are insatiable for candy), etc.
For a longer trip to WDW I might do like $10 a day per kid but let them spend it in a lump.
For context the difference between 50 a kid and 100 a kid is not meaningful to us budget wise — we do like one vacation a year and so for us this is a once a year thing. However the limit we put on it is more about teaching them about our family’s money values (which if we gave them everything we could technically afford they would not learn any of those values).
This is no judgment on other people’s financial values — it is all so personal and contextual in terms of one’s personal history I think. Just explaining that is part of our calculus in deciding on the “kids’ budget number,” in case it is helpful for you to think of it that way also.
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Well obviously, light sabers aren’t a souvenir, they’re a…personal protective device? Essential tool of the trade?
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Exactly! What we would call an “essential item”.
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Ahh, the truth comes out! 
My 4 year old doesn’t ask for toys when we go to retail stores as she more generally asks for certain food items at the grocery store (you wouldn’t believe it since she hasn’t even hit 30lbs yet). She will have $100 on a gift card which is birthday money she received from my dad and sister. If it is up to her, she will spend every penny on balloons and bubble wands. Honestly, $100 is more than enough and she will probably come home with money left. I think it gets harder (and more expensive) as they get older.
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Ours are really little, we agreed to one item per park of their choosing. one day was a $7 wrist band, one day was cotton candy, one day was a $50 plush. it all kind of fluctuated.
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Of course this is totally dependant on what the thing is - my kids basically wanted the first plush toy they saw which was available at every store. If it was something that could be more rare, I’d make sure I could go back or at the very least get it online later.
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It didn’t seem rare at the time but it was very specific. We found variations but not the exact thing and I can’t even remember what it was. I’m assuming it was a stuffed animal as that was 95% of her vacation money spending purchases, lol
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