Spending money for 2 X 14 year old girls in Blackpool?

dug123

Next weekend we are going to Blackpool with our 14 year old daughter and her 14 year old friend, (Friday to Monday). We have never given her much freedom and have decided that it is time to give her some. We have booked a hotel with 2 rooms and our intention is to meet them for breakfast (8:30am) and then send them off for the day to do whatever they want and them meet them again about 7:30pm, well before it gets dark. We will be in touch by mobile but that is all. We have booked and paid for wristbands for the pleasure beach Saturday and Sunday (Barrs 2 for 1 offers) and also have 2 for 1 offer vouchers for the Sea life centre, Madam Tussauds, Ripleys and Blackpool tower In case they want to visit those places.
We want to give them each a sum of money each morning so that they can do what they want and eat and drink what they want, they can go to McDonalds to eat or Pizza hut or wherever they choose.
My question is that bearing in mind that the pleasure beach is paid for, How much do we give each of them each day? (obviously day 2 is easier because we will know how day 1 has gone).
We want them to have enough money to enjoy themselves and not worry about money but not so much that they can just waste loads on rubbish.
I have no idea at all. I have in my mind £50 each per day but there is no logic behind that and it is a long time since I have been to Blackpool.
Any advice would be very much appreciated. We cannot follow them around as my wife is recovering from chemo and could not keep up with them and she also needs a sleep in the afternoon which is not fair on them, I am always busy looking after my wife and we want our daughter and her friend to have a nice break.
Thank you

Gra76

£50 each a day sounds plenty to me, if maybe more than I'd have expected! I originally had £25-£30 in mind. They should be able to have a really good time with that and I'd not be surprised if they had some money left over! I'm sure they'll appreciate the freedom too!

dug123

We had not planned on having a meal in the evening so they will have to get 2 meals per day each (£10 each per meal?) and I always thought that even a ride on the dodgems was about £5 in Blackpool.
I know what you say about them bringing some change back but I know my daughter and I somehow do not think that would happen.
Thank you for your quick replies.

LEJC

I was reading the initial post and was thinking £20 each...so I guess I'm cheap!

The more you give them ...the more chance that they will spend it all...why not start at lower figure each on the first day and increase it if necessary....what you dont want to do is hand over £100 between the two and then find out that its just been frittered away and they come back not having eaten.

Have you considered that it might be nice to eat together,all of you in the evenings....I'm all for giving the girls freedom to spend time together during the day,and and for you and your wife to have the quality time together that you need ...and I understand that you will keep in contact througout the day mymobile...but that hour you all spend together eating surely thats when you catch up face to face and share your holiday experiences?

LE3

I was thinking £20 a day each would be loads!
Seriously, for at least one of the meals they are going to end up at McDonald's or a cafe so def won't need £10 each per meal!
Teenagers with a budget can be remarkably sensible!
I would expect your daughters friend to contribute some of her own cash for her souvenirs etc, so £50 between them each day sounds really generous!!

AppleMatt

Not sure if this will offend anyone or sound patronising, sorry if it does...

I just wanted to say it's so nice to hear of a parent giving their child freedom and time to explore and enjoy themselves. All I ever see and hear about (obviously subjective experience here!) is over-protective parents, not trusting their children or the rest of society, stunting independence.

A bit heavy for the thread sorry, just wanted to pipe up and say nice one :rotfl::beer:

cootuk

If you give them too little they can always ring for a bit extra

greenface

£50 per day is more than enough and i was thinking try splitting it to £25 per day and £25 per evening each so they are not holding their hand out after tea. I expect and only you know she hasnt had it easy for a while and is old enough to understand all that her/you and your wifes been through. Hope she and her mate has a good time and best wishes to y'all.

floopnoodle

Why not give them £50 and tell them it has to last both days, then see how much they have left after the first day?

leaannep85

have you booked them to go pleasure beach both days? i live in fleetwood near blackpool (a tram ride away) and was just thinking if you have 2 for 1 for other places they may not want to go both days plus there is the sandcastle, the piers, shopping in town etc that im sure they would love to do.

food wise there are planty of takaways down prom (and every side street) as well as kfc, maccy ds, burger king, pizza hut, nandos etc so they could have a cheaper lunch and meet something more substantial at night time without it costing a bomb.

the pier has rides on it like big wheel, waltzers etc and costs £20 for 25 tickets that shoukd get them on 4 rides each (some only cost 1 ticket to stay on for a 2nd ride so tell them to bear this in mind. warn them to NOT pay to go on game stalls, they will try everything to get them to go on and spend £30-40 and will come away with a teddy thay they were gonna give you anyway and thats it. they are NEVER going to win, most times you 'see' people win but actually they work for the people and its just to look good -a good tip is to tell them just to say there local as they usually leave u alone as you know how they work.

if you have any questions you can pm me and also if you want me to post you out a 50% off flyer for sandcastle i have a few at home, they usually give them out at events round the fylde coast and i already have a local card so dont need to and they will love all the slides in there, theyve just built 2 more this year plus theres food places in there and its heated so u dont get cold xx

dug123

Thank you all very much for your advice, I really appreciate it and it has given me plenty to think about.
The most important thing is that my daughter can have a good time and run amock as teenagers should instead of being stuck having to holiday at her mums pace (which is slow with frequent rests!)
Thank you