Dear Susan,
Oh my, I wish that there was an option for you to attach the video of their expressions when you surprised them at Christmas! Fun! We just surprised our
kids last summer with a trip and seeing their reaction was something as a Mom that I will remember forever!
On to your actual question! We use the exact same strategy as you do with our children and their spending while we are at
Walt Disney World Resort, and it really seems to cut down on begging for every souvenir, while at the same time giving them an opportunity to select something special to eat or to bring home.
Using a Disney gift card for each child worked well for us, as opposed to setting a spending limit on the MagicBands. You ARE able to give each child the ability to charge or not charge expenses on their MagicBand. Additionally, you can set a limit for your family's account at the resort at which you're staying, if that helps. You're not able to set a specific spending limit on each different MagicBand in your reservation, though as you mentioned you can definitely use the Disney gift cards to pay the balance of their purchases at your
resort concierge desk.
Hope that helps! Have a magical time when you visit!
-Jan K.