For those who have done extended family trips- who pays?

[Southern Bell]

Trips with my parents they asked us to go(their camper) and in-laws(our camper) they paid for total cost of camping at Fort Wilderness and groceries for the week. My husband and I bought our tickets and paid for our gas and eating out. Camping trips with other relatives, siblings, cousins, they wanted to go to Disney with us and paid half our camping, and we bought food for camper, we each bought our own tickets, gas, eats out. We have been blessed to take my daughter and her family 2 times. First time 2 rooms at Pop. At Pop my daughter received a code for free dining that Disney also let me and my husband use. So that was great. Second time we wanted to take our Grandchildren to AOA and we let the parents come along! LOL! We paid for suite, tickets and most of the food. They had their shopping, gas, snack, money. This year we are taking camper to Fort Wilderness, and we have invited the parents to go as well, LOL! We will pay for Camping and food. This yr we bought everyone's Disney Ticket as part of their Christmas present from us. We have bought everyone Disney gift cards for Birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, Valentines, and have Easter to go! My daughter has bought us gift cards also. Other relatives have also bought us all gift cards. This really adds up! So... this will all help when we go!

 

[EPCOTgrl1]

I am in the same boat as all the other DVCers. If I invite people I make it clear that I will take care of the room but the rest is on them.

 

[George4]

When we invite people with us, we offer the room (we usually have a 2 or 3 bedroom suite and have space) if they want to join us. No one has ever complained that we didn't pay for their entire vacation, and whoever we invited has almost always joined us. That being said, when they say no, it's usually because it is bad timing at work or because they have other plans.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We have 10 of us going next month. Everyone is paying for themselves, though we did get the others the 40% off military resort discount.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've done extended family trips several ways. We've done a few trips with my MIL where we really required her help with our DS. On those trips, we paid her way for everything. We've also done trips with MIL and her husband before our DS was born and we split the costs on those trips. We recently took my sister to WDW and Universal and we treated her to that trip as she was my mom's caregiver for two years before my mom passed away and she was unable to take a vacation during that time. I wanted her to have a nice, relaxing vacation and she really couldn't afford to do it on her own. I think it really just depends on the circumstances. If you simply put the idea out there and wanted to see if others wanted to vacation the same time you are, I don't think you are obligated to pay!

 

[Ryansdad0727]

My wife and i have taken our parents before and we have DVC so we cover the room but they pay for park tickets and food. Since we drive they can ride with us if there is room but if not they have to get there on their own. We just tell them that we have room for them if they want to go. If the first set we ask doesn't then we move to the next. We explain upfront that we will take care of the room but that would be it. If there is no family that wants to go we open it up to friend for but we do charge for the room at a huge discount.

 

[DopeyDame]

We took a trip last month with my extended family. My parents paid for the hotel and we split the rental cars among all the families. Everyone paid for their own park tickets and food. It's just what worked for us.

Keep in mind, though, that money is only part of the "expense" of a vacation. Most people have limited vacation time from work, so if they go on a trip with you, it may mean they can't go on a different family vacation that they've been hoping for.

 

[pinkprincess30]

My parents went with us in 2011. I pre-budgeted for EVERYTHING, meals and tips included. After the numbers were in I divided it all by two. Half was paid by us (two adults, three children) and half was paid by them (two adults). I figured this was fair because I did all the leg work, all the reservations, all the planning, plus without us they would have paid full price for hotel, car rental, etc. instead of splitting the cost with us so it kind of evened out. I also scoured the internet for deals and even got a friends and family hotel deal for $50 per night (they had their own room and did not share with our kids). The only thing I did not budget in for them was souvenirs and snacks in the park (although we packed snacks that they used as well). It ended up being $3000 for each ($6000 total) which I feel was fair for 7 days in California, plane tix, car rental, hotel, meals out...the works, and 4 days in the parks. I don't know if we went over budget at all but if we did we absorbed that. It worked for us! My mom has since passed on, but my dad will join us for one day in DL this visit and he will be making all his own arrangements and paying his own way. I think that trip is our most treasured family memory!

 

[sullyfam]

I think it depends on each family and each individual circumstance. Everyone knows that Disney is a very expensive vacation even for 1 person. And $$ is one of those subjects in our family that can be touchy. We actually went with extended family on our last trip and although everyone was supposed to be paying their own way, it ended up being sort of a nightmare with shared reservations etc. So we are going to tread very lightly on future trips ...

 

[Lampoon2012]

We are gearing up for our second extended family trip this April. Each family unit pays their own way.

 

[dprincessmom]

When we go it is usually me, DD, my sister and her girls. We take the total cost and divide by the number of people. Then each person/family pays for their portion (5 in a room, 2/5 is my part). For this reason we typically get the dining plan, so everything is broken down.

Would never expect her or anyone else to cover the cost of a trip for my family.

 

[busymommy2pink]

I invited my younger sister last time (she was 16). I paid for everything (flight, disney, spending, her passport etc) and in return she gave my hubby and I a date night. Fair trade I think I did the inviting, so I paid.

In your case, I don't think you are obligated at all. I always put our dates out there so if friends/family want to come and meet up here and there they can. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.

It's my absolutely dream to take both my daughters and their future families to Disney on my dime one day. I can't wait to see Disney new through my grandbabies eyes one day (mine are currently 6 and 8 LOL). Better start saving now, I have my eye on that GF grand suite!!