Inviting family/friend

[srauchbauer]

Good morning all we are planning an Oct 2013 trip to the world My niece is a huge Disney fan and her father dislikes Disney. So I would love to invite her to join us.

So what I am wondering; those of you who have invited family or friends to join you on a trip do you pay for them or do you invite them along with a break down of how much it is going to cost?

Thanks for your help.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

We went along with my mother & niece one year and my mother paid for the two of them separately. A gift to her granddaughter. She took each grandchild on a trip separately.

I think it depends on situation:

Do you want to give it to your niece as a gift?

Can you afford to pay for her?

Will Dad pay even though he is not a Disney fan?

 

[rwdavis2]

Considering how expensive it is I would not offer to pay for them. But that's up to you.

After having reread the initial post, if it's just the niece then pay for her.

 

[mousefan73]

There is no one answer

Depends on how you ask them. Are you saying " wow would be nice to plan something together for wdw" then each his own. But as an aunt inviting her to join us there you are getting into tricky waters. Dont also know the family relationship thing. How close or if there are issues.

Maybe speak first with her dad. How both families financially stand is also important. I would say there is no one single rule. Too many factors that can be an issue.

Depends too if you say " i want to invite you to wdw" or " i want to invite you to JOIN us to wdw" will also be interepted differently by people.


Also what do you want and can financially do. Are there other nieces nephews that would be jealous if this one gets a free trip?? How does your usband feel???

 

[AJKMOM]

It depends on a lot of things- mainly can you afford to "kick in" on things, or pay the whole thing. My 2 nieces came once, and their father (my brother) doesn't like Disney, but brought them anyway. We treated them to a free room in the WH condo we rented, and free Crystal Palace lunch.

If you really like your niece and want her to come, you should tell her family ahead of time what you are going to pay for, and how much she will need for other things. Then, they can decide how to go from there.

 

[phillymummer]

Like others have said, there is no one right answer, but in my opinion if you offer to take her than you should also offer to pay. But that is just the way my family operates. If any of the grandparents offer to take my daughter anywhere without me, they pay for it.

My mom has taken two of her grandchildren to The World without their parents and she paid for them in full. But then again, there was no way their parents could afford to pay for them to go otherwise. When I went with my parents two years ago we went as a family so I paid for everything.

Either way, you should definitely talk to the father first (and not in front of the child) about the idea.

 

[Sugardimples]

Good morning all we are planning an Oct 2013 trip to the world My niece is a huge Disney fan and her father dislikes Disney. So I would love to invite her to join us.

So what I am wondering; those of you who have invited family or friends to join you on a trip do you pay for them or do you invite them along with a break down of how much it is going to cost?

Thanks for your help.

I think I would speak with the parents and say something like "I know you don't like Disney and DN really wants to go, so we're willing to take her with us if you chip in her portion of the trip. It will be $XXX for her."

 

[srauchbauer]

thank you all for your responses. We can't pay for her to join us basically because we have too many nieces and nephews. I am one of those equal people if I take one then I should take them all.

I do like your suggestions on how to approach my brother and his family even though he doesn't like Disney I think he would give his daughter the chance to see the world.

 

[PrincessAurora]

I invited my friend to go with me and she insisted on bringing her manic depressive boyfriend (HUGE mistake). I broke out the cost of the trip (Disney package, airport parking and tips - I paid for the plane flights since I was getting free seats due to frequent flier miles).

In February, I am taking my sister on the Dream with my DVC points. I am paying for the trip and the towncar. She is paying for her plane flight and Remy.

Whatever you want to do is fine, just spell out everything in advance to avoid any confusion or hard feelings.

 

[gwmort]

Our conversations usually go something like this:

"Hey [teenage niece], we're going to Florida for a week and have some free space in the room and car, if you'd like to join us you're more than welcome, we can't afford your park tickets, but there its a perfectly nice resort to hang out at, or get your Dad to get them for you", we would generally feed them like we would any niece or nephew spending time with us without their parent.

 

[jenjie]

I think I would speak with the parents and say something like "I know you don't like Disney and DN really wants to go, so we're willing to take her with us if you chip in her portion of the trip. It will be $XXX for her."

This. And as has been mentioned, don't ask the parents in front of her.

 

[lanejudy]

thank you all for your responses. We can't pay for her to join us basically because we have too many nieces and nephews. I am one of those equal people if I take one then I should take them all.

I do like your suggestions on how to approach my brother and his family even though he doesn't like Disney I think he would give his daughter the chance to see the world.

Look at what parts will NOT be added expense to you hotel (no extra expense if the niece stay in your room; if you need another room will it be hers alone or shared with one of your kids), travel (airfare or train tix, or if you are driving there really is no extra expense) - definitely her ticket, an idea of expense for meals and souvenirs. The ticket and travel expense should be easy to figure out, include what you plan to spend for your own child(ren) for souvenirs, and estimate the meals - but since that's an estimate be ready to chip in a little if you underestimated. Get that tally together and approach the parents - as someone else mentioned, out of earshot of the children.

Sounds like you want to provide a special opportunity for this girl who otherwise may not get that opportunity, I hope it works out!

 

[MisWal]

We brought my 18 yr old niece along on our trip this past May. Adding her to our room was no additional charge and we had free dining, so I told her if she could get herself down there (airfare), I would cover everything else (park tickets and any extra food). Worked out great!

 

[WDWFAN 1972]

As others have said it all depends on the situation. For us, we took our niece about 5 years go during free dining. We paid for the plane ticket and her family paid park admission and made sure she had opportunity to earn money for souvenirs. At the time our youngest was an infant so we could fit in a value room.

When they announced the opening dates for Fantsyland, we decided to move our trip from Thanksgiving to insure we would get to see everything. Because free dining was extended in December we decided to go then as it would be cheaper for us and give us more days there. As a result my husband decided we should consider inviting our nephew(same family as niece who went before). I crunched the numbers and figured out how much more it would cost us and how much of that we could pay. We had a conversation with his mother that basically went along the lines of: We are changing our Disney plans and if you would like for N to join us then he is more than welcome to come along. However we can't afford to pay for all of his expenses. If you could cover X amount or close to it then we could take him with us. And she discussed it with her husband and they are making that his Christmas basically.


We know they are not big on vacationing at theme parks and this would be his only opportunity to go. They have a third child who is 4 so maybe in a few years she also will get to go with us on a trip.

 

[amberpi]

Growing up our family always took extra cousins (I think so we'd be entertained) or friends on most trips. We did only a very few just us 4 trips. It usually kinda all came out in the wash in terms of money I think. If I took a friend/cousin to WDW, they took me skiing, etc. I know my folks always paid for any kids that were with us. It was super fun that way and I think we were much manageable too

If you can't swing the extra cost, hopefully you can a relationship where you can just discuss it and everyone gets to enjoy the trip! Sounds like a great way for everyone to get in on the WDW fun.

 

[Ariel2983]

Our conversations usually go something like this:

"Hey [teenage niece], we're going to Florida for a week and have some free space in the room and car, if you'd like to join us you're more than welcome, we can't afford your park tickets, but there its a perfectly nice resort to hang out at, or get your Dad to get them for you", we would generally feed them like we would any niece or nephew spending time with us without their parent.

I agree with this approach..