Bringing your child's friend along????

[Disneydays]

I am a single mom of two and am struggling...planning..and reviewing this board...(Thank you all)!!!! to plan a December 2002 visit to WDW.

My problem is....that dd's have invited a friend to come along....this friend comes to a rather "financially secure" family....

My question.........is it appropriate to say that I will pay for the room and transfer to the park.....AND...that friend's family will pay for air....park tix...and food????

Thinking this is fair....BUT...we want to do some special restaurants and shows...HOW...do I relay prices to the family of dd's friend....and how should I accomodate tips for her????

Thanks so much for any help...........and signing off.......wish it were "just us"....

 

[Scott43449]

This is the same thing that we will be doing in Sept. I have 3 DD ages 14, 10, & 9. I told the oldest that she could bring one of her friends along, and we would pay for the room, and ground transportation. Her friend would be responsible for air, park tickets, Discovery Cove Admission, and food. When she decided who she was taking, I met with her parents, and outline everything that we would be doing, and how much she would need to bring.To see if this was acceptable with them. As I have made reservations, I have kept her family informed as to costs, and what is owed at what time, so they could make payments as we are doing. So they didn't have to come up with all of the money at once. Also, we started planning a year ahead of time.
I have also figured into her amount the character dinning that we have scheduled, and any other extras that we have scheduled(Blizzard Beach & Disney Quest) It took some time to figure on our part, but it just maded the planning go a little faster.
Hope this helped.

 

[HunnyPots]

I think it is very appropriate to tell the friend's parent that you'd be "happy" for her to come but her expenses will be around ______$. Everyone knows, or should know that WDW is a costly trip, to say the least; any reasonable parent would expect to have to pay for their child to go with another family. Don't short change your own kids to pay for someone else's.
Good luck!

 

[rubydoo]

I'm also wondering how this has worked for other families. We are leaving June 8th and taking my 14 year old DD's best friend. It will just be me, DD14 and DD9 plus the best friend. She is a great kid so am hoping we can all get along for 6 days!

 

[TXTink]

You will have so much fun! I have two DD's and they each took a friend. We booked another room for the teenagers, 2 were 14 and 2 were 16. We made sure in the ressies that they were connecting rooms! When my daughters asked their friends I had already made up an expense report along with an itinerary so they could give that to their parents to see exactly what our expectations were. It did have allot of open time so the teenagers could explore on their own, so it wasn't too rigid. They were happy about that! We took family radios so we were always connected. We met for some meals and others they were on their own. We did surprise them with a special meal at Prime Time Cafe, that was our treat. I also told the other parents how much spending money my girls were getting so they could plan accordingly. I didn't want anyone feeling left out, and it worked fine. I just had an envelope with each girls name on it with their money inside so they could get out what they needed each day.

Also, I am into the pin trading, so I surprised each girl 4 Disney pins to keep or trade as they wished. At first they were SO excited about having the pins they said they would never trade!! I told them it wouldn't hurt my feelings if they did and it was pretty fun so give it a try if you want to. Well, by the end of the vacation they were all Master Pin Traders!! They loved it as much as me! Very cute! You know how teenage girls can be... it was fun to see them turn into kids again!

As for getting along, we didn't have a problem. They were too pooped at the end of the day to be grumpy! And I think it helped that each set of girls were free to stay with the adults or go off by themselves. What was funny about that, though, was you would figure that they would bolt from the parents as soon as we hit the parks, but many times we all stayed together. We kept it relaxed and they actually liked hanging out with us! One thing we did stress to the girls was, you know that there will always be something that goes wrong or not happen the way you wished. But, usually, those make the best memories! So learn to laugh about it!

You will have a special vacation that your whole family will remember!

 

[lisapooh]

We usually take at least one friend. I pay for them as we can afford this. The one thing they must do is share the driving with my older daughter. I don't drive distance myself any longer. Works fine. They are glad to chauffeur and I don't mind paying for them.

 

[Tybug]

Last year we took a friend of DD13's to Disneyland. We paid for the room and all her food. Her parents paid for her airfare and tickets to theme parks. Then her parents made sure she had the same amount of spending money that my daughter had. Worked out real well. Next year DD is taking another friend to DW and the 4 day Disney cruise. Same applies... I'll pay room and food... parents must pay spending money, tickets, airfare and this time the cruise portion. Luckily... when my 9 yo DS asked a friend to go(on his own... without my knowledge LOL) his parents decided to join us. So our party grew from Family of 4... added MIL, DD's Friend and now this other family!! We are up to 9 now, the more the merrier!!

 

[Kermit]

I think it's perfectly fair. My first trip to WDW was actually with my best friend's family when I was in high school. We camped at FW, so we obviously drove, but I paid for my tickets and all the food we ate at restaurants. We did eat a lot of meals that were cooked at the campsite, so I didn't pay for those (but my parents bought the family a nice present).

If you feel at all uncomfortable talking naming a figure, I would give them a list of all the planned expenses you have, like character breakfasts and shows. Also tell them about any really nice dinners you have planned and the approximate costs of menu items. Then you can recommend a cost per fast food meal, depending on if the child usually eats from the adult menu or child's menu.