Children's friends

[daystar]

Hi,
Has anyone brought a children's friend with them to WDW for vacation???If so what did you pay for???
I put a thread here befor about traveling with a babysitter and i'm going to pay for her all expensives....Now my son wants to bring a friend but i don't think i can afford to pay for both the babysitter and friend.....Would it be wrong to ask the friends parents to pay for his share????My son is going to be thirteen when we go and the other children are all under seven....

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

I would expect to pay all expenses for a child that I invited.

But if you can't afford to do that, maybe you should have a heart to heart talk with the parents???

Maybe they could pay for airfare or park hopper? They may offer to do so without you asking, but they may not.

I would feel VERY uncomfortable asking, but if that is the only way I would just talk to them.

I would certainly not want the 13 year old to have to worry about managing their own meal/snack money. I would just include the friend in whatever snacks/meals you are buying for the family.

My kids are too young to bring friends along--good luck with whatever you decide

 

[daystar]

Hi,
I'm not worried about the small expensive, i'm worried about the flight tickets and the WDW tickets.....I would love to pay for the whole expensive but because we are taking another young girl for babysitting and paying for everything....We are hoping to rent a vacation home or using a friends mother time share so i'm not worried about housing expensive....I have a family of four and a babysitter to pay for.....I'm trying to make this a vacation my son will have fun on as well....Last time my oldest son really wasn't into some of the WDW stuff, only the older kids rides....I thought maybe if i brought a one of his friends it would help him so he wouldn't have to hang around the younger kids or us old people....

 

[Jordan's MOM]

I really am from the school of thought that if I invite, I pay. HOWEVER, I see where having a freind along will make a big difference for you son. IF you know the family really well and know that they can afford to pay for thier son and it would not create any problems for them , I would consider bringing up the idea with them. I would only consider asking for air and park tickets too. I would just include him in any meals or snacks the family has, but expect him to have spending money for extras. I would make sure not to bring up the idea with him until it is cleared with his family.
Tough call. GOOD LUCK.


Jordans' mom

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

I think it would be very fair to ask the parents to pay for airfare and a park ticket.

On the receiving end, I would *not* be offended at all if someone asked me to bring my child on vacation and explained that they could cover the room and meals and asked if we would pay the rest.

On the offering end, I would not want the child to be handing over money at meal times for his share and I would not buy ice cream for my kids withu covering it for the guest, too. But, the big lump sum costs seem fair to ask in my opinion.

Hey, they can always say "no."

Hope it works out for your family.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you invite a child to go with you, you should treat them as your guest and take care of their ticket, meals, lodging. They need to bring their own spending money for souveniers. You might see if the parents could pay for the airline. How about driving? Then the kid could ride with you.

 

[daystar]

Hi,
Thanks for all your replies....Unsure of what i'm going to do yet i feel i should pay but i'm already paying for an extra person so i really would have to sit down and figure this whole thing out.... As for driving i don't think that it would work....We live near Buffalo New York by the time i pay for gas i'm sure i will still have spent a good penny....I also have five children and another family going with us with small kids....I would really not like to spend 24hours in the car with my kids would just get bored and fight the whole way.....If they could do the car ride i would say sure....

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

It is understandable that you don't want to drive.

Since it is clear that you can't pay for the child's entire trip, I do think being forthright with the parents is the best plan. Just talk to them first and as another poster suggested, explain that you will take care of meals and lodging if they can pay for airfare and PH ticket for their son.

All they can do is say no. And I'm sure your 13 year old DS has already mentioned to his friend that he would like for him to come? If so, I bet the parents won't say no if they can afford the expense. 13 year olds, if I remember correctly, can be very persuasive!!!!

Our kids are much to little to invite friends along (5, 3, and 3 mos), so I guess we have THAT to look forward to. And I complain about airfare costs for 5--if they each brought a friend someday that would be 8

 

[FOV]

Originally posted by JessetheCowgirl

Since it is clear that you can't pay for the child's entire trip, I do think being forthright with the parents is the best plan.....

I agree.

A lot of it also depends upon how well you know the parents of the child and how comfortable you are with them.

If one of my children was 13 and they were invited to go to WDW with a friend I would gladly pay for airfare, park passes and I would give my child ample spending money. It would be too bad to deprive your son and his friend of this great experience if both families are comfortable with a shared-expense arrangement.

 

[Amirah95]

My DD wants to take her best friend in the future. I won't allow it until they both turn 12, but I would pay for PS's that I make (I make quite a few so it gets expensive), accomodations and a few souveniers...everything else her parents will have to pay for. We drive so we wouldn't worry about them paying for transportation.

 

[disneychrista]

I see no trouble with asking the parents to pay for their child IF you do it upfront. Also I would not tell your children until after you spoke the parents.

I would have all the cost set out up front. How much you expect for food, airfaire (if applicable), park tickets, etc.