DS bringing a friend

[scootch]

Different strokes for different folks. I pay for my kids friends food if we go out for dinner and take them, I wouldn't expect to pay for all the food if we took them on vacation, nor would I expect my kids friends families to pay for their food if they took them on vacation.

I would agree with this. Food you eat in the house, I wouldnt' charge them for, but a 14 year old boy can eat alot, so I don't think there is anything wrong with his parents sending money for his counter service meals. I would not expect someone who was being nice enough to take my kid on an incredible vacation to also fork out the money for all the meals. Have fun.

 

[Interpol]

Re: having a signed permission slip, notarized or not - don't bother wasting the time and/or money. They are essentially useless.

First, these are easily forged, so whoever looks at one is going to want to verify its authenticity - which usually means making a phone call to the parents, so what time or hassle have you saved? Second, if the minor gets into some kind of medical emergency that slip of paper does not transfer durable power of attorney to you, so you are still not allowed to make medical decisions for the child. The same thing applies if the minor gets into some kind of legal trouble.

I would just make sure that the friend carries a card/paper with his parents emergency contact information and health/insurance information with him at all times. Make sure you carry a separate copy yourself.

 

[sk!mom]

If my kids have invited friends to go anywhere, I assume that I will be paying for their food. If he's already paying for his flight and park tickets, I would absolutely not ask for any money for food except what he wants to bring for snacks.

This is how I would handle food as well.

However, I think it's fine to set whatever expectations the OP wants. Just be sure that they are completely clear. If the other parents think it's too expensive then they can decline.

I would also be clear on how much supervision you will provide and how much they expect. At 14, I would allow them to go the resort pool alone and tour the parks on their own. The other parents would need to be ok with that.

The only thing I would get from them would be the insurance card. If he gets sick you don't want to be dealing with that long distance.

 

[honeydiane1953]

Sit down with the whole family (friend and parents) and make sure you outline everything. Make sure there is a FULL understanding as to who pays for what. Give the parents an estimate if you can so they know what to send with the child.

Sit down with your child and the friend and be up front with your expectations. That way, you are not fighting them when it is time to get up and go to the parks or have them whining about not wanting to go to Epcot today.

Having something signed that gives you permission to seek medical treatment is always a good idea. You do not want to delay treatment just because you are playing phone tag with the parents. Also, have a copy of their medical insurance.

WELL PUT!!! Couldn't have said it better!!

 

[stitchlovestink]

Another big issue that I addressed when we took older DD's Best friend at the time with us right after graduation were the rules!!! Granted the girls were 17, but I sat down with both girls and her parents (my DH was staying home to work to pay our part of the bill). We discussed expectations. Now DD's friend had been to WDW before with her family so they were familiar with everything including transportation. So that helped a good bit. Her parents are VERY OVERPROTECTIVE!!!! But we discussed the girls being allowed to go to the parks alone using disney transportation. I agreed that I wouldn't allow them to go to DTD alone but that once we were there we could split up for awhile but they would check in with me periodically.

I think finances are very individual. What we did was I paid for the hotel. There we three of us (me, older DD who was the graduate, and younger DD who was my travel companion ) so it didn't cost us any more to bring her along in that respect. I lucked into a pin for free dining!!! so that was awesome!!! I just paid her portion of the tip, no biggie! But she knew her snack allotment and I told them any extra food would be her responsibility. but I was slightly lax on that like when we went off property to outlet shop, we ate fast food somewhere and I just bought hers. I just didn't want her to expect me to ALWAYS pick up her tab. Her parents were much more generous with spending $$ than we could be with our DD! They reimbursed me for her park ticket which I had to buy as a part of our package for the free dining and they reimbursed me for her airline ticket so that we were on the same ressie and only had to do one check in. The dad was thrilled with the cost! As he knew the expenses to go to Disney and couldn't believe how good of a deal I got on with a pin for a June trip and on the airline tix. That worked well for us. I couldn't have absorbed the cost of her tickets. We are a one income family and that was still a chunk of change and they had just received a HUGE inheritance that they were telling us about.

 

[disykat]

The only times we've ever taken a friend on family trips or outings it was a close neighbor. We've paid for them since we were just at the beach, etc. - not WDW so no tickets, airfare, etc. They knew us well enough to fall in line with our habits, but their family habits were quite different. We don't really do souveniers, we give the kids a limit at restaurants, we only allow one soda and one dessert or extra treat a day, etc.

This could be quite a shocker for some kids! I think it could be quite awkward if you had a kid with higher expectations and/or a bunch of money to throw around while your kids didn't. I'd be pretty specific about the expectations beforehand.