?? For DVC folks who have taken one of their kids's friends along...

[edk35]

I just want to get some feedback on those DVC folks that have taken a friend of their children's on a DVC trip to Disney? How did it go? Do you provide for everything, airfare, park passes and food? I am thinking of possibly letting a friend of my older son's go on a "maybe" trip this summer and am trying to figure out how to go about doing it. We always book 2 bedrooms so we would have the space.....probably would bunk him on the sleeper sofa in the living room. This is just a "maybe" trip.....lots has to be worked out as far as where, when and how. Just curious how others have done it. My husband can get the special deal military tickets that are available for this year and so the most a pass would cost would be 149 which would give 4 parks, park hopper and 4 water parks or more. SO I was thinking maybe going for 6 nights maybe 7.

I would like suggestions, advice, tips, from you all if you have been there done that. OH our son is 16.

Thanks...

 

[DisneyJen]

Our DD is now 17 and we have let her take a friend along twice on our more recent visits. We get a two bedroom and let them have the studio. We pay for the friend's ticket, air and most meals.

We do breakfast in the villa so that cost is low. Lunch is usually in the villa or counter service so that isn't much either. DH and I usually go out for two or three nice dinners without the girls during our 7 night stay. We give them money for counter service dinner or sometimes they will order in pizza and watch a movie.

We only have one child so it's nice for DD to have some one to hang with when her parents poop out at the parks.

 

[Lost in Neverland]

With two kids we are limited as to what we can afford to pay for when they take a guest. Since one can not take a guest and the other not take a guest it would more than double our cost. We provide transportation since we drive, all meals while traveling to and from WDW. We also provide the room and groceries for snacks and meals in the villa. We ask that the guest provide park ticket and spending money for extras. We always sit down with everyone involved and expalin that we normally eat at a nice sit down resturant twice. I have found that if we all decide a common place to eat we can then show the parents the menu and prices. Normally they will give DH and myself $x for those meals. If we do anything extra such as Disney Quest or a day at the water parks we pick up the tab.It just helps a great deal if you are close enough friends with the guests families to discuss financial things. I know as my kids get older and their friends change we will not have that luxury much longer. Either way conversations with the parents is a must and you must be upfront about the costs.We have never had a guest that their parents did not offer to ive us extra money for groceries but if they did not it would not be a big deal if they covered the other items.

 

[GrumpyBelle]

We make it clear upfront what our expectations are. We will provide lodging and food. The friend must pay their own air, park tickets, and souvenirs.

 

[disneygal55]

Two years ago my two DS's invited a mutual friend along. We paid for all of his meals and lodging. Last summer our sons brought their girlfriends and we again paid for all of their meals and gave them their own studio. They paid for their air, park tickets and souvenirs. This June we are planning another trip and are going to pick up the food and lodging again for either one or two guests.

 

[edk35]

I am thinking along the lines of providing food/meals. The lodging would be taken care of because we always get a 2 bedroom. I wouldn't even mind getting the park pass since if we do this....the most the passes would cost us 149. We would fly.....so I would probably not buy his ticket. I was even thinking about how nice it would be to go to HHI for 2 days on our way to WDW then stay at Disney for 5 or 6 nights then hit HHI for 2 more days on our way home. This would be THE ONLY WAY we would drive from MD.

 

[Mom B]

This Jan will be the 2nd time we've had our daughter bring a friend along...but the first time she was about 19 and now she's in her early 20's, so generally the friend has their own income...we pay for lodging, of course, with our DVC, but ask the friend to cover their own airfare, park tickets, most food, and souvenirs. But we take the whole group to a couple of dinners, breakfast buffets, dinner shows, or whatever, and we generally pay for that. Maybe we're cheap but we have a big enough family with 4 grown kids and up to 5 grandkids that we are paying for, and it's not like we're forcing them to come along! We lay it all out up front and if they want to come, those are the terms. We haven't had any complaints yet!

 

[wdwnut]

Hi: We've been bringing along friends of our kids since 93. We've never asked for them to pay anything. Sometimes their parents would pay for a meal, but they were basically guests. I'm thinking we'll be doing this with the grandkids' friends in the near future. It is truly a great thing to be able to do; and we've always had a blast.

 

[iwrbnd]

We did this once and paid for everything. I won't do it again. The kid we took ended up being a little too cool for Disney! He stole my "magic" and made my own teen question if he was too old for Disney. Grrrr!!!

 

[buzz5985]

We just brought DS 13 best friend with us in November for DS 13th birthday trip. It was the friends first trip. It was great experience for us. We paid for the airfare/ticket/most meals. Parents gave him about $150 in spending money. It was really nice for DS to have a friend with him - and for us. They went on the coasters over and over, while DH and I spent some really nice time together, shopping, having coffee, etc.

We wouldn't hesitate to do it again. On the way home DS says to friend - wait till you see HHI. LOL

Janis

 

[daisyduck123]

Hi Denise! (book that trip)

 

[cj9200]

We had my DD’s best friend come with us on two Disney trips and in two weeks I leave with DD and 6 of her friends to celebrate her 16th birthday. We drive so airfare is not an issue. That could be a significant expense and could be a deal breaker. Since I am inviting them I feel I should pick up most of the costs. I pay for tickets, meals and of course lodging. They are responsible for snacks, souvenirs and incidentals.

Since DD’s friend’s family do a lot with her it was somewhat of a payback. For the birthday trip I sent a letter to each parent letting them know up front what was involved and what their daughter’s costs would be. This was before inviting the kid so if the parents were against it, there was no need to have a family squabble. No matter what you provide, it is a generous offer. Just decide what you can do and let them know what their obligations are. They can say yes or no.

For the birthday trip I am also letting the kids know what is expected of them. For instance on our park day, they will either get up early and be ready for rope drop, or they can sleep in and enjoy the room. No way am I wasting a ticket for someone who wants to stroll into the parks at noon.

 

[aubeone]

We are taking 2 of my 14 year old daughters' friends in August. We talked to parents before booking the trip and let them know that we would cover the cost of the room, breakfast foods, snacks and any other incidental costs.

We asked the other two families to pay for plane tickets, park tickets and the cost of the meal plan for the days we will be using it. This discussion took place before the girls were told about the trip. Being up front and honest about what you can do is always the best approach.

Each family used this as a Christmas gift!....Also...all three girls will turn 15 in August. One of them while in the world.

 

[PatsMom]

This May will be the fourth trip DD has invited a friend on. The "kids" are over 18 and in college now so it is probably different than inviting a younger child. Even her first trip with a friend, she was 16. She has a wonderful time sharing her Disney experience with a friend instead of just her parents. She is 21 years younger than her nearest sibling so she was basically an only child most of the time.

I pay for all meals because I am the one who insists on eating decent. The kids would live on burgers and pizza but I like at least one table service meal per day. Since we're DVC, obviously I provide the lodging. The guest provides souvenir money, park tickets and airfare, although I did help with the air fare for one of the kids who came from a family that just couldn't afford it. Now that we are dealing with college kids it seems like some of them have more disposable income than I do! And the guest going in May is saving some money on her ticket by taking advantage of the "Give a Day" promotion.

We've had decent luck with our guests. One was a real downer and we were actually anxious for the trip to be over! But the others were awesome.

 

[edk35]

Thanks for the replies...keep 'em coming!!!

 

[madthemouse]

Ever since my daughter became a teenager I have allowed her to take a cousin or friend with us, better then being just with dad. LoL We have been doing this for the last six years, and it's worked out fine. I have them (Parents), provide for the park passes, spending money and for the extras, ie; Cirque Du Soleil or Segway Tour. I provide the food, lodging, airfare and car rental. This seems to work for me.

 

[We3LoveDisney]

My DD17 takes a friend 90% of the time we go. It is usually the same friend which she has been friends with for 14 years, so we know the family very well. She actually brought 3 friends along one time. We do have her friend/friends pay for their airfare and park passes. If the girls are off on their own and choose to stop for a meal, they pay for their own. We provide snacks, drinks and breakfast items in the room. If we all sit down for a meal together, then we pay.

I think as long as it is affordable for the friend, it is ok for them to pay their own way. I am sure they don't mind as long as they get to go to Disney.

 

[Dawn68PA]

We let our 17 yo daughter take a friend on our last trip. Her friend was 19 so we didn't worry about medical responsibility. The friend paid for her portion of the dining plan, her ticket, and brought some spending money even though I offered to buy her some things and did. We drive so there was no extra expense there. We also had a 2 BR Villa so plenty of space and we didn't ask her to chip in for that.

On our next trip we are taking DDs boyfriend who is 22. We will pay for everything for him except spending money. The change is that we feel that the boyfriend will be part of the family in the next few years.

 

[saintstickets]

There is nothing wrong with letting your child's friend know ahead of time what you will provide towards the trip whether that be room only, room & park tickets or room, park tickets & meals. If you are providing room only (that is a fantastic gift in itself!), then you can tell them what the approximate costs for the tickets and meals will be beforehand so that they can make their decision on whether they can go or not. We are going in May, 2010 and taking our DS & his girlfriend and our DD and her boyfriend. They know ahead of time what will be provided and what our plans are (i.e. ADR's at specific restaurants, days we will visit the parks & other plans such as a day at Universal). They are our guests and we have included them in the planning, where feasible, and all of us are rip-raring to go!

 

[tiggercrew]

This is the first year we are allowing our DD17 to bring a friend with us to WDW. The friend is going to pay for her own park ticket and any souveniers she may want. We are driving so no extra expense there. We will cover lodging and all meals. We eat out all meals except breakfast so I didn't want to be deciding on restaurants and worrying if it was too expensive for her. It was really more of a convenience for us than anything else.

We gave DS14 the same opportunity to invite a friend and he chose not to...I think he likes not having to "entertain" someone else and getting to do what he wants on vacation. That feeling may not last forever so we will enjoy it while we can.