Have you had this problem ....

[tiggerguy2000]

Have you tried going to Disney with another family and they thought that you would be giving them a room or they would be staying with you.Last year we had that problem when our good friends said that they are going this year when we go.While talking about what resort we are staying at I gave them a list of prices for the resort and the DVC villas and told them they have discounts that could help.The mood changed quick like i just told them they had 24 hours to live.They thought I was going to take them and stay with us or give them a room.I showed them what the point value was for the rooms and what I had available to use.I could see if it was just 4 adults but it was 10 of use.I am always on the barrow end so points for another room or a 2 bedroom was not available.Im not comfortable anyway staying with others in the same room or giving away points to non-family quests.
Have you ever had this problem that because you have a dvc timeshare that you can just give rooms away for free.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

wow.....we haven't had that problem...so sorry you did....we've gone with friends and other times with family...whenever we needed to book a larger room or additional rooms they have offered to pay....no one ever expected a free room

 

[Cyndibear]

Nope, we haven't had this problem. We enjoy sharing our DVC with family and friends. This year we have invited family to come with us in January, my Mom with be with us in September, and friends are joining us for F&W in October. We love the ability to use our points to share the love of Disney and DVC.

Cyndi

 

[LVSWL]

We haven't had that problem exactly, but have had people dropping "hints" that they would like to stay with us. We have also had friends stay who really didn't appreciate what we had done by providing a wonderful suite for them, and also a friend who wanted to invite someone to stay "with us" because she didn't have room for them in her villa.
We have had great trips with friends that WE invited, but it is a very intimate situation, so you have to all be flexible and considerate.

 

[Dizny Dad]

Everyone has a story of similar nature, I swear.

We invited family and made provisions to provided rooms. Once arriving in The World, they announced that they had forgotten to "bring the tickets", so they would not be going to the parks at all for the week. This made it impossible to have dinner at the park restaurants, so other reservations had to be made. They spent their time at the pool and in the rooms. I don't think they even explored the resort (SSR).

After the trip, we listen to comments of how it just would have been better to stay home for all of the things they did. And the expense of the food was terrible! Etc, Etc.

It made an uncomfortable situation for us, and an unfortunate memory to boot!

Never again.

 

[Sandisw]

Everyone has a story of similar nature, I swear.

We invited family and made provisions to provided rooms. Once arriving in The World, they announced that they had forgotten to "bring the tickets", so they would not be going to the parks at all for the week. This made it impossible to have dinner at the park restaurants, so other reservations had to be made. They spent their time at the pool and in the rooms. I don't think they even explored the resort (SSR).

After the trip, we listen to comments of how it just would have been better to stay home for all of the things they did. And the expense of the food was terrible! Etc, Etc.

It made an uncomfortable situation for us, and an unfortunate memory to boot!

Never again.

Kudos to you for being such good friends!! I would have told them that that was too bad since most of your dinners required park admission and if they had decided against that, then they would have to make their own arrangements.

We have not yet had the opportunity to invite friends or/family to WDW yet but when we do, it will be the same as when we all went to the beach together. We sat down before hand and set the ground rules--we were together but on separate vacations--each day, people would let others know what their plans were and if someone else wanted to do the same, great, but if not, that was okay too. It really did work out great.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Everyone has a story of similar nature, I swear.

We invited family and made provisions to provided rooms. Once arriving in The World, they announced that they had forgotten to "bring the tickets", so they would not be going to the parks at all for the week. This made it impossible to have dinner at the park restaurants, so other reservations had to be made. They spent their time at the pool and in the rooms. I don't think they even explored the resort (SSR).

After the trip, we listen to comments of how it just would have been better to stay home for all of the things they did. And the expense of the food was terrible! Etc, Etc.

It made an uncomfortable situation for us, and an unfortunate memory to boot!
Never again.

Wow, talk about being ungreatful! I hope you don't invite THOSE people again!

 

[Wedgeh]

Wow the OP's scenario is completely bizarre. I can't imagine myself or anyone I know being so presumptuous.
We're planning for a first trip with friends (2 other couples) next year and it took some convincing to persuade them that we were happy to provide the accomodation for 'free'. I do admit though I have some concerns over how much they'll enjoy the trip, one couple is the excitable type and I'm sure they'll have a great time whatever happens. But one of the other two can be a bit hard to please and whilst I'm delighted to take them with us I might feel a bit put out if she doesn't have a good time. It certainly won't spoil my holiday though and if all goes well then having my friends with me will only enhance the trip.

 

[dianeschlicht]

When WE INVITE people along, we provide the room. If they invite themselves, I would assume they are paying their own way.

Sure, we've had people hint at want to come with us, but I decide who I'm willing to give free rooms to, not them.

I also have a policy that if I invite someone and they say they are coming, and then change their mind shortly before the trip, they will NOT be invited back again. It's too much hassle to change a late reservation and or find a replacement guest. I have only had one couple do that to us, and they have constantly asked to be invited again, but I wont budge on that one.

 

[maburke]

To me, it's just all about communicating clearly from the start. We usually do not ask family to pay, but we are clear about what park tickets and meals will cost (if we're not paying for those). We usually do not have to upgrade our accommodation for family (5-9 in a 2BR), or would not go without them, so replacing a canceling party has not been a problem.

We do not pay for friends. We start the conversation with "We are going to WDW next Memorial Day. If you'd like to come at the same time, I can try to find you a deal on the accommodations." I treat it like a rental, because sometimes I do have to rent points for them. We've had several families take us up on this. One family is particularly grateful for the planning help, they go along with whatever we are doing (or just drop out with a sleepy child without complaining), and we just enjoy each other's company. We might have them join us in a 2BR the next time. Another family acted quite boorish and presumptuous the most recent time, so I don't think we'll invite them back.

I like being clear up front about what's expected, so that they don't spend the whole trip wondering what they should give us or pay for. Everybody knows that the only gift I need, whether I just helped a bit with a colleague's trip planning or paid for everything for my nephew for 10 days in our villa, is a PIN for my collection!

 

[cseca]

Wow, are you sure they're your friends?

Sheesh...

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones with family that actually feels bad about using our points without paying anything. I had to really tell them that it's really our christmas gift for them before they accepted. We had a wonderful time of course and I wouldn't even hesitate to use points again with my family in the future.

As for your "friends" maybe you'll get lucky and they decide to go at a different time... my goodness of all the nerve.

 

[dianeschlicht]

To me, it's just all about communicating clearly from the start. We usually do not ask family to pay, but we are clear about what park tickets and meals will cost (if we're not paying for those). We usually do not have to upgrade our accommodation for family (5-9 in a 2BR), or would not go without them, so replacing a canceling party has not been a problem.

We do not pay for friends. We start the conversation with "We are going to WDW next Memorial Day. If you'd like to come at the same time, I can try to find you a deal on the accommodations." I treat it like a rental, because sometimes I do have to rent points for them. We've had several families take us up on this. One family is particularly grateful for the planning help, they go along with whatever we are doing (or just drop out with a sleepy child without complaining), and we just enjoy each other's company. We might have them join us in a 2BR the next time. Another family acted quite boorish and presumptuous the most recent time, so I don't think we'll invite them back.

I like being clear up front about what's expected, so that they don't spend the whole trip wondering what they should give us or pay for. Everybody knows that the only gift I need, whether I just helped a bit with a colleague's trip planning or paid for everything for my nephew for 10 days in our villa, is a PIN for my collection!

That's absolutely correct. When I invite friends or family, I tell them the accommodations are on me, but I also give them a complete list of the costs of different types of tickets, and an estimate of food costs. If they balk at the food costs, we offer to cook in the villa and split the cost of groceries.

The trip we leave for next week will be 4 couples in a GV. One of them is also a DVC owner, and we have put points together from their's and ours to make the reservation. Because two of the couples are young people, we plan to cook in more than usual, and we will split the grocery bill between us for the meals. Anyone who wants special snacks or beverages will be responsible for buying those things for themselves. All that was spelled out early so there would be no issues.

One issue I did see coming up though was that we will have our car down there, and the others wont have a car. I'm not inclined to let them borrow our car when they go offsite to visit the coast one day, so we have explained to them that they have to rent a car that day. They are fine with that too.

 

[LVSWL]

As stated before, COMMUNICATION is the key. Lots of communication!
Unfortunately sometimes people only hear what they want to hear
Totally agree with Diane's list! Once burned, you are off the list. Life is too short, vacations too few for drama & all the issues. We love WDW, love to take friends and share it with them, but everyone needs to be considerate. I think it is like having any other type of "vacation place"...beach house, mountain house. There will be people in your life who are happy for you and thrilled to be invited and be wonderful guests, and then there will be others who seem to resent you for it, even if you are sharing it with them and may not be the ones to have around. The old mentality of "if you don't pay for it you don't appreciate it" comes into play with some. We have had incredible trips with friends that we invited who loved it and appreciated it, and horrible trips with others who skipped out two days early(Easter weekend) leaving us with a villa we had used a ton of points for!

 

[MDDisneyDevotee]

My DF and I split our two contracts and my parents, myself and my son always vacation together and either stay in a 2 bedroom or two studios. Ever since we joined DVC my brother (who openly mocks the fact that we vacation twice a year at WDW..not sure why that matters in terms of the story...but it just p*sses me off, lol) and his grown, 29 year-old daughter, are constantly complaining about how my parents only 'take' my son and I to WDW and never my niece and her 5 children.

It doesn't matter how many times we explain to them that my parents are not 'taking' my son and I, that I pay for half of the mortgage and dues and buy our tickets and pay our own way for food, etc, that in fact if my parents were to take my niece and her five children then my son and I will not be vacationing that year, and in fact you are effectively asking me to give up my vacation in order to subsidize my niece's. I would love to be able to take her and her family in addition to going myself, but we don't currently have the points for a trip for 10 people (that could change as I'm getting a severe case of addonitis at the moment) and she can't currently afford to pay her own way.

Of course the obvious questions I asked is, "How 'bout if you take your daughter and grandchildren down and we can all vacation together. Wouldn't that be nice?"

The answer to that questions, according to my brother, is "I have no interest in going to WDW". Somehow missing the obvious insinuation **headdesk**

 

[Coach81]

Whenever we go to Diney with anyone.. we always have "the talk" with them...

1. You will have your own room, HERE IS WHAT IT WILL COST YOU, enjoy!
2. If you want to experience the best of Disney.. then hang with us.. if not (want to do your own thing) that is fine with us.
3. We will NOT WAIT for you for anything.. meet up with us.. or we will see you later...

These three things have helped us have some really good vacations with friends and family that have come with us..

 

[RumpleMom]

We have taken extended family and work it out that we pay everything for DH's parents.

DH's siblings and their family pay us something for using our points for the room. What they pay is based on how much they would pay at where they would have stayed on their own at a value resort. Then we reduce the price a little. They have a deluxe villa with a kitchen and washer and dryer for less than a value resort. We share a 2 bedroom, thus the reduction in price for loss of complete privacy.

We are a one income family while his siblings have two incomes. We don't believe we are responsible for providing them a vacation, but do try to make it an affordable nice vacation.

 

[Figment2]

OP, that was very presumptuous of your friends. When I have had people say something like " I would love to go with you" I usually respond something along the lines of "Great, I'll be happy to work with you on where to stay." Then I start talking about the different resorts and maybe they can rent points so we can stay at the same place. As others have said, communication is key.

I, too, have friends who will hint about staying with me (especially if they have done so before). I am also a believer (as others have said) that if you say you are going and then reneg, you will not be invited again.

I have also learned which friends are proscastinators. If I invite you along on a December trip, I need to know NOW whether or not you'll go. I have learned which friends seem to think that the room is "free" so they don't have to commit until sometime around November. Doesn't work that way and I now give them the "I'll be happy to help you price out rooms" talk.

OP, good luck with your situation. Maybe you should ask them why they thought they would be staying with you?

Cyn

 

[kristie03]

WOW! I see that it can be very complicated.

We took friends along with us for the first time over Halloween last year and it worked out very well. They were very grateful for the free accommodations and treated us to a few drinks/ goodies along the way and it worked out very well. On my end the 2BR in October cost less than the 1BR we had originally planned for Xmas week when we were originally planning so it really cost me nothing for them to come along.

Now fast forward to today when they have caught a little of the Disney bug and want to go back. I told them that we were going right after school gets out, and I don't have enough points now for the bigger room, but they should really thing about coming at the same time as us and either stay at the same resort or wherever and we can meet up and spend as much time together as we all want. So...I agree communication (and the right friends) are key!

Same thing with my family. They may come with us on a different trip, and if I have the points I'll happily secure the bigger room, but if not, I'll happily assist them with finding the right room for them.

Good luck!!

 

[disneynutz]

We only go to WDW with close family now. After trying to share the magic, it just isn't worth it and when bringing others negatively affects you vacation you learn your lesson fast.

Some of our most interesting waits for a bus is listening to people talk about how the DVC member is ripping them off or how they could have got a better deal through Disney direct.

Bill

 

[helenk]

I've never gne to Disney with friends, but I have gotten the hints from them. When I take family (my son, his wife and my grand-daughter), I try to plan that vacation a year out. This way I can get park tickets as Christmas presents for them, my brothers and sisters will give then Disney gift cards and/or gift cards for Southwest airlines. It helps to defray their costs and lets all of enjoy our WDW trip.
My one sister and I went one year, she paid for airfare and park tickets, she paid for her meals and then treated me for my dinner at LeCellier since she did not have to pay for a hotel room.