Inviting along a friend?

[skorpie]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to ask this question but here it goes! We are a couple that was blessed with a "gift" of a daughter in our later lives. For all purposes, she is an only child (She is 11 and we have 2 older daughters ages 25 and 27) This past trip we invited along a familiy, with 2 daughters, in hopes of having a great vacation(which we did) but also in hopes of having a "friend" to help keep our DD (age 11) company. We stayed at the WLV and it was fantastic staying in a 2 BR lock off. Here is the question. How do you folks handle inviting just a girlfriend along for a vacation? We have a couple of young girls we would consider asking along as a companion on a vacation, but if we invite, are WE expected to pay for the entire trip-i.e. the air fare, tickets and food? In the past we've had a girlfriend come along, but the parents paid for the airfare and entrance ticket and we paid for all food and entertainment. How do you folks handle this type of situation? I know it might depend on how close you are to a family, but are there any "social rules" on this type of situation? Thanks. Diane

 

[married@wdw]

Not exactly the same situation, but we've taken my nephew twice and I always brought the subject up with my sister first. Told her we'd be happy to take him and pay for food and souveniers, if she covered his park pass and airplane ticket. Both times worked out great!

How well do you know the parents of some of the kids? Maybe you could talk to them? Tell them you'd like to take their daughter on the vacation and explain that you could cover certain things if they could cover others. Is that possible?

And being one of those children from "later in life" (I'm 30, have sisters that are 42 & 43), taking a friend along was great, sometimes. But I have to say that I really loved the one vacation to WDW I got to take with just myself and my parents -- absolutely the best memories of WDW I'll even have (well, except for maybe my wedding and honeymoon, that is!). So just make sure you ask your daughter if she wants to bring a friend -- she might just surprise you!

 

[DeeP]

I would handle it the same way, the child's parents pay for air fare and park tickets and you provide the accomendations and the meals, including dinner shows/character meals and snacks, including park snacks. I would also expect the child to bring some spending money for souveniors, arcade, etc.

 

[mikesmom]

We've taken DS' friend along several times. Granted, DS asked us, so we were able to say "Yes, if..." and lay down the rules. In our case, we supplied the room, of course, and the food. (Frankly, even if we'd stayed home, we end up feeding DS' friends on a fairly regular basis - teens are just food vacuums, LOL). In our case, we supplied the airline ticket also, as we had extra frequent flyer miles and it was no out-of-pocket money. We asked that the friend pay for his own park ticket and have spending money. The boys parents were thrilled with the arrangement. It was a great vacation each and every time for all of us. We had family time AND he had time to buddy around the parks with his friend (while DH and I had time alone).

This January, I had planned a fairly quick trip for DS and myself. He's now in college and asked to bring a friend that has never been to WDW. This time I asked that the friend (they are now over 21) cover his park ticket and his own airfare as we don't have any extra miles to spare. Everyone is OK with the deal and looking forward to it.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Our Ds is also 11 and an only child. We are not taking a friend this year to WDW but have told him that next time we go back (he will be 12 or 13) that he can take his friend. We are however taking his best friend with us next Summer on our non-WDW year trip.

I think that the important thing is to know the family and the child very well so you can be the judge of what might work for everyone. Knowing the child very well can also make the whole trip better as you know how she will interact with your family.

I know that my DS's best friend's mom could not afford to pay for his trip. She is a single mom, his father is not living and he has older siblings. When we take this child we will pay for everything. Canwe afford to do that? Not really, but if we had a second child we would be paying for them, so we will just bite the bullet and do it. EVen if he would by this time choose another friend whose parents were in a position to pay, I don't think we would ask them to do that if we invited thier child. We are doing this to give our DS a friend for the trip and to make it better for our family. If they offered to buy the ticket, we would accept, but would not expect it.
I however do not see anything wrong with asking if you are comfortable with that, I just am not.

My DS and my sister's son are trying to talk my BIL into taking them to WDW for StarWars week-end next May. This however is the joint efferts of both boys and if they succed I will indeed pay for my DS's trip.

Do what feels right and what you can afford to do.


jordan's mom

 

[cheeringmom]

where my 15 yr old daughter brought a friend. We arranged beforehand that she provide her own park tickets and spending money and we paid the rest. As for lunches in the parks, the girls could either picnic with us or buy their own food (we ate alone with the baby everyday!! lol). It worked out great. Will def. do again.

 

[grinningghost]

We'll be taking DD's friend on our upcoming trip. Both girls are 14. For us, because we truly feel this friend is doing us a favor by coming along, we decided to pay for everything except souveniers and assorted junk snacks. We paid for the hotel, park passes and we'll pay for meals. It was a pretty big expense to do it, but I think it will all be worth it when we don't have to put up with a sulking teenager.