Inviting kid friend, $?

[jccarney]

Update we have compromised by bringing a cousin and I offered to pay for some of her trip and her mom said that they would cover it. So my daughter has a “friend“ and I’m not so worried about costs. I will be paying for meals because I will be choosing where we eat and I prefer TS meals. Thanks for everyone’s input.

We have our first visit as DVC members right after school gets out. I had planned on a big family trip, but my oldest (20) has to work and he can't join us. My 15 yo now doesn't want to come either. That leaves just me and my 13 yo in a 1 bedroom at Beach Club. I would like my 13 yo to bring a friend, but I'm not sure about paying for another kid. I wanted to get feed back on if I pay the entire trip, airfare, park admissions and food, or if I ask the other parents to pay all or part. In my world, it would be a lot of money for me to spend on another kid, but on the other hand its the same amount I would have spent on my 15 yo coming with us.

Thoughts on what I should pay and how to approach this with the friend's parents? I think most of her friends this would be a large out lay of money as well.

TIA


Julia

 

[Traveling on cc points]

Many years ago, we brought our daughters friend to Disney with us. The friends parents paid for her flight and park tickets and we paid for the room, food and any extra activities we did.
In our case, we didn’t really invite the friend. The kids (9 at the time) hatched a plan and begged us if she could come.

that being said, this was 10 years ago and prices were MUCH lower that they are now.
If I had to guess, the friends parents probably paid around $600 for the park and plane tickets and we paid an additional $500 for extra food & activity costs.

you said you have a 1 bedroom booked, do you plan on cooking some meals at the hotel?
as I’m sure you know, feeding an extra teenage boy can get very expensive very fast if you are eating 3 meals a day at the parks.

 

[MissLiss279]

When I was a teenager (many years ago), my friend invited me to go with her family (and her brother also invited a friend). My friend and I flew down, while the rest of the family and brother’s friend drove.
I believe I paid for my flight and tickets. I can’t remember if we also covered my friend’s flight?? I would have paid for food, but my friend’s family wouldn’t let me, but we did have some meals at the resort. (I’m not sure the brother’s friend would have been able to go if there were too many more out of pocket expenses, so I think this is how the family made it somewhat fair for both of us.) They did let me take my friend to a nicer restaurant and pay for both of us as something nice.

I think at a minimum, having the friend pay for flights and tickets would be fair and maybe some/all food options?? Or give them the option of a set amount towards food and then cover what may be above and beyond that??

 

[Donna M]

It does put the other family in a difficult spot. My suggestion would be that you talk to the parents so the kids don´t get their hopes up. The hard part on the other parents is that this is an expense they were not expecting but now they might feel guilty if they deny the trip for their daughter. In our situation, my son was invited on a cruise; we paid for the plane and sent some extra money. We were in a different financial situation than they were. When we invited their son and another child to WDW, we had the parents pay for plane, admission and the one fancy restaurant meal. I knew the families would be ok with that.

If you are able to pay part of the child´s trip, I´m sure they would be thrilled. I would never expect someone else to foot the complete bill for a Disney trip, unless they are loaded with pixie dust.

 

[jccarney]

I feel comfortable paying for the airfare, as I can book on Frontier for under $200 R/T and meals because we will eat in the room or I will be choosing the restaurants. I think it is just the sticker shock for the tickets. My daughter and I have AP so we would want the friend to have park hopper for flexibility and since we are at BC we will probably be dining at Epcot a few nights. I feel like I need to make a decision in the next few days as air fare has been high the past few weeks and it is a low spot right now.

Anyone know the prices of a 7 day park hopper which includes the 2 free days? I couldn't find it on the website and the last thing I want to do is sit on hold with member services.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

We have brought "boyfriends". Everything was on us.

The reality is that I didn't want where we eat, our flight choices, how many park days we do and if we hop, and obviously our accommodations being affected by me questioning what the kid could afford.

I may ask for airfare in the future. We fly Southwest and it's usually pretty cheap, so that would probably be the most reasonable thing to ask for.

Park tickets would be second choice, but don't be surprised if they don't want to buy the longest ticket with hoppers and just try to "opt out" of some aspects of your plans.

No way I'd even consider asking for meals or room.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

When we invite a kid we cover park tickets, room and meals and we ask parents to cover spending money. We always drive so flight costs aren’t an issue.

 

[Narcoossee11]

I would price everything out. Tickets, meals, ect. and how much YOU are willing to pay for your daughter to have a friend go on the trip. THEN go talk to the parents-let them see how much they are thinking the trip will be.
They may be thrilled for the girl to go.. It would be much cheaper than their whole family going to WDW.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I would ask the parents if they could pay for the airfare and tickets. If they can't, decide how much you are willing to shell out and see if they can meet you with the difference. It's a lot of money and friendships often fall away. When I have brought friends of my kids on vacation, I am usually paying for everything, but there have been times where I've said they needed to pay for their food or something. I was never offered any type of compensation from the parents for the times I covered everything.

 

[_19disnA]

Discussing your plan with the other parents is where I would start. Your financial situation or theirs isn't something to discuss publically, but you can't assume they can/cannot afford to send their child with you. I think it is reasonable for the other parents to pay for the added cost of their child going on vacation (airfare, meals, park tickets, misc $$$). You can get a sense from the parents of where they stand on this and if they want their child to go. Everyone's financial situation is different, so what others may/may not have done could be different from your situation.

 

[DisLiss]

Our rule of thumb is that if we invite someone, we cover the costs-----which is why we've never invited anyone to come on a WDW trip with us before.
However, we've never been in a situation where we planned on having 4 people go on a trip, and then had two drop out, either. In that case, it would be different because it would come down to whether or not we wanted to pay for the friend as opposed to if we could pay for the friend. Typically bringing an additional person would have resulted in us increasing all of our costs---resort, transport, food, vehicle rental cost, etc. and that was too much for us. I don't know what we'd decide to do in your situation, but I do know that it would most likely still be a choice between covering everything but their spending money, or not inviting them at all.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

We used to do this frequently. We did usually drive, so having an extra person didn't cost us anything more. DVC was also already covered. We didn't do a lot of sit down meals, more snacks, food in the room, but usually did at least one nice sit down which we always paid. We covered meals and only asked they pay for tickets and spending money.

 

[Elleinthecity]

I've brought friends of my daughter. I pick up the room cost, the other parent pays for park ticket, plane ticket, and most food. We figure out how much the meals cost and let the parent know and they'd venmo me when we get home. I didn't usually charge for food in the room that came from a delivery service.

One parent INSISTED on covering a share of the room, and that was really nice but problematic. I practically had to do a slide show explaining DVC and points and said there was no cost difference with the kid or without. She ended up driving us to the airport which was a lovely compromise.

 

[BillPA]

If you do bring a friend, get a copy of their parents medical card(s) and a note saying it's okay for you to authorize medical service for the child. Hope you don't need it, but if something happens, like it did for us years back having this will really help.
Have a great, and safe trip.

 

[Matty B13]

One parent INSISTED on covering a share of the room, and that was really nice but problematic. I practically had to do a slide show explaining DVC and points and said there was no cost difference with the kid or without. She ended up driving us to the airport which was a lovely compromise.

Valet to the airport is definitely worth the extra kid!!!

 

[CarolynFH]

Way back when DD was in HS we let her bring her bestie. We drove, so no issue with airfare, and we covered accommodations (DVC) and meals because it was easier that way - we didn’t have to worry about whether a certain restaurant was too expensive, etc. Her parents paid for her park ticket and spending money. We told DD that she could bring a friend again when a sophomore in college. To our surprise, she asked to bring her boyfriend - they were getting serious, and she wanted to find out whether he would love WDW like she does. We made the same deal with him, although they flew, so he paid for his plane and park tickets, and he got to sleep on the foldout couch in the living room, not in the bedroom with her. Well, he passed, and two years later they spent their honeymoon in a BWV studio!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

If you talk to the parents, DON’T tell them her brother backed out. That tells them you have the money to pay for it all, but it sounds like you don’t want to.

 

[tgarre06]

I personally wouldn’t invite another child if I was not willing to pay for everything or expected their parents to pay for a portion of it.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I think that I would be tempted to make the most of having some time alone, making memories and cementing bonds with my 13 year old.

 

[Edna Cloud]

I would only invite if I could afford to pay it all if necessary. It the other parent offered airfare / spending money, that would be good. I would avoid charging for food because I don’t want to be thinking that I should restrict my choices to be “good value” for the other parent.
If I wasn’t happy with this (for whatever reason), I would just be making it a special adventure trip with me and my 13 year old to make memories and give them the chance for some one-to-one time.
Either way, hope you have fun.