Opinions asked for and wanted

[drakester]

Daughter and friends want to stay on my points for her HS Graduation present next June. I know what you are thinking because I am thinking it too. I remember about 10 years ago at OKW we had a group of girls staying above us and I actually had to go up there and knock on there door at 3 am they were so loud. I have read her the riot act and these are really good girls. I trust them but I still have doubts. Any thoughts.

 

[DizBub]

When you make the reservation request a ground floor unit.

 

[clm10308]

Not sure if I would be ready to let them go completely on their own, but I would think of getting a 2 bedroom with me in the master bedroom and them staying in the other and letting them come and go as they pleased with minimal supervision.

 

[MouseMomx2]

DD went with a friend the summer she turned 18 (AKV studio) and this year at 19 for Spring Break (BWV Studio). She had a great time and I have no doubt that she was a courteous and respectful guest. We will be letting DS have a week next summer when he turns 18.

You know your child best. As long as she is mature enough to take the trip alone I say let her go. If you feel that she would be overly rambunctious, likes to be wild or would be disrespectful then the trip should probably wait. Try to look at the situation objectively. We all want to believe our kids are perfect I've never met one that is.

 

[jarestel]

It sounds like a great graduation present. If you're comfortable with the maturity level and sense of responsibility within the group, go for it!

Good luck!

 

[Caren90]

The fact that you are writing and asking for peoples' opinions on this subject means that you are a responsible parent and therefore, have probably raised a responsible daughter. What a nice gift!!

Stephen

 

[Deb & Bill]

Last summer we got a GV at OKW and brought eight of our son's friends to WDW. While they are really good kids, there were a few incidents. Like the girls in the group were PIGS. Gosh, I was so embarrassed by their messes, that I wouldn't let housekeeping up there to bring the clean towels and take out the trash. (we had the master bedroom and were in the villa most of the time - they really were good kids, though).

 

[drakester]

Thanks for all the advise. We will be down there too, just at a different resort. I thought about a lock-off but she really wants her independence. Love the advise about requesting ground floor. I rather the girls be in WDW than Myrtle any day.

 

[SLM]

We will be down there too, just at a different resort. I thought about a lock-off but she really wants her independence. Love the advise about requesting ground floor. I rather the girls be in WDW than Myrtle any day.

Instead of beach week after graduation from HS our daughter and three friends stayed at WDW. We did not own DVC at the time but if we had I would've had no problem reserving them a studio. I'll never forget their tired, happy faces when we picked them up from the airport!

 

[com_op_2000]

Back in the 90's, we got our DD a studio for her and three friends. DD was 18, her three friends were 17, 17, and 16. One person in the room must be 18 at the time of check-in. We were in another studio, same building at OKW, and they had a great time going out on there own and to the parks.

 

[Pirate Granny]

I like the idea of same resort...since you are going to be there anyway. Different bldg or floor would be the best of two worlds....give them your room number and they don't have to give you there's if there a problem they know where to get ya.

 

[Lost in Neverland]

My daughter graduates in 2 years and she is already planning her graduation trip to WDW. We decided like most others on here that she is a respectful and capable person as well as are her friends but we are not comfortable letting 4 teenagers drive 600 miles from home without a family member close by. Our compromise is we all drive together (sperate cars of course ) and they can stay at any resort they want in a studio and the rest of our family will have our usual 2BR at OKW. They will be on their own until time to come home and then we all meet and drive home together. It scares me to death the thought of 4 girls at 18 yrs old on I-95 alone.

 

[dbs1228]

My DD who was 17 when she graduated decided that is what she wanted for graduation so her and friends saved for the airfare and stayed for 7 nights at BWV in a studio. They had a ball. They are all very responsible kids and my daughter has been to disney so many times she was the tour guide for them! I did sit them all down (with their parents) and went over ground rules and buddy system ect.... They were all very tired each night between the parks and the heat my daughter said they were usually asleep by 11:00 if they were not in a park!

 

[Sammie]

I think it is a wonderful idea, I know they will have a fun time.

Disney is the only place we would do this, and as to being old enough they are going off to college or jobs, so yes they are old enough.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The only problem my son had with his friends was planning. He had a few meetings at our house to begin with to talk about where they could go, tickets, park hopping, DTD, etc. They came up with a plan of sorts.

But when we got to WDW, the plan went out the window and they just shot from the hip for the entire time. Drove my son nuts (we always make a plan of sorts for our trips and this is what he was used to). They were calling WDW Dine at 6:30 to see where they could eat that night. Sometimes they were still deciding at 7 or 8PM.

I stayed out of it. Bill and I did what we wanted to do other than one breakfast at Chef Mickey's that we paid for everyone. We also bought the graduation ears for eveyone and they all wore them to Chef Mickey's for breakfast and for the picture.

When we got home, I sent the CM photo to our local newspaper and they published it (we had the Photopass CD).

 

[kisaacs]

I actually did just this the day after my high school graduation. (16 years ago now). Flew down with two friends for the week. We stayed in All Star Music and had a wonderful time. Our parents dropped us at the airport and picked us up when we got back.

We were going away to college in 3 months, and at WDW, we didn't even need a car, so I guess it seemed like a good idea. I hope I am successful in raising my kids to be responsible so that I can give them the same freedom when it comes their turn (14-16 years from now!)!

Kristen

 

[smidgy]

The only problem my son had with his friends was planning. He had a few meetings at our house to begin with to talk about where they could go, tickets, park hopping, DTD, etc. They came up with a plan of sorts.

But when we got to WDW, the plan went out the window and they just shot from the hip for the entire time. Drove my son nuts (we always make a plan of sorts for our trips and this is what he was used to). They were calling WDW Dine at 6:30 to see where they could eat that night. Sometimes they were still deciding at 7 or 8PM.

I stayed out of it. Bill and I did what we wanted to do other than one breakfast at Chef Mickey's that we paid for everyone. We also bought the graduation ears for eveyone and they all wore them to Chef Mickey's for breakfast and for the picture.

When we got home, I sent the CM photo to our local newspaper and they published it (we had the Photopass CD).

your son will remember , years from now, what great parents you are!!!!

 

[Dean]

We did that but sent our older daughter and a friend of hers as chaperone's. While they are all good kids and there were no real problems, they did not act as they should have and did not consistently follow the reasonable rules we'd given them without arguing with their chaperone's. I've seen far too many "responsible kids" cause issue. Personally, I would not send them without a chaperone.

 

[karrit2000]

Daughter and friends want to stay on my points for her HS Graduation present next June. I know what you are thinking because I am thinking it too. I remember about 10 years ago at OKW we had a group of girls staying above us and I actually had to go up there and knock on there door at 3 am they were so loud. I have read her the riot act and these are really good girls. I trust them but I still have doubts. Any thoughts.

This unfortunately has been my experience on way more trips than I care to remember. Calls to security about excessive noise during normal sleeping hours are apparently not responded to in my experience. For this reason I do not believe that any parent should think that it is in any way a good idea to send their "children" unchaperoned to stay at any resort let alone a DVC Villa. During one of my stays it was clear that the parents were staying elsewhere at the resort, I'm not sure if it was the other side of the same building or in another building nearby. But this did nothing to allow my friend & I to get a decent night's sleep due to the "children" entering & exiting their room every 2-5 minutes with the doors slamming behind them each & every time, for about 4 hours during the period of time when most normal people are trying to sleep. I'm also willing to bet that some of these "children" were over the age of 18. It was Party Time to them and the parents were oblivious to the fact that their unsupervised children were disturbing every one of their neighbors.

 

[GrumpyBelle]

Personally, I believe at this point, they are adults. They will be going off to work/away to school/etc. I would do it. Next year for my DS graduation he wants to go with a friend also. I priced out various options for him so they can make their decision.