Senior Trip--need budget help and ideas

[sk!mom]

DVC is NOT FREE!! I don't own DVC but I do know that even after it is paid for there are yearly maintenance fees and they aren't cheap. So I do not think it is unreasonable at all for her to recoup a small portion of what she is paying in maintenance fees. They will be getting a much nicer place at for a much better deal. If they don't like it, they don't have to go, or they can choose to stay elsewhere. She is going to lose use of those points so in essence, she's supposed to just GIVE them away for free??? She could RENT them to someone if she can't use them herself...



Agreed!!!

I don't think anyone should be expected to just fork over their points for FREE!! DVC is not cheap and is certainly not free!!! I'm glad there are so many others on the board that have the means to


I'm also amazed at the number of people who are all gung ho for sending a group of 'kids' states away without thinking twice about supervision or being concerned about them running out of money for food. Honestly, I don't think it is the best idea sending minors (if there are ones going that are under 18) without an adult there. What if there is a serious emergency? I'm not saying the chaperone needs to be on top of them all the time but I wouldn't feel comfortable with that? I know 'they' have to 'grow up' sometime but we will go back to the same debate that in the eyes of the law they are still kids until they are 18. So in my case I wouldn't feel comfortable having a minor travel that far away from me... 1,000ish miles or 2+ hrs by air in the event of an emergency. My DD is EXTREMELY responsible but according to the law, she is still a child. So I would want an adult there for safety's sake.

I assumed that if they were graduating seniors, they were all 18.

 

[susanrose73]

I don't have much to add to the actual discussion, but wanted to just say that my DD graduated high school at 17. She didn't turn 18 until her fall semester in college.

 

[stitchlovestink]

I assumed that if they were graduating seniors, they were all 18.

My DD will barely be 17 1/2 when she graduates, so I assume nothing!!
And I didn't mean that rudely... Our school system had a birthday cutoff of 12/31, so DD started kindergarten at age 4 and has a late birthday.

DD wants to go to WDW for her senior trip and the other graduating friend she wants to take will also only be 17 at the time of the trip. She is well aware that I will be going on the trip with them and she is completely fine with that. They can have all the freedome they want. My one BIG rule is that they CANNOT leave WDW property WITHOUT me... If they want to go off property, I will take them. She said the only place they really might want to go off property is to the outlets. I can handle that!

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

To the original poster,

I am in the process of planning the same thing for next year. There is no official senior trip here, just seniors who head to Ocean City, MD to party for the week. I gave him the option that I would provide a unit for him and some friends for Disney, but I would not pay for a party week. Since a whole bunch of last year's seniors ended up arrested, it was kind of a no brainer for my son.

So now I am trying to pull costs together so his friends can start savings. My husband and I have decided to not ask for any money for the unit since it is technically my son's unit. We will have our own unit and one other friend's mom has decided to join us with the rest of her small family. She will be reimbursing us for her separate unit. Right now I am looking at 4 units, since some of my son's friends are female and my daughter who graduates this year will also be inviting some friends for next year's trip. She declined anything for this year. So we are looking at about 10 18-19 year olds. Our plan is to stay in the background and be there just in case and to also be there to make sure the units are stocked with goodies and to cook some meals so that they are not stuck eating out all the time. It is going to be an expensive trip for these kids no matter what.

So I am trying to come up with an information flier so that they can make their own decisions regarding park tickets (all Disney or Disney and Universal), meal plan prices vs pay as you go, flying vs driving, character meal choices, etc.

The one thing that I was thinking of doing is requiring a $100 deposit for the spot in the room in order to make sure that they are committed, but then refunding it to them some way when we got down there.

OP, if you want to PM me to chit chat about various planning ideas and such, feel free to. this is the biggest trip I have ever planned and it is sooo different from our family trips where we get annual passes (which we don't plan on having next year), eat as much as we can in the rooms to save money, and usually go for at least two weeks minimum so we are not rushing through everything.

I just hope it all goes smoothly.

 

[dzorn]

I am still confused on WHY you are charging them $100 per person. Is it costing you anything to use your points? Are you using that money to pay for your room somewhere else and letting them use your points?

Yes it does cost money for points a time share is not free. You pay maintance fees yearly per point not to mention the initial cost to buy in. Given the amount she is charging them she is probably not even covering the cost of the maintance fee. I do not charge when someone is staying in a room with me, but I'm not willing to give up my points and vacation time to book others into a room without at the bare minimum covering my yearly cost. If they were staying at a value hotel should the OP cover the complete cost of the room? Renting them her points allows them to stay deluxe cheaper than a value.

OP I cannot imagine the dessert party is a big interest to teens, would they like maybe a wishes cruise for just the teens?

 

[dzorn]

I think they should get the dining plan... I've read many times of ppl saying that kids on trips weren't sent with enough money and went hungry (or spent their money on other stuff and not on food).

ITA with PP though, that I probably wouldn't charge them for point rental... if you had a lake house / cabin and your son and his friends went for 5 days, you wouldn't charge them rent... IMO, this is kinda the same thing.

Not the same thing as it would go empty without someone using it and you could go anytime. It's more like I own a lake house for two weeks only and dearly love to using it, but I'm willing to give up my time if you cover the expense it cost me.

Denise in MI

 

[luvsJack]

Yes it does cost money for points a time share is not free. You pay maintance fees yearly per point not to mention the initial cost to buy in. Given the amount she is charging them she is probably not even covering the cost of the maintance fee. I do not charge when someone is staying in a room with me, but I'm not willing to give up my points and vacation time to book others into a room without at the bare minimum covering my yearly cost. If they were staying at a value hotel should the OP cover the complete cost of the room? Renting them her points allows them to stay deluxe cheaper than a value.

OP I cannot imagine the dessert party is a big interest to teens, would they like maybe a wishes cruise for just the teens?

Wouldn't she have the maintenance fees anyway? I realize DVC is not free. But, if she isn't going to be paying out anything that she wouldn't already be paying, I really don't think she should charge them a room fee.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Wouldn't she have the maintenance fees anyway? I realize DVC is not free. But, if she isn't going to be paying out anything that she wouldn't already be paying, I really don't think she should charge them a room fee.

BUT she could 1. use it herself for her OWN families vacation later in the year or 2. bank the points until next year for a bigger unit or a longer stay or 3. rent the points to someone else who is willing to PAY for the use of those points. So NO she's not really out anything ... There are multiple options for use of those points.

I mean come on people $100 for five nights is $20 per night for a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in at disney and a bathroom to use!! That's not a bad deal at all for those kids!!! I don't think it's unreasonable at all....if they or their parents think it is unreasonable, let them price out some onsite accommodations of their own!

 

[LSchrow]

Wouldn't she have the maintenance fees anyway? I realize DVC is not free. But, if she isn't going to be paying out anything that she wouldn't already be paying, I really don't think she should charge them a room fee.

rather simple explaination:
the maint fee is per point, every year.
so if she owns 100 points, she is paying dues based on 100 points EVERY year.
one receives a new allotment of points every year, in their "use year" month. (unused points can be banked into the following "use year", and/or you can borrow from the following use year's points if needed).
once you use your points from a use year, they are gone....but, again, you will receive a new allotment (unless you borrowed them all already) annually, in your "use year" month.
sooooo, points essentially have a cost (dues/maint) every time they are actually used, or even, heaven forbid, left to expire.
also, most people buy an amount of dvc points based on what they will use, so using those additional points may very well mean a shorter vacation for them next year.
dvc is more involved, but that's a pretty simple summation - hope it helped

that said, i still wouldn't charge for the room since my son would be staying in it, but that is a personal decision.
and no to the DDP, imho....i think GCs would be easier (added to room keys).
enjoy the planning

 

[duffy]

My daughter will not turn 18 until Sept. in her freshman year of college. I still think she could handle a trip with her friends, who would mostly be 18.

She went on a trip with the school and had to budget her money then, when she was a sophomore. They had to get to each bus for each park, back to the bus to get back to the hotel, allow a certain amount of money for food each day, etc.

Heck, we sent her older sister off to Europe, alone, at age 16, to live with others as an exchange student, 10 years ago. She was there for 9 months and didn't speak the language!

 

[leighe]

I think it's tacky to charge them and I wouldn't worry about the dining plan. They are getting ready to go off to college. If they run through money so fast they can't feed themselves for a week, then they may not need to go on a senior trip in the first place.

 

[dntd]

As a mom I would have no issue with giving $100 for a week at any hotel at Disney. I think the parents just want a ball park figure for food, I would suggest giving an total with and with out the dining plan, say $50 for oop daily which should cover snacks and drinks. I see no issue in charging for points because the kids are getting a killer deal.

 

[luvsJack]

If all of these are kids who have never been to Disney, I would make sure the parents and kids were very clear on the cost of food.

We were dealing with younger kids, but tried to make it clear to a group of parents how expensive the food was and they still didn't quite get it so some of the kids ran out of money or were constantly trying to find something "cheaper".

If we go on another school trip to Disney, I will be printing pages of menus from AllEarsnet.com so that they can see the prices themselves.