Taking a child's friend along

[ttichenor]

We are bringing DD12's best bud on our trip in October 2004. Any tips on "ground rules" before leaving home?

Thanks!

 

[hockey mom]

We took DD's friend(14) along last year and now again this year. Rule #1 for us was don't even ask if you 2 can seperate because it isn't going to happen. The only other thing I asked was for her to remember that she still has a brother and sister and not to ignore them. Taking someone knew was a blast to see their first reactions.

 

[ttichenor]

Thanks Hockeymom, had already thought about the don't think about separating rule, but will definitely add the "remembering you have other family members around" to my list. How did you guys work money? Friend just give you her money and you guys paid for everything as a group, or did you leave it up to her? I think we'll just "adopt" her for the whole week and work out the details later.

Also noticed HIFS in your signature a couple of times. Have done some reading on it from other board. We are staying there for the first time. Looking forward to it.

Thanks!

 

[hockey mom]

As for the money issue we treated the first time as DD's Birthday present, but her parents gave me money to pay for food and what not. She had her own spending money that she carried. This trip she is paying her own way. She has already given me her ticket money and I am assuming her parents are going to hand me her food money again and spending will be all she carries.

As for HIFS my kids love this hotel and ask to stay again every year. We are only doing one night after our condo stay this time, but they can kareoke and bingo their little hearts out that night.
Have a great trip!

 

[JoEllen]

We did this last year for our 13 yr old DD and best friend. Friend paid for airfare and park tics. We paid for food. It worked out great and we would do it again.

Remember to have her parents give you a notarized medical release in case of an emergeny. Also have her bring along a photo id. We had to show her student id at the Seattle airport.

Her parents gave her a pre-paid phone card so she could make as many calls home as she wanted.

JoEllen

 

[ttichenor]

Thanks for the great tips Jo! Would not have thought about a photo id at all.

 

[cheerdaddy]

we did this last year with one of dd11 best friends...her parents paid for her tickets and we paid for her meals....she had her own spending money which I held for her...I would pay for the stuff and we kept a log and then "settled" up with her at the end of the trip...I think I came out a little behind on that deal, but that's ok...we also put a big NO on the idea of running off away from us before we even left home and had absolutely no problems with it the whole trip...they didn't even ask!!! our daughter is an only child, so taking a frien along really worked out well. it evened out things...on all our previous trips, one of us rode with dd and the other always had to ride by his/her self....this way, everyone always had a partner...it worked out really well and we will do it again this year and in the future....just be careful which friend they decide to bring....I can think of several of my dd's friends that I wouldn't want to keep tabs of for an entire trip..lol!

 

[dznyacct]

We took my DS's best friend (both now 14) with us to VB/WDW last summer for two weeks. They have been best friends since they were 4. He has two older brothers (both in college) and money is tight for his parents. I love this boy like he was my son and since my DS is an only child, we paid for everything except his spending money. It definitely increased my budget, but it was so worth it. After our first day at Vero, I was begging him to go with us on our DCL/WDW this July (woohoo only 4 more months!!). His mom had to think it over since he would miss a bit of baseball. She finally agreed and we are again footing the bill, asking that he provide his own spending money. He IMs me on AOL with cruise questions. I think he's as excited as me!!

I got a "consent for medical treatment form" from his mom along with a copy of his insurance card. He and my son knew they had to stick together. My son is very comfortable getting around WDW, so that was a help to my comfort level. His friend kept ~ $40 of his spending money with him and I held on to the rest.

My only regret is thatwe didn't take him sooner on trips with us. I know that he and my son are going to have so much fun on the western DCL in July.

 

[wilderness01]

What a nice thing to do for that boy. I am sure you will all have a great time on your cruise!

 

[luvaladdin]

As for the $ issue, my DD's friend age 14 paid for her airline ticket. I paid for the hotel room, as it would have been the same price with or without her. But still, that was a good deal for her. SHe brought along spending $ for all meals and souvenirs. I ended up treating for one meal and buying the soda that the two of them shared.

I took them by myself, so one of my rules was that they couldn't ditch me the whole trip. I made that very clear to them, and reminded them also during the trip. Sometimes they would go on rides that I wouldn't go on, and I'd meet them afterward. I also gave them some free time at City Walk, with her mother's permission.

 

[lindsey]

Thanks for the reminder of the "consent form" and copy of insurance form. We are going in June and ds is taking his two best friends - ds - 17yr, friend1-16yr, friend2 - 18yr. We are staying at FW, so I am providing food for bfast and 1 "sandwich" meal a day. They will be responsible for 1 meal a day in a park. I'm buying the 4-day pass for each, and they will have 1 day non-park. We're excited about sharing Disney with them.