Taking your child's friend on trip?

[Fatalbie]

Subscribing.
My daughter is 7 and I can see this coming. Having introduced my brohter and his kids to the workd this past Oct., I figure we will end up with the niece and nephew in tow for some future trips. These are some good pointers, thanks!!

Jim

 

[Chim Chiminy]

We are bringing along friends this summer for the first time.
It will be DS's high school graduation trip and he has invited four friends (two guys, two girls). So far, only three have committed.
And so DD isn't left out, she is bringing her BFF. They will both be 12. No way would DD want to hang out with mom and dad the entire time, so I am glad her bff can go.

I have booked a 2bd and a studio at OKW for the trip and we are waitlisted for a GV, but realistically I know that is a long shot.
The boys will be in the studio and the girls will be with us in the 2bd.

We told the kids/parents that we will cover the room, hotel for our travel days, all breakfast foods and snacks in the villa, and a nice meal.
They are to pay for their tickets, QSDP and any souvenirs they might want. Oh, and gas for the drive down and back.
All told we estimated it at $650.

It will be even cheaper if we are able to get all the kids the 4 day military tickets. We already activated two of them in Nov. and would like to get the other four, but have heard conflicting info on if we can have all six for travel companions or if DH has to activate one for himself. I guess we will find out when we get there.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

when our "kids"..they are 20 & 23 bring a friend along we have them pay for airfare and their park ticket...we cover the villa and meals

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

I am doing this for the first time this year as well. My dd turns 16 and we are bringing 3 of her friends along for 5 days. Since this is instead of a sweet sixteen party, we are paying for airfare, park passes and the QSDP for everyone. I told the moms that any souvies, or additional foods the girls need to pay for on their own. We will also have 1 Character Breakfast and 1 TS to celebrate dd's b-day. We are now staying in a 2 br at SSR, but hope to switch that in a few weeks to either Kidani or BLT b/c of the extra bathroom. We are all very excited, and the three girls going are like my own daughters. If we didn't have DVC there is no way we could do this.

 

[Sammie]

We did, they covered air and souvenirs, we covered everything else.

 

[quandrea]

Resurrecting this thread. Just invited my best friend and her two girls. I've proposed that I will cover the villa (2 br kidani), groceries (which would cover breakfast, one meal in the villa and snacks) and her girls' passes (can get five day hoppers with points). She would pay one quick service meal a day, air and her pass. Hope this was generous enough. They've always wanted to get to disney but finds have been short. Her daughter starts high school in a year so I thought now would be a good time. Thoughts?

 

[DMKEDM]

How do you get park tix w/points? Didn't know you could do that I'm VERY interested in finding out about that!

I don't think what anyone else thinks matters at all...what's "generous" between you & your friend is all that counts...some of my friends would love to go on a WDW trip w/me and pay every penny themselves, plus my expenses; others simply couldn't go if I didn't invite/treat...all depends on the people involved...you & your friend: GO and have a great time!

But before you go, please please share how you got park tix on points?????

 

[keaster]

We are planning on our DD11 taking a friend in March 2016. We've told the parents we will cover the cost of food and room. They will need to pay airfare and park ticket for their child, and any additional spending money they may want her to have. Since we are in Canada, they will also have to get her a passport.

 

[quandrea]

How do you get park tix w/points? Didn't know you could do that I'm VERY interested in finding out about that!

I don't think what anyone else thinks matters at all...what's "generous" between you & your friend is all that counts...some of my friends would love to go on a WDW trip w/me and pay every penny themselves, plus my expenses; others simply couldn't go if I didn't invite/treat...all depends on the people involved...you & your friend: GO and have a great time!

But before you go, please please share how you got park tix on points?????

I'm canadian. We collect air canada aeroplan points. I can cash in those points for 4, 5 or 7 day hoppers. I should have been more clear in my use of the term points. I want to make this trip happen for my friend but I also don't want her to feel the gift is too grand and not want to accept it. Truth is, I'll enjoy the company as my dh can't join us and I just love her girls. Known them since birth. I floated the idea yesterday but haven't heard back yet. I'm hoping she's just getting everything in order before saying yes. It would be a trip of a lifetime for us all.

 

[quandrea]

We are planning on our DD11 taking a friend in March 2016. We've told the parents we will cover the cost of food and room. They will need to pay airfare and park ticket for their child, and any additional spending money they may want her to have. Since we are in Canada, they will also have to get her a passport.

Hadn't thought of the passport. Good point.

 

[quandrea]

Well my friend, her girls, myself and my three are booked! Five nights at Kidani Village savannah view. My friend will cover air and her pass and her food. I'm getting her girls park passes and taking care of the room and groceries.

We are both thrilled. Her eldest girl is in grade eight so we feel it's the last time she can get by with missing school. Her little one, at seven, is the perfect age. None of them has ever been.

Any tips on coordinating flight? Should one of us purchase all of them so we are grouped as a party or just aim to get there on the same flight?

Also any magical express info? This will be my first time using it. We always get a car rental when dh comes.

 

[LSchrow]

what a wonderful gift - for all of you
i would try to book & seat everyone on the plane together, if possible.....the girls are going to be soooo excited, you know they will want to chat for a good portion of the flight (& that way you can orchestrate a little more who with sit with whom, in advance).

you can call MS, or book DME online (we've used DME since its inception, and just rent a car when we get to the resort - so much more relaxing than driving from/to MCO imho).

you trip sounds fantastic - i hope all of you have an amazing time

 

[quandrea]

what a wonderful gift - for all of you
i would try to book & seat everyone on the plane together, if possible.....the girls are going to be soooo excited, you know they will want to chat for a good portion of the flight (& that way you can orchestrate a little more who with sit with whom, in advance).

you can call MS, or book DME online (we've used DME since its inception, and just rent a car when we get to the resort - so much more relaxing than driving from/to MCO imho).

you trip sounds fantastic - i hope all of you have an amazing time

Is it less expensive to rent a car right at disney?

Sitting together on the plane might be tough. We have to pay for that privilege on the wonderful air Canada and I won't pay that fee. We will try though.

 

[tgropp]

We did this many times with our children's friends. All parties involved paid their child's air and park tickets and the parents were all very grateful that their children could go along

 

[quandrea]

My friend told her girls! They were thrilled. Her little one said, "this is an excellent opportunity." So cute. I'm so excited to show wdw to three people who have never seen it. My dd, 10, is thrilled to have an older friend tagging along. Should be great.

 

[LSchrow]

Is it less expensive to rent a car right at disney?

no.....and sometimes it's a tad more expensive than renting at the airport when comparing same dates. but we don't pay tolls or gas to and from MCO, and don't keep the car the entire trip - we usually go for about 12 days, pick up the car the first day and drop it off 1-3 days before we leave.
we used to rent a car at MCO, but found DME to be a much more relaxing start to our vacations

 

[Dean]

Well my friend, her girls, myself and my three are booked! Five nights at Kidani Village savannah view. My friend will cover air and her pass and her food. I'm getting her girls park passes and taking care of the room and groceries.

We are both thrilled. Her eldest girl is in grade eight so we feel it's the last time she can get by with missing school. Her little one, at seven, is the perfect age. None of them has ever been.

Any tips on coordinating flight? Should one of us purchase all of them so we are grouped as a party or just aim to get there on the same flight?

Also any magical express info? This will be my first time using it. We always get a car rental when dh comes.

Eight grade is the last time we did this and it was the grades difficulty that made us stop.

 

[robinb]

Eight grade is the last time we did this and it was the grades difficulty that made us stop.

This may be OT, I don't see how anyone takes high school kids out of school for vacation. My DD tore her ACL and had surgery for it in mid-May. She missed a whole week of school with only 4 weeks left and it was a huge PITB for her to catch back up and her second semester History grade suffered for it.

 

[Dean]

This may be OT, I don't see how anyone takes high school kids out of school for vacation. My DD tore her ACL and had surgery for it in mid-May. She missed a whole week of school with only 4 weeks left and it was a huge PITB for her to catch back up and her second semester History grade suffered for it.

Eight grade is not high school though there may be a couple of classes that count. Our philosophy was take them to places of history like DC or Williamsburg and they'd learn more than being in school anyway. It's a little different when you have school that works with you, pick a better time than your experience. and you plan for several months accordingly. It was fine but she was stressed.

 

[quandrea]

Eight grade is not high school though there may be a couple of classes that count. Our philosophy was take them to places of history like DC or Williamsburg and they'd learn more than being in school anyway. It's a little different when you have school that works with you, pick a better time than your experience. and you plan for several months accordingly. It was fine but she was stressed.

My friend's daughter will be fine. They will never get another trip like this so my friend sees it as an opportunity for travel. In these circumstances she places more importance on that than a week of school. I'm certain she will prepare for it and ensure her daughter keeps up. As a teacher I actually think her little one will miss more valuable instructional time. When I taught special Ed and supported a grade eight class, I found very little was covered in a week. It was pretty astounding.

We homeschool so missing school is not an issue. That's one if the many features I love about homeschooling. The freedom is wonderful.

Now back to the topic. Does anyone have any pointers for travelling with friends? I suspect they will want to spend more time in the parks than us. How did you coordinate fastpasses? What did you do for meal planning? Any input appreciated.