What do you usually pay for when inviting your kids' friends?

[the who #3]

i have asked my 15 yr old grandson's friend to go along on the next trip, it is worth it for him to enjoy the trip more. disney with your best friend! what more can you ask for? then my 7 yr. old granddaughter will have mom and grandmother to do anything she wants. when she is older, she can also have a friend come along.

i have offered to pay for the rooms (dvc of course) and we reserved a larger villa. the friend's parents will send money to pay for park tickets and the meal plan. i will pay for all souveniers and excess snacks. i will also pay the extra for more expensive table service meals. if there is a time when the parents can not pay all, i will cover the meal plan. the meal plan is really not too much for one extra person.

come to think of it thats a good deal for a great vacation for the friend and a good deal to make our vacation turn out really great.

 

[dnoyes]

I'm taking 4 guests (21-22 year old girls) in Nov 2009 to AKV for my youngest daughters 21st birthday. In this case we will pay for everything because they are all in college and only working part time jobs for spending money. We've known all these girls for many years and want them all to stay in school so this is kind of a reward to them for keeping their head in the game.

But, after this trip anyone that wants to come to Disney with us will be paying for flights and park passes and we will give them the room and meals. We've been feeding all these kids for years so we may as well keep doing it

 

[marynvince]

Last two vacations, one to outer banks and this past June to HHI my daughter has brought a friend. Drove last year to OBX, her friend (12) paid for nothing. THis year my DD and her friend, both 14, flew into Savannah while the rest of the family drove. I told my daughter her friend was welcome but that I was not paying for her airfare. Paid for everything else. The two of them even had their own studio. I like sharing the magic. Points are easy to share and meals aren't bad, especially since the kids still like to order off of the kids menu.

 

[mikesmom]

We invited DS friends several times when he was anywhere from 15 to 18. More fun for him (and more restful for us) to have a friend along. We paid for the rooms of course, and also for the flights which were not out of pocket - we had plenty of frequent flyer miles. I also covered meals as I would have been feeding them at home (we were the boys hangout house). We expected DS friend to cover his own park ticket and spending money. I did allow the boys charge privileges for lunch and snacks during the day as long as they didn't abuse the privilege (they never did). Each time the friend's mother came by and gave me money because "you will have extra expenses with another boy along". I didn't expect it but I did accept it. I thought it was very gracious of her.

 

[NSL]

I have been reading this thread thinking about when I was 13 and had a friend of mine invite me along to Disney World. My parents were not wealthy and we were never able to afford a vacation like this. Her parents supplied the condo (no DVC at the time), all of my food, and even a gift that I picked out there. I paid for my own airfare with b-day and other gift money. It was the best gift ever and I still think about it! I just thought I would share because all of you who have been so gracious to invite others along they really do remember and appreciate it. Someday I hope we can do the same for my children's friends. My parents still have not been to Disney and this year they are coming along with us, we can't wait! One other thing that has been so memorable was when I got home from Disney with my friend's family, her mother made me a photo album with all the pictures, maps, etc. it was so great to remember the trip! She even wrote a note in the back saying I was welcome on any family trip with them.

 

[disneygal55]

Thank you for all of your suggestions. We will supply a studio for my DS's and their friends. I think that we will just pick up all the meals for this trip. They all have hearty appetites so....

 

[photobob]

This is interesting info and one that affects alot of us DVC owners. This past trip we took my son (21) and his GF(23) and I paid for everything. My son's Gf will most likely become my DIL in next couple of years and this was a college graduation gift for her. When my DD(15) wants to take a friend I'll probably supply everything but park pass and spending money..

 

[rocketriter]

As hosts, we provide the room. We expect the kid's parents to buy the plane tickets, park tickets, and provide money for souvenirs and snacks. Meals are trickier to negotiate if everyone eats together on one bill. Usually the parents offer to give us a rough-number amount to cover food. Bottom line, the kid stays with us but otherwise pays his or her way.

Have we broken that rule? Yes, but it was for a relative whose family is having genuine hard times and we went into it planning to offer their child the entire trip as our gift.

 

[rcchello]

The two times we brought our kids friends (16 and 18), we picked up the room/driving/meals in the rooms/meals they ate with us.

So they picked up Airfare/train fare/Park Tickets/meals on their own. I made sure their parents knew up front so there were no questions.

 

[SusieBea]

[QUOTE
Just to throw in another question - At what age did your children start bringing friends?[/QUOTE]

We allowed our girls to begin bringing friends when we felt they were old enough to go between the various parks and back to OKW on their own usinng WDW transportation. That was probably around 7th grade for each of them.

 

[wulfekamp]

We took my daughters friend and asked only for air fair and for her to have spending money. We paid for park tickets and dinning plan. We spent a lot of money being there nine days the parents acted like we were cheap scapes asking for that much. I will NEVER do it again.

 

[william4192]

Adults pay their own way. Kids you pay for. 18-20 is not really adults. You can't expect them to be able to afford a Disney trip. You pay for room, tickets, and food (if they eat with you). Everything else is on them.

Younger kids: you pay everything (including toys or whatever) like it was your own kid.

If you can't afford it, you don't take them.

 

[Sorceress_Minnie]

Call me crazy, but we are going to take our kids friends when DS is 15 and DD is 9. Having 6 years between them is sometime, like this, difficult.

 

[LuvOrlando]

-

 

[lah3hh]

I have really enjoyed reading this thread so thanks for bringing this subject up. My DD (now 21) has taken friends many times but the first time was when she turned 16. I think what is the most important thing in this type of situation is communication with the other parents. Make a determination what you are willing to pay for and provide a fair honest estimate to the friend's parents how much they should bring for their part. We have experienced many times where the parents had no idea of the price of things at WDW.

For the most part once well commuicated it is agreed upon that the friend pays for their air fare, meals eaten out and park passes. Usually I buy the passes ahead of time so that way everyone has them already paid for before we begin the vacation.

I am always willing to buy the food for the room, provide the accommodations and usually end of paying for a few meals once we are there.

Again it just all boils down to good planning and communication ahead of time! Hope I helped someone along the way because you have all helped me...

 

[disneyeveryyear]

My kids are approaching the age where friends will be requested. I expect to ask the kids parents to pay for airfare, park tickets, and extras while I will plan on paying for the room and all meals as a group. Even now, when I bring my kids on day trips, parents (myself included) usually send money for the ticket and extras (trinkets or above and beyond snacks maybe) while the parent/host pays for meals and usually a treat of some kind but maybe that's what we do here. No way would I allow another family to give my kid a $1,000 present (what we spend on airfare + tickets yearly per person)... there is just too much potential for too many strings attached.

I think your quote of "that's what we do here" is what makes the difference. When our kids bring friends anywhere (a local water park or WDW), we pay for everything except for their spending $, and there are no strings attached. We also work it with our friends' parents that when they host, our kids bring spending $ and that's all they need.

We started letting them bring guests on our last trip in Jan./Feb. and we planned to pay for everything. One guests' parents are well off (Dr.) and they insisted on paying for his flight and park tickets and provided us some $ for food and refused to let him go if we didn't accept those conditions. On the other hand, my DS's guest in January and my DD's guest who is with us right now, have brought only their own spending $ and that is perfectly fine with us, and was the "deal" we made with their parents when we asked.

It has made our trips much more relaxing to have our kids bring friends. They are 4 1/2 years apart in age and boy/girl, so they aren't "best" friends and don't play all that well together.

 

[Corinne]

Our boys (now 21 & 18) have taken friends along several times. On all occasions the guests (or their parents ) paid for the airfare & park passes. We paid for everything else. When one of our sons was younger his friends parents insisted on us having a night out on them while we were at WDW. We went to one of our favorites, the Yachtsman. We still sent him home with money....they were extremely generous!

 

[crisi]

Adults pay their own way. Kids you pay for. 18-20 is not really adults. You can't expect them to be able to afford a Disney trip. You pay for room, tickets, and food (if they eat with you). Everything else is on them.

I've found that my friend's 18 to 20 year old kids have tons of disposible income for trips - they've seen Mexico and gone on cruises and head off to California on break. (I think they have credit card debt up the yango, but they all hold jobs, some of them live at home, some of them are in college with student loans and Mom and Dad handling living expenses.)

Which is something you should be aware of when you gift. Sometimes you gift something under the assumption that they won't be able to pay for it themselves. They go with you and next thing you hear, they are in Cabo with friends. A gift needs to be freely given - because if they then use their own money to go to Cabo three months later it isn't any of your business.

 

[Ksp]

Great idea for a thread - thank you! We are inviting friends of both DD and DS along for our January trip (5 days at SSR, 5 days at HHI)


My DD and I were just going over what to say/how to phrase the invitation --
we will cover the room costs (points!), as well as make sure our kitchen is fully stocked.
Since we drive down in a van, friends are welcome to drive down with us, follow us in their own car, or fly down and we'll arrange to get them to the resort.
Park tickets, souvenirs, meals in the park will be on their own.
We may take everyone out for dinner - not sure yet. Our guests would all be college aged, so they should have their own money (at least some, lol) available.

 

[BroganMc]

We've taken adults and families as guests. It really depends on the financial situation of the guest. I treated one adult friend who really didn't have any money. So I paid airfare, room, meals and park tickets. He paid for his own trinkets.

With kids, if I have taken responsibility for them then I pay all associated bills. If their parents are coming then I only cover the room. Of course I save up a good deal of money to use for travel and have learned to do Disney cheaply for myself. So when inviting a guest it is more of a gift than anything.

As a college student I worked. My parents paid my tuition and living expenses (I lived at home). So anything extra I wanted I paid myself. That included airfare to San Francisco and all touring expenses. I think by the time they start working they can and should cover their "fun extras". That includes airfare, park tickets and mad money.

Oh and any TS we do with guests we usually cover. (To be fair, our adult guests will take turns covering meals with us.) We don't do TS everyday so just plan a few special meals together. The rest is all CS and therefore Dutch.

For the Grand Gathering I'm hosting next year for my family, we are only covering the room. Everyone else is responsible for their family's expenses. Not sure how we're going to handle the one group meal together. my dad and I may cover it as a gift to everyone. If any of the kids go off with us for the day (sans parents) then I fully expect to cover all their expenses, including park ticket, for that day.

I should add that myself and my dad are in good financial shape. No mortgages, no huge outstanding debt and decent savings. That's why we can afford to be generous with guests. It is nice if everyone can take care of themselves though. No one feels guilty or used.