A tip if your kids are taking a friend...

[Samsma]

It's usually my very own son that stresses my vacations. One of the most remembered stories of our trip in 2001 is my son, then 8 throwing at fit at MK. Imagine an 85 lb. fit in the middle of the magic. Even my 2 year old was mocking him, "I WANNA RIDE PETER PAN!!! I WANNA RIDE PETER PAN!!! As we walked quickly thru MK toward the busses. We never turned around to look at him, but believe me, we knew he was following. LOL. As my mom would tell me, "he's just tired from you dragging him around"

 

[MrsPete]

No way I'd bring someone else on an expensive, out-of-state vacation. Too many "what ifs."

 

[Poohnatic]

Thanks for all the warnings. Sometimes, its not even vacations.

My sister was so excited about buying her house "Now you have someplace to stay when you come up to visit". We were happy that we weren't going to blow over $100 a night for a hotel room (we're not rich, far from it), or stay with the In Laws (great people, but not a comfortable chair in the house and cats) or other sister (smokers and cats).

Her son is a 5am riser and in bed by 7:30 at night...mine are more like 7:30 to 9. We made the trip, had a death in the family and had to extend the stay. Sis is tired of the disruption to her son's schedule, but says "how bout you send DH and the boys home until the funeral?" rather than "our schedule is getting messed up". My DH and I had the one huge fight of our lives and I vowed NEVER to stay at a family member's house again. Guess that's why I'm nervous about bringing someone with us to WDW.

Suzanne
PS, when I called her from FL two weeks ago to tell her that we were staying an extra night at WDW because of the snow in MD/VA....she found out how much we pay for a night (I'm employed by Disney) and now she wants to vacation with us! Not gonna happen unless we travel as two separate families and just meet up for meals.

 

[Robmom]

That is too bad about your trip. My DD asked if she could bring a friend next time we go. I was debating it because it is expensive enough with just my DD, so it would be really expensive with a friend. Maybe we could go with her mother too, but again that could be a problem. I guess my family will go on our own!

 

[Nathan's Grandma]

Third time will not be the charm!!!

We love to vacation with my DH's brother and his family. There problem is they had the tendency to want to spend a lot more than they can or should.

The first time we went to Disney with them. They came to our house and we left for vacation. My BIL (whom I love a lot) had taken three hundred dollars with them. We were there for five days. I lent them an extra 500.00 before we were in Tenn.

When we checked in he asked if I would mind if the room went on my credit card and he would pay me at the end of the trip. I did. Since they had charging privileges (I know you are calling me stupid by now) they charged their tickets (five passes) on my account. When they ate out they charged it to my card.

The night we were going to check out he asked if he could pay us when we got home. It took three years to pay off there vacation. I don't take a vacation if I can't pay for it and I did pay off mine the first month but paid three years of interest on his because I only made payments when he paid me.

Trip Two!

I know what you are all thinking. We made it clear that we were having a tough time paying for this trip because of our daughters upcoming wedding and we were not planning on doing anything extra.

He told me he called Disney and they said you can pay with a check the day before you check out. I told him this was true but you needed to hold the room with a credit card. He knew better!

Upon check in I went up and took care of my bill. My lovely DD and DH were up at the counter with me and my BIL was next to me checking in. They were explaining to him that it was fine to pay the day before check out but he had to hold the room on a credit card. (My wonderful DH and DD decided this was a good time to make an exit.) He looked over at me and said can I use a credit card until Friday. I gave them the credit card and the girl knew I was furious. She did there cards with no guest prividgles without me even asking. Who would have been the bad guy if I said no? I love my niece and nephews and I could not look at them and say "you have to go home."

My wonderful family said "Why didn't you tell him no?" which really ticketed me off. What did they do when they knew BIL didn't have a credit card, they booked. They did pay the night before but for the five days they only had one day left on their hopper passes so for three other days we went and did things such as the space center. I felt bad for my niece and nephew but I just could not pay for them to go.

Trip Three!!! -

We told them we were flying and we would meet them down there. We told them we would only stay in a moderate. The other two trips we stayed at WL (not cheap.) We told them to stay where they wanted and we would meet.

They wanted to fly also. I made the reservations but not until BIL gave me his credit card. I made the reservations for Disney and he says he will pay me for the deposit soon. If I don't pay me I will cancel their room and apply their payment to mine. I will shock everyone but it's too bad.

We are paying our trip off before we go. We purchased our passes already so there won't be much to check in this year. I will not give them a credit card because I am not taking one. If they do not pay in cash for their half of the rental (15 passenger van) before we leave I will cancel it and get us something smaller.

It would make things easier if we did not like them so much!

 

[tiggerpoo]

Well, we learned the hard way also... My adult daughter and I took my sister to Disneyland a few months ago. My sister had lost her daughter to a tragic death and I really wanted to get her away from all the sorrow and see her smile again.
She assured me she REALLY wanted to go and that she needed to get away. It was also going to be my daughter's 21st birthday, so with hesitation I went ahead and paid for everything.

Needless to say it went horribly wrong. My sister complained about EVERYTHING the whole time we were there. She is a Walt Disney World traveler and has been many times. This time in Disneyland nothing I did was right for her. She was whiney, bossy, not happy with any of the attractions and really was not a nice person to be around.

I made a big costly mistake. She was not ready to travel at all. But that's ok. I learned from this. From now on it's just my daughter and myself that will go. I don't blame my sister I blame myself. I was just trying to do something nice for her.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

How long ago did your sister lose her daughter? It's very hard for people to understand the grief process unless they've been through it.

 

[DisneyLisa]

I hear you Jinnyboom. Glad you learned a lesson - I didn't & did it two years in a row . In 2001 when we took one friend of DD's, the friend picked a fight with everyone she met. She was 15 years old & was a real "man-hater"...I pity the poor guy who wrapped her hair...I couldn't believe what came out of her mouth. I spent my whole trip apologizing to people & dragging her out of "confrontations".

But I've finally learned my lesson though. DD & I are off to WDW in October to celebrate her 16th birthday (a surprise for her)...just the 2 of us - no friends .

Believe it or not, the bad memories do fade as time goes on & all I can really remember now are the good ones (unless I try really hard). I wish I'd read a post like this before those vacations.

 

[tiggerpoo]

She lost her 21 year old daughter 6 months prior.
I understand totally what you are saying about understanding the grieving process. I knew this would be to soon for her, but she really wanted to go. How could I have possibly said no?
All I know was that she thought she was ready and needed to get away from all things sad. This is a daily struggle of grieving for my family. My heart breaks for her every second of every day.
This death was a suicide and I think it is especially hard for people to heal from this kind tradgedy.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

tigerpoo - it was even worse because your daughter is the same age!!! What a tragedy - I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[tiggerpoo]

Yes our daughters were the same age. My sister is picking up the pieces now and she is trying very hard to move on.

On a happier note.... I am taking my daughter back to Disneyland this June so that we can try and have a little smile or two. I will keep this from my sister so that it doesn't hurt her feelings though.
Thank you for the kind words Disneyhumbug

 

[jenelope]

In my case, the problem wasn't with my friend, it was with her parents, and it took years for the other shoe to drop. My family and I took our second trip to WDW when I was fifteen. Since there are three children in our family, my parents decided we needed to bring one friend to round out our group, and as the youngest, it fell to me to pick the right friend. We decided on my friend, Jenny, who I had known since I was in first grade and is still my best friend to this day. It was Jenny's first trip and my parents made all of the arrangements with her parents. Her family paid for her admission and gave my mother her food and souvenir money, which was doled out on a daily basis. We all travelled to the parks together each day and made arrangements to meet at a specific time and place. We were usually on our own for no more than a couple of hours each day, and we knew better than to be late, otherwise we'd lose that privelege. All in all, it was an excellent vacation. Jenny and I had been drifting apart a little during junior high and freshman year, and the trip brought us closer together.

Unfortunately, I went on a week long camping trip with Jenny's family two years later and found out the hard way that her parents kind of resented the fact that we took her to WDW, when they couldn't (or wouldn't). That fight took a few months to sort out. I think it's equally important to consider the child's parents as it is to consider your young guest, herself.

 

[Aubrey]

Reading these posts makes me think it will be a good idea to take a "dress rehearsal" weekend vacation with my kid's friends at a relatively local hotel before embarking on a weeklong WDW extravaganza. If they don't pass the test...no magic for 'em..

 

[DisneyLisa]

That's an excellent idea Aubrey...wish I had done that .