How old were your kids when you let them bring a friend?

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

We are planning a spring break trip to DHHI and are considering inviting one close family friend to join us for our 13 year old son and 10 year old daughter. One friend each.

We would be driving 12 hours from Ohio and staying 6 nights at DHHI in a 2 bedroom.

Have you brought your child’s friend on vacation with your family before? If so, at what age? Before extending an invite any advice on what to consider first?

 

[snappy]

Older daughter age 16. Younger daughter starting age 12, and for many years afterwards.
Good times.

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

Yes, my daughters have both brought friends on family vacations.
The trips were all great & everything went smoothly.
I will say I have noticed a little break sometimes with seeing that friend for several days after we get home, but that is probably normal with so much togetherness.

 

[davale4]

My DD was 10 years old when we brought her first friend to Disney, the second time she was 15 years old. Next year, instead of a graduation party, she asked to bring some friends and family to celebrate in Disney instead. We will be bringing 6 friends and 15 family members to Disney with us in 2019.
The best advice I can give is to be clear what you will be responsible for and what they will be responsible for. I’m my case, we are taking care of the rooms for everyone and food for the school friends. They will take care of Park tickets and airfare for the one that are flying.

 

[Louis morrell]

11. My son wanted to turn 12 at Disney and wanted to bring a friend. He was born 1/1/99 so we were there at a very CROWDED time. All went great.

 

[limace]

We just did this-our 12 year old brought a friend to GCV. We offered because friend’s parents were going to be out of the country, and we already had a 2 bedroom so adding one more wasn’t a problem. They paid her ticket and airfare and sent some money for food etc (we did a couple expensive meals-we didn’t ask for food money and wouldn’t have accepted it if we were just doing a vacation rental typically). It went very smoothly and we have told our 8 year old he can do the same when he was 12. This seemed like a good age-old enough to go do some stuff on their own.

 

[KMarston]

We let my DD bring a friend at seven. We were paying everything so when the mom asked I said that she would need clothes for nine days and if she wanted she could bring some money for souvenirs. That was my mistake, the family wasn't very well off. I assumed they'd send $20 tops (1996). Well, as it turned out, her family all pitched in, the child had over $200! I had budgeted very carefully and planned a lot of character meals. Now I had a seven year old that wanted to shop constantly, I'm carrying bags, and I in no way expected to give my own DD $200 for souvenirs! Besides that it was a great trip!

 

[Matty B13]

We let my DD bring a friend at seven. We were paying everything so when the mom asked I said that she would need clothes for nine days and if she wanted she could bring some money for souvenirs. That was my mistake, the family wasn't very well off. I assumed they'd send $20 tops (1996). Well, as it turned out, her family all pitched in, the child had over $200! I had budgeted very carefully and planned a lot of character meals. Now I had a seven year old that wanted to shop constantly, I'm carrying bags, and I in no way expected to give my own DD $200 for souvenirs! Besides that it was a great trip!

You can have the cashiers send merchandise back to your resort, and it will be delivered to your room. But only up to 2 days before you leave.

 

[KMarston]

You can have the cashiers send merchandise back to your resort, and it will be delivered to your room. But only up to 2 days before you leave.

Unfortunately we weren't onsite that trip.

 

[kniquy]

inviting one close family friend to join us for our 13 year old son and 10 year old daughter. One friend each.

I think depends on a couple factors -- what the other parents think and feel and if their child could handle that span without their parents. Sometimes overnights with friends are fun but then they start to miss home or their parents (even though their parents drive them nuts). It is a big responsibility too when traveling that far with children who are not yours. We have done it going on shorter trips just a few hours from home, because if something happens mom or dad are not that far away. So with those considerations I would say 13+ might be the safer age to bring someone else's child, but if one of your kids has a friend then i guess the 10 yo needs one too.

 

[com_op_2000]

I have booked my DD who was 18, a friend who was 17 and two 16 year olds in a studio at OKW.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

We are planning a spring break trip to DHHI and are considering inviting one close family friend to join us for our 13 year old son and 10 year old daughter. One friend each.

We would be driving 12 hours from Ohio and staying 6 nights at DHHI in a 2 bedroom.

Have you brought your child’s friend on vacation with your family before? If so, at what age? Before extending an invite any advice on what to consider first?

If you are going to be in a car for 12 hours I would first consider how well YOU like these kids. Otherwise they can get on your nerves. My daughter has 2 best friends. One of them can be rude and moody. She does not do this on purpose. Has a few disabilities as does my daughter so we are very patient with this. But I could not be in a car with her for 12 hours without wanting to get rid of her. The other one can be a bit iresponsible. She is the party girl. Love them both but I don't think I would bring either of them. My son's have brought a friend twice. My son's first choice I said no to as he can be a bit crass at times and I wouldn't put up with that. They were a bit older when we did this though. 15 at the time. They never even asked before this though. We are bringing a cousin with us this time.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Thank you all. You’ve given us a lot to think about!!!!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

5, friends since they were 3, we’d had many sleepovers, but I only live 2 1/2 hours away from Disney! We discussed that if he wanted or needed to go home we would meet 1/2 way. Well, he’ll be 22 in Sep, my son 22 in Oct and we all just returned from a fantastic stay at BLT just yesterday, so you can see it went quite well. BTW, they now go on their own too, since the age of 18. I’ve planned them a F&W weekend in Oct to celebrate their birthdays, they chose OKW as home base.

 

[intertile]

Depends on the child. We brought my daughters friend last year, 10 years old. Great trip, but both my daughter and her friend are for the most part good kids that listen. Some kids are more difficult than others, so my advice would be to make sure you know the other child well enough. Disney is great for the kinds of trips, I just missed sure every one understood the rules before we left:
1) no whining
2) no wandering off
3) no whining
4) no whining
Good luck

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I struggle with this. We have one child, daughter, and I always felt like WDW would even be better with a friend along. But it's a HUGE responsibility. Some of her friends are more mature than others, some I trust more than others. She has a lot of friends, I worry that picking one will hurt the other girls feelings. It's bound to happen. I guess my biggest worry is something terrible happening. It's not so much trusting my daughter and her friend but others. I guess I'm a little over protective that way. My cousin went on a Florida beach vacation with her 16/17 year old daughter and her daughters friend. They got a bit out of control. Acting up, sneaking out. She got so upset (and worried something would happen), she packed up, cut her vacation short and went home.

 

[keishashadow]

I think depends on a couple factors -- what the other parents think and feel and if their child could handle that span without their parents. Sometimes overnights with friends are fun but then they start to miss home or their parents (even thought their parents drive them nuts). It is a big responsibility too when traveling that far with children who are not yours. We have done it going on shorter trips just a few hours from home, because if something happens mom or dad are not that far away. So with those considerations I would say 13+ might be the safer age to bring someone else's child, but if one of your kids has a friend then i guess the 10 yo needs one too.

It never happened. My mind kept going back to time I had a tween friend of one of my DSs call his mom to pick him up from a sleepover. He didn’t tell a soul, just up and left in middle of night. Heard my door opening, or I’d never had known. Same kid had been to our house multiple times, sleepovers, day trips, etc.

At the very least you’d think the parental unit would call & say they were picking up their kid! He stated he was bored and wanted to go home since everyone else was sleeping. Up to that point, would term him a responsible kid, same with his family.

 

[mickeymom629]

We did for oldest DS a couple of times and DD once - I have 4 kids (3 boys, 1 girl). Oldest was always a pain on trips and bringing a friend didn't make it better, like I thought it would. Thought I'd bring a girl for DD, my neighbor's daughter who never went to WDW. I think that trip was okay but, the night before, my daughter got into a "mood". For me, it was better in theory than it was in practice and I would not do it again if I could redo. Sometimes it's fun to show new things to people but I think our family vacations should have remained family only - unless we were meeting up with the entire other family at WDW. Taking another person is a big responsibility, too.

I'm sure it works out great for a lot of people, though! It just wasn't how I had hoped.

 

[TexasChick123]

I didn’t travel with friends or have them travel with me when I was a kid until I was a teenager. As many have said, it’s a lot of responsibility on you as the “chaperone”. I would think the minimum age would be 12 before I’d even consider it. I can’t imagine bringing a friend of my 7 year-old right now. There is no scenario where I’d do it anytime soon.

 

[daisyduck123]

My kids are now 24 & 20 yo. We don't bring friends along on trips because these are "Family vacations".
Only one time (out of 20 trips so far) did we bring someone along and that was when DD brought her best friend. That trip was to celebrate their high school graduation.