Inviting a Friend

[Christine]

My family is crazy Disney obsessed. We've done cruises, WDW, are AP at DLR, etc. We rope drop and can do all day in the parks if we want. It's our way to Disney. My daughter (11) is involved in comp cheer and has had a few comps at DLR and WDW. This past year, her bestie joined us for a couple of days at the parks. It was...different. Friend is not into Disney, got bored quickly, and didn't like staying in the parks for more than few hours. Her friend left a few days before us at WDW and once it was just the 5 of us again, you could see the noticeable difference in my daughter to pick back up with her Disney obsession. Just something to think about when adding someone who hasn't been to Disney but for us, we decided that given how we like to tour, it's better to just do the 5 of us.

Yeah, it's always good to really try to figure out the other person. I'll never forget when I was in high school and we took my VERY best friend with us to our family beach week. Well, who knew she didn't like sand? She spent the whole week on her beach towel fretting about sand getting on her. Didn't care for the ocean much either. That was a shocker and, well, something as teens we never though to discuss. She definitely harshed my vibe that week!!!

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

My family is crazy Disney obsessed. We've done cruises, WDW, are AP at DLR, etc. We rope drop and can do all day in the parks if we want. It's our way to Disney. My daughter (11) is involved in comp cheer and has had a few comps at DLR and WDW. This past year, her bestie joined us for a couple of days at the parks. It was...different. Friend is not into Disney, got bored quickly, and didn't like staying in the parks for more than few hours. Her friend left a few days before us at WDW and once it was just the 5 of us again, you could see the noticeable difference in my daughter to pick back up with her Disney obsession. Just something to think about when adding someone who hasn't been to Disney but for us, we decided that given how we like to tour, it's better to just do the 5 of us.

What you described is my main concern.
Our family definitely has a certain groove at Disney...kind of an unspoken language of how we do things.
I’m my mind I picture the friend loving everything like we do, but what if she doesn’t? That could really throw a wrench in the trip.

 

[stsomewhere]

When my daughter was 14, we took her friend on vacation with us. We did a short cruise and a day at Disney. The friend we knew very well and had spent a lot of weekends together at dance competitions. The friend did not want to do anything was very introverted and clingy with my daughter. My daughter is use to having her own time. We cruise a lot and she is use to going and meeting new people, etc. My daughter missed having her brother on the trip. He was on a trip abroad with school.

Fast forward a few years, my daughter( 17) wanted to go to Disney for Spring Break. Her boyfriend of 2 years had never been. So, we invited him. He was was overwhelmed with the crowds, did not want to admit if he was hungry, he was very homesick, crabby, and he was afraid of the characters.

This year we went for My daughter's senior trip. It was the same as my son's college break. We took DD (18), DS(21) and DS girlfriend to Disney for a few days followed by a cruise. The girlfriend had a great time a Disney. She had never been before and did not know what to expect. She hated the cruise. She did not want to do anything except sit in the cabin and she wanted my son to stay in the cabin with her. She did enjoy the excursions we booked.

 

[tarak]

Our trip to WDW is planned for November & we are considering letting my daughter (17) bring her friend along.
This is a girl's trip, so it will be me, my mom & my daughter. We will be staying onsite & right now we are booked at POFQ, we would all share the same room.
I am just curious/wondering, if you have allowed a friend to come along on a vacation, what sorts of things you have run into?
The girls have been friends since 2nd grade, "on & off" at times, but more "on" as they have gotten older.
Since this would be at our invitation, we would not expect (or accept) her or her family to pay for anything. I would be covering her airline ticket, Disney pass & food. If she wanted to have some of her own spending money, that's great for souvenirs or whatever.
The friend has never been to Disney.

What you described is my main concern.
Our family definitely has a certain groove at Disney...kind of an unspoken language of how we do things.
I’m my mind I picture the friend loving everything like we do, but what if she doesn’t? That could really throw a wrench in the trip.

I literally just took such a trip with my oldest daughter and her best friend (June 11-18) and it went really well. We stayed onsite and I let the girls do their own thing frequently. I brought along the 7-year-old, so she and I would take advantage of early morning hours and the teenagers met up with us later on.

My daughter’s friend had also never been to Disney world and she had fun. She’s definitely more of a coaster junkie, but she said she felt like a little kid in the Magic Kingdom - she meant it in a good way. I paid for everything, she just brought money for souvenirs. I know how pricey Disney trips are and this was in part a 16th birthday trip for my daughter. So her gift was bringing a friend along.

I did have to manage my expectations and understand this was not the same type of trip as we would have made with the rest of the family. This particular girl has been best friends with my daughter since 1st grade, so she’s sort of grown up hanging out at our house. That made it easy. We’ve also traveled with her before to the beach, so it wasn’t the first time vacationing with her.

 

[siestakeys04]

Not a surprise, I spoke to my daughter & she pretty much was doing backflips about bringing her friend

I say go for it!!!! I would talk to both girls so at least the friend will know how y’all do Disney and what would she like.