Do you "charge" guests sharing your room?

[mello]

for our first trip with extended family next May. We'll have my sister and her family in a 2br with us, and I didn't want to charge them anything. DH thought we should charge a reasonable round figure like $100 per night. We're going for 15 nights, part of it at BCV and part at SSR, and have plenty of points for the weekends at SSR, but not for BCV. So we all sat down and discussed it and decided that DSis and her hubby would pay for two weekend nights at BCV on cash and we'd cover the rest of the trip with our points (roughly 2 yrs worth). Seems pretty fair for everyone that way. But if I had the points, I would never want to charge anyone - at least not family or close friends.

 

[Inkmahm]

I'm curious if I'm reading these answers correctly or not. For those of you who say you don't charge family, are you paying for their tickets and all their food, too? Especially for larger groups?

I took my sister and niece last December and I paid for all of the meals besides giving them a free room for the trip (although they got the sleeper sofa in the one bedroom.) They paid for their admission tickets.

In December, we're taking DH's entire family. That's 10 people besides us.
I wouldn't think of charging them anything to stay in the villas we have reserved, but it never crossed my mind to pay for their park tickets and all of their meals. I thought I was being generous by paying for MVMCP tickets for everyone as well as dinner at Liberty Tree, California Grill and Jiko's plus breakfast with Cinderella at the castle. Just those events/meals will cost quite a bit for 10 people besides us.

Do people really invite family and pay for everything for their trips?

 

[rigsby25]

I totally agree. I wouldn't dream of asking for any money from anyone I invited. If someone asked if they could come along, and there is room, I wouldn't charge them either. Adults usually pay there own air fare and park tickets. I would pay everything for any of my kid's friends. I love to share DVC. The more the merrier. I would not refuse an offer for dinner or a desire to pitch in though. But it would be up to the individual what and how much.

 

[goofy4tink]

My dd and I went to WDW last Oct with another mom and her dd, to celebrate the girls' 13th birthdays. I got a two-bedroom, boardwalk view villa. I had planned on it being 'my treat'. But, the other mother was having none of that. She really wanted to pay her share. She went online and figured out what it would have cost her to rent a one bedroom unit...then told me that was what she was paying!! Ah no...not working for me. I ended up having her pay $10 a pt for the studio she slept in. She was only sort of happy with that, but I told her it was the most I would accept.
We are planning a trip in '09 for the girls 16th birthdays....I think I'll be getting a two bedroom plus a studio...master for the other couple, 2nd bedroom for the two girls and the studio for dh and myself. Not sure how I'll break that cost down since I know the other family is going to want to pay their share.

 

[deerh]

I'm curious if I'm reading these answers correctly or not. For those of you who say you don't charge family, are you paying for their tickets and all their food, too? Especially for larger groups?

I took my sister and niece last December and I paid for all of the meals besides giving them a free room for the trip (although they got the sleeper sofa in the one bedroom.) They paid for their admission tickets.

In December, we're taking DH's entire family. That's 10 people besides us.
I wouldn't think of charging them anything to stay in the villas we have reserved, but it never crossed my mind to pay for their park tickets and all of their meals. I thought I was being generous by paying for MVMCP tickets for everyone as well as dinner at Liberty Tree, California Grill and Jiko's plus breakfast with Cinderella at the castle. Just those events/meals will cost quite a bit for 10 people besides us.

Well...
Yes and no.
1-If my kids ask THEIR friends to go, I pay for their food. (I don't expect a 14 year old to pay for disney food). BUT, they do buy their own tickets/souv. I am going to be in a 2BR , and go to Publix anyway, so I buy them cereal,milk,pop tarts, lasagna, lunch meat, etc anyway for me/family.

2-NOW, if friends go, same thing- they buy their tickets, and we split the Publix grocery, BUT if they go to Flying Fish rest, they buy their own meal.

As long as you tell the people you are taking to WDW UPFRONT what is expected of them to pay, it is not a problem.....

HTH!

DEERH
Do people really invite family and pay for everything for their trips?

 

[mom2rb]

So far I have not charged anyone, but the family members I have brought could not have afforded to come without my help. The people I have brought do pay for their air fare, tickets and their own food, and most of them buy us a meal or two. Except my little brothers and DH's little sisters, they are still in college.


Now if my dad or my older brother came, I will have to charge them. Both of them have plenty of money and both of them don't know I own DVC. If they found out I would never hear the end of it. I am bring my step-mom for her second trip in September. She even said " don't tell your dad ". They think that I get amazing deals with an annual pass.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We do not charge guests for sharing our room or for a room that they have exclusively. When we brought honorary DNieces we paid for everything, air, food, tickets and spending money.

We have adult friends who have told us that if we invite them again, they want to help pay expenses. I have given them a choice of 3 visits during '08, but have made it clear that they would be our guests for the room if they want to come. These friends are the most gracious hosts that you can imagine, and we are happy to be able to be with them at WDW. They had never been there before they came with us. We live in different states, and see each other so rarely, a WDW visit is a chance for us to relax together.

Bobbi

 

[JimMIA]

We have only taken guests once, and that was Grandma and Great Aunt. We didn't charge them anything, and we flew GA down from Boston for the trip (I have a gazillion frequent flyer miles, so it was no biggie). I think we let GA buy a lunch one day.

We'll probably take them again next May and the deal will be the same.

We've avoided taking friends and other relatives because taking one would open up a huge can of worms for us. We have some friends/relatives who would be wonderful and others who would be nightmares, so we're not going there.

We enjoy having folks at WDW at the same time, and we hook up for meals or special events...but not staying together.

 

[tjcj]

We have taken folks with us each time we have gone home, and it has never been an issue. The rooms are on us, and they are on thier own for transportation and tixs. We normaly split food/drinks "for the room(s)" by the number of families that come.
In the future we might take our DNs with us and if so that would be a present from us!
Bottom line is we got into DVC to enjoy ourselves, and that includes sharing with f/f.

 

[vwlvette]

I couldn't even think about charging anyone that I invite. I have been very fortunate in life and love to share my good fortunes with my family. I usually cover costs for everything, including air, Villa, tickets, and cool Disney stuff! Most of the time all the Adult room keys have my credit card attached to it. My family has never taken advantage of that. They are all doing well, and offer to pay all the time, just like I would, but i never accept. This year I made it easier, less oppurtunity to have to turn down offers to cover meals, we gave everyone DDP! Although this year my Bro is covering half the expenses. he insisted, I would rather have him do that then not come.
Cannot wait to go in Nov!!!

 

[noname70]

For family they usually cover a few meals.
For friends, I would want some compensation since we would have to upgrade from a 1 br to a 2 br. They are still getting a tremendous vacation deal.

 

[katied]

Since I'll be there (not DH) and it's my family, I'll stick with what I feel comfortable with - which is not charging for the room! If they want to contribute something, they can treat for a meal. I think I will split the grocery bill - it's likely to be quite high, esp since we'll need to get lots of diapers delivered, etc. and will be eating in the room about 2 meals/day (since we'll have 3 kids w/ us under the age of 2).

I've already made it clear everyone is on their own for DW tickets and airfare (we're all coming from difference cities anyway). I'll give my sister her ticket as a Christmas gift this year, well before the trip (otherwise, she could not afford to come - airfare for 2 from CA will be expensive enough for her to afford, and I really want us to enjoy DW together with the little ones).

Thanks!!

 

[Kewz1]

I'm planning a trip for May 2008. It will include my sister, cousin, a friend and myself, and we'll each have a child under the age of 2. We're planning on sharing a 2 bedroom villa. It started as a trip with just my sister, niece, DS and I, but then grew... I have no intention of asking my sister to pay anything for the room, but DH says I should have the cousin and friend each pay 25% of the "cost" (which he calculates as $10/point). I don't feel right asking people to pay, when I'm not really spending money for the room (I know we spent the money to buy the points, but I want to go there, and I'd be using the same amount of points anyway for just my sister and I and the babies).

Any ideas? What do the rest of you do if extended family/friends join you on a trip?

We've never charged anyone. My mom (sometimes Dad) comes along frequently and she likes to pay for all/some of the meals (or the dining plan). We don't expect it but she likes to help out.

Kristen

 

[flechette]

...DH says I should have the cousin and friend each pay 25% of the "cost" (which he calculates as $10/point). I don't feel right asking people to pay, when I'm not really spending money for the room (I know we spent the money to buy the points, but I want to go there, and I'd be using the same amount of points anyway for just my sister and I and the babies).

Any ideas? What do the rest of you do if extended family/friends join you on a trip?

I don't have a problem with charging or getting recompensated in your situation. I've already told family and friends who are planning on Disney vacations with my points that this is fine but I expect either some of our meals to be covered or we could work something out based on maintence fees.

I think $10 a point is way too much- either the MF on the point difference used - ie you started at a studio and went to a 2 bedroom. Or a 25% to 50% portion of the MF of a 2 bdrm is more in line I think - YMMV

---edit - whoops just saw that you're using the same amount of points just more people in the room. so the second option is what I'd reccomend for you. and just wanted to add - I always pay my sister's MF when she offers me her timeshare. It just seems fair.

Good luck! and please let us know what you choose to do!

 

[kend58]

There are many opinions on this. There is no right or wrong answer here. The best answer is to do whatever is comfortable for you.
MG

I agree with MG there is no one answer.

I have two answers:

Scenario number 1 : I give this as a present. It is a present I pay you accept; you want to give me a present some time because you feel grateful thats fine, you want to say thank-you thats wonderful, you want to decline thats fine; it's a present you don't want it no harm done. I have done this with family DSil, DN and friends of DS & DD and for a family that is all friends with our family. Always always 100% my treat it is a present. Sometimes the gift is room only, sometimes it is all inclusive depends on the situation and the recipient but don't ever try and "pay me" for your present.

Scenario number 2 : I am making a plan for a vaction you are making a plan for a vacation we start synchronizing our plans and end up using my TS for your accomadations I will let you pay me what you would have paid "for the room you would have stayed in" but not more because we are using my TS. I ask where are you planning on staying you answer at ("POP, POFQ, GF, Offsite at the motel6 or whatever) easy enough to look on the web and see what it would cost [applying readily available; like the Walmart or AAA; discounts to get real-world likely costs] if your offer is less than that and I perceive that you are being "cheap" our plans will likely start to be less sychronized, if I perceive your being in earnest but cant afford it I will likely take something less and ignore it, if I think you just haven't looked yet I will show you my research.

We have family & friends that are well to do and we have family and friends that are not - synchronized vacations are a blessing from a visiting perspective but a curse economically since no one wants to feel like a charity case and no one wants to feel taken advantage of on vacation (or elsewhere in life for that matter).

Mostly we have gone the gift-present route it takes all the sting out of the economic issues and lets me control the planning. I have gone the what you would have spent route with co-workers and family friends and everyone to date has always been pleased and appreciative of there "free room upgrade"

 

[ktbugsmom]

You guys are all VERY generous! When I first got my DVC, my sister and I took our 3 kids on a long weekend. We shared a studio - the youngest was in a pack and play - yes - a little crowded - but a great binding experience for us!. We split the expenses - but I only had her pay half of the dues for the unit - so it might have been 60-70 points for the 4 night weekend, so she felt it was a great deal because she only paid like $160 for 4 nights in a deluxe resort! Other times, friends have come with us and we rent them a studio. I rent them points at the going rate of $10 per point. They think it is a great deal - especially given rack rates.

I guess I just don't have that much money or points (only have 150 points) to offer free vacations to friends and family. However, they completely understand and still think it is a great deal. Maybe some day I can afford more points and invite more family (and cover accomodations for them)... but for now, I have yet to even stay in anything larger than a studio given how few points we have!

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

We ususally stay in a studio or 1 bedroom, we took our friends and their 2 kids ages 8 & 18 months for 5 nites, they paid for our dining plan which was about $500, not bad if you ask me, $500.00 for 5 nights in a 2 Bedroom at BCV with Stormalong Bay to boot!

 

[Inkmahm]

Now that I think about it, I have paid for airfare, hotel, tickets and food for my parents when I took them before I was a DVC owner. I've taken each niece and nephew for a free trip, too. My mom has a standing invitation to come with us whenever she'd like and I'd pay for everything for her since she couldn't afford to go otherwise.

It was more the extended family (DH's family) that I was starting to wonder about based on some of the posts here. From the beginning, we offered them a free room at Disney and a dinner. Then we bought the admission tickets for the niece and nephew for Christmas last year because we wanted them to have 10 day never expire tickets (we plan to take them again in the future.) Since then, we've offered to pay for the MVMCP and the meals I listed earlier. I can't imagine offering to pay for all the admission tickets and all of the meals for all 12 of us. I guess I'm glad we've been clear from the beginning. I doubt any of them would have expected us to pay for the entire trip - airfare (we're coming from 3 different states) lodging, tickets and meals.

 

[PEANUT1]

I would absolutely not charge them. You are not using any more points than you would have anyway. Your family will be so appreciative and may do something nice for your anyway. If you invited them to come to your home, I think it is tacky to ask for money. Just my opinion.

 

[Bill K]

My first round of family reunions with DVC, we did decide on a price. I can't remember how we came to an amount but it was minimal in regards to the accomodations they recieved at the BWV. We have had several since than, some including friends of our children. The pure enjoyment of having friends and family share our experiences at our Disney home has replaced that.
Each family is responsible for their own airfare / park passes. This has been very beneficial to me, My nephew is one sharp shopper! Got us some great fares from SouthWest. He's got his eye on the ball!!! Auntie Suzie would be proud!
We share the cost of groceries for the room and pay for our own families when we dine out. It works out great for us!!!!