View Full Version : teenage group
ivypartridge
02-03-2005, 20:13
My friend's daughther and a few friends would like to go on holiday to Florida to the theme parks before they start uni. A local travel agent told them they could not handle the booking for a hotel/package as they were not all over 18 - some were 17. Have any of you experts got some ideas how these girls could go? Villa not an option due to requirement of car. [msnsmile] Do they all have to be over 18 to book hotel & flights by themselves [?]Thanks
Newhomebuyer
02-03-2005, 20:35
A villa on some of the estates may be okay for them. Wyndham Palms for example have a shuttle to the theme parks and a clubhouse which they could use. There may be other villa areas which might be suitable.
Nostromo
02-03-2005, 20:43
Another possibility is an arrangement with a MC where they would be willing to drop off the girls at some of the parks - at an agreed nominal fee of course. Is that allowed or possible? It all depends upon how many youngsters are there....a 'few' could mean anything from 4 to 10.
ivypartridge
02-03-2005, 21:04
Thank you Newhomebuyer for your advice on the villa communities. I thought a villa would be out for them. Another thank you to Nostromo for your advice on MC...something again I had not thought about....come to think of it...I hadn't thought much had I ?[:I] I think there are only 4 girls..all nice girls...:D
Newhomebuyer
02-03-2005, 21:06
My son and his friends used taxis a few times and because they were not travelling far, and a few of them shared the cost, it wasn't too expensive. They used to go from our villa to the nearest Disney theme park (Animal Kingdom) and from there they could use Disney transport for the whole 48 square miles which covers Disney.
They might find it difficult to get a villa. I, and I know others have a minimum age of 21 in our Terms and conditions.
E. Cosgrove
02-03-2005, 21:23
My son was only 17 when he booked his first package holiday (although he was 18 when he travelled) I had to write a letter giving him permission to travel.
Nostromo
02-03-2005, 21:25
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by wrpac00
They might find it difficult to get a villa. I, and I know others have a minimum age of 21 in our Terms and conditions.
[/quote]
I know that villa owners have to draw a line somewhere but realistically, many 17 to 18 year olds can be mature and sensible while you can get really silly (putting it mildly ;)) 22 to 23 year olds. Would it be possible for some prospective owner to liaise with Ivy Partidge about her friend's daughter's group, check to see how they are and then make a decision---which might include relaxing the rule a bit if appropriate?
Home owners aren't allowed to reply to accommodation requests on the forum so Ivy put in an enquiry with all the three websites at the top of the page and put in her requirements. Then you will get replies from any home owners willing to rent to your group.
Nostromo
02-03-2005, 22:52
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by blott
Home owners aren't allowed to reply to accommodation requests on the forum so Ivy put in an enquiry with all the three websites at the top of the page and put in her requirements. Then you will get replies from any home owners willing to rent to your group.
[/quote]
Sorry Blott, that's precisely what I meant when I said 'liaise'. All correct and proper via the right links. After all, the applicant gets a chance to make his/her queries about suitable villas and I thought this matter might be brought up at the time.
ivypartridge
02-03-2005, 23:01
Hey thanks all you folks for these ideas...[clap]I have directed Amy...the daughter.. to this site to help her..hello Amy !..so we will no doubt follow all these ideas up.:D
There speaks a man who has had little contact with teenage girls!!
As owners we have to play the law of averages to keep our guests and our homes safe. These girls are under-age and can't rent a car, drink, go to clubs or legally take responsibility for themselves in Florida.
Couldn't a Mum (happy to drive in Florida) be persuaded to go with them? My husband and I took my daughter and 3 of her friends last year (all 16, nearly 17) and we all had a great time. Sometimes we went with them to the Parks and sometimes we just dropped them off. It worked well.
If no one over 21 can go with them then maybe you could contact Disney direct and find out if they could stay in a hotel onsite. That would solve majority of their travel problems.
It's extremely unlikely that an MC would be able to or have the time to take these girls anywhere. They would need to budget for taxis, which would get very expensive.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Nostromo
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by wrpac00
They might find it difficult to get a villa. I, and I know others have a minimum age of 21 in our Terms and conditions.
[/quote]
I know that villa owners have to draw a line somewhere but realistically, many 17 to 18 year olds can be mature and sensible while you can get really silly (putting it mildly ;)) 22 to 23 year olds. Would it be possible for some prospective owner to liaise with Ivy Partidge about her friend's daughter's group, check to see how they are and then make a decision---which might include relaxing the rule a bit if appropriate?
[/quote]
Cruella DeVilla
02-03-2005, 23:46
Personally we would not entertain a group of youngsters of either sex in our place. They might be the nicest of people, but have to agree with Carla on this one about the under-age element.
Why don't you come to Ivy!!!:D
I am sure that I have read that a taxi firm offers multiple trips, you buy so many and they come and pick up / drop off etc. This was something people had looked into when they did not want to drive, the parents of these girls must think them sensible to allow them to travel so far on there own.
It doesn't really matter whether they are sensible girls or not. Their life experience is limited and they haven't yet learnt to cope with all sorts of situations. 4500 miles away is a long way if they find themselves in a difficult unknown situation. So, the law is there to protect them.
I consider my own daughter (nearly 17) to be very sensible, under most circumstances. She's independent and is sometimes on her own at home when we go away for a weekend and copes brilliantly.
Last December, Kevin and I decided that we would have a week in Florida together and Nadia was happy to stay home, look after the cat and the house and go to school. She had a friend, Steph, to stay for the week so that she wouldn't be on her own. Great, everyone was happy. All went exactly according to plan for 6 days and nights.
To cut a very long story short, the girls planned to have 5 school friends round (they go to an all girls school) on the Friday night before we got home on the Sunday afternoon, to celebrate the end of the school term. One of the invited girls asked to bring her boyfriend. Then someone else suggested that they should invite a couple of the people who work at the Garden Centre with them on Sundays. So, now they had around 10 people coming over on Friday night. So and so brought someone else and the whole thing escalated. By the time we got most of the story (I doubt that we will ever know the whole story) we discovered that around 30-35 kids had been in our house, many of whom had slept over.
Nadia and Steph had never intended this. They didn't know several of the kids that turned up at our house. The whole situation was out of control. We were 4500 miles away. Their Friday night get together had become a nightmare, particularly for Nadia. The damage list was quite long and included a broken wooden toilet seat, a cigarette burn on the mantel piece, carpets so badly muddied that they had to be professionally cleaned, a missing king size fitted sheet, a broken door handle and a broken dining room chair.
It was bad enough that this happened in my UK home, but had it happened in my Florida home, then it would have been so much worse, particularly if the girls were leaving in the morning and other guests were due to arrive that afternoon. Very little time to sort out all of the problems.
Most teenagers are sensible in many circumstances, and their parents think that they are too, but when you get a group of them together, particularly in a holiday atmosphere, things can quickly and easily get out of hand. Even if there is a dissenting voice amongst the group, this often gets squashed as they get carried away with what they want to do. That's why this group of girls will find it so difficult to get anyone to rent them accomodation. Nadia and her friends wanted to go to Centre Parcs this Summer and stay in one of their chalets but they can't because Centre Parcs won't let them under any circumstances because they are not all over 18 years old, so are therefore not legally responsible.
ivypartridge
03-03-2005, 03:12
Gulp[:I] Maybe they should go to my favourite Scottish Island..Mull...
Thanks all you folks for these stories. It just again makes you think about no matter how carefull and safe you think things are...it is a long way away.
The under age thing is an issue as I am sure it would be for villa owners..would their villa be insured for whatever with under age guests ? I think not.
Thank you Carla for your suggestion of Disney direct and sharing your experience of leaving your daughter at home. I have a 17 year old son and feel the same about it is not how much your trust your own...and how mature they are...put other teenagers in the equation...and BOOM!
[msneek]
Do you remember the Yellow Pages TV advert where some teenage kids had a party and the parents were due home the next day? The son had to try and find a French Polisher for their antique coffee table, before they got back, and in his hurry to sort that problem he missed the "face" that had been drawn on the Mona Lisa print. That's what it was like at my house.[msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnsmile2]
We're gluttons for punishment because we're leaving her again for a week in June, but this time I shall be phoning her friends' parents and letting them know that we have definitely not sanctioned any gathering at our house while we're away.[msnwink][msnwink][msnsmile2][msnsmile2]
I have to agree with Carla on this one. Exactly the same thing happened to my sister when she left her daughter at home. Again this was due to gatecrashers who had heard that there was a party, only Danielle (my sister's daughter) did not know she was having a party.
Working in an 11-18 school, I have also heard of other horrendous stories from the pupils themselves.
Calamity Jane
03-03-2005, 11:19
We have been in the sme position as Carla, both in our UK home and one of our US homes, one of my sons ( still havent found out to this very day which one) had a whole host of "friends round" and we found a hole in our bedroom wall where someone had slammed the door open, all my decorative candles ( expensive ) had been used, muddy marks all over the house, leather chesterfield suite damaged ( badly) plus many other things, not to mention 50 different strains of penecillin in my kitchen ( yuk!)
By the same token, I took a booking ( and have never heard the last of it) 10 guests, all couples but didn't know this until we received the deposit and booking form, ages ranging from 18 to 28. They only stayed a week ( Brits) and did an awful lot of damage to one of my villas, it amounted to just over $500.00, the security deposit was only £75.00 for the week at that time.
Not only did they leave it damaged but they must have spent a fortune on cans of beer and wine as it was left all over the place, it was disgusting how our beatutiful home was treated. I have to say at this point that it was the one and only time that we have ever encountered this kind of behaviour and damage
We chased them around for a few weeks on their return and finally got them to pay the damages, we didn't even have to threaten them with a solicitor. The girl who had done the booking was 22 years old and was lovely on the phone, it just goes to show that when someone isn't responsible in the party everything can and will go pear shaped.
We now only rent to family groups...this is not to say that they cant do similar but we hope that the guests that go in our villas will respect our homes and treat them accordingly.
LiesaAnna
03-03-2005, 11:31
i find it so hard to believe that people can be so horrible!!! we have alwasy treated other peoples homes/belongings with the utmost respect!!!!! cannot for the life of me understand why people would want to mistreat the beautiful villas!! it just goes to show what their own homes must look like! especially after having a few drinks and some friends around!!!!!glad we dont have friends like that![msnwink]
I have to say that when I said the parents must think they are sensible girls I am in no way saying I think it is OK - I as a parent and who works with children would not think they were and would not let mine go away on there own or leave them in my house, home or away!!!!
I too have had experience of property been let out and have seen what happens, and these wern't kids renting they were adults!
Children of today think they have a lot of life experience - but when it comes to certain situations they can not cope and I see this everyday at work.
Yes I know they have to grow up! and you have to trust them at sometime and some do go off and do gap years and backpacking around the world
Yes Liesa people are horrible and do not respect people's property - it does go to show what there own homes must be like!! I like you take very good care of other peoples homes - even hotel rooms!!!!!! Better stop there!!!
LiesaAnna
03-03-2005, 12:11
with you on this one!!! we even take great care of hotel rooms, its the way i am!![msnwink]
Newhomebuyer
03-03-2005, 13:24
Many young people leave home to go to university or a gap year when they are 18. Some of my sons friends went on their gap year to Australia when my son went off to university , they were all only 18. If I couldn't have trusted him to keep himself and property around him safe for 2 weeks how would I have felt seeing him leaving home 1 month later.
Perhaps its different for boys.
I do think that you going with them is a great suggestion. Its a great excuse to go.
Ray&Sarah
03-03-2005, 17:08
Our 15 year old son is very sensible and we would trust him to stay at home but some of his friends are not so sensible and some are older and very immature, which then transfers onto our son when they all get together. So its hard to tell whether a group of teenagers would be sensible or not.[msnoo][msnsmile]
My neighbours daughter was left alone for 3 days, invited a few people round which escalated to lots, she ended up so scared that she shut herself in her room! we were only next door and could have helped if she had just asked. There house was completly trashed, doors of the hinges, every drop of booze gone, most of it on the carpet, broken glass trodden into the garden, if she couldn't ask for help from people she has known all her life, she would have stood no chance 4500 miles away.
I think if I was lucky enough to own my own Villa I would not let it to any single sex parties of any age.