Cost of FCC 2-Way-Radio License

AFAIK the GMRS fee is $70/family for 10 years. And AFAIK this applies for 1 day or 10 years of usage per the rules and frankly I wouldn't even consider attempting to getting any paid fee refunded... You can Google GMRS to confirm.

Don't know it these radios will work for your situation due to low power and restricted range like trees and hills,

The cost for the GMRS license is still $70.

https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2021/03/new-fcc-license-fees-to-take-effect-april-2021.html

using the GMRS requires a license. and you’re supposed to have the license before using them. you have better odds of winning powerball than getting caught trying out your equipment. however, a GMRS handheld commnicating with another GMRS handhels will have a useful range of several miles over flat terrain with no obstructions..trees, hills, buildings, etc. useful range will drop
off fast in urban, woody or hilly areas. caution: the Family Radio Service (FRS) uses frequencies in the same range as GMRS. your GMRS radios may be able to operate on the FRS frequencies. radios operating on FRS channels must do so at lower power. your GMRS radio may have the option to operate on FRS channels but check your owner’s manual.

I thought it was 80 (Back when I had one) the appliccation cost is the only cost.

Fine for not having one 2,000/day

We have a set but don't use them much, several years old Midland brand. Some of the channels on the radios are the lower power channels that do not require a license, use them as you will. Not much range but still useable. Jim.

According to the product details, these radios have a 36-mile range over flat ground, so you should be able to get a couple miles of range even if it's hilly. You don't say where DW is hiking, whether around the CG or on park trails, vs. up in the mountains.

I have a set of the lower-power FRS radios and you're lucky to get one mile of range in a forested area.

I would try the radios and see if they will work in your environment at the distances you want. If you decide to keep them, send in the $70 and get the license, if not return them and don't bother with the license.

You could also look for someone who has a license and ask them to test them for you. In a busy campground there should be several.

There are thousands of those sold and I seriously doubt that the seller ever tells the buyer about the required license. If the buyer doesn't read the manual completely they will never know. So I would bet there are many, many in use without a license.

While the specs by Midland may claim 36 miles it's highly unlikely you will get that even under ideal conditions. Maybe if you were on a cleared mountain top and the other person was on a cleared mountain top and there was nothing between both of you but a body of water. And the conditions were perfect. Radio manufacturers/sellers tend to exaggerate the performance of their products - alot.
Realistically what you can expect is 1-2 miles over flat, unobstructed ground. Any obstructions will greatly degrade the range.
Reading the specs on the Midland GXT1000VP4 it appears to be a standard FRS/GMRS radio. There are 22 standard channels. Channels 8-14 are the FRS freqs. Output for FRS is limited to .5 watt. The other freqs will be GMRS or the permitted combined FRS/GMRS. Power will usually be a bit higher than .5 depending on the radio. With the small cheap GMRS radios power is usually 2 watts but some GRMS can be 50 watts.
Each channel will usually have as many as 38 sub-tones which some makers describe as another channel. Without going into a lot of detail in a way you could say each is another channel altho not. They will just allow you to talk on one sub-tone and not hear another sub-tone.
Midland claims 50 channels which is more than the standard 22 channels. The way they do that is by hard programming a channel with one of the sub-tones. For example with other makes you can go to Channel 7 and then go to sub-tone 3. Or another other combination of the channels and sub-tones. What Midland does to get "50 channels" is hard program say Channel 7/sub-tone 3. Looks and acts like a separate channel but it's just the standard channel/sub-tone combination.
To answer your question about licenses. You'll see why I went into the explanation above. On the FRS channels, 8-14, no license is required. In 2017 the FCC ruled that low power (under 2 watts) FRS/GMRS radios do not need a license. Apparently your Midland exceeds the 2 watts on GMRS. FRS (channels 8-14) would still be low power and FRS does not require a license.
Bottom line, to be legal, if your Midland does exceed 2 watts on channels 1-7 and 15-22 then you would need a license to operate on those channels but not if operating on channels 8-14.

Go on over to YouTube and search for the "NotaRubicon Productions" channel. He has many videos on how to get the license, setup, and operate a GMRS radio. Everything will be much clearer for you.