Disney Y.E.S. Program

[houseful of boys]

I know the discount has been severely reduced but I think it is still worthwhile if you: have 4 or more people, are buying longer multi-day tix, and getting Premium tix. Granted, that narrows it down a bit!

For example, a family of 2A and 4C(all over age 14, parents not attending class), buying 6 day Premium passes, would save the following:

UT 6 * $366 = $2,196
YES (2 * $359) + (4 * $241) = $1,682
Savings of $514

Did I miss anything?

Tony

I have a family of 6. 4 adult tickets and 2 children. Last year I was able to save about $900 on premium tickets through the YES program. This year I will save between $400-$500. Not as great of a savings but still worth it to my family. And we think its special to have an opportunity to take the classes. But we are going for 9 nights so will have the time to spare from our regular touring. I'm thankful for the program because it works for us. However, I agree it works best for families with "Disney adult" children who are going to be there longer than 5 days.

 

[wesjohnson]

Nope, you are exactly right. We are a family of 6 (2 adults, 4 kids) and we paid for the YES program the day the prices were released for Jan, 2013. We got premium tickets, 8 days, for all six of us and we saved about $500. We did it two years ago and saved about $1000, so the discount is definitely less. But, still better than anywhere else...and, all four of my kids will get to do a something out of the ordinary at Disney.

Disney is expensive. For a large family it is very expensive. So, I am thankful for the the savings and the opportunity to go to the class. Smaller families won't save much.

 

[shalom]

Agreed. If you compare it to the regular cost of tickets or to most legitimate discounters, it's a good deal for most and a great deal for larger families. And that's the right way to look at it, IMHO -- all discounts are temporary in some sense, so should be compared to the original price instead of former discounts. Practically the only other way for individuals to get that deep a discount on Disney tickets is to sit through a Timeshare presentation! So I'm glad Disney continues to offer a good discount for Y.E.S. tickets.

Still a bit of a shock to the system when you're in the habit of working with the earlier discount, though.

 

[jcemom]

I know the discount has been severely reduced but I think it is still worthwhile if you: have 4 or more people, are buying longer multi-day tix, and getting Premium tix. Granted, that narrows it down a bit!

For example, a family of 2A and 4C(all over age 14, parents not attending class), buying 6 day Premium passes, would save the following:

UT 6 * $366 = $2,196
YES (2 * $359) + (4 * $241) = $1,682
Savings of $514

Did I miss anything?

Tony

You got it right!

There are usually only two in my family going -- DD (10) and I -- so not as much of a savings for us.

 

[crhbrault]

I am new to homeschooling this year and in doing some research, learned that not only does Disney offer homeschooling times but this YES program as well - in pricing it out for my family of 2 adults, a teen and a child, it looks like we will save about $100 per person over a 5 day period AND get to take a class. Not sure how great the discount was before, but I'm pretty happy with this - we are going in Feb., and combining it with the room-only discount and going to a value resort that will cost us almost exactly what we save in ticket price - so for the price of "regular" tickets, we get a class, 5 days in the park, and our room. Maybe there used to be a better discount,but I'm pretty stoked, to be honest.

Of those who have taken classes recently, I saw some comments about "boring" ones - my DS (16) actually wants to add a 2nd class on! - and we are looking at: Exploring Disney Animation History for both the DS and DD (9), and then adding Properties of Motion Physics Lab 301 for DS. Anyone at all familiar with these (I don't know how often classes change)

Any advice for a first-time YES attnedee family would be appreciated. Read through the first few pages of this thread as well as the last several, to get a better idea of what we have in store for us!

 

[eeyorepixie]

TIA

Nevermind, I answered my own question

 

[ssiskremax]

I'm trying to find the 2013 rates for the YES program but cannot seem to find them. Am reading posts that the prices have been increased considerably. Doesn't surprise me! Knew it was too good to be true when we booked this past fall. So stinking cheap. Have never enjoyed Disney as much as we did with the hopper pass, Disney Quest, water parks, etc. So doesn't surprise me they have pulled back. Can anyone please tell me where I can go to find the current information. Am looking for individual not group pricing. Thanks!!!!

 

[doconeill]

I'm trying to find the 2013 rates for the YES program but cannot seem to find them. Am reading posts that the prices have been increased considerably. Doesn't surprise me! Knew it was too good to be true when we booked this past fall. So stinking cheap. Have never enjoyed Disney as much as we did with the hopper pass, Disney Quest, water parks, etc. So doesn't surprise me they have pulled back. Can anyone please tell me where I can go to find the current information. Am looking for individual not group pricing. Thanks!!!!

I don't think you can access the prices without at least going through the motions of selecting a class, etc.

 

[kristenrice]

We're looking into possibly doing a YES program (in 2014). Our kids will be 11 and 9 at the time. DH and I will have AP's and my parents will be joining us on the trip. My question is...if we must buy adult tickets for the YES classes (because the kids will need chaperones) can I buy them for my parents? I assume that won't be a problem...but then is there any leeway for which adult accompanies the child to the class? I doubt my parents would want to chaperone (well, my dad might love it!) but I don't want to buy tickets for DH and I since we will already have our AP's.

Any insight??? (I know a lot can change between now and then so I'm just curious how it works right now)

 

[jcemom]

We're looking into possibly doing a YES program (in 2014). Our kids will be 11 and 9 at the time. DH and I will have AP's and my parents will be joining us on the trip. My question is...if we must buy adult tickets for the YES classes (because the kids will need chaperones) can I buy them for my parents? I assume that won't be a problem...but then is there any leeway for which adult accompanies the child to the class? I doubt my parents would want to chaperone (well, my dad might love it!) but I don't want to buy tickets for DH and I since we will already have our AP's.

Any insight??? (I know a lot can change between now and then so I'm just curious how it works right now)

I'm not sure if it's changed since September, but at that time our tickets did not have names on them. If that's still the case, I don't see any reason you couldn't buy the adult tickets and give them to your parents instead of using them yourself. Just put your name down as the chaperone. I'm sure someone here will chime in and let us know if anything has changed in that respect.

 

[letsgoreds]

We're looking into possibly doing a YES program (in 2014). Our kids will be 11 and 9 at the time. DH and I will have AP's and my parents will be joining us on the trip. My question is...if we must buy adult tickets for the YES classes (because the kids will need chaperones) can I buy them for my parents? I assume that won't be a problem...but then is there any leeway for which adult accompanies the child to the class? I doubt my parents would want to chaperone (well, my dad might love it!) but I don't want to buy tickets for DH and I since we will already have our AP's.

Any insight??? (I know a lot can change between now and then so I'm just curious how it works right now)

Everything I have seen reported is that they don't care who accompanies the child. I would file everything for your parents, and just have whomever wants to go with the kiddos show up.

 

[kristenrice]

I'm not sure if it's changed since September, but at that time our tickets did not have names on them. If that's still the case, I don't see any reason you couldn't buy the adult tickets and give them to your parents instead of using them yourself. Just put your name down as the chaperone. I'm sure someone here will chime in and let us know if anything has changed in that respect.

Everything I have seen reported is that they don't care who accompanies the child. I would file everything for your parents, and just have whomever wants to go with the kiddos show up.

Perfect! Thanks!

 

[lilpooh108]

I am so disappointed!

I have been looking forward to enrolling my DD (now going on 4) in the YES program both for the class and the discount since she was (no joke) 18 months old.

I can't believe the difference in discount pricing at this point. Like someone else said, the risk that we'd have to change our vacation dates is too great.

I would still enroll her in a class at age 5 just b/c it seems really fun (and my nerdy DH would so enjoy going with her) but it's such a bummer that there is no significant savings anymore. We don't go for more than 5 days at a time, and don't do water parks so the "starter package" isn't really that much cheaper than UT, especially considering the restrictions.

 

[am12pm]

Does anyone know the usual timeframe when they release the Fall Homeschool Day date?

Is the Homeschool Day date usually in the last half of October?

 

[letsgoreds]

I am so disappointed!

I have been looking forward to enrolling my DD (now going on 4) in the YES program both for the class and the discount since she was (no joke) 18 months old.

I can't believe the difference in discount pricing at this point. Like someone else said, the risk that we'd have to change our vacation dates is too great.

I would still enroll her in a class at age 5 just b/c it seems really fun (and my nerdy DH would so enjoy going with her) but it's such a bummer that there is no significant savings anymore. We don't go for more than 5 days at a time, and don't do water parks so the "starter package" isn't really that much cheaper than UT, especially considering the restrictions.

It is still a significant savings (several hundred $$) when we ordered this year vs. UT. Plus getting to attend the class! There really isn't much more risk than scheduling any other part of a trip (if you are flying). From what I have read, there have been instances where they work with you on changes/refunds for extreme circumstances.

If you really want a deeper discount, plan around the Homeschool Day. We missed this by one day (arriving at noon Jan 25th, class is at 10). The deep discount remains for all. You do not need to be homeschooled to take advantage of this. I was told straight from WDW that it is open to all children/families. It is marketed to HS families, and scheduled as such, but open to all that would like to participate.

 

[Jankam]

I was disappointed also that the program changed. For an August booking, I ran the numbers and it would only be $109 savings total for 5 people. Not worth it for the fixed nature of it (ie not being able to take advantage of any free dining, etc that might come up with package discounts in the future). (1288 vs 1397 for 5 people including 3 Disney children and 2 adults for 7 days Myw).

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Hi-
I was looking at this program but it says for groups of 10 or 15. How do you book for a smaller group?
Thanks,
Pam

 

[doconeill]

Hi-
I was looking at this program but it says for groups of 10 or 15. How do you book for a smaller group?
Thanks,
Pam

Go to the Individual Enrollment section.

http://www.disneyyouth.com/our-programs/education/sp/individual-enrollment/

 

[Lehuaann]

Does anyone know the usual timeframe when they release the Fall Homeschool Day date?

Is the Homeschool Day date usually in the last half of October?

Early July.

The fall dates will vary. For past reference:
Oct 3, 2011 (Epcot)
Oct 25, 2012 (AK)

 

[mlwolcott1]

We are going in July. While the ticket prices aren't as great a deal as they were, for the four of us DH, DW, DS12, and DS8 , we will still save $300. For us still worth it and the kids are excited about the classes