Just back 5/10 - what is up with all of the young kids?

[mefordis]

Just got back 5/10. I noticed a LOT of young school aged kids. Not just foreigners, either. I don't think school is out now and I don't think there are any spring breaks. Did people just pull their kids out of school to go May because it is less crowded than summer? Just curious.

The P&PP was a disappointment - way more crowded than I thought. Not worth it.

 

[wdwmaw]

For schools there are field trips, band trips and senior trips ( for those that still have them). My sister lives in Plant City, Fl. and all of her kids go at least once a year and usually at the end of the year.

 

[mefordis]

For schools there are field trips, band trips and senior trips ( for those that still have them). My sister lives in Plant City, Fl. and all of her kids go at least once a year and usually at the end of the year.

Thanks. That explains the large groups of kids, but what about the families. You would have thought it was summer.

 

[GovieMom]

Thanks. That explains the large groups of kids, but what about the families. You would have thought it was summer.

I think lots of people take their younger kids out of school in May because by then most of the classwork has been taught, and it's basically just review. So they wouldn't have missed as much in the way of learning as they would have earlier in the school year ... if they've made good grades all along they know they're in no danger of failing, etc.

 

[KTSMOM]

In our case, my DD goes to a year round school so she was tracked out. I'm sure this applied to some other kids as well.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

We have year round schools here too. My dd's class wasn't off, but of the 4 families we know well on the track that was off, two went to WDW!

 

[staceymay00]

I would have never thought to pull my young kids out of school in May (we are done May 23 anyway) until just recently. Then it occurred to me it might actually be a good time to pull them out a few days for WDW since the crowds are less than summer crowds. My kids are still learning and doing important stuff, but it does seem that once the state testing is done in April they are not learning things that are as critical. I almost wish I had thought to do it this year because at this point I know both my school age kids have done great academically, and neither has missed an excessive amount of days for illness. I don't think either teacher would have objected. It could also be a lot of families with year round school are out, and there are more and more people homeschooling.

 

[LimeGreenEd]

Cast member told me that because of all the above mentioned reasons that there really is no more "slow" times at WDW, just busy and busier.

 

[mefordis]

We have year round schools here too. My dd's class wasn't off, but of the 4 families we know well on the track that was off, two went to WDW!

I have never heard of year round schools. Are they private?

 

[AMD3]

I think lots of people take their younger kids out of school in May because by then most of the classwork has been taught, and it's basically just review. So they wouldn't have missed as much in the way of learning as they would have earlier in the school year ... if they've made good grades all along they know they're in no danger of failing, etc.

that's us, we returned today and glad we did

 

[dylanlogan]

I have never heard of year round schools. Are they private?

Not ours. My boys go to school in St. Charles, MO and we are a year round district- for the elementary. The middle and high schools do the traditional schedule. We LOVE it. We start in mid July and then it is roughly 9 weeks on 3 weeks off until basically the first of June give or take a few days. I am a school nurse for the district so I have the same schedule!!

 

[famsen]

We just got back too and don't think we will ever go this time of year again.
It was way too crowded and way too hot.
The wait time for Soarin in stand-by was 95 minutes.

We stayed one night at Pop Century until we could move into AKV the next day. We couldn't even get anything to eat because the lines for food were so long. We ended up ordering room service pizza.

 

[ligirlz]

Cast member told me that because of all the above mentioned reasons that there really is no more "slow" times at WDW, just busy and busier.

My neighbor who works for Disney just told us this the other day. He said it has been none stop busy since last summer. So in my opinion i don't think there will ever be a slow period. Now the kids from Central FL are going on day trips for year end things so it will be a lot busier with kids.

As for the weather it is normally 85 - 90 from May to October with rainy season from June to November. So if you go in the end of fall,all of winter, and beginning of Spring it will be tolerable.

 

[McDISer]

Our neighbors just came home and they have 1 in h.s. and 2 in elementary school. School year ends June 12, and a week later, summer school starts for 6 weeks. They said their kids didn't want to miss summer school and they all play baseball and soccer, so they decided to go in May, when things weren't so hectic.

 

[NC State]

We went last year at the first May and we will not go again during the first of May! It's was a mad house with unattended kids everywhere.

 

[vettegirl]

We got back early this morning and yesterday at Epcot was packed with school children. Monday at Animal Kingdom was extermely packed as well. We had the best time thought and with the fast pass we never had to wait more than 20 minutes for a ride.

 

[gibsontrio]

We just got back , my kids are 2 and 5 . My 5 yr old may look older but he's not in elementary school yet so we chose to take him now before he is in "real school" We never waited more than 20 min for a ride!! We totally took advantage of the extra magical hrs and got our fast passes for the day for those busy rides. I think the only ride we skipped on was splash mt because the wait was 40 min.

 

[mefordis]

We just got back , my kids are 2 and 5 . My 5 yr old may look older but he's not in elementary school yet so we chose to take him now before he is in "real school" We never waited more than 20 min for a ride!! We totally took advantage of the extra magical hrs and got our fast passes for the day for those busy rides. I think the only ride we skipped on was splash mt because the wait was 40 min.

I was just really surprised at all the crowds. Went to the p&pp and geez - I really felt like we wasted our $$ and could have enjoyed a less crowded park just by using EMH or going at park opening. I won't be going in May again. I think Sept is a less likely time for parents to pull their kids out of school since it just starts then. I know if my dd was in school (she's 4) I wouldn't want to pull her out the first month. Late Sept has my vote as the best time to go.

 

[joshsmom]

For the last several years I've pulled my son out of school just before the last week (usually late May) so we could go. We LOVE going during that time because it really does seem "slower" than normal. Not that waits for Soarin' aren't 90 minutes, but we just used FastPass and dealt with it. We were going to go again in May this year, but it didn't work out. I will be pulling my son out of school in late August/early September to go. His school is VERY accomodating to us--but I doubt they would be if he didn't get good grades. Then again, if he didn't get good grades, I surely wouldn't be taking him out of school for Disney.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Not ours. My boys go to school in St. Charles, MO and we are a year round district- for the elementary. The middle and high schools do the traditional schedule. We LOVE it. We start in mid July and then it is roughly 9 weeks on 3 weeks off until basically the first of June give or take a few days. I am a school nurse for the district so I have the same schedule!!

Sounds just like our district.

Ours are also public schools. It's a very fast growing district and use of the track system allows them to delay or avoid building more schools. There are four "tracks", usually one class at each grade level for each track. With a 9weeks on/ three weeks off schedule, one track is always off, while the other three are on, so you can fit four classes worth of kids in just three classrooms.

The upside is that they don't forget everything over a long summer vacation, so there's no class time wasted reviewing the prior year's material. Also, having those three week breaks when most other kids are in school is awesome for vacations! The downside is that some tracks are more desirable than others (based on when those vacations fall), and, because kids usually stay on the same track year after year, they are always with the same kids, so they get to know those kids TOO well, and kids in other classes not enough.

Most of the parents I know like the system, as long as they don't have any kids over elementary school age. Then, it gets difficult with kids of different ages on different schedules.