Kids now in school - need advice on summer visits

[Ava]

Our schools are closed for a day or two for Jewish holidays in the fall (NYC) so last year we went over Rosh Hashana in late September. School was closed for 2 days, so DD only missed 3 days of school for a week's vacation and we were able to hit MNSSHP and F&W. She's only in K though so it probably wouldn't have made much difference if she'd missed a full week. This year we're going the last week of August, since they don't go back to school until after Labor Day here. I'd love to hit the Halloween & Christmas parties some time when the kids are older, so we'll probably do a shorter trip and pull them out for a few days to do that.

 

[scrapquitler]

School starts the first week of August - it's nuts. The breaks are out for us because one is the weekend of Easter, and the other is Columbus Day. That leaves about a seven week window in June and July. The more I talk about it, I'm thinking we may just keep pulling him out until he gets older or if we see him starting to get upset about missing school. Ugh. Why does it have to be so hard. I wish schools would give a pot of excused absences for stuff like this. In our state attendance is so closely tied to funding it's ridiculous.

At Kindergarten round up last week I let them know we would be out of town and he would miss six days. They informed me that if he misses 2 additional days, for a total of 8 that a truancy officer will have to make a home visit. FOR A KINDERGARTNER. In a state where Kindergarten isn't even mandatory. I think I've reached the anger stage of the grief process over losing my fall vacations.

Given your early school year start, I'm going to assume that your school year must end in May, right? In that case, I would go to Disney immediately after school gets out in mid/late May. At that point, the weather won't be completely miserable (hopefully) and crowds won't be horrendous, as those of us in the North East will still be in school (here we get out around the third week of June).

 

[nalajms]

Given your early school year start, I'm going to assume that your school year must end in May, right? In that case, I would go to Disney immediately after school gets out in mid/late May. At that point, the weather won't be completely miserable (hopefully) and crowds won't be horrendous, as those of us in the North East will still be in school (here we get out around the third week of June).

May and early June are still tolerable. We went at the end of June last year. Just to give you an idea of how hot it was, we were in the kiddie splash area in the resort pool. The parts of the railing (metal with beige paint) that did not get splashed with water regularly and was in the sun was hot! Probably hot enough to cook an egg. The pool water is probably in the 80s because it's so hot.

For the parks, the lines are longish. There's lots of tour groups. And it doesn't ever seem to cool off. We ried the early morning RD, leave for nap and come back in the evening. It helped some, but still hot. Sadly, we're going again at that time! If my brother's family doesn't show, we may just sit in the pool the whole time and skip the parks.

 

[goNDmay9]

My Mom is a teacher so growing up we always went the end of June/ early July. I never really thought about going any other time! It is super hot, and the lines can be long - but we don't stay all day in the parks. I feel like we did that when we were younger though. Honestly, I kind of associate being super hot - and then being plummeted into really cold AC with vacation!!! Now we try to stay on site (or really close) and just go for half the day. We really enjoy spending the rest of the time at the resort.

The last 2 years we went the last week of June / First week of August and I noticed that we were able to take advantage of some discounts that we didn't have in June / July - but then my Mom only had one day left before jumping back into work.

It is only now that we (the children) have children of our own and my Mom is thinking of retiring that we are thinking of going off season. My brother went down with my SIL for work (sans children) 2 weeks ago and raved about it! I joked that it was because it was an adult only trip - ha ha. But he said the difference in lines and weather was HUGE compared to the summer.

 

[jodifla]

It's pretty hot, there is no denying it. We routinely took our son out through elementary school, at least for a few days. We have some weeks with two days off, so we just pulled him for the other 3. A couple years we did do summer, the week right before Labor Day, since we don't go back until after Labor Day. Super hot, but low crowds.

Given your schedule, I'd do the fall week or in May right after school lets out.

 

[englishteacha]

I'm a teacher in the northeast. Vacation weeks are expensive to fly, and often times the parks are really busy then, anyway. We've done all our Disney trips in June or August. It's hot. It's really hot. I'm a Maine girl, and I'm roasting at 80 degrees. Most Disney days are 95-100 when we've been there, but I'm at Disney so I don't care all that much. However, if I ever get out of public education, we'll travel any other time of year!

As a teacher, I always have students who miss school for trips. If it's a good student, I'm never usually concerned. When it's a kid who is already failing or who already misses a lot of school? Then I worry. I've had kids who have never been able to get caught up.

As a parent? I would probably pull my child out of school, but I would ensure she would learn everything she needs and I would do everything I could to catch her up myself so that her teacher wouldn't have to spend hours with her because I chose to pull my child out of school. It only seems fair, ya know?

 

[tink9702]

I'm a teacher in the northeast. Vacation weeks are expensive to fly, and often times the parks are really busy then, anyway. We've done all our Disney trips in June or August. It's hot. It's really hot. I'm a Maine girl, and I'm roasting at 80 degrees. Most Disney days are 95-100 when we've been there, but I'm at Disney so I don't care all that much. However, if I ever get out of public education, we'll travel any other time of year!

As a teacher, I always have students who miss school for trips. If it's a good student, I'm never usually concerned. When it's a kid who is already failing or who already misses a lot of school? Then I worry. I've had kids who have never been able to get caught up.

As a parent? I would probably pull my child out of school, but I would ensure she would learn everything she needs and I would do everything I could to catch her up myself so that her teacher wouldn't have to spend hours with her because I chose to pull my child out of school. It only seems fair, ya know?

I absolutely agree with you that as a parent I'd want to do my best to catch my child up. Too bad my school district doesn't believe/think the same way. They refuse to give work/homework ahead of time as a policy & didn't even ask us to complete extra work or send anything home when we returned either. DS was only in Kindergarten though, maybe that's why??? I was so turned off by the lack of communication/work sent home to make up. Seemed so strange to me!!! Our district policy is 10 days of unexcused absences. We took DS out for 6 days for Disney and 1 day (this week) for my sister's wedding where we have to travel and be at the rehearsal dinner Friday afternoon.

Also, it's hard to know if your kid is going to be a good student ahead of time when you're planning a Disney vacation a year in advance!

 

[cadawson]

We plan trips around school breaks because it is so difficult to make-up that lost quality instruction time. In a typical school year, my child misses 2 excused days for dance competitions and 2-3 days a year due to illness. For every day she misses, she has to work 2-3 days to catch up on her missed assignments. It just stresses me out too! She told me the other day, "I NEVER get to miss school..." after she heard her cousin stayed home to celebrate her mom's bday. We just set the expectation that school days are for school and holiday/vacation days are for special treats - like zoo trips, movies, etc.
We visited WDW last July. The most crowded day in MK was 4th of July. It was unbelievably crowded. The absolute best time to visit was Sunday July 6, first thing in the morning. We were able to ride PPF twice with no lines.

 

[katyjeka]

We have traveled every month but July, so can't help you with that. We went the 6th of June for ten nights and had a great time. The crowds were not horrible. I don't know when your son is out of school but I'd leave as soon as he's done. It may be easier to take him out of school in the last week versus in middle of the year. This may give you a jump on the summer travelers.

 

[meejay]

I love all the replies - so great to hear a lot of different opinions. I appreciate it!

 

[TAngel84]

We went as a family at the end of June last year. I love Disney and we had a wonderful time but it was INSANELY HOT!! The kids would only want to be in the parks in the morning til about 11/12 and then back after sun went down because they were too hot! They wanted to be back at the house in the pool. I am planning a trip for next year and I have a going to be 2nd grader and a kindergartener and I am a teacher as well so going during school times is not really ideal but I've found Spring Break Week (end of March) to be a wonderful time to for us to go. They don't miss school and it's warm but not scorching.

 

[heath92681]

I'm a teacher. I took my personal days last year in November to go to WDW and am doing the same this November. Even as a teacher, I say family time comes first. That is what your kids will remember - not what they learned in kindergarten or first or whatever other grade. I will always support a parents' decision to spend time with their children and make memories that will last a lifetime.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The earlier you can go, the better. It will be not as crowded in early to mid June vs. July.

We took breaks in midday to get out of the heat as much as making sure the children rested when they were younger. It's the most crowded and hottest between lunch and dinner times.

 

[mom2grace]

Have you looked at the 2015-16 & 2016-17 calendars? I'm in Indy and we are out the week before Memorial Day both years since Mem day is so late. I'm planning Italy for 2015, leaving Memorial Day weekend. I will allow for snow days since I will have a high school student.

 

[dprincessmom]

School starts the first week of August - it's nuts. The breaks are out for us because one is the weekend of Easter, and the other is Columbus Day. That leaves about a seven week window in June and July. The more I talk about it, I'm thinking we may just keep pulling him out until he gets older or if we see him starting to get upset about missing school. Ugh. Why does it have to be so hard. I wish schools would give a pot of excused absences for stuff like this. In our state attendance is so closely tied to funding it's ridiculous.

At Kindergarten round up last week I let them know we would be out of town and he would miss six days. They informed me that if he misses 2 additional days, for a total of 8 that a truancy officer will have to make a home visit. FOR A KINDERGARTNER. In a state where Kindergarten isn't even mandatory. I think I've reached the anger stage of the grief process over losing my fall vacations.

Sounds like you start like us - Does that get you out in May (I know that you said June/July but am wondering)? Last year we went May 21st for 8 nights and had a blast. Lucked into the 24 hour day and the crowds weren't at a peak yet. This year we are doing end of July and I know it will be hot, but this is our 6th year in a row so we know what we "have" to see and anything else will be extras. We are doing Park Hopping so that she gets some extra SOTMK playing time.

 

[LovingPooh]

I have kids that are in advanced studies at their schools (early College and IB). I can't take them out any throughout the year due to their structured and rigorous academic schedules. We have to go in the summer months. We enjoy June and July. We really don't care when we go, as long as we get to go!

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

School starts the first week of August - it's nuts. The breaks are out for us because one is the weekend of Easter, and the other is Columbus Day. That leaves about a seven week window in June and July. The more I talk about it, I'm thinking we may just keep pulling him out until he gets older or if we see him starting to get upset about missing school. Ugh. Why does it have to be so hard. I wish schools would give a pot of excused absences for stuff like this. In our state attendance is so closely tied to funding it's ridiculous.

At Kindergarten round up last week I let them know we would be out of town and he would miss six days. They informed me that if he misses 2 additional days, for a total of 8 that a truancy officer will have to make a home visit. FOR A KINDERGARTNER. In a state where Kindergarten isn't even mandatory. I think I've reached the anger stage of the grief process over losing my fall vacations.

My oldest has had a stomach problem since he was little. He has a tendency to throw up when he gets nervous. One year in public school he missed too many days due to the stomach problem. My wife and I both had to go to court. We were fined over $500 and both had to do community service because he missed 2 too many days. He is home schooled now and not only is he getting a better education, if I want to take him to WDW I only have to clear it with my wife. Total side note we both got charged since we are married. If we were divorced only the parent with custody would have been charged and the fine would have been half of what it was. I understand the logistical reasons for this but it still doesn't seem right.

 

[7KLucky]

I've only ever known WDW in the summer. It's crowded and hot, but that's to be expected. I'd recommend getting started early in the morning and planning breaks in the afternoon to beat the heat (ie: lunch ADRs, shows with seating in the shade/AC, or resort/pool time).

Some of the tour groups can be annoying, but they tend to follow a path and hit all the rides in the area (not zigzag around the park). So if you skip a ride and get "ahead" of them, it's not so bad.

This is what I was going to post! We prefer July. In our experience June seemed more rainy. My DH and I are both school teachers so we will never take off and pull the kids out. It is a great summer vacation.

 

[7KLucky]

Poor attendance is a barrier to school success and attendance policies are there for a reason. Unfortunately, schools don't distinguish between loving, responsible parents who will make sure their kids catch up on missed learning and dead-beats who are too lazy to get out of bed in the morning and get their kids to school. Schools should focus on families that have chronic attendance issues, not those of us who miss a few days for a family vacation.

VERY true. The family experiences are amazing life lessons that cannot be learned in the classroom. However, even the most well intending parents can't always replace what is missed. I am not a worksheet type teacher and I have a very hard time helping students catch up for multiple days missed. The hands on, fast paced, interactive classroom is just different these days. Additionally, due to laws about treating everyone equally, special allowances can't be made for the "well meaning" families. The bad seeds win again. Everything in life caters to the rule breakers. Think about it.......... The trouble makers in the classroom "ruin the planned party" for the others, the students who started the food fight cause new rules to be made..... the people who let their kids stay home just because they don't want to fight with them about it cause truancy laws to be created. Not fair!

 

[goNDmay9]

My oldest has had a stomach problem since he was little. He has a tendency to throw up when he gets nervous. One year in public school he missed too many days due to the stomach problem. My wife and I both had to go to court. We were fined over $500 and both had to do community service because he missed 2 too many days. He is home schooled now and not only is he getting a better education, if I want to take him to WDW I only have to clear it with my wife. Total side note we both got charged since we are married. If we were divorced only the parent with custody would have been charged and the fine would have been half of what it was. I understand the logistical reasons for this but it still doesn't seem right.

OH MY!!! How awful. I am so sorry. What in the world do they expect you to do in that situation?