2 questions

[pyrxtc]

We are going to WDW for the first time and want to take all of our kids but our oldest lives with her mom most of the time. She has told her mother of our plans to go to WDW during the school year and her mother said no way she's not going. Any tips on how to get her to change her mind? DD is a straight A student and will be in 6th grade when we go. We have never taken her out of school for vacation before but there are no school vacations in October and we want to go for the MNSSHP. Tips would be appreciated. She will have 1 week out of school.

Also, we will be driving down from NH and are supposed to arrive on Monday morning and DH wants to go to WDW that day. Am I right to try to convince him the we should get there Sunday and spend one night offsite at a cheaper motel so we'd be fresh in the morning and also maybe spend Friday night in the same hotel so we can rest before we go home. It would be 2 rooms each night for 3 adults and 4 kids. Would it be worth it top maximize our fun in the park?

 

[Lorix2]

I hope you'll be able to bring the older child, she might feel really left out and hurt that she cannot go, even though you wanted her to.

We have driven now 2x from NH and we leave 4:30 AM and reach NC by 6:00 PM or so, stay overnight at hotel with a pool if possible to let the kids unwind. We then get on the road by 7 AM and into Orlando by 4:30 PM or so. We stop every couple of hours for bathroom breaks and stretching. Investing in a plug in cooler was money well spent. I packed snacks/drinks/lunches for the ride down and was so convenient and the kids ate whenever they wanted.

I would not try to drive through the night, especially with children. One time, we hit traffic so bad we crawled for 2 hours. My then 5 y/o cried himself to sleep by 10 PM in his carseat because he just wanted to lie down flat and sleep, but I wouldn't let him out of his seat. My 11 y/o was also having a meltdown because she couldn't get comfortable to sleep. We couldn't get off that highway fast enough to find a hotel. It was midnight before we got one.

If you push yourselves to far without proper rest, you'll set yourself up for major stress and dissappointment. My advice would be to allow yourself 2 days of travel. You can find plenty of budget hotels for the way down and once you arrive, before you're onsite stay.

My kids liked going through each state and overnighting at a hotel, we prepared them for an adventure and they did really well for the drive.

Hope you have a wonderful vacation

from Manchester

 

[swilshire]

I can understand the Mother's concern. We did take ours out once when the school calendar got released very late and I had guessed wrong about when Christmas break would end. We had non-refundable reservations, so we took an extra four days of vacation.

Our school district is VERY picky about kids missing school. For a whole week, you might get a call from the truant officer. I don't think I would chance it again. In sixth grade, she would miss a lot of work.

You said that you are arriving on Monday. Will you be staying all day Friday? It might be worth buying her a plane ticket down (as an escorted minor, of course) so she could come down Wednesday afternoon or something. She could get in some good park time Wednesday evening and two full days and would only miss a couple of days of school. It would still be a treat for her. I know my 10yo would love to fly down "all alone". The boasting rights of that would make up for the days she missed when comparing her trip to the rest of the kids. What an adventure!

Sheila

 

[Stitchfan]

I agree that the oldest might feel bad about being left out. Look into how many sick days she already will have, school attendence policy and talk to teachers about making up work. In general, most teachers have lesson plans and such made up in advance and she may be able to get some of the work beforehand. Remember, she'll only be in sixth grade, years later she may not remember much of what exactly she learned that year but she'll always remember the trip she took, or wasn't allowed to take to Disney. As a recent college grad, I can tell you that missing a week of school in elementary/middle school will not destroy the child's future. I hope for her sake she can go

That's a long drive to do Disney the day after, don't know the ages of your kids but if they're young there's a good chance they'll need some down time after a drive that long.

Best of Luck,

Kelly

WDW College Program
Fall 2004
QSF&B
Aug 18- Jan 3