Absolutely frustrated with DD's school!!

[jpkkld]

Just venting here... DH gets it but not really...

We were planning a major trip. For us, that's one full week onsite, in the bubble, at least one TS restaurant a day, and as much hotel as we can afford. It's been 4 years since our last major visit and we had accepted the reality that we need to work with school breaks for our middle-schooler.

I have a reservation at POFQ for Feb 19-27. It's not ideal for crowds, right after Presidents Day weekend, but I did okay. Acceptable hotel rate, acceptable air fare, workable crowd level. And when discounts come out, maybe one of the deluxes will be comparable to POFQ. Maybe.

We are 187 days out. Today I got DD13's school paperwork. The big Washington DC trip is Feb 25-March 2. That's a 2 day overlap with our vacation.

I knew about the trip, but honestly kind of forgot about it. I did NOT know that it would be scheduled right after winter break. There has been NO communication from the school - ever - until now. Frankly, I am PO'd. Surely they knew they wanted to do this trip at this time LAST YEAR. Surely, the school could have communicated this a BIT earlier. You know, just a heads up "We're thinking about February - mark your calendars!"

So now we have to make a decision. All options are painful in one way or another. We decided to go at the end of January. We'll have to take DD out of school for a week, which we were trying to avoid. We may not get POFQ, as the room we want appears fully booked already.

But what's breaking my heart is that I don't get to hunker down next Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. with my ADR list and 10 tabs open on my browser and fill up some PLANS on my MDE account.

I was so looking forward to that. So many times, we plan a "quick" trip in 2 or 3 months and I have to stalk ADRs and FP's. I just wanted to be NORMAL and set up my ADRs 180 days out like regular people.

Yes, I know. We're not normal. We're not regular people. That's why I'm ranting here.

And as irritated as I am with DD's school, how cool that they take the entire 8th grade to D.C. for a week.

I'm trying to focus on the positive. It will be slightly (ever so slightly!) cheaper. Crowds will be much lighter. It will still be Florida when home is ice bound and hellish. And I'll be on vacation.

 

[kbmartin]

Hey, at least you didn't have to 100% cancel your trip. From what I have read, the end of January is not a busy time, so maybe you won't have a difficult time finding ADRs - and you could start booking right now if you wanted to! How exciting is that?! I think it's great that your DD gets to go on two trips.

Is February not normally the time your school plans their DC trips? Typically our schools plan them for the same time every year (usually May). It's strange that the school didn't communicate in some way last year or over the summer about the trip. For some families, paying for the trip is a huge issue, and a great deal of fundraising is done. I'm a high school teacher, so I don't know a lot about DC trips, but if I was planning something like those, I would give families a TON of notice and there would certainly be meetings for families to attend to get more info.

 

[John Marecek]

I just wanted to be NORMAL and set up my ADRs 180 days out like regular people.

I love this line. This is a safe space. One of the few where you can say such a thing and not be viewed as a lunatic.

 

[BigAlsGal]

D.C.?

I mean it's on my bucket list but there is no way it would win over a Disney trip.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I love this line. This is a safe space. One of the few where you can say such a thing and not be viewed as a lunatic.

Well, maybe

I definitely think it's awesome for your daughter to get that opportunity. I went to DC as a senior with my class and it changed the direction of my college career! Such a cool place.

I agree with kbmartin, that's weird. Fundraising, organizing- it all takes so long that I can't believe you didnt hear about it last spring. And usually annual stuff like that is the same month every year. Do you live close enough to DC for the school to bus them? That would explain it maybe.

 

[Westcoastwild]

D.C.?

I mean it's on my bucket list but there is no way it would win over a Disney trip.

Think of it as Disneyworld for history buffs. Except largely free.

 

[Shanti]

Today I got DD13's school paperwork. The big Washington DC trip is Feb 25-March 2. That's a 2 day overlap with our vacation....I knew about the trip, but honestly kind of forgot about it. I did NOT know that it would be scheduled right after winter break. There has been NO communication from the school - ever - until now. Frankly, I am PO'd...

Given that they gave over 6 months notice of the exact dates, the school certainly did its due diligence. I'm sorry your vacation happened to be planned for some of those days, but that's bad luck and not the school's fault in any way. They're working hard to provide a special experience for the children with this trip- maybe focus on that, instead.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I actually think it makes sense to just hear about the school trip now since school is about to start. Many people don't want to already hear about the next school year as the previous one is ending, so most major information is shared as the school year begins.

That said, I totally understand why this is frustrating. Most vacations don't require the "Disney" amount of super advance planning to stay at certain places and do certain things.

I am glad to hear you are still going!!!

 

[HarperLeigh]

Given that they gave over 6 months notice of the exact dates, the school certainly did its due diligence. I'm sorry your vacation happened to be planned for some of those days, but that's bad luck and not the school's fault in any way. They're working hard to provide a special experience for the children with this trip- maybe focus on that, instead.

Any significant trip my children have gone on through school were known about and planned 12-18 months in advance. There is no excuse for only six months lead time.

 

[Shanti]

Any significant trip my children have gone on through school were known about and planned 12-18 months in advance. There is no excuse for only six months lead time.

No good deed goes uncomplained about, apparently...

 

[John Marecek]

All things considered, I agree with the OP. I'd be hot if we had 6 months notice for a big trip and expense like this.

 

[TXDisneyFan1]

I work for a school and I'm actually impressed with the amount of notice your child's school gave you concerning the DC trip.

You never know...this may be the best thing that happened to your vacation. Maybe the new week will have perfect weather and lower crowds than your Feb. week. The best part is that you get to look forward to a wonderful family vacation!

 

[robinb]

I'm sorry that the timing did not work for you . I'm glad that you have a back-up plan.

I just wanted to be NORMAL and set up my ADRs 180 days out like regular people.

Yes, I know. We're not normal. We're not regular people. That's why I'm ranting here.

You are PERFECTLY normal!

 

[Kindermouse]

I LOVED my eighth grade trip to DC and still think so fondly of it and wish I made another trip (I haven't been back since eighth grade trip). It was crushing for me last year that my son was not in a place that was ready to go such a trip without me and I couldn't afford for us to both go on the trip because the cost for a chaperone and a child was nearly 6,000 bucks. I comforted myself with another trip to Disneyland.

I hope your child knows how lucky she is to get both in one year.

Rather than being ticked you should think how blessed you are and how jealous others might be over your opportunities. wowzers you get both even if you can't do your ADRs at 180.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Any significant trip my children have gone on through school were known about and planned 12-18 months in advance. There is no excuse for only six months lead time.

That isn't the norm here.

When my son was in 7th grade, his school went to Japan. We got all of the details in late September. The trip was the following April during spring break. The year before that we went to DC and Maryland for a few days. We got the details in January and the trip was in May.

When my nephew's school took the seniors to Disney World (again during spring break), they git the info in October.

This also the case when I was in school here(NYC). Each year during spring break, my high school takes groups of students to Spain, Paris and Italy . The details for each group is released in September.

 

[jsbowl16]

Is there a reason you cant go in the summer? Sorry if I missed that part but we always go in the summer to avoid issues with other things during the school year being missed.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Any significant trip my children have gone on through school were known about and planned 12-18 months in advance. There is no excuse for only six months lead time.

I don't agree with this. The first day of school is PLENTY of notice, and standard procedure in a lot of school systems.

 

[mom2rtk]

Welcome to life as the parent of a school aged child. It gets harder from here and only you can decide how to best balance school and family. I guarantee this isn't the last time you'll face something like this.

Part of the reason we swapped to DLR for our Disney fix is because you don't have to fully commit until much closer to your travel dates. We book Southwest so we can change flights if needed and hope for the best.

 

[ArwenMarie]

This is why we end up going in August as our yearly trip

Can't deal with the school calendar, never seemed to be a good time to go

 

[laughinplace199]

OP I get that you're upset, but you knew the school trip was going to happen. Why book an expensive WDW trip without being sure there won't be conflicts? You could have called the school before booking to ask what the DC dates would be.

But now you have new dates and better crowd levels, and you can do the fun planning and booking ADR's immediately!