Am I getting too carried away? (long)

[momtotwinglesx4]

We have a WDW trip planned, driving down from N. Illinois leaving 12/27 and leaving WDW for the drive home on 01/17. I know, nice LONG vacation! We will be getting AP's and I got some great prices on 2 bdr. villa's thru skyauction, etc. for most of the trip; thinking about splurging for a few nights at a deluxe onsite if I can get a good AP rate. Will try to eat alot of meals in the villas to save $$. I'm a SAHM and sell on ebay and dh is a mechanic, so we get by ok, but definitely not rich. We have 5 kids; oldest dd is 15 and will miss the 1st 2 wks of 2nd semester, but she's a good student and I'm confident that she'll catch up just fine. I homeschool the 6 yr old twins, and the youngest 2 aren't schoolage yet so no problems there. Dh has 12/24 & 12/25 off work due to the holidays, but is scheduled to work on Fri. 12/26. That's why we are leaving Sat. the 27th. So far,so good. But as I've been planning, reading the Dis, planning some more, I just keep thinking, "but dd's last day of school is Thurs. 12/18--what a waste of vacation time sitting in the frigid north waiting for dh's vacation time to begin!"

Here's what I'm thinking, but dh thinks I'm nuts and keep increasing the costs of this vacation: Why don't the kids and I leave a week early??!! Dd15 will have completed driver's ed and will have her permit at that time, so she COULD help me with the driving (assuming she's a decent driver). I could find us another week at a villa for cheap on skyauction or hotelkingdom~ maybe $400 for the week? We'll already have our AP's, so no cost there. I can cook in the villa rather than eat out for the week, and we would have needed groceries at home anyway, so really, not much difference there. We would have to get dh a one-way airline ticket down, and he'd have to take off the 26th without pay (since his vacation time is all used up) in order to fly him down on Christmas eve so we'd all be together for Christmas. Guestimating $200 for plane fare.

So am I crazy to want to spent probably another $600 or so for an extra week of magic? Considering the cost of the entire trip, that doesn't seem like much. What do you think?

 

[C.Ann]

If i were you - and I could afford it - I would probably do it - BUT - here are a few things to consider:

Will you and DD do okay with the driving if there is SNOW?

Will your DH's loss of pay be significant?

Will his employer agree to this?

And the biggest "what if" is the fact that you want him to fly down on Christmas Eve.. That's touchy - probably higher air fares and a BIG chance of him not arriving down there due to weather or being "bumped"..

Otherwise, I say go for it!! There's no such thing as "too many" days in Disney - LOL!!!

 

[shelle94]

Not to burst your bubble, but I know if you have a NY permit you can only drive in NY state. Maybe other states are different. I would check on that though.

But other than that....of course I would take the chance to leave early. That is, if it is practical and financially ok.

Sounds like it's going to be a great trip. Have lots of fun!

Michelle

 

[hercamore]

Sounds like a plan, but I would definitely check with dd's high school to be SURE it's ok with the admin that she miss that much school.

Around here, that much vacation time would not be "excusable absence" time.


herc.

 

[tinaluis]

If you can swing it (financially and otherwise - your husband's vacation time, or lack thereof, etc.) I'd try for the extra time at WDW. You'll get some extra use out of your APs. Be mindful of driving through the snow, though. We drove down from Chicago in January, 2003 and we encountered a lot of snow on the way down. Most of the southern states don't use salt, but instead a gravel mixture which is quite hazardous. I'm an experienced driver and felt quite nervous while driving.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

I would definately do it. The parks will be much less crowded the week before and you would get that much more use of the APs.
I would be concerned abot your DH flying on Christmas Eve. I would try for a very early flight and I would book asap.

If you were looking for someone to try to talk you out it, you've come to the wrong place

Good Luck.

Laura

 

[disneygals]

LOL! Momtomootoo...I agree, this board is the last place someone wouldn't understand!

I'd say go for it, too! We are going 12/26-1/9 and our kids get out 12/19 from school and I noticed the same thing.

If they were older and Santa wasn't an issue, I'd love to stay longer too!

Post what you decide!

Vivienne

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

Originally posted by MOMTOMOOTOO
If you were looking for someone to try to talk you out it, you've come to the wrong place

Good Luck.

Laura

Well, Laura, you don't really think I posted here because I wanted to be talked OUT of it, do you, lolol!

I am concerned about dh flying down on Christmas eve--I checked some fares online and it looks like it would be cheaper to buy a rt ticket and just not use the return part than to buy a oneway ticket. The other thought I had, though I don't know if the airlines would allow it, is to use the return part of dh's ticket to send dd15 home a week early so she wouldn't miss as much school. She's flown alone many times to visit her father, and she could stay w/ my mom who lives in our town until we got back.

Santa is another issue. The trip itself is our whole family's Christmas present, but I will need to figure out what to do about Santa's gifts. I thought about sending a few small gifts and stocking stuffers ahead to our resort and then decorating our villa, making Christmas dinner, the whole works, and just tell them that I told Santa we'd be in Florida this year so we'd have our usual Christmas morning routine of opening gifts, having dinner, etc. in our villa. I'm really not sure what I'll do though.

I'm hoping there's not much snow on the way down, but there's no way of predicting that at this point, so I guess if there is, I'll be doing all the driving. The good thing is that we'd have 3 days to get there, rather than our usual 2 day drive, so we can take our time.

Well, just keep those opinions coming. This is good practice for fending off dh's arguments!


Sue

 

[CarolA]

No, the airlines won't let you daughter use your husband's ticket. But you are right it would probably be cheaper to buy a round trip and just throw half of it away.

 

[FreshTressa]

Wow, what a great idea!!!

I am going to look into doing that myself!

 

[sharbear]

I also have a 15 yo. I have to say that I would be very concerned about having him miss two weeks of school. I don't know how your school is set up but we have first semester exams the second week in Jan. The first week back the kids review the semester and the second week they take exams. The exams are 20% of their sesmester grade and it counts in HS. I'd hate to see grades go down because of a trip when HS grades are so important. One semester could make the difference between National Honor Society or not.

But that's just my position. HS is very important to the rest of these kids lives.

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

Her semester exams are in December right before the break. The new semester begins in January, so she will miss the 1st 2 wks of a new semester. Not ideal, but we homeschool our other children (she was homeschooled for 7th & 8th grade, but wanted the "highschool experience" (read: hanging with her friends)
and well, maybe we're rebels, lol, but we don't like The School System telling us when we can live our lives and take our vacations! I am NOT intending to start a debate about homeschooling, taking kids out of school for trips, etc.--that's been done to death. Of course, since she did decide to enter The School System for h.s., we will make sure that she succeeds there, and if she wasn't a good student, we wouldn't consider letting her skip 2 wks, but she is, so we will

 

[Minniespal]

I would say go for it and have a fabulous time. Life is too short to have regrets!!!

 

[Pembo]

what a waste of vacation time sitting in the frigid north waiting for dh's vacation time to begin

I just hope it is warm when you go! I remember a few years ago my s-i-l was there just after Xmas and the highs were in the 40's!

 

[gepetto]

Originally posted by momtotwinglesx4
The new semester begins in January, so she will miss the 1st 2 wks of a new semester.

You should speak to someone in the school district and make sure it's ok first. In some places, that many unexcused absences means automatic retention.

 

[house_of_princesses]

Momtotwingles..... I sent you a PM.

 

[prncess674]

I have a suggestion for your airline ticket issue. I am not sure where Galena, IL is but if it is close to a city serviced by Southwest Airlines you are in luck. Buying one way tickets on SWA can sometimes be pricey but what you can do is bid on a free Rapid Rewards ticket on ebay. They consistently sell for $300. I know this because I have sold them in the pass. A SWA RR ticket is basically two one way tickets. You can book your husband a one way from your home airport to Orlando and you can book your daughter a onew way from Orlando to your home airport. Give each one a coupon. Splitting a RR ticket is not against the rules. If you would like more info on this PM me and I can help.

On another note since you and kiddies would be going down first it may be a bummer for Dad since he wouldn't get to be with the kids when they first see WDW on the trip. By the time Dad gets there you will have already ridden alot of the rides and seen alot of the parks. If you were only going up a day or two early then I would say go for it but a whole week seems unfair to dad.

 

[kilee]

We too take 2-3 vacations during the school year meaning that DS misses anywhere from 5-10 school days each time. He is a good student, doesn't get behind, and really doesn't miss school otherwise. However, some school districts do have "rules" about length of abscences and the reason. Unfortunately since she is now in public school she has to play by their rules. My son's school district is really linient. He can miss 30 days, for whatever reason. Anything above and beyond that requires it to be something on the side of long term illness or in the ballpark. I do know of 2 districts around here that will actually get the truancy officer and Social Services involved in cases of prolonged abscence (in some cases more than a week). In other schools each missed day past 5 is considered an illegal miss, and after 5 illegal misses it is automatic failure of the school year. Of course every district and state is very different. So be sure to talk to the school principal about your schools policy. Better to be safe than sorry. I'm not looking to debate it with you (we do the same thing in regards to a lot of missed school for trips), just giving you the heads up.


The other thing is the learners permit. The state it is issued in and each state you are going to drive through have different laws regarding the legality of it. If she is caught, she can have it revoked completely until she's 18.

Lastly, if DH gets "snowed in" and can't make it down until 12/26 or 12/27 due to airport delays, how will this make you feel on Christmas? And I am assuming you don't mind missing out on family gatherings for Christmas (if you do that sort of thing). We are huge into family gatherings for Christmas, and it is a big deal to me.

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

I did call our local Driver's License office, and they told me it's perfectly legal for someone with an Illinois learner's permit to drive in other states, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I will have to check out the school's absence policies I suppose, but we're still going. I won't be dictated to by a school, and if it's that big of a problem for them, I'll just homeschool her again for the semester She actually started her freshman year 2 weeks late, because it we had originally planned to continue homeschooling throughout hs, but she changed her mind and we allowed her to enroll late. Wasn't a problem at all.

As for dad missing out on their 1st glimpse of the World, no big deal--other than the baby, they've all been there before.

Interesting info about the Southwest airlines deal, but we aren't near a Southwest terminal unfortunately.

It would be disappointing if dh weren't there for Christmas, but unfortunately, he talked to his boss today and he's not sure if he is going to let him take off the day after Christmas since he's already going to be gone the following 3 weeks. We're still deciding what we'll do if it's a definite "no" when he talks to the boss again next week. We'd hate not to be all together for Christmas, but...an extra week at Disney is awfully hard to pass on!

Thanks, everyone, for your input and allowing me to ramble on. There really *must* be more to life than Disney.....right? Well??!! Isn't there???

Sue

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

I say bravo to you for your independence and creativity! Hope everything works out the way you want it to.

I look forward to seeing the outcome!