Colorado Cruisers

[DenverVal]

Heidi - It is crazy What happened to those days when you got out before Memorial Day and went back after Labor Day? We start Aug 3rd

But do you get more than the standard two weeks at Christmas and one week in spring?

I wish our school district would give working families better flexibility for taking vacations without kids missing school. Who in their right mind wants to go when things are as packed as they can possibly be? (Read Christmas and high summer here) Our stupid school district (Adams 12 in case some administrator happens to read this) starts a week before Labor Day and ends a week and a half after Memorial Day, making it completely impossible to combine a paid holiday with vacation time for those of us who work in the real world. They could combine all those miscellaneous, ridiculous, single days off into a block of usable time, instead of adding to my daycare expenses with these irritating no-school days.

I only get 12 vacation days a year as opposed to our teachers' 12 weeks. My vacation time is precious; I want to take a relaxing, fun, uncrowded vacation when the weather is moderate, and I resent them telling me they reserve the right to not excuse my kids' absences for this reason.

 

[momsully]

But do you get more than the standard two weeks at Christmas and one week in spring?

We get five weeks at Christmas, three in the fall, three in the spring, and five in the summer. I actually love the schedule for going on vacation as we usually go when the crowds are low. We are Douglas County and about half of the schools are year round like ours and the remainder are more traditional.

 

[Tera]

momsully - Are you guys year-round?

DV - We actually get 2 weeks for all, 2 weeks for Christmas and 2 weeks in spring, whereas most of the other Douglas Co schools get 1 week fall & spring. I complain about the short summer, but I do like having the longer fall and spring breaks.

I'm with you on the schedules. We use to be on year-round and we use to take our big vacation in May, before all the big crowds. Now that we're traditional, we try and go early June, but everyone and their grandmothers are already on the road. I don't need some teacher and/or administration telling me I can't take my kid on a vacation. When we did our Disney Cruise over a year ago, my girls missed 7 days of school and all their teachers were understanding about how it was a trip of a lifetime. The only thing I hate is the homework they give, like we're going to be doing that while on vacation. I save it for when we get home.

 

[momsully]

momsully - Are you guys year-round?

We are year round. DS7 is on B track. Our school is considering going to a modified B track schedule next year.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

So....US Toys "reopened"? Where is it now???

 

[momsully]

So....US Toys "reopened"? Where is it now???

It is still on Quebec just north of County Line. I am assuming when the poster said reopen it was a reference to when it closed a couple of years ago when we had the big snowstorm. I don't think it has closed since then.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Mom - I think we need to go out there sometime, just to see if there is anything that we *need* out there.

 

[cristit14]

Hey, has anyone ever stayed out next to the airport the night before a flight and left your car at the hotel? If so, which one and how did it work out? We are leaving for WDW on the 5th really early and I want to spend the night out there Friday night so we have a better chance of not missing our flight. Last time we had an early flight we missed it because someone didn't think we really needed to leave as early as we should have (read DH).

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Cristi - I have never tried it, but that sounds like a really good idea. I would be interested in doing this as well some time (not this upcoming vacation because I think being gone for 15 days they may tow my car!!!) What time is your flight leaving? Ours leaves at 6:00am, my dad suggested we need to get ready to leave by 3:00am and I told him no way that it was way too early....maybe I should go with what he said instead of argue so we don't miss our plane!!!!!

 

[momsully]

The airport is really crazy right now. I had a seven am flight Monday to Phoenix and the security line was outrageous. Depending on the airline you are flying the ticket counter may not even open until 5 am for you to check baggage. I usually leave at 4 for a 6 am flight but we live in Highlands Ranch. We also park onsite at the airport in the economy lot so we don't have to worry about a shuttle.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Heidi, I just tattled on you and read your post to your dad. You should have heard his laugh!! It made his day!

Guess we should hit up US Toys before our cruise.

 

[Tera]

I was talking about when US Toys was closed after that big storm. I haven't been there since.

momsully - We use to be year-round too, up until about 3 years ago and now we're on a modified B track now. They call it a modified traditional and I love it.

 

[cristit14]

Cristi - I have never tried it, but that sounds like a really good idea. I would be interested in doing this as well some time (not this upcoming vacation because I think being gone for 15 days they may tow my car!!!) What time is your flight leaving? Ours leaves at 6:00am, my dad suggested we need to get ready to leave by 3:00am and I told him no way that it was way too early....maybe I should go with what he said instead of argue so we don't miss our plane!!!!!

Our flight is at 7 am and trying to get all four of us there by 5 would be near impossible. The flight that we missed was a little over a year ago. I think it was at 6:50. DH didn't think we needed to be there at 5am. So, we left our house at something like 4:45. Then he thought that maybe we left the garage door open so we had to swing back by. We always park in Pikes Peak so we get there and there is a shuttle right there at the stop. We are grabbing our stuff and DH runs back to the car to get the radio out of it. The shuttle leaves and we have to wait at least 20 minutes for the next one. So, we get up to the counter to check in and it is something like 615 or 620. They wouldn't let us check in. We were lucky we got out that day at all since it was the week of spring break. I was very good though and didn't say anything to DH about it. The whole time I was thinking about how he didn't want to wait there for the 2 hours and we ended up having to wait about 4 1/2 before we left.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Cristi, what a sad story. I know what I would want to say to my husband that is for sure!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Wow Cristi - I would have been P.O. You were good, if it were me I would have definitely said something. How much does it cost to park at Pikes Peak?

 

[momsully]

How much does it cost to park at Pikes Peak?

It is only $5 a day but if you just miss a shuttle it can be awhile for the next one which can be really frustrating. If you are going to park there I recommend curb checking your bags then parking. That way the bags are checked in 45 minutes prior to the flight. After that time most airlines will not let you check the bags.

 

[cristit14]

yeah, I was pretty good. Normally, I would have said something, but I really didn't want any pouting for the time we were waiting there. Normally we don't have to wait that long for a shuttle bus to pick us up. It is usually 15min or so. That is a good idea about curb checking your bags and then parking. I never thought about that.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I jusst found a coupon for PCA for parking for $4.50/day. I think we will use that. Parking the car for so long the .50/day will really add up!!!!

If anyone is interested in the coupon, you can find it at: http://www.longtermparking.com/COUPONS/cppcadia.htm it expires 9/30/06.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We always park at PCA and have NEVER waited for a shuttle. In fact, the shuttle has ALWAYS waited for us to unpack the car. They are perfect. Momsully, I really like the idea of dropping off the luggage first. If we are running ahead of schedule, Heidi, maybe we could do that and not have to lug around the luggage on the shuttle and then off again. Hmmmm.

 

[DCLcruiser]

Ah...back in CO...man it is cold here...i am wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt.

The 50 cents a day isn't that bad when you look at the alternatives...like renting or hiring a car. However coupons are always good!

Oh and for those returning from to Denver from Orlando, the airport was extremly smooth. I went through the secruity lines 3 times mainly because I wanted stuff in the main terminal and all 3 times, I walked right up to the x-ray machine...no wait time at all and this was during the mid afternoon