Crowd question

[goofy78]

Originally we are planning on 11/16/13- 11/24/13. DS will be in HS and we are now questioning his absence from school. If we went the week of 11/9/13- 11/17/13 which includes veterans day on Tuesday the 12, how will the holiday affect the crowds? I know he would only be missing one less day but in HS I think the less he misses the better. Any thoughts?

 

[PosadaGirl519]

As long as it is not the week of Thanksgiving the crowds are moderate-low, including Veterans Day. It's our favorite time of year to go! And all the holiday decorations will be up

And my kids are only babies so I'm not in the position to offer sound advice, but pull him out of school. A week with family in Disney World is much more important in the long run than interrupting his school schedule for a week before a holiday.

 

[SYDNCLAIRESMOM]

There is a phenomenon called "Jersey Week" that falls in either the week of Election day or Veterans day. It is a week which the school systems in NJ have off the entire week. Maybe someone here knows better which week it is in 2013. We accidentally hit it a few years back and when we found out about it we thought "How bad can it be?" It was very crowded! I would try to avoid that week, if possible, if crowds are an issue for you.

 

[goofy78]

Thanks for the responses. Now I'm not an expert but if someone could chime in about jersey week. I'm pretty sure I read it is the 7 and 8 of November 2013. I don't think it is a full week although parents may take their kids out for that week since they already have those days off? I believe we are safe of jersey week?

 

[Forensicmom]

We went last year (Nov 16 - 22), which was Wed through Tuesday. We came home two days BEFORE Thanksgiving. Also, my oldest was a high school senior last year and we were concerned about letting the kids miss school. The others were in 7th grade, 5th and 2nd. We took a chance and it was NO problem at all. They all made up the work. In our area, the kids are out of school the entire Thanskgiving week, so they missed 3 days of the week before. We also had time to "recover" from our trip before they had to go back to school again.

In our experience, the parks didn't get crowded until Saturday/Sunday. We got there on Wed and it wonderful. Even Friday, we had 10-15 minute wait times for most of the rides.

We loved it so much that we just booked another trip for this November, for the same days (Nov 14-20).

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

Thanks for the responses. Now I'm not an expert but if someone could chime in about jersey week. I'm pretty sure I read it is the 7 and 8 of November 2013. I don't think it is a full week although parents may take their kids out for that week since they already have those days off? I believe we are safe of jersey week?

We live in NJ and we used to have the whole week off 3 years ago but they have since changed it to only Thursday and Friday of the second week in November. We are off for two days this November which is the 8th and the 9th for the NJEA convention. Thus making this Jersey Week!

Our DS16 will be Junior this September and ever since he started HS, we have not taken him out of school. He is in advanced classes and 1 day missed for him is a lot of work let alone 5 days. For us this is stress that we didn't want to put on him. No one can tell you that you should or shouldn't take your DS out of school. The only thing that may make a difference for you is how well your DS performs in school. Also, each schools work load and teachers are different. Unfortunately, you won't know until he gets there.

 

[Forensicmom]

You're right Coachbag about all schools and teachers being different. My son was in all AP classes but we talked to the teachers ahead of time, at the beginning of the school year and they did accomodate him. They said that it would have been a problem if it was during exam time or something like that but there were no major tests scheduled at that time and he was given an entire week to make up the work.

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

You're right Coachbag about all schools and teachers being different. My son was in all AP classes but we talked to the teachers ahead of time, at the beginning of the school year and they did accomodate him. They said that it would have been a problem if it was during exam time or something like that but there were no major tests scheduled at that time and he was given an entire week to make up the work.

Oh yes, being absent during exam time is a definite no no in our school as well. We have never had a teacher that said they would never give our DS his work to make up. I do think the teachers these days are more understanding as opposed to when I was younger. But then again, we didn't go on vacation back then like we do now.

I do have to say that we used to always go away the first 10 days in December but it was our DS who suggested that we not go during school time while he is in HS. He has realized early on that when he is out, it's a lot of work for him to make up. Also, for him knowing that he would have all that make up work from vacation would stress him out even more. So, we only go during the summer time now. Once he goes to college, me and DH can go anytime we want.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Originally we are planning on 11/16/13- 11/24/13. DS will be in HS and we are now questioning his absence from school. If we went the week of 11/9/13- 11/17/13 which includes veterans day on Tuesday the 12, how will the holiday affect the crowds? I know he would only be missing one less day but in HS I think the less he misses the better. Any thoughts?

Veterans Day is Nov 11 which will be Monday, meaning a long weekend for lots of guests. And then there is Jersey Week.

 

[goofy78]

Sorry. Monday the 11th. Not sure what I was thinking.

 

[MagicallyDelicious]

In our state, if a child in high school misses a certain number of unexcused days (which Disney most certainly would be), they cannot be exempt from their final exams.

You'd be surprised at how many teens would rather miss a trip to Disney, than sit in school taking tests while their peers are out because they're exempt.

I'd make sure you understand fully, the rules of your school district. Here, pulling out an elementary or middle school-age child is one thing, but they don't mess around in high school and they're not lenient at all.

 

[rockingrollercoaster]

teachers are no longer responsible for gathering what you missed or will miss because parents took children out for a trip...........it is the parent's responsibility and child to come to school prior to the trip to get what they need if they will be missing school for a trip......I could see the teacher's not being able to do this all the time, can you imagine all the kids that take trips and these teachers trying to get all their stuff together plus continue class as normal for the kids that are there??? After grade school, I would never pull the kids out for Disney............

 

[Forensicmom]

teachers are no longer responsible for gathering what you missed or will miss because parents took children out for a trip...........it is the parent's responsibility and child to come to school prior to the trip to get what they need if they will be missing school for a trip......I could see the teacher's not being able to do this all the time, can you imagine all the kids that take trips and these teachers trying to get all their stuff together plus continue class as normal for the kids that are there??? After grade school, I would never pull the kids out for Disney............

I can understand that. Last year was our first time EVER pulling them out of school for any vacation. This year, we don't have any high schoolers. But, I did talk to all of their teachers ahead of time to let them know. I also went to the office and talked to all of them. Only one of the teachers would give any work BEFORE we left. The rest all said they were not allowed to but as soon as we got back, they were allowed to get it and had an additional week to make it up.

All of the teachers were really good but, like I said, I did talk to them before hand.

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

OP you are going to get people who agree and people who don't agree with taking children out of school. Some will give advise as to their experiences and some will just simply say you shouldn't.

Only you will be able to make that decision.

 

[shannonstar]

I see both sides to this. As a teacher, I don't enjoy when my students miss school. I hate having to create packets that can't possibly replace classroom time and the direct instruction. As a parent though, I still take my son out of school to go to Disney. Luckily, his school is one that values life experience and is willing to accommodate vacations.

You will never get a true decision from us on the disboards. You need to talk to your son and perhaps his teachers to make that decision. We can all tell you what we do, but it may or may not be what you do.

 

[goofy78]

Lots of discussion about pulling kids out of school but my initial question was about the crowd level. I did mention DS would be in HS and to miss 4 days instead of 5 might be better but his school does have a vacation form and will be allowed to make up work. DS would much rather go to Disney and have to deal with make up work than go during the hot or crowded school vacations. If the crowd level will be pretty much the same we'll probably do the veterans day week. If there is a big difference then we will miss the 5 days instead.