Discouraged & Need Advice

[have2getaway]

The past 2 trips to Disney, we pulled our triplets out of school for our vacation. The first time they were 7, and the second time they were 9. It worked very well in terms of costs and crowds, especially since they all our special needs kids with sensory issues, but it was a struggle the second trip for one of our sons who had been moved to a regular classroom. We were not prepared for the amount of make-up work he would have this year. We also weren’t prepared for Storm Harper, which delayed our return by 3 days, and meant they all missed 7 days of school instead of just 4.

Our next trip, we vowed not to pull them out. We are finding the hotel costs much higher, but manageable, but the airfare for the February break is way higher than early January. Perhaps I just need some encouragement and to be patient? Will the ridiculously high airfares go down if I wait a bit longer? Should we stick to our guns and not pull them out school and just hope and pray we will be able to find cheaper airfare down the road? For those who have done both or either, pulled your kids out of school and/or went over a school break, how did you find the costs compare? Is it possible I am just jumping the gun and the rates will come down? TIA

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I’ve done both. When kids were younger we pulled them out of school. Honestly though, they were both great students and had no problem making up the work. If they were struggling at all we wouldn’t have done it. Now that they’re older (4th and 7th grade) it’s much harder for them to miss more than a day or two at most. So, we go over school breaks and yes, the reality is that it’s more expensive and more crowded. You may still get a decent price on airfare if you’re flexible on days / times, but realistically it will be more expensive than a non peak time. My advice... it sounds like it will pretty tough on your kiddos to miss school so I would suck it up (if you can afford it) and pay the higher prices to go over a break. Perhaps you can look at other ways to save costs, like driving versus flying, staying offsite, fewer table service meals, etc.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

As a teacher, I can only go during school vacation weeks during the school year and have found that prices for flights never go down from what they open with on opening day. If you are seeing fluctuations right now in price, I will settle on a price that you can swallow and buy it when you see it.

 

[Hopefully]

Airfare isn’t likely to come down on vacation weeks. Perhaps you need to postpone your trip and save for a bit longer. We found we did.

 

[KSR0330]

Can you go during summer? We did that a few years ago and it was fine. We got to the parks early while it was not too hot, back to the resort mid day when it was hottest, and back out for dinner and the evening. We also don't go during school and it worked out great.

 

[elaine amj]

How about this - keep watching airfare....I do find they go down around the two month mark. There are also deals around Cyber Monday sometimes. Feb is a long way off and not all airlines have released tickets for that.

If you can't get your vacation (and flights) to work out at a reasonable price by 2 months out, postpone it to later in the year. Summer is often a little cheaper AND less crowded these days.

 

[Allison]

When in February? There are very busy travel weeks during that time due to school breaks, the Disney Princess Half Marathon, President's weekend, and Mardi Gras.

 

[have2getaway]

How about this - keep watching airfare....I do find they go down around the two month mark. There are also deals around Cyber Monday sometimes. Feb is a long way off and not all airlines have released tickets for that.

If you can't get your vacation (and flights) to work out at a reasonable price by 2 months out, postpone it to later in the year. Summer is often a little cheaper AND less crowded these days.

I found a flight we could live with, but it would require leaving on a Wednesday evening and coming back the following Wednesday. It’s a very late arrival—after midnight, and it also means the kids would miss 2 days of school. My thought is, 2 days is better than 5 days, and we could use the days when we return to complete the work for the 2 days they miss. DH suspects the rates will drop. Any thoughts?

 

[have2getaway]

When in February? There are very busy travel weeks during that time due to school breaks, the Disney Princess Half Marathon, President's weekend, and Mardi Gras.

It would be the mid-February break which falls during President’s Day weekend.

 

[have2getaway]

Can you go during summer? We did that a few years ago and it was fine. We got to the parks early while it was not too hot, back to the resort mid day when it was hottest, and back out for dinner and the evening. We also don't go during school and it worked out great.

We live in upstate NY (close to Canada), and we found a couple days in January were too hot there. I don’t think summer would work for us.

 

[bookbabe626]

I’m a teacher, and we went over the Presidents’ Day weekend this year. We also went over Easter weekend. Presidents’ Day weekend was FAR more crowded than Easter. Both were busy, but it was crazy busy in February. I don’t know if I’d take kids with sensory issues on either of those weekends due to the crowds. I’d go with the PP’s suggestion of summer. Heat is easier to plan for than crowds when you’re dealing with sensory issues, and then they won’t miss any school.

 

[have2getaway]

Thank you! I should clarify that we have AP’s to USR’s that will expire in mid-April, so this limits us on when we can go. We plan to spend the majority of our time at USR, where we hope it will be less busy, and just a few days at Disney.

 

[bookbabe626]

Thank you! I should clarify that we have AP’s to USR’s that will expire in mid-April, so this limits us on when we can go. We plan to spend the majority of our time at USR, where we hope it will be less busy, and just a few days at Disney.

We did USR last Easter, and it was about the same level of busy as WDW. You’ll want the express passes. Even with the express we waited 45+ minutes for some of the rides like the Harry Potter ones and the Minions one.

 

[have2getaway]

We did USR last Easter, and it was about the same level of busy as WDW. You’ll want the express passes. Even with the express we waited 45+ minutes for some of the rides like the Harry Potter ones and the Minions one.

We do plan to stay at an Express Pass hotel, but that is still discouraging.

 

[debster812]

My son is now a 21 year old college student, but we were tied to the MA Feb School Vacation week for about 8-10 trips to FL. In my experiences, the flights VERY VERY rarely go down for that week. Common logic doesn't really apply to that week. We typically tried to book as soon as the flights were released, because they only went higher.

OP--I think your Weds-Weds strategy sounds good. You are minimizing the time missed from school, you have time at the back end to do the makeup school work, and if winter storms delay you, you have a nice cushion to get back home, before the kids are due back in school.

 

[have2getaway]

My son is now a 21 year old college student, but we were tied to the MA Feb School Vacation week for about 8-10 trips to FL. In my experiences, the flights VERY VERY rarely go down for that week. Common logic doesn't really apply to that week. We typically tried to book as soon as the flights were released, because they only went higher.

OP--I think your Weds-Weds strategy sounds good. You are minimizing the time missed from school, you have time at the back end to do the makeup school work, and if winter storms delay you, you have a nice cushion to get back home, before the kids are due back in school.

Thank you! They haven’t released the official school calendar yet, which has made me reluctant to book the flights. Their vacation has been the same week year after year, and is always over President’s Day. A neighboring school is off that week as well. Do you think I’m safe to book the tickets?

 

[Allison]

Do you think I’m safe to book the tickets?

Safe in what way? You aren't safe as far as the days your kids might miss until you know the actual calendar.

 

[cmarsh31]

We usually travel Feb break (from Upstate NY) - but Southwest hasn't released their flights yet for 2020. We only fly JetBlue & SW because they're the only direct options. Ticket prices on SW never decrease after opening prices for that week (we've done it multiple times) - usually the WTG fares sell out early and by Nov/Dec most flights are completely sold out.

In terms of crowds, yes, President's weekend is crowded, but we never find the rest of of the week to be bad once everyone leaves on Monday (my pic is the Sat after, midday at Epcot 2017, pretty empty) - however, Galaxy's Edge. All bets are off. We usually just plan for a non-park or dessert party etc on Monday. If you're contemplating mid-week, you'll definitely get lower crowds and better flights Wed-Wed but I'd do the Wed after President's week to the following week, as opposed to having the bulk of my vacation over the holiday weekend.

 

[have2getaway]

Safe in what way? You aren't safe as far as the days your kids might miss until you know the actual calendar.

That’s pretty much what I figured. Praying that flight won’t change while I wait.

 

[have2getaway]

We usually travel Feb break (from Upstate NY) - but Southwest hasn't released their flights yet for 2020. We only fly JetBlue & SW because they're the only direct options. Ticket prices on SW never decrease after opening prices for that week (we've done it multiple times) - usually the WTG fares sell out early and by Nov/Dec most flights are completely sold out.

In terms of crowds, yes, President's weekend is crowded, but we never find the rest of of the week to be bad once everyone leaves on Monday (my pic is the Sat after, midday at Epcot 2017, pretty empty) - however, Galaxy's Edge. All bets are off. We usually just plan for a non-park or dessert party etc on Monday. If you're contemplating mid-week, you'll definitely get lower crowds and better flights Wed-Wed but I'd do the Wed after President's week to the following week, as opposed to having the bulk of my vacation over the holiday weekend.

True! But if we travel the Weds. during break week to the following week, we will lose our cushion when we return, as the kids would miss a couple days at the end of the trip.