Ok, I called three times in order to find someone who at least sounded like they knew what they were talking about.....spoke with Paul
It's a LOT more than just the YES classes....in fact, those are considered an "add on".
Both days are pretty much the same (though the YES classes vary). IF you already have an Annual Pass (or other admission ticket) and therefore don't need the entrace to Epcot, the cost for Homeschool Day is $16. (with admission to Epcot only is $43.15). This includes ONE day admission into the special "backstage" part of Epcot where Homeschool Days is held......admission to BOTH of the Speakers (one on Around the World with people talking about growing up in their country and adapting to life in the USA; the other is on the science used at WDW everyday). It also includes a self-guided workbook guide (more on this later).
The tenative schedule (he said it's what they did in years past, but there is no official schedule out yet) has the Day going from 9am to 4pm. There will be different interactive areas, booths, etc...he likened it to a convention, but a lot more fun. At 11am will be the first speaker.....at noon the second speaker. IF you sign up for a YES program, it will start at 1pm and go until 4pm. If you aren't signed up for the YES, then you can explore more of the backstage interactive areas....or.....use the workbook to explore World Showcase. Based on his knowledge of last year's workbook, it will guide you through the different countries, telling you to look for this or that, and tell you what to ask CM's to learn more about the thing you were looking at/for. There are also quizzes to go along with what you learned. The workbook does NOT have to be used that same day (I was concerned about only 2 hours to explore the backstage, then speakers, then the YES classes). They do plan to have extra CMs on hand in each land those two days, but said even if you use it later in your stay, it's self guided and the CMs all can answer your questions even weeks after (we'll be there a month so I wanted to be sure it wasn't something I needed to purposely schedule a day for us to do...we'll probably just bring it along each time we go to Epcot and do a little of it and little exploring on our own).
If you want to do a YES program, the cost is $24.00. You can only do ONE YES program each day, because they are scheduled for the same time 1pm - 4pm. If you want to do two YES programs, then you also have to pay the $16 (or $43.15 if you need another admission ticket) for the other day. The $16 gets you into the backstage area, which is required to get into the YES programs. You'll have a wristband good for the day so you can go out into the rest of Epcot and come back into the Homeschool area all day. NOTE: The $43.15 admission to the park plus Homeschool is NOT a hopper ticket, and you can ONLY go to Epcot with it.
PARENTS: If parents want to go into the backstage area with their children, you have to pay the $16 fee (I asked if it was reduced since I don't need a workbook....nope). If you want to attend the YES program with your child, you have to pay the $24 fee. He said parents can drop their children off if they want and the kids can explore the Homeschool area (not supervised by WDW) and go to their YES program (which is supervised by WDW).
IF you have a group of 10 or more, you do get a free ticket for the chaperone. I guess if you have a lot of kids, lol.....or more likely if you have a local homeschool group that is going, otherwise everyone has to pay. I asked about this in case it was a better deal, thinking we could do a DIS group...but one free, well, dividing that up between the rest of the group means you'd save about $4.00. Not worth the logistics to set up a group.
NOW...this is SIMILIAR but not exactly the same as the typical public school programs.....the public school programs REQUIRE a minimum of 10. The public school programs do NOT have the interactive area, nor the speakers. However....the public programs have 24 different YES programs to choose from, the homeschoolers only have 4 choices. Homeschoolers are welcome at the public school programs, provided they have a group of 10 or more. The public school days there are more than one YES program going on each day...in fact he said they overlap......made it sound like highschool where you had to pick your courses and fit everything in, lol.
Ok....I think that's all......if I remember anything else I'll edit this.
I went ahead and signed my daughters (age 11, twins) and myself up for the Ocean Discoveries program on January 15. It was $120 total, and you get the option of paying $10 to have them mail the workbook and other information to you, or pick it up at Will Call for free. (There were 5 or 6 options of where to pick up the items, including one in DTD so you didn't have to pay to enter a park to pick it up). We chose to pick it up because Paul said they usually mail them "a couple weeks before" and we'll be arriving in Florida the week before, so I don't want to risk them arriving at my house after I've left! Plus....$10 is a lot for shipping a couple workbooks. Might be different if we'd get the workbooks NOW so we could use them to supplement the lesson plans I've made for us to study each country.
Ok...so who else has signed up for the 15th Ocean Discoveries????
The girls also wanted to do the Technology one, which means we might go back and sign up for the 14th and this one....but we had planned the 14th as our first day in WDW and have ADR's at 8am for Crystal Palace, and I didn't want to mess with those, lol....our first time in WDW and we'd be able to walk down Main Street, see the Castle with very few other people around. Priceless. (Ok...there was a price, but you know....)
