Disney in September & School

[Princess Jenny]

Just wondering how the lines were in September. We are going Sept. 11-19 and have never been in September. We have always gone the first week of May and the lines were great! We decided to go in September because of the free food...LOL!

Also, We are taking our kids out of school on the second week. DD 4th grade and DS Kindergarten. What is everyones take on this? I figured better in the beginning to miss, because it is just review then miss out when they are learning new material. Im sure their teachers will not be please with me!

 

[daisyduck123]

Hi!

I'm a teacher & I wouldn't mind.
When you return, it may take a week of readjusting (esp. the Kindergartener), but after a week, it'll be like he was never gone.

Go & have a great time!
(This is coming from a parent whose own DD & DS each missed 6 school days this past year & about 11 school days the year before for WDW trips!
We ALWAYS go in early May! It's great then!)

 

[maedelken]

I am curious to see what people think because I am trying to take my kids in sept. We were going to go in January but I got pregnant and that is too close to my due date.

 

[crisi]

Just wondering how the lines were in September. We are going Sept. 11-19 and have never been in September. We have always gone the first week of May and the lines were great! We decided to go in September because of the free food...LOL!

Also, We are taking our kids out of school on the second week. DD 4th grade and DS Kindergarten. What is everyones take on this? I figured better in the beginning to miss, because it is just review then miss out when they are learning new material. Im sure their teachers will not be please with me!

Some teachers won't care, some districts/states will (by law) report you for truancy. I haven't heard of anyone actually getting a visit from the truant officer for one vacation a year, but in some states this is a violation of state law (silly though it may be). I figure you know your kids best, but that its also in your best interest to remove your kids in a manner that is respectful of the teacher - ask if there is work to be sent home - and if there is make sure it gets done, what you can do to make it easier on the teacher and class, and be accepting of whatever consequences the teacher may impose (as opposed to demanding work be sent home and then not doing it anyway and demanding there be no consequences to the absence). Some teachers will start new material straight off - particularly in subjects that don't require review (like Science and Social Studies) - so I wouldn't count on it all being review. And there is always "new year" new material having to do with classroom rules and adjustments to a new teacher.

I haven't been in September. I understand restaurants are more than full and you need to have ADRs, but lines continue to be reasonable.

 

[thepeach80]

We're going, but AJ will only be out of pre-K, so not even mandatory. I plan on talking to his teacher ASAP (he'll be in school for 2 wks before we leave) and telling her what's going on and asking if there's anything we need to take w/ us or work on while we're gone. I'm sure there's not as he already knows the basics, but I'll ask, he loves 'homework' anyways. I have a good excuse if anyone tries to cause problems though, we had to wait for my dad to get back from Iraq. Go, have a good time! I too think at the beginning is better b/c they review for so long.

 

[Jack&Ryan'smom]

so I will also be taking my son out of school for 5 days. He is in 1st Grade. When I booked our trip I had no hesitations about taking him out...but now as time is approaching I am feeling a little guilty. But the way I look at it is if I'm going to spend alot of $ going to Disney I want it not to be so crowed!! We also are getting free dining and we wanted to go before my youngest turned 3 so he'll be free!!! My girlfriend teaches 1st Grade and she says the first 2 months is mostly review so I'm just hoping he doesn't miss a ton. I will make him keep a journal while we are away to bring back to his teacher & class!

 

[jakoky]

hi there, we decided in april that we are going to DL in sept...my kids are much older, they are going to be in grades 11,9 and 7...the oldest two are in high school on the semester system-yuck...my only concern was for my oldest daughter just due to the higher grade...i put a call in to my oldest daughters school and spoke to her counseller...he was awesome, he worked with me to make sure her first semester that she wasnt in the one class the she hates and has to work much harder in than everything else-math....we will be away 11 nights ( 10 in anaheim) and my kids will only miss 5 school days...My kids do well in school, mostly all A's and B's, but they know that by the end of the first week of school, their teachers are going to be handing them a bunch of extra work to start well before we leave...they have to put in more effort to get the fun time off...good luck and have fun...dont feel guilty pulling the out, the family time you will have and the fun is so worth it.
sharon
me, dh, dd-16-, ds-almost 14-, dd-11 1/2-
WDW-Dec 04-first disney experience for my DH, DD, DS, DD and first time at WDW for us all
DL-MAY 06-first time at DL for DH and kids , and my 9th(but the first 8 were all by the time i was about 13) so it was all new to me
COUNTDOWN IS ON....WE ARE GOING BACK TO DL SEPT 15-25!!!!!

 

[disneyfreak74]

Well. . we are going. DS will be in the 3rd and DD will be in PreK.

 

[SDFgirl]

Teacher here. I have never seen any problem with taking kids out of school for 5 days AT THE MOST. There is more to life than school! The memories you'll make with your family will last a lot longer than that one week of school.

I wouldn't hesitate to take my kids out - unfortunately that won't happen for DH and I as there's even less flexibility for teachers (for good reason ).

Go, enjoy free dining, and have a wonderful time!!

 

[Princess Jenny]

Thanks so much for everyones input! I really appreciate it. I was starting to feel a lil quilty about taking them out. Not so much my DD who is going into 4th and pulls mostly A's and left 3rd being the top reader in her class. But my DS who will be starting Kindergarten. But we don't get to go to Disney everyday! So no more quilt

Thanks again!!! 57 more days

 

[wishtdream]

Thanks so much for everyones input! I really appreciate it. I was starting to feel a lil quilty about taking them out. Not so much my DD who is going into 4th and pulls mostly A's and left 3rd being the top reader in her class. But my DS who will be starting Kindergarten. But we don't get to go to Disney everyday! So no more quilt

Thanks again!!! 57 more days

I too am pulling my dd out of Kindergarten for Disney in September. We will be celebrating her 5th birthday. I spoke to her teacher about it before we booked it (she has had the same teacher the last two years) her take was DD will get more out of a family vacation than a week of review which is what they will be doing at that time of year.

 

[Smartykat]

Just a quick note about the lines in Sept. My family went last Sept. and Hit the Magic Kingdom on Friday and Sat. Friday was kinda busy but Sat. was absolutely insane. We were going,"This is the value season what's up with the crowds?" We talked to a few CMs and they said the same thing. They didn't know what was up but it was totally miserable. We hate excessive crowds. I've since read lots about how on Sat. all of the locals show up it. Which seems logical, but I will never make that novice mistake again. We are also going again the beginning of Sept. right after Labor Day.
Oh, also if you are staying on Property you might not want to stay all day at a park when that park is having an extra magic hour. All that means is everyone on property is going to go to that park that day. You can check Disney's Extra Magic Hour schedule by going to the park calendar pages on WDW Resort site. Hope this helps!

 

[bellebud]

my main hesitation would be the social aspect for the child (not the work... anytime you take them out of school, they'll be missing work).

I'd be concerned about them getting used to the new teacher, classroom setting, class schedule, etc. But if you feel your child will be fine w/ that aspect, go for it. If you have a child who doesn't adjust easily to new settings, i wouldn't do the beginning of the year (having them go for a week or 2, pulling them out, then back again). I think them feeling 'behind' on the social stuff is just as bad as feeling behind on work.
Just my 2-cents.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We are taking our kids out for our September 14 - 22 trip also. They will be going into 5th, 2nd, 1st and K. We took the older two out November before last and everything was fine. We gave the teachers advance notice and they were very sweet and said have a great time. School doesn't start here until August 9 this year, so I will let all four teachers know then. We just couldn't pass up free dining. It will save our family of six about $1,000.00. Can't wait for our first MNSSHP and hoping for low crowds also!

 

[mom2LLN]

We are taking our family Sept 19-26. My DD will be starting K-5 on Aug 2. We decided that family time and memories were more important than missing a few days of school.

 

[enjkp]

We are going in September also we are leaving out on Sept 20th and be gone for the Friday the 21st and then the next week also out of school for my kids. I have one entering the 4th and one going into the 2nd and then one going into Kindergarten and she is going to be a mess...........only knows Mommy

But the teachers and principal were not upset at all they were like go and have a good time. The principal said that it would be different if my kids were not good students SMILE

I am hoping for smaller crowds but what I am reading is scaring me about how things are much more busy

 

[DragonFox98]

Hello, Princess Jenny.

If it makes you feel any better, I am taking my DS6 (1st) and DD7.5(3rd) our of school for six days. We wanted to go in October and their school does not offer any holidays then. Also, as someone who works in an accounting firm (and hates hot weather), I am restricted at the times of year we can go.

So, I think you are doing the right thing - heck, you're already planning ahead. I would just make mention to the teachers and see if they want to provide your children with any work. Last year, April 2006, my daughter was out of school for seven days (my son was only in pre K), so her teacher had her write in a journal every night about the events of the day. It was great! - not only does DD now have a "diary" to remind her of her trip, but she was able to work on her penmanship (which is horrible, liker her Mommy's) and her vocabulary.

Hope this helps and have a great time!

 

[prekteacher]

i am going the frist full week of may in 2008 . i am taking my children out of school for the week and most teachers will give projects that go with where a family is going on a trip. a friend of mine went and the son had to write a jounal of his trip and talk about one thing on the trip like the ride he like and wow many people he tought it could hold. ect.ect. most teacher work around family trips.

 

[PilotWife]

I am taking my child (2nd grade) for our "summer" vacation this yr. We will be there from Sept 3-10, my DH is in the military and has been gone all summer and will be deploying again for 18 months right after Christmas, so we are going.

Jennifer

 

[darlak]

This year will be the third time my DD has missed a week of school for a family vacation. She will be in the 8th grade this year. Her teachers and school counselors are aware of it and her ped. even offered to write her an excuse so her missed days wouldn't count against her total unexcused missed days for the school year. She's only allowed 5 absences per semester here without a dr.'s excuse.

School starts back for us this year the second week of August. We've found that giving her a few weeks to learn her schedule is better than going in the first couple of weeks after school starts. We leave on Friday (9/21) and will return on Saturday (9/29), so she will actually miss 6 days this year. Her school is on block schedule, so she only has 4 classes per semester. I did talk to her counselor to make sure that she doesn't have math the first semester since that is the one subject where she has some difficulty. Other than math, she's an honor student in AP classes.