Disney Y.E.S. Program

[snubie]

We are registered for a class in feb. it says we can get our tickets at the ticket window at Epcot, DHS, AK and the TTC. We can't get them at the MK main gate? We arrive late Wednesday night and were hoping to head to MK Thursday am. We will not have a car. While going to TTC is not ideal, we will have to maybe.

 

[letsgoreds]

I am guessing home school day is only for children that are home schooled, but I can't find what proof is necessary.

How does disney prove that my kids are home schooled?

Disney Homeschool Days are advertised primarily to homeschool groups because of the timing of the events (during the school year). ALL children (homeschool, e-school, standard schools) are permitted/invited to attend the events. I was told this a month ago when calling the YES group for information.

 

[letsgoreds]

We are registered for a class in feb. it says we can get our tickets at the ticket window at Epcot, DHS, AK and the TTC. We can't get them at the MK main gate? We arrive late Wednesday night and were hoping to head to MK Thursday am. We will not have a car. While going to TTC is not ideal, we will have to maybe.

Are you staying at a MK resort? If not, you will be heading through TTC, right?

 

[dja14]

We aren't planning on going til fall and I am pretty sure the homeschool dates will not work for us (we do homeschool) For our family it is about a 400 increase (which is a pretty big price jump I think).

I will probably still do it, maybe. Kids have been talking about doing other parks in Orlando, which I really don't want to do but might I guess. I could get the price close to the same if we cut a few days and the extra things. I really hope I can get the kids into classes at the same time though, I hate the idea of using two mornings for classes, but I want everyone to get to go to one

What we will most likely do is eat offsite more (kids want more room, family of 5 with 2 6ft boys) and cook more at the condo and maybe not eat at any sitdown places. All in all it was earmarked Disney money, just a different way to spend it I guess.

 

[Lehuaann]

I am guessing home school day is only for children that are home schooled, but I can't find what proof is necessary.

How does disney prove that my kids are home schooled?

Yes, that is the intention. HS'ers are given a specific class geared toward them and included with their package. In other words, we don't get a choice of classes. However, if we want to attend additional IE classes during the week - we have to pay extra for them.

Also, even though we are not asked for proof - it is an event intended for the purpose of homeschooling families/community.

Enhance Your At-Home Curriculum with In-Park Learning
Provide your homeschoolers with a new outofthebox challenge and propel their education to the next level with Disney Homeschool Days at Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida. Gather with other homeschool families and explore science, storytelling and technology at a Walt Disney World® Resort theme park. Learn from leaders who offer insight on how knowledge brings our magical attractions to life.

 

[Lehuaann]

I want to make sure that I understand this correctly...

DH and I are planning to have AP's for our next trip, but the children will not. So, if the kid's are going to participate in the YES program (and therefore require tickets), we will still need to purchase a minimum of a 1-day ticket for DH and I since we will need to chaperone the kids, correct? I don't see an option for a parent to purchase just a ticket for the class if they already have park admission.

I know that the children still need to purchase a park admission ticket to take the class since AP's don't apply, but I am wondering about the adult chaperone. When we go, my kids will be 12 and 10. Would we be better off only having one adult listed since our 12yo will be able to go unaccompanied?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm really new to this and I think this is something the girls would really like. We are DVC members and go almost annually. I make it a goal to do something new every trip. The way my kids love animals, I think the marine and animal classes will be right up their alley!

Not sure how the adult ticket thing works with AP's - but you will have to chaparone both of your children.

https://www.studentguest.com/homeschooldays/index.php

Students under the age of 13 must be accompanied in the program by an adult. Students age 13 and up may attend a program without an adult, but must be signed in by an adult.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

If someone knows of information re: Kingdom Keepers can you PM me. I have some questions. I did send Disney a question but I know the correct information can be found here. Thanks.

 

[amylynne01]

This isn't exactly a huge cost savings for us anymore. 5 day base tickets for our family is 1035 through Mouse Savers/Under Cover Tourist. 5 day base tickets through YES are 988. Not worth the loss of rope drop at MK for a class. I think I'll skip the YES class which is sad because I was excited about it for DD.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

This isn't exactly a huge cost savings for us anymore. 5 day base tickets for our family is 1035 through Mouse Savers/Under Cover Tourist. 5 day base tickets through YES are 988. Not worth the loss of rope drop at MK for a class. I think I'll skip the YES class which is sad because I was excited about it for DD.

Same with us. We were lucky enough to get FD but were considering offsite in a condo if we got YES tickets. I guess this makes the decision for us. The kids were looking forward to doing one of the classes, but the higher cost and inflexibility of the tickets is definately not worth it.

At least now I can plan knowing 100% where we will be at!

 

[snubie]

Are you staying at a MK resort? If not, you will be heading through TTC, right?

We are staying at port Orleans. The bus drops us off right at the MK gates, not TTC.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Disney Homeschool Days are advertised primarily to homeschool groups because of the timing of the events (during the school year). ALL children (homeschool, e-school, standard schools) are permitted/invited to attend the events. I was told this a month ago when calling the YES group for information.

So I am confused as what the difference is btwn homeschool program and the IE program. Can someone pls clarify?
My DD12 does online school...does that count as homeschool?

 

[DawnM]

Well, since you don't need to prove you HS, you can decide that for yourself.

I think this is one reason they don't make you prove it, there are so many different ways to HS. In our state, if you go to school part time or you cyber school through the PS system, you are not considered a HSer according to the state.

Dawn

So I am confused as what the difference is btwn homeschool program and the IE program. Can someone pls clarify?
My DD12 does online school...does that count as homeschool?

 

[DawnM]

He HS YES tickets are the 3rd week of January. You go the 2nd week through the first week of Feb? The HS tickets are good then.

I am with you. I wish they would make people prove they HS. Of course, that would mean I need to FIND my HS card! In our state, you get one card the first year you HS and you don't get another unless you stop HSing and re-register.....so my HS card would have a different year on it.

Some states don't even have any proof to show.....

Dawn

No. :/ we go the second week of jan through first week of feb. and yep the hs are cheaper. Eh, such is life.

I'm glad that they opened these up at least! I'm just sad when people exploit a good thing, and the good thing is affected.

 

[Colleen27]

Well, since you don't need to prove you HS, you can decide that for yourself.

I think this is one reason they don't make you prove it, there are so many different ways to HS. In our state, if you go to school part time or you cyber school through the PS system, you are not considered a HSer according to the state.

And in some states, there are no registration or reporting requirements so there really isn't proof available to be shown. We homeschooled for a few years but never had any card/registration info or anything like that - Michigan doesn't have any legal authorization/monitoring and the co-op we belonged to didn't issue membership cards (though I know some that do, so that the kids have student ID for various discounts and offers that require it).

 

[Colleen27]

If someone knows of information re: Kingdom Keepers can you PM me. I have some questions. I did send Disney a question but I know the correct information can be found here. Thanks.

You mean the Kingdom Keepers Quest listed on the YES site? It is only available to groups of 10 or more but is pretty cool - we got the materials through last year's Homeschool Days seminar but ran out of time before actually following it all the way through. I have the packet here on my desk if there's anything specific you want to know.

 

[susan137]

Are the Homeschool days classes offered twice a year? Jan & ??

We do hs, so I'd love for my DS to take the class. We just can't do January.

Susan

 

[Colleen27]

I am guessing home school day is only for children that are home schooled, but I can't find what proof is necessary.

How does disney prove that my kids are home schooled?

They don't require proof and while the registration is billed as Homeschool Days there were also school groups at the event we attended this past January.

I contacted Disney to inquire about the specifics and was told that individuals can only register for the event through the HSD portal but that no documentation is needed. The woman I spoke to stopped short of outright saying "We don't care if you're homeschoolers or not" but certainly gave that impression. Of course, that might change now that HSD tickets are cheaper than the rest of the individual enrollment choices - when we were there the only difference was that HSD included the seminar (which was Ridley Pearson, author of the Kingdom Keepers books and one of DD11's favorite writers) but if we registered for IE she could take the class but not attend the presentation.

 

[Colleen27]

Are the Homeschool days classes offered twice a year? Jan & ??

We do hs, so I'd love for my DS to take the class. We just can't do January.

Susan

Jan & Oct.

 

[susan137]

Jan & Oct.

Thanks so much for your quick response!

October is much better for us. Anyone know if it is normally early, mid or late October. My OCD planning is in full gear

 

[HayGan]

I ran the numbers for my family and if I purchase DVC annual passes using Disney gift cards from Giant Eagle with double fuel perks, it only costs me about 100.00 more and I don't have to get my night children up for classes. I'm kind of excited to be getting my first annual pass. Now to see how to squeeze that extra trip in. Lol just what Disney wants me to do.

Have you looked at the numbers for the premium AP for DVC that is being offered thru the end of the year? (I'm not sure if we can use the gc's to pay for those or not. If so I'll be doing the Giant Eagle thing as well!). You can get it as a voucher that has to be activated by the end of next yer. I think that is what we will be doing instead of the YES program for 2013.

Since you haven't had an AP before here's a word of caution. Having APs and DVC make it far more likely that you will try and schedule more than 1 trip to take advantage of those APs! I know I am already looking at Thanksgiving time next year to take advantage of ours

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