Disney Y.E.S. Program

[jaygatz]

My wife is a Jr. High School teacher, and was contemplating taking a group of kids to Disney to participate in the Y.E.S. program. Does anyone have any experience with this program? If so, what were your thoughts? Thanks

 

[NMAmy]

My daughter went as part of this program with her 6th grade class this year and had a great time! The teachers at her school have been doing this for several years and have nothing but praise for the program. The cost was about $850 per child (and $899 for parents/chaperones) and included hotel (ASMO), airfare, park tickets, and most meals.

They had a block of rooms and a security guard to patrol them at night. 4 kids to each room and chaperones were 2 to a room. They were there for 5 days. The program included special activities each day. One was a behind the scenes tour of Living Seas, one was behind the scenes at HM, one was behind the scenes at Animal Kingdom. All the kids and chaperones had a blast and told me it was very well planned.

My only problem with it was that they picked like the one week out of the year that I couldn't come along! I was jealous of my own child!

Hope this helps!

 

[jaygatz]

NMAmy,

Thanks for your response. The program sounds like a great opportunity--my wife teaches kids from an impoverished background and it is so gratifying to share experiences with them. Do you know if the tickets/vouchers sold through this program are different than normal tickets/vouchers?

 

[bobcat]

Can you tell me more about this program? I teach middle school as well and I know we have a local organization that goes by the Y.E.S acronym but I am not sure if they are the same. They are youth engaged in service. Thanks.

 

[Mic]

I have a daycare and coordinated a Y.E.S.(Youth Education Series) trip last year. We declined the accomodations offered by Disney(AS rooms for @$100 a night with a 10-room minimum), and I used the rest of my DVC points for 2 other families to be near us at OKW, and 2 other families stayed off-site at Westgate. The tickets are a good deal if: all the kids are over the age of 9, and your dates are set, as the tickets do expire on a certain date(usually a week after your check-in date). The prices for the kids(up to age 22, I think) was comparable to the reg. price of a child's ticket(3-9), so there is a savings if your group is middle/high-school age. As far as the programming, I loved it! We did the American Story(mainly because I had a mixed-age group, and it was one of the few programs Disney offered for 3rd-12th graders), and it was informative and fun. The parents were pleased, as well. I did price a trip for my daughter's cheerleading squad(5th and 6th graders) that included accomodations and 4-day hoppers more than a year ago, and it came out to @ $400 pp, and that included renting a large bus($2000 divided by # of girls), AS room for 5 nights(quad price of $125), a 4-day hopper plus through the program, and some meals(pizza 1 night, and 5 of the counter-service meal vouchers). Add @$60-70 more for adults for the difference in price of ticket, and make adjustments for the room if not sharing, and it was still QUITE reasonable. That year, however, was like this year...we had to make up days at school due to inclement weather, and missing school to go was not an option. That would have been a great trip

 

[disneyjunkie]

Here's a link to their site.

After you sign up, they will email you a password to use the site. You can then download the application and order forms. Have fun

http://disney.go.com/disneyyouthprograms

 

[NMAmy]

jaygatz, I'm pretty sure they had hopper tickets because they did discuss going to Blizzard Beach but decided not to as it wasn't warm enough. The YES activities were scheduled in the mornings and they had the afternoons & evenings free.

I think it would be a great idea for impoverished kids to get a chance to go to WDW. I know that my daughter's school had several fundraisers (Little Caesar's pizza, poinsettias, popcorn) that the kids could participate in if they wished. They also gave them ideas to earn money in other ways (babysitting, collecting pop cans, etc). Some families paid for the entire trip using these methods. I hate messing around with fundraisers too much, so I told my daughter I'd pay for the trip, but she had to raise her spending money. She did some of the fundraisers, babysat, saved birthday & Christmas money and had about $350 for snacks & souvenirs.

 

[bobcat]

Thank you jaygatz! There are a couple of programs that look very interesting for my students. I only wish there was one on costuming or foods since I teach family and consumer sciences, but there are leadership and career programs that will work as well. I can't wait to get my password and learn even more.

 

[jamsmom]

I just sent an e-mail to my best friend who teaches 8th grade almost on Ft. Hood post. I PLEADED with her to check into it and I volunteered to go as a chaperone. I am SOOOOO Disney addicted

 

[Lswilmot@aol.com]

We have taken our Girl Scout Troop to WDW twice and done the YES program. The best possible way to do Disney with a youth group. Not only are the park passes nearly half price, you also get an educational program of your choice (based on ages etc.) , and you can order meal coupons for less than $10 per person for lunch &/or dinner. I know you can order breakfast coupons too, but we just ate breatfast at ASMu fod court every day on our way to the parks. We would do this again in a heartbeat, but the girls are looking at a Disney cruise next time. Go for it and enjoy.

 

[Muffy]

Was that a typo about 6 poeple per room at ASMU?

 

[CarolA]

I think she means that a room had either 4 kids or 2 adults. Not all 6 in one room.

 

[MommieMommie!]

just curious - did your troop do fundraisers for this trip or just pay out of pocket? How many girls / parents did you have? Did you drive? Did the girls get along during the trip? Lots of questions - i would love to do this with my junior trip next year, and would love to hear about your experiences - pros and cons. Thanks!

 

[Lswilmot@aol.com]

We took 4 of our 6 girls (Jr &Sr Highs) in August, just before Labor Day. We also had 4 troop leaders (only 1 a girl's parent) and other family members for a group total of 13. We had the 4 girls in 1 room and 3 adults in an adjoining room. We did leave the connecting door open. We flew from upstate NY and spent 4 nights at ASMu. Highlights included breakfast at Chef Mickey's where we celebrated 3 birthdays, being in several shows in MGM a day at TL, and the limo trip from the airport. The girls all got along well, with no temper tantrums. We did let each girl plan 1 day and lead the group from attraction to attraction. Yes, we made the group stay together, and specifically required that no one went anywhere alone, even to the restrooms. The troop did 1 fund raising event besides our GS cookie sales and saved for 2 years. Each troop member paid 1/2 ($300) of her cost, any family members had to pay full cost.
If you need anything else, e-mail me. Hope it works out for you.