Finally! Anyone else get frustrated with early booking?

[westjones]

Finally! Our school board voted last night and we FINALLY know next year's spring break dates! I can FINALLY start planning our trip for 2006.

It is SO frustrating that our school board takes SO long to get a calendar together. To get a good price you have to book early with Disney, but it is hard when you don't know your vacation dates.

We booked 2 different weeks in hopes that one would be our spring break week. It worked, so I was able to FINALLY cancel the other week that we won't be using. The price has gone up a little since I booked them in September, but if we had booked a 7 night (we booked 4 night cruises), the price would have gone up a LOT!

Anyone else out there not know their spring break dates yet? I think we might be the last ones in the country to get ours!

Well, the wait is over. I have a date now. Forward....Plan!!!! FINALLY!

DJ

 

[mommasita]

Glad it all worked out.. At least one of your weeks worked for ya...Our school dates are posted through 2007.

In a couple of years when mine get to an age where I have to go more around school schedules, I will feel your pain.... For now, they are young enough.....

Once again, glad you finally know your dates, and I guess you cancelled the wrong week...

 

[tvguy]

They move spring break around in your school district?
Why?

Since 1962, when I started school, until today, spring break in our district is always the week before Easter.

 

[westjones]

Glad it all worked out.. At least one of your weeks worked for ya...Our school dates are posted through 2007.

Oh WOW! You are SO lucky!

Once again, glad you finally know your dates, and I guess you cancelled the wrong week...

Yes! I am just glad one of my reservations really did fall on the week of our break.

I would just love it if we could have our calendar through 2007, though! Maybe we should move!

Oh well, for now we are set.
DJ

 

[westjones]

They move spring break around in your school district?
Why?

Since 1962, when I started school, until today, spring break in our district is always the week before Easter.

Ours in at the end of March. They were talking about moving it earlier in March. This week it was the 3rd week of March, next year it will be the 4th week of March. I reserved both of those weeks hoping it would be one of them. It worked out.

I wrote a note to the board asking them to consider 'setting' spring break so that we would always know when it would be. I doubt if that happens though. Last year they didn't give us a schedule until April either.

In a way, I am glad it isn't set by Easter because the DCL prices are higher the week before and after Easter. This year, since Easter was in March, our break was the week before Easter, but that was only because it was in March.

DJ

 

[aprilgail2]

heck I won't know our next years school breaks until the calendar comes out the last week of AUGUST!! It is just another reason why I plan my vacations when I want them and not around their school breaks.

 

[jordgubben]

That is ridiculous! Why can't the set the calendar in advance. I don't know about my old school district but I know that my college used to (and still does) set the calendar a couple of years in advance.

Poor planning!

 

[SchultzFamily]

We just found out the first day of school for next year this week. Beyond that we know nothing! As an early planner I can relate to your frustration!

 

[myboysmom]

I can't believe that they can't set it out further. I would think with teacher contracts they would have to set it out further than a year. Ours is out two years ahead, and posted on the web! Not only Spring Break, but inservice dates, summer break.....

I don't think I could handle guessing!

 

[NYGiantsRule!]

Our break is usually the week following Easter, unless the School Board and Budget elections fall in that week, then it is the week before Easter. Too confusing.

 

[westjones]

This year my niece's school district canceled spring break to make up for days missed due to a flood in the area. I would think a lot of people would have just taken off any way.

I don't think they would do that here. LOTS of people plan vacations for the week of spring break. It is a big deal here. I just couldn't believe they did that to them at her school.

Well, it sounds like our school district isn't the only one that can't plan ahead. I thought maybe we were the only ones.
DJ

 

[JJsmama]

Apparently, our Spring Break is always the week leading up to Easter. I wish they would make it another week. I'd rather be home at Easter and not have to plan a trip around not traveling on Easter plus the rates are SOOO much worse that week that I refuse to book a cruise for that week even though I want to.

 

[meandmad]

Our is always easy.... it's Masters Week!!!!

 

[CACruisin']

I know exactly how you feel! In our area we have an elementary school district and a separate high school district -- with different calendars! Last fall the elementary school district posted their calendar for 2005-2006 and I booked our 2006 cruise accordingly for the week after school was out. Well, the high school district just finalized their calendar. (I guess the teachers unions have different contract years.) Needless to say, our calendar was changed two weeks ago "to better match the H.S." It blitzed all three of my planned vacations for the year!

Apparently, the H.S. is taking the whole week of Thanksgiving off -- so our elementary schools are too now, except that we already have two weeks off in October! So our October break was moved up by 1 week so that there would be more than ten days between vacations weeks! (We can rearrange our driving vacation, but won't be able to have halloween with friends the way we planned.)

Then instead of having Christmas break from 12/22 to 1/9, it is 12/15 to 1/3 (There goes our ski vacation the week after new years!)

Spring break didn't change, but the end of the school year did! Remember the three extra days at Thanksgiving? Well, we have to make those up! They are tacked onto the end of the year. Now we don't finish school until June 22 -- not going to make the 6/17 sailing of the Magic! Our oldest DD is graduating from 6th grade, so I can't even pull the kids out of school early. So we cancelled our 6/17/06 cruise. Moving the cruise to the following week would be $1800 more. We tentatively have re-booked for Spring Break, but other things come into play and that may or may not be a good time for us to cruise. We'll see.

Sorry for the long diatribe! I just finished dealing with all the schedule changes and this is a hot topic for me. I am off my soap box now.

 

[tecdavidt]

Our spring break always includes March 23, my husband's birthday. We did have one year when March 23 fell on a weekend and we had no idea if it was the week before or after so we had to book both weeks. Our school board also takes their sweet time in making the calendar for the next year. For '06 a survey was sent out for the '06-'07 calendar proposed so we were able to go book. It is rare that our spring break week links to Easter but this year was the year so no spring break cruise in '05. My husband found Easter dates on this web site: www.assa.org.au/edm.html He printed out 1900 through 2199. Kathy

 

[jazstar87]

im frustrated because i have to wait so long ....I don't know how i am going to survive, if i don't go disney this year.

 

[Verandah Man]

Our Spring Break has always been the whole week leading up to Easter, but for some reason this year, our district had off Wed-Thurs-Good Friday-and Easter Monday. I have no clue why they did this, but it sure did mess up our plans. DD only has three more years, then she will be out of high school, and I won't have to worry about school schedules anymore!!! I'm going back to taking a two week February vacation like I did before DD started school, boy I miss that winter escape to Florida!!!

 

[texas-disneymom]

Our spring break is always the 1st full week of March. Next Year it will be March 6-11th. We had finalized schedule the end of February. The good news is that since it is so early we can still get a good rate....weeks after that go up a lot!

 

[mickeymo]

Our school schedule for 2005-2006 has been out since February. But, now it's revised with fine print on the bottom - "subject to revision pending legislation" Seems our Texas elected officials want school to start after Labor Day which would push back our end of school until June - normally not a problem - BUT, we're booked on the 5/27/06 cruise which is the day after school is CURRENTLY scheduled to end. Who knows when school will finish if the bill passes...

 

[polly p]

Our spring break is usually the third week in April. I booked a cruise using this info. Our calender came out last week and they moved spring break to the second week in April the week before Easter. i had to cancel my ressies and rebook. Prices went up considerably since i originally booked. I don't like to book a cruise this week either but with a high school student I don't have a choice.