Help required

[Tony Bush]

We really would appreciate some help. Myself, DW, DS & DD want to go to Florida next year. Our dilema is when to go .
Due to DS sitting GCSE's we are limited to the times we can go. We have been twice in October, but now thats out of the question. We are left with either Easter, August or Christmas.
We have been told that it can be very busy at Easter. August is very hot, busy and expensive. Christmas is also very busy and the last time we went in December it rained and was quite chilly .

Please help

 

[wilma-bride]

Are you saying it's out of the question to go during school term? If so, what about the last couple of weeks of August. I have read some really favourable reports over the last couple of weeks - lines not too long, weather good, not too crowded because the majority of US kids go back to school beginning of August.

Might be an option?

 

[patdavies]

Most schools start study leave for GCSEs and don't expect the kids back for the rest of the summer term.

If you go in the last 2 weeks of August, you will be consumed by curiosity/anxiety about the GCSE results which are released then.

I would NOT go at Easter as this will be needed for GCSE revision.

 

[Frances999]

End of August sounds good, but remember it is the peak of hurricane season and still expensive. I agree with Pat as well, that your DS will be anxious about his GCSE results. Easter would also be needed for GCSE revision, as would Christmas for the mock exams. Personally, I can't see it working.

 

[Hilary]

How about the beginning of July, before the UK schools all finish? Tour operator prices aren't quite as high as during the main holiday periods.

Like you, we'd usually been before in October, but other constraints mean this isn't an option for us for the forseeable future. Our youngest DD sat her GCSEs this summer, so we aimed to fly out as soon as she'd finished her last exam (we knew she wouldn't be expected back in school after the exams, as eldest DD had been through this a few years earlier). We were hoping to make our trip at the end of June/beginning July but, because we couldn't be absolutely certain of the exam dates or end of year 'prom', we had to delay things by a week or two and flew out on July 8th.

It was hot and it was busy (US schools are out, whereas they've gone back by the middle of August) but we came home to have the rest of the summer here and the GCSE results to look forward to

 

[wicket2005]

Please don't take your child out of school in her final GCSE year, it just isn't fair on her.

Our school runs mock GCSE exams in January so kids are expected to revise over Christmas. Crazy system but there you go.

Kids are given revision timetables from the end of March running right through the exam period to the end of June. So taking her out at Easter will interfere with her revision.

Exam results are due out about the last Thursday in the month. Then if she is going to college she has to get this all sorted out once the results are known.

I would recommend going as early in July as you can and it will be something really special for her to look forward to after all her hard work.

I am in exactly in the same boat my DS15 takes his GCSEs next year, whilst DS17 is finishing his 'A' levels. I will be ready for a holiday too and if one more person says GCSEs and 'A' levels are getting easier I will scream. The kids work so hard and then get their exam results belittled for doing well. Sorry rant over.

 

[Hilary]

Our school runs mock GCSE exams in January so kids are expected to revise over Christmas. Crazy system but there you go.

Kids are given revision timetables from the end of March running right through the exam period to the end of June. So taking her out at Easter will interfere with her revision.

Exam results are due out about the last Thursday in the month. Then if she is going to college she has to get this all sorted out once the results are known.

I would recommend going as early in July as you can and it will be something really special for her to look forward to after all her hard work.

These are the reasons we crossed off Christmas, Easter and late August this year. It didn't leave much but early July worked okay for us.

 

[Disneystar]

Hi

I graduated 2 years ago and prior to that we had the same problem.
I agree early July is a good time to go. When I had my exams we also tended to go the first two weeks in July, its before the schools break up so it was not as expensive as late July / August and it was really nice to have something to look forward to with all the studying and exam stresses.

 

[wicket2005]

but early July worked okay for us.

We wanted early July next year but would you believe it, it was fully booked up for the hotel we wanted, ended up booking for 15th. So the kids will have a couple of weeks of relaxation before we whizz around Orlando again.

 

[Tony Bush]

Thank you all so much for your advise. Due to work commitments July is a no go. So, its back to the drawing board. Its really looking like we won't be going. But... never say never. I'm sure we will sort something out.

 

[VSL]

I wouldn't worry too much about the mock's. They're just practice so the kids know what the papers are formatted like, and give them an idea of where they currently stand.
I used mine as a test to see how I would do with no revision (I pretty much had very similar results as I had WITH revision - all A-C grades).
Also, me and my BF are graduating from Uni next summer and are missing the last two lecture weeks of the 1st semester due to going to WDW.

How anxious do you think your DS will be about getting his results? It varies from child to child. I was very laid-back but my BF was on edge (and still is whenever we get results). If he's not too stressed about getting them on the day why not take the middle two weeks of August? That way he'll still have time to enroll in College as well.

 

[Laurafoster]

We really would appreciate some help. Myself, DW, DS & DD want to go to Florida next year. Our dilema is when to go .
Due to DS sitting GCSE's we are limited to the times we can go. We have been twice in October, but now thats out of the question. We are left with either Easter, August or Christmas.
We have been told that it can be very busy at Easter. August is very hot, busy and expensive. Christmas is also very busy and the last time we went in December it rained and was quite chilly .

Please help

i would not recommend easter - its is very busy and queues can be as long as 2 hours for the main attractions! December, i went the middle 2 weeks in December and the first week i thought was fantastic, ok the weather is not as hot (but some yeahs it has been!) queues were short and christmas time is great at Disney! however the second week of our holiday was awful, the american schools broke up and it was packed everywhere! 3hour queues for some rides!! My personal favourite time of yeah is the last weekin august and the first week in december - very few crouds, queues were only about 10-15mins and the weather was hot and sunny! although the is a risk of hurricanes! When i took my GCSE's a few years ago i went the last week in August, think i missed the ffew days of school but i got my GCSE results before i went which meant i had a great holiday as i had nothing to worry about when i went home!

 

[disneyholic family]

the first two weeks of december are usually fantastic in terms of crowds (although last year that wasn't true, due to so many trip postponements due to the hurricanes)...

we've also found the last two weeks of August to be great. Florida schools are back in session by the second week so the crowds really ease up (the northern US goes back only in September, but people are less likely to travel right before the kids go back to school).

We were just in WDW last week (august 16th to 24th).and it was half empty. Yes it was hot, but it was hot with no crowds, something that i can easily live with. We were also in WDW a month ago (july 10th to the 24th) and it was hot and massively crowded.

So personally i'd opt for the last two weeks of august or the first two weeks of december.

 

[VSL]

Well, you could just get TGM to help avoid the major queues..

 

[Tony Bush]

Hi Disneyholic family, we would love to go the first two weeks of December, totally agree its one of the best times to go, however we can't take the kids out of school. The last two weeks of August sounds good, just worried about the heat.

Hi VSL, sorry to sound dim but whats TGM??

 

[VSL]

No problem!
TGM is TourGuideMike - he has a website (www.tourguidemike.com) where he gives out info on how to avoid crowds and stuff (apparently people who use his advice rarely wait longer than 15mins in queues at WDW - I can't confirm this as I won't be putting his advice to the test until I go in December!).

Alternatively, there is the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (a book that can be found on Amazon).

 

[ChairborneRangr]

I can vouch for the fact that if you follow TGM advice you never wait more than 15 minutes. I have used him twice and am subscribed again for my 2007 trip.

The Unofficial Guide is also a good source. I use that as well. Actually I use a combination of the two.

 

[hanncam]

Not too many people know this, but Hurricane season runs from June through November 1st. I live in North Carolina and have been through several hurricans and believe me they can come at any time. August and September usually are the most active months.... Kids down here do not go back to school until around August 25th never the first of august. I have traveled to Disney several times in the first couple of weeks of December and it was wonderful. Light jacket, t-shirt and jeans weather....

I know that the last three weeks in January aren't to bad either as far as crowds go....

Hope that helps..

 

[Miffy2003]

We have been in late August several times (like you we are constrained to school holidays)

Cons
price of flights prohibitive!
Very very hot and humid but iuf you deal OK with heat you can mitigate against this somewhat by visiting air conditioned attractions in the middle of the day, drinking plenty etc
Hurricane season

Pros
We found it pretty quiet in the parks after approx 14th August
Generally longer park hours
Both waterparks open
Lovely balmy evenings


Weighing all this up, we still choose to go at the end of August rather than at Easter.

 

[patdavies]

I wouldn't worry too much about the mock's. They're just practice so the kids know what the papers are formatted like, and give them an idea of where they currently stand.

That's not quite true. The mocks are run by the school to a) practice the kids in exam conditions; b) see if achieved grades match predicted grades and c) are the last assessment of which level paper a student is entered for

For those of you, like me, who are too old to have sat GCSE (as opposed to GCE or CSE), GCSEs have varying levels of difficulty. If you are entered for a higher level and do badly, you will fail completely - not be awarded a lower level.
The perfect example is my daughter's History GCSE. She was entereded at intermediate level, which means that the highest possible grade that she could achieve was an A (not an A*) and the lower was (I think) a D. Had she been entered at the higher level, she could only score C - A*. If she achieved a D standard (for intermediate) then her actual result would have been U (unclassified = fail).

It is generally believed that for SATs and GCSEs, all students sit the [b[same[/b] exam and are graded accordingly - this just isn't true.