HELP!! WWYD? Torn when to go now-

[StephMK]

We (me, DH, DD11, DD5, DS3) had planned to drive from DC in Nov and the kids would miss 3 days of school. We would stay in SIL's timeshare or go through skyauction & eat budget food in room for some meals. THe plan was 4 days at the parks & 2 days at SW as long as they still offer the free second day.

OR if we change to the week of Labor Day - Wed before until Tues after -the kids would only miss 1 day &

Arrgghhh! The temptation is killing me - the news of free dining returning on top of the SW air deals going. I just priced it out - we can fly & stay at POR w/free meals if we change dates for our same budget as offsite in Nov. Is it worth missing SW (kids LOVE), plus adding way more heat & crowds - big neg since DH gets grumpy easily! ??

Help! The air & free meals plus being onsite this time is just so tempting! Can someone give an argument for one or the other?

 

[drgnfly30]

What would prevent you for setting at least one day aside for SW & still getting in on the dining deal? We haven't gone to WDW yet without visiting other parks.. in fact our trip last year we stayed onsite but still got in 2 days at Universal/IOA & 1 day at SW ...

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Well the onsite w/ free food sounds much better. PLUS, you will not have to cook, clean up, etc. And you'll eat WAY better. Plus staying on site will get you the perks and free parking (if your driving to the parks). I know it will be more crowded during that time but it seems like a much easier choice. Go For it!

 

[StephMK]

If we change dates, we'd have to go over budget to include SW, not to mention transportation if we don't have a car. We'd use the ME from the airport.

Still thinking...Another option is to go late September & shorten trip to 5 nights, kids would still miss 3 days. If we do that, we could add SW if there is cheap transportation to & from - are the buses too hard to do to get there? If we do SW, could we still use dining plan that day? Can you use dining plan for breakfast? We could do breakfast before & a late dinner that night? Eekkk! I'm off to read more about the plan & hope they bring it back.

 

[zippehsmom]

I thought the free dining offer expired already. Have they come out with another one? Ooops! I just seen Mousesavers says they are bringing it back. So now my advice is save the money and go with the free dining!

I would try and do a time when they will miss the least amount of school. The little ones would be ok missing 3 days of school, but your 11 yr old if he is starting middle school that may be kind of hard.

zippehsmom

 

[callahanjulie10]

Would you be that much over budget, including gas, hotels each way, and your time? I would stay onsite, do the free dining- dining is really one of the highlights of our WDW stays- get the perks of staying onsite, not to mention that the kids will love it. It is too bad you can't stay in a value because the theming is really great for the younger kids.
I don't know what grade your 11 yr old is in, but we took my DD out of school of 5 days to cruise last year- it will never happen again. Bless her heart, it took her until Christmas break to make up all the tests, quizzes, and projects she had missed. She had done all the classwork and homework in advance! We also had done this every year- taking a cruise either in September or October, never again. Of course, she is in middle school, not elementary, and had 6 teachers to contend with.

 

[frannn]

This way, you could stay onsite, not pay for meals, and rent a car from Disney property for the day to get to SW. I might also consider the moderate if it wasn't that much more $$. Don't know how long it takes to drive from where you are, but flying is so much quicker (of course not stress free) in our case. It sounds like all the costs are in favor of booking for Sept. Also, we went last Sept (9/10-9/20) and it was uncrowded and only a little hotter than Oct. I would've jumped on Sept this year as well if DD12 was not entering a new school for Jr High.

 

[StephMK]

The free dining & air deals were too good to pass up so we're shortening our trip from 7 to 5 & flying! Since there are 5 of us, we're in POR. DD11 is in her last year of elementary so hopefully it won't be too bad. That was one reason we were planning another trip so soon. This is the last year I would feel comfortable taking her out of school at all. She's a good student & hopefully early in the year, it won't be too bad to make up.

So we're going 9/23-28 - ack! Now I've got to start thinking about it more. Nov. seemed so far away! I already made some PS because I didn't know how fast things were booking. Everything appeared really free so far & got the days/times I wanted.

I goofed & made PS then looked, Spectro is not playing the day I planned for MK. It's my must do so have to flip days. That & add ME to our ressie & the basics are done. Whew, I'm all jittery from planning overdrive!

 

[ceecee]

Labor Day weekend will be extremely busy. How is your school about allowing for missed days. I would much rather go in November. DD caught up really quick with her missed week last year, she's a good student so I'm sure that helps. I fiqure until she is in Jr. High we can still manage to go in the fall. If your son is still elementary I would definately go with November.