How often do you visit with kids?

[TinkB278]

I'm not sure why you see this as an either-or proposition. The question for most families isn't "should they miss some school or should we not go on vacation." The question is: "Is it worth missing school to save money/go during less crowded times/have better weather/whatever."

The answer to that question might still be "Yes!" and that's something that will differ from family to family. And there are a few special circumstances when the adults cannot get time off when the children are out of school, and that's a different question. But very few people are in that situation.

Yep, I don’t think it is an either or thing. I’m just trying to get an idea of whether others have had to taper off or modify the dates they go to Disney once their kids are of a certain age. I have no experience in this yet as we are still in a preschool situation where we can pull our son out at any time and for as long as we want. I am interested in hearing from those who have lived through this in the course of their membership and what they have found in regards to kids missing school (or not) and whether it was worth it to miss school to avoid crowded spring break/super hot summer in florida.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Pre 8th grade, DH and I had difficult bosses at different companies (I'm being nice) who weren't receptive to either of us taking vacations at all. That is ridiculous but not what we are discussing. If we could both get a week or two off at the same time, we went for it even if it was during the school calendar. I can not imagine our son not having ANY trips during those first 12 years! We tried to plan one WDW trip, one other trip (Europe, cross country RV) with a few camping and/or road trips mixed in.

At 16 he went to a *thank the teacher* event at his elementary school and met with a few of his teachers. At the event, his 4th grade teacher enthusiastically introduced our son to someone who ultimately granted him a large scholarship from undergrad through grad school. She was one of the teachers who required a daily journal! Love it!

 

[Brian Noble]

whether others have had to taper off or modify the dates they go to Disney once their kids are of a certain age

One other thought: tapering Disney---for example, because you only have so many DVC points, and the rooms cost much more during spring break in March than they do in September---does not mean tapering vacations. It just means doing more non-Disney things.

It could also mean doing some Disney things that are not DVC. For example, two of our top-five vacations of all time were a DCL cruise to Alaska, and a week in Paris followed by four nights at DLRP.

 

[sndral]

I’ve been eyeing the 2025 academic calendars for 4 different school districts in 3 different states trying to plan an extended family vacation to WDW and I’m surprised at the differences between them. One has a week off in early October, one has a week off in February, two have a week off in March, the other two have a week off in April. They all have some time off in late Dec., three also have the first week of Jan. off but one does not. Two finish school in late May & two finish in mid June.
Since your child is in preschool ATM, you have several years before you need to make these decisions. Once your child starts school their school district may have one of those odd weeks off, like an October week or a February week, that you can work with.
If not, once your child starts school you can have a frank conversation with their teachers about the impact the absence would have on your child. Different states & school districts treat absences for vacation differently. When my now adult son was in elementary school pulling him out for a week could be an excused absence if I had worked it out w/ his teacher (note, I rarely did this because although he was academically gifted & had no trouble keeping up, I quickly learned that I didn’t enjoy being a ’teacher’ on my vacation ) these days that’s not the case in my state & pulling kids out for vacation is an unexcused absence.
So there’s really no one size fits all, it depends on your state, your school district, & your child (w/ input from said child’s teacher.)

 

[dez1978]

I’m just here to say this as a teacher
You are the parent so it’s totally up to you when you want your kid to be out

BUT

If you do take your kid out and they fall behind in class or grades drop or whatever, don’t come jumping down my throat that I need to do more to catch them up/raise their grade

AND

If you ask me to make you work in advance, and I do that, don’t come back saying you didn’t do any of it.

Also, make sure your child is ready to be back in the school routine when they come back. I teach middle school and had a student out for a week. I didn’t know why, thought maybe sick. Kid came back and was sleeping in class and not waking up/working. Called parents who said “oh yeah, sleep schedule is off because we were at Disney for that week they were out. Can you just let them make up the work whenever?” They didn’t mean the work they missed while at Disney—they meant allow sleep and send THAT work home for homework.

I think most of our teachers here agree with this. IT helps that almost everything is done in schoology or whatever on Ipads anyway, so there isn't much extra to be done. I always tell the teachers a few weeks ahead of time and then have the kids follow up the week before that we will be gone and that if there is anything they'd like to send for them to do while they are gone thats great, if not they will do it when we get back. Most of the time, the teachers will "publish" their assignements online for them early. I usually have them spend a portion of the drive to the airport (1.5hr) working on what they have available to do. Then they do an hour or so every couple of days whenever we have a bit of downtime. Most of the time, they have 95% of it done by the time they go back and it's never been a problem. Having said that, my 7th grader now prefers not to be miss a full week, so we are probably going to have to start making trips during the busy seasons, which I hate.

 

[Jgc014]

I think we’re in a similar circumstance as you- we have twins starting public school in the fall, and I am already concerned how it will cut into my vacation schedule, which I live for! I actually have been amping up our vacations this year as I know it will be harder to do in coming years (we did Disney a couple days in December, the Bahamas a week over New Years, and have a ski trip coming up mid January).

That said, I think I am comfortable taking them out a bit while still in elementary school, but I personally wouldn’t do more than one week long trip a school year. Potentially some long weekends to supplement? I don’t know where you are located, but where we are getting to Orlando is often quick and inexpensive enough that we enjoy even a 3 night trip, which is what we did in December.

Also, again depending on where you live is late August an option? Our schools go back early September, so growing up we did late August one year, and yes, it was hot, but the parks felt empty, and we loved all the pool time. Also, if you are used to September visits, August may not be much different weather wise.

Good luck with the change!

 

[TinkB278]

I’ve been eyeing the 2025 academic calendars for 4 different school districts in 3 different states trying to plan an extended family vacation to WDW and I’m surprised at the differences between them. One has a week off in early October, one has a week off in February, two have a week off in March, the other two have a week off in April. They all have some time off in late Dec., three also have the first week of Jan. off but one does not. Two finish school in late May & two finish in mid June.
Since your child is in preschool ATM, you have several years before you need to make these decisions. Once your child starts school their school district may have one of those odd weeks off, like an October week or a February week, that you can work with.
If not, once your child starts school you can have a frank conversation with their teachers about the impact the absence would have on your child. Different states & school districts treat absences for vacation differently. When my now adult son was in elementary school pulling him out for a week could be an excused absence if I had worked it out w/ his teacher (note, I rarely did this because although he was academically gifted & had no trouble keeping up, I quickly learned that I didn’t enjoy being a ’teacher’ on my vacation ) these days that’s not the case in my state & pulling kids out for vacation is an unexcused absence.
So there’s really no one size fits all, it depends on your state, your school district, & your child (w/ input from said child’s teacher.)

Our school district seems to follow the same schedule each year. We don’t seem to get any random weeks off. The only full weeks are middle of March for spring break and then the week of Christmas and after. Beyond that we have a couple long weekends over Presidents’ Day and Columbus Day. We don’t get out until the week of Memorial Day and start the second week of August. They really planned it so we couldn’t squeeze in any Disney trips during the times I prefer to go lol! I guess we will have to wait and see once they start school what the teachers are like in regards to absences. It’s just so hard for planning 11 months out though!

 

[TinkB278]

I think we’re in a similar circumstance as you- we have twins starting public school in the fall, and I am already concerned how it will cut into my vacation schedule, which I live for! I actually have been amping up our vacations this year as I know it will be harder to do in coming years (we did Disney a couple days in December, the Bahamas a week over New Years, and have a ski trip coming up mid January).

That said, I think I am comfortable taking them out a bit while still in elementary school, but I personally wouldn’t do more than one week long trip a school year. Potentially some long weekends to supplement? I don’t know where you are located, but where we are getting to Orlando is often quick and inexpensive enough that we enjoy even a 3 night trip, which is what we did in December.

Also, again depending on where you live is late August an option? Our schools go back early September, so growing up we did late August one year, and yes, it was hot, but the parks felt empty, and we loved all the pool time. Also, if you are used to September visits, August may not be much different weather wise.

Good luck with the change!

Yes, I’m the exact same way. I live for my vacations and pretty much daydream about traveling nonstop. Your winter travel this year sounds amazing! I think we will most likely do what you suggested, one week long trip during the school year. We have to fly to get to Disney so I have a hard time wanting to spend the money on flights for anything less than 5 nights but maybe we could swing some 5 nighters over some of their one day breaks plus a weekend (and then pull them out a day or two). I was looking at august as the crowd calendars look great but our district starts back the second week of august and I don’t think I want to go to Disney the week before starting school as we tend to get out of our sleep routines at Disney. Argh

 

[TinkB278]

Pre 8th grade, DH and I had difficult bosses at different companies (I'm being nice) who weren't receptive to either of us taking vacations at all. That is ridiculous but not what we are discussing. If we could both get a week or two off at the same time, we went for it even if it was during the school calendar. I can not imagine our son not having ANY trips during those first 12 years! We tried to plan one WDW trip, one other trip (Europe, cross country RV) with a few camping and/or road trips mixed in.

At 16 he went to a *thank the teacher* event at his elementary school and met with a few of his teachers. At the event, his 4th grade teacher enthusiastically introduced our son to someone who ultimately granted him a large scholarship from undergrad through grad school. She was one of the teachers who required a daily journal! Love it!

I love this!!! It sounds like you made sure to provide some awesome experiences and memories for your son, lucky guy .

 

[TinkB278]

One other thought: tapering Disney---for example, because you only have so many DVC points, and the rooms cost much more during spring break in March than they do in September---does not mean tapering vacations. It just means doing more non-Disney things.

It could also mean doing some Disney things that are not DVC. For example, two of our top-five vacations of all time were a DCL cruise to Alaska, and a week in Paris followed by four nights at DLRP.

Yes! Definitely planning to start sprinkling in some other experiences once my youngest is older. Right now I’m trying to cram as much Disney in as possible before he turns 3 and requires a park ticket!

 

[tidefan]

All I know is our DD, when she took the ACT, complained that all her friends got a question for the written section about “How Social Media affects youth” and she got a question about “Alternative Agricultural Methods”. She said that “Living With the Land” saved her and she did pretty well!

 

[keishashadow]

Don't have school kids anymore but have a grandtinker now

I may start using that lol

I’m just trying to get an idea of whether others have had to taper off or modify the dates they go to Disney once their kids are of a certain age. I

Many different things have effected our usage patterns over the years…employment, responsibilities for elderly parents & children & grand children schedules. You learn to be flexible

Might want to check school attendance rules, especially as it pertains to ‘Unexcused abscenses, I.e. vacation trips”

In our district there are no approved vacations the first or last month of school year, nor during standardized testing

Factor in as kids age they will have extracurricular activities & commitments that can’t be predicted 11 or even 7 months out

We do shorter trips with extended family throughout the year. However, we love our annual trip with GD over 4th of July. She picked the time frame when in preschool. Yes, it is indescribably hot. We lounge during the hottest hours of the day and manage nicely

We are thankful to have the one on one time with her, knowing how time passes so quickly

 

[SleeplessInTO]

DD is 8 now, and since she started school, outside of the lockdown years, we as a family of 3 go during winter break (2 weeks), March break (2 weeks) and various long weekends (May, July, September, October, etc.) Basically if we have 3+ days off in a row, we fly down to Orlando. We never miss a school day for Disney.

Yes it is busier during December and March but we find that because we go so often, the crowds don’t bother us. We aren’t determined to extract the greatest number of rides per trip or have to do xyz to feel like it’s been “worth it”. It’s always worth it because we are making memories together, whether it be at the pool or the fireworks or on Tron. DD is happy, and so are we.

 

[kboo]

When my son was younger, we would always go for Halloween. Luckily his elementary school normally did parent conferences that week, so they only did half days. I didn’t feel guilty pulling him out for a week at that point.

Once he hit Middle School & High School, they cared a lot more about attendance. Then we would travel more during the traditional school breaks or take long weekends to DLR where he’d only miss a day or 2 at a time.

Eventually you probably will have to convert to going during school breaks. But, I think that’s just a normal part of the life cycle of a Disney parent. It’s not ideal, but we all go through it for the love of our parks.

My oldest is in 7th grade and in ALL the activities.... We are pulling 1-2 days on either end of two long weekends this school year to make a 4-5 day trip (not just Disney), and it's starting to stress her out a bit. She has overcommitted to activities she loves to do, and it's coming to a head this year (missing basketball games because of robotics team, for example). Luckily she's up to date/ahead on all academic work, but she still doesn't like to miss much school. So our travel plans are starting to evolve ...

Also, again depending on where you live is late August an option? Our schools go back early September, so growing up we did late August one year, and yes, it was hot, but the parks felt empty, and we loved all the pool time. Also, if you are used to September visits, August may not be much different weather wise.

We have family birthdays during that week, and our schools don't start until after Labor Day, so that week has turned into our favorite week at WDW! It's awesome - we celebrate a birthday or 2, MNSSHP, F&W, and sometimes a Moonlight Magic as well. And super low crowds. It's all a matter of perspective, lol. And cooling towels.

OP - I know you said your summer vacations are a lot shorter - the Northeast goes to disney in late August, but we don't get out until almost July! So maybe early June will be your sweet spot? At least half the country will still be in school then.

It is a gradual process, so you'll have time to see what works best for your family and school system. When my oldest was in elementary school, we didn't pull her for full weeks, but we were more liberal with her missing a half week. It helped that she has always kept herself up to date and had excellent grades. I think I would have been more concerned if she weren't already doing well in school and able to keep up/catch up as needed. As she got older, we started reconsidering taking them out of school as much, and looked at "lucky" long weekends (e.g. Jewish holidays that we don't celebrate, for example) and building a short trip out of those. But it is also true that we added on points recently because we see ourselves going more at Christmas break (yes it's insanely crowded, but we've made really magical memories then as well). and Easter/Passover break (lots of points but not nearly as crowded as Christmas) and our late summer. Our kids also get a week off at President's week, but we try to ski then. April is good because the weather in the Northeast is still iffy then, but it's reliably glorious in Florida. (or Hawaii, where we went in 2023)

Edited: probably neither a pro nor con, but the non-Labor Day birthdays in our family fall around July 4th and Thanksgiving ...

 

[TinkB278]

DD is 8 now, and since she started school, outside of the lockdown years, we as a family of 3 go during winter break (2 weeks), March break (2 weeks) and various long weekends (May, July, September, October, etc.) Basically if we have 3+ days off in a row, we fly down to Orlando. We never miss a school day for Disney.

Yes it is busier during December and March but we find that because we go so often, the crowds don’t bother us. We aren’t determined to extract the greatest number of rides per trip or have to do xyz to feel like it’s been “worth it”. It’s always worth it because we are making memories together, whether it be at the pool or the fireworks or on Tron. DD is happy, and so are we.

Does your daughter get a full two weeks off in December and March??

Such a great point about the crowds and not worrying about getting on every single ride.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I may start using that lol

Feel free! The reason I use that term is because my daughter has always loved Tinkerbell and goes by Tink0812 on here. My only grandchild is her daughter and we are lucky enough to "have" them go with us every year. So I got Tink and grandtinker!

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Does your daughter get a full two weeks off in December and March??

Such a great point about the crowds and not worrying about getting on every single ride.

Yes, she gets two full weeks off in December (sometimes last week of Dec / first week of Jan) and in March too. They even sometimes give her the Friday before the break off!

 

[TinkB278]

Yes, she gets two full weeks off in December (sometimes last week of Dec / first week of Jan) and in March too. They even sometimes give her the Friday before the break off!

That is amazing!! I wish we got two weeks in March so we had a bit more wiggle room for when we could/would travel rather than being constricted to the one week.

 

[JackosinDIS]

You are lucky with school holidays in the US. Over here in the UK, schools all have breaks at exactly the same time (give or take a week), and you get fined if you take kids out of school without permission! Means we are stuck with either Easter or summer holidays (always between last week in July and end of August… so you gotta love the heat!), sometimes Christmas. I’d love to pull DD out of school in September to come at a quieter time, but it’s very frowned upon!

 

[SG131]

We go once a year for a longer trip where he'll miss 6 or 7 days of school. In our district you start getting nasty letters if they miss more than 10 days, so I like to leave a couple free for sick days. We could always do a couple days in the summer too, but we like to do the beach then. At his school, it seems pretty normal for kids to go on a vacation during the year. Last year I took him out early march and at least 4 other students in his class had vacations coming up within a month of our trip. It is definitely more common these days than it was when I was a kid.