If you have high school & middle school age children, when do you go to Disney?

[JJ&JSMOM]

Now that my kids are older I really have to pick & choose when/if to take them out of school. Just can't seem to find a good time that works for everyone. I may just bite the bullet & go during a school vacation. Higher prices & larger crowds dont make me that excited about going though.

Curious as to what others do. Thank you!

 

[ponyboy]

As the kids have gotten into high school it's become more difficult for them to miss a week or more at a time. In the past we always went the 1st/2nd week of December.

This year we're going over Thanksgiving and just staying a little longer to make up for the crowds. It will be easier on the kids but harder on my wallet.

 

[scrapquitler]

Now that my kids are older I really have to pick & choose when/if to take them out of school. Just can't seem to find a good time that works for everyone. I may just bite the bullet & go during a school vacation. Higher prices & larger crowds dont make me that excited about going though.

Curious as to what others do. Thank you!

In our school district, we have the Monday before election day and Tuesday of Election day off. This usually falls very close to Veterans Day, which is also a school holiday for us. Many (MANY) families in our district take this opportunity to go to Disney or some other vacation destination because they can take a 9 or 10 day trip and only miss 2 or 3 days of school.

 

[MSSANDRA]

The best time we found once DS reached high school (we still pulled in middle school ) was the week of MLK day. That is also the end of semester for our block schedule high school and rarely do they have more than one or two days of school that week. The week-end can be a bit more crowded, but the week is pretty low. thanksgiving week is good for our district two as they only have one full and one half day of school. Again it is more crowded but it's a option. Other choices might be the very first week they are out for summer, or the last week before they return in the fall. School vary a huge amount but the numbers of kids out will be lower than min-summer when everyone is out. We tried the week of New Years too but found it very crowded.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

Thank you all for your replies...Thanksgiving would be an option...and also the first week out of school in June. I just know how hot it is then.... We just had a week in March where the kids had 1/2 day for teacher in service day and then the next day was a full day off due to teacher in service day. So there's another option. There are only 2 weeks out of each month that i can go due to my job so that has to be taken into consideration as well. But I will find a way!!!!

Thanks again for the replies!

 

[Kellykins1218]

Honestly, we go whenever we feel like it. We give the school a couple of weeks' notice & they get their homework ahead of time.

 

[Hannathy]

depends if they are in sports or the musicals, band etc. Have to worry about all those to! It's a lot of fun........

August is out if any football players. Spring break can be a problem if you have thespians depending on when the spring play is. August can be band camp if musicians.

We ended up with spring break, track coach said they could miss practice with a note for a family vacation over break.
when my DD was in we could have went in august but with DS that isn't possible. Were thinking about Christmas time but my DH needed surgery so the trip got put on hold and hasn't been rescheduled.

With sports,band, activities, AP classes or college classes while in HS it gets very hard to do anything with them!

 

[tzolkin]

Honestly, we go whenever we feel like it. We give the school a couple of weeks' notice & they get their homework ahead of time.

This is what we have always done as well.

However, we are moving to another state and the district's attendance policies seem insane to me. If a child misses 4 days during a marking period (for any reason) they fail. My girls are always healthy, but my son missed many days this year because he kept getting the stomach flu. No way we can risk taking them out even for a few days because what if they get sick or something later in the semester?

 

[crisi]

With middle school, August. Now with high school we may not travel. Kids are too busy and the high school commitments are pretty hard - if you want to play football, you need to be at those August practices, if you want to be in band, you need to have been in band camp.

We stopped being really able to pull them from school in Middle School - the commitment level wasn't as harsh, but it was still frowned upon to miss play practice - and the workload in class was that much harder.

 

[set1208]

I pulled my kids in October and they missed about a week. It was fine for my younger ones and very challenging for my middle schooler.

I'd suggest looking at your school calendar and look to see when they have a day off and work it around then. I'm going with my son in September who will be in third grade at this time. He has a half day on a Wednesday so we are leaving that evenings after school then he has Thursday off for Rosh Hashanah . We come back Monday afternoon so he's only out for two days.

My DD13 is a great student and I didn't think it'd be a problem but she got so far behind. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[ponyboy]

and also the first week out of school in June. I just know how hot it is then....

We could go anytime during the summer but I'm from Texas, the last thing I want to do is spend a bunch of money to go somewhere else that's just as hot.

 

[drinkme]

depends if they are in sports or the musicals, band etc. Have to worry about all those to! It's a lot of fun........ August is out if any football players. Spring break can be a problem if you have thespians depending on when the spring play is. August can be band camp if musicians. We ended up with spring break, track coach said they could miss practice with a note for a family vacation over break. when my DD was in we could have went in august but with DS that isn't possible. Were thinking about Christmas time but my DH needed surgery so the trip got put on hold and hasn't been rescheduled. With sports,band, activities, AP classes or college classes while in HS it gets very hard to do anything with them!

My dd is a freshman and in lots of school activities. I don't think we will ever be able to take a wdw vacation again. Lol. We did just go on a trip during spring break last week but I wouldn't go to wdw during spring break.

 

[tanyaandallie]

I don't have a middle schooler until next year but we have started going in August because it is the only time we are truly free and clear. We really wanted to pull kids out in May and go but dd is in the school play and pulling her out for a week right before the play would just not be a good thing. So, August here we come! It is absolutely NOT ideal because it is hot and more crowded. That said, we made it work last time and had a great trip.

 

[McKelly]

We go spring break or over Christmas. Yes it's more expensive and more crowded, it is what it is. It's not forever..... I still end up pulling them for a couple days during that time because we like to go for 10 days.

We might try June again in the next couple years. We did summer a couple of times when the kids were younger, but it was just too hot. And the kids couldn't stay up late enough to do the parks late at night. Now, they are older, so it might work better.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We like to leave the very minute school lets out for the summer. For us, that is the Friday before Memorial Day.

 

[GoofyFairie]

We go in summer, as soon as school is done. The work load is too heavy for my kids to miss more than a day at a time and my kids are good students. I even had the principal's blessing to miss more than the 5 days allowed, but the work for the advanced classes is demanding and as much as we love Disney, it isn't worth stressing the kids. So, we go in June and deal with the heat and people and make sure we drink lots of water and use the pool. And we don't worry about making up work! What ever you decide, I hope you have a great trip.

 

[wallawallakids]

We go over school breaks. We know we pay more for it but pulling them out is too hard now. It isn't just the school work, which is huge, but it is also missed sport games, meets, musical rehearsals, ballet rehearsals and it all adds up.

DS made a competitive soccer league that plays year round and that has really thrown a monkey wrench in the plans. To keep on the team, he can only miss so many games/practices. Because it is year round, they play even during school break and lots of holidays are now tournament times (Columbus weekend, Memorial Day, Father's Day weekend). Our travel times are now limited exclusively to the week of April break, over Christmas break or over summer (After soccer practice and before season starts…so really "summer break" is just JULY! ).

This year we did Feb break (DS did miss a game and his coach did make a comment but he hasn't missed a single one yet before or after this year).

Next year we are going away over April break.

 

[wallawallakids]

We like to leave the very minute school lets out for the summer. For us, that is the Friday before Memorial Day.

Wow! You get out early! Do your kids start in August? This year we are going to school until June 20th.

 

[flutterby3744]

The last time we pulled the kids out was when my oldest was in middle school (she's now 20). Honestly, it was just too hard for her to catch up and her grades really suffered. Now that I have another in HS, and one about to be middle school, it's strictly summer for us for a while
Spring break is out due to activities and varying schedules (plus DH can RARELY get away for spring break). I've contemplated the week after New Years, but I don't know if I want to brave those crowds!

 

[laughinplace199]

I have three kids in three different schools:
My 9th grade DD has a 2 week break in March.
My 7th grade DS has one week in February and one week in April.
My 1st grade DS has the same as my 7th grader.

Two years ago, we went over Thanksgiving and the kids missed a day or two of school.

Last year, we went over DD's spring break and the boys missed a week of school.

Now that the older kids are in high school and jr high, we will no longer pull them out of school. Our vacations will always be over the summer from now on.