Is a Disney trip educational?

[minnieandmickey]

Can it be educational? Yes...but only if the parent makes it educational. Bringing your child to EPCOT or AK and walking around riding the rides and looking at the animals does not make it educational unless you talk to your child about what they are seeing in an educational way. Have them write a story on what they learned, figure out some sort of math you can do with rides they are riding, keep a journal about what they learned that day. This makes it educational and fun.
But realize no matter how educational you make it when it comes to state laws and attendance, don't expect it to be excused in some states (such as mine, CA) If your student has good attendance it shouldn't really effect them, but check your state laws first (and don't blame the office staff for those laws, we have no power over them and we do understand the importance of having family time.)

 

[Mrsjvb]

On a certain level it can be. But the reality is those that claim it's educational are just doing it as an excuse to rationalize pulling their kids out of school. Nobody actually goes to Disney for the education.

this.

yes the potential is there. but the reality is your average vacationer will NOT do the necessary prep work ahead of time nor will they take the approach while in the parks to seek out a true educational opportunity.

sure you might learn something new in line or when speaking to a CM. I do it all the time. Hell, once I got an in depth look at the psychology behind animal behavior training while taking a break at Rafiki's planet watch. but in no way whatsoever should it be mistaken for formal instruction nor should it be rationalized to pretend otherwise.

 

[alex9179]

Depends on the class time. I think too many teachers are ineffective, and a WDW vacation with me (and my wife (I'm a former teacher, she's a current principal)) would be more educational.

Not necessarily the teachers, but what and how they have to teach. I understand why standardized tests are viewed as an important tool, but it's out of hand. Schools keep losing money and classrooms are stuffed with students. The amount of material they are all expected to get through in a day is daunting!

 

[bytheblood]

For us, it is not. We don't go to WDW to learn. I wont say we don't ever learn things, because we do, but we choose not to look at it from that aspect. Disney for us is about being a kid, having fun as a family and getting away from "real life" for a week and leaving things like bills, housework, our jobs and tension behind.

This pretty much sums it up though:

Originally Posted by Cannot_Wait_4Disney View Post
On a certain level it can be. But the reality is those that claim it's educational are just doing it as an excuse to rationalize pulling their kids out of school. Nobody actually goes to Disney for the education.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

It really depends on the teacher, the child and the parents. I don't think that the teachers are ineffective as one of the PP stated. However, I personally find that the school systems are designed to teach all children the same way. And alot of the teachers strictly adhere to those rules and are fine with them. HOWEVER, when you've got a child with severe learning difficulties, such as DS8, the teachers need to adapt the learning to meet the childs needs. I've seen both ends of the learning spectrum with the teachers he's had, and have been fortunate for the most part in the school willing to work with his needs so that he can succeed in school. Ultimately I view family time is far more important than school time. Do the kids learn on vacation...yes, as I do try to get them to learn new things in a fun way all the time. But it really doesn't make up for class time, and now we only go on vacation during the school breaks. It's too hard for my DS8 to make up for the time lost in the classroom, with his learning difficulties, and so it's in his best interest if we work our vacations around the schools breaks.

 

[Colleen27]

A trip - any trip, really, but particularly Disney World - is what you make it. On our last trip my daughter got to hear a favorite author speak, attend a class in the Seas pavilion, and practice her Japanese and Spanish with native speakers in the World Showcase. Most of our trips aren't quite that heavy on the educational stuff - that trip was specifically planned around a YES class & event - but we tend to find ways to blend fun and education on all of our vacations and Disney certainly offers plenty of opportunity to do so.

I don't look for educational opportunities to justify pulling the kids out of school. We're the parents and our school policy allows for it, so there's no justification needed. But my kids have inherited the geek leanings from DH & I and they like the educational elements of travel just as much as the pure fun elements. All of their favorite destinations have some educational element - aquariums, museums, zoos, historical sites - and Disney combines a little of all of that plus cool rides and shows.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

It really depends on the teacher, the child and the parents. I don't think that the teachers are ineffective as one of the PP stated. However, I personally find that the school systems are designed to teach all children the same way. And alot of the teachers strictly adhere to those rules and are fine with them. HOWEVER, when you've got a child with severe learning difficulties, such as DS8, the teachers need to adapt the learning to meet the childs needs. I've seen both ends of the learning spectrum with the teachers he's had, and have been fortunate for the most part in the school willing to work with his needs so that he can succeed in school.

A great # of my family is in education & they'll all tell you that as with any job there are good teachers & bad ones. We ran into the opposite problem as you - a teacher who was loved by the parents of the struggling kids, but who was useless for the average & advanced kids. She honestly didn't do the struggling kids any favors, either. She just covered way less material than the other teachers, so the parents were thrilled (temporarily) their kids were able to keep up. But, that just put them that much further behind the next year, which many of them ended up repeating

 

[ols386]

I've never actually thought of WDW being classified as educational.

I think of it being "entertainment", more than anything else.

Not saying that one cannot learn certain things by going to WDW, but that overall it's entertainment.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

I suppose, as other have said, that it can be educational to some degree. It is what you make of it. I suppose that if you want to justify/rationalize taking your kids out of school by making it educational, then there are plenty of ways to do so (not judging!)

We take our trips to Disney as a family vacation - for fun. If my kids learn a little something along the way (like just about in any situation), then all the better. But we as a family don't have any intent of using Disney for educational purposes when we go. We do other educational things with our kids outside of school - wildlife sanctuaries, hiking, fishing, biking, museums, etc. When we go to Disney, we just want to have fun!

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

Epcot...
-Ellens Universe Of Energy..I know it's a bit of a snoozer but the kids talked about it a lot afterwards


-Hall of Presidents, my 11, 9 and 8 year olds liked it


.

My 10 year old LOVES these attractions as well! Actually, when we announced we are going next April, one of the first things he said was "We HAVE to hit the Ellen ride!" That always stands out in his head for some reason. Of course then he rambled about all the roller coasters...

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

I don't look for educational opportunities to justify pulling the kids out of school. We're the parents and our school policy allows for it, so there's no justification needed. But my kids have inherited the geek leanings from DH & I and they like the educational elements of travel just as much as the pure fun elements. All of their favorite destinations have some educational element - aquariums, museums, zoos, historical sites - and Disney combines a little of all of that plus cool rides and shows.

your family sounds like our family!!

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I was seriously considering having DS8 repeat grade 1, but was advised against it by the hospital he was tested at for his learning difficulties. Between them and the school advising against it as well, it was a joint decision to let him advance to grade 2. It has worked well for him, and is keeping up with the grade 2 math, but he continues to struggle with reading and writing. His level for these is barely at a grade 1 level, but the school and I continue to work towards getting it caught up eventually. His previous teachers were a royal pain, in that rather than dealing with the issues he had they were more apt to bug me about getting him on the waiting list to be tested for learning disabilities than helping him. Because of this he crashed and burned in grade 1 because of them. Until he was tested by the only hospital in our area that does the testing, I was having an uphill battle with them. I got the hospital on his side and now he get's alot of extra help in school, but I have realistic expectations for him. It's for this reason that he get's more homework than his brother, much to his dismay. Any more than a couple of days off school, and he falls really behind. So we have to keep this in mind when planning major vacations. Otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to pull the kids out of school for vacations, and have done it in the past with the school giving them homework to do while we were away.

 

[MoonFaerie]

My niece actually took an educational trip through school to WDW; she is in the sciences and while yes the kids had free time to explore the parks each day the goal of the trip was science/engineering/physics based on how rides work, etc etc.

Apparently the educational aspect of it was quite intensive ((and far beyond my non-scientific mind lol))

We did that in high school too, only at Dollywood instead of Disney.

 

[Mama Who]

We're homeschoolers. We make everything educational.

Seriously, there are lots of opportunities at Disney for learning. Even better in our experience are the things that spring up later as a result of something said or done or seen at Disney. DS has been known to spend hours researching random questions that spring up that way. On our last trip to DL those included the history of jazz, female pirates and the physics behind whether a Splash Mountain log could flip going down the incline and why we don't need seatbelts on that ride.

(And obviously, we have no need to justify to anyone if we go to Disney. There's nobody to placate.)

 

[Phatoomch]

Our County school board actually has Disney down as a place of education - if I want to take my child out of school during term I can get 'clearance' if its for a trip to Disney

 

[fadingjamie]

During student teaching, I had a student who's mother wrote me a note about how the family was taking an educational trip to Disney World. At first I was but when I really thought about it, her points about learning about different animals at AK and science in Epcot actually made sense. I should have made part of her homework: bring me back a bucket of popcorn!

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Life experience is educational in my opinion. There are several educational attractions at WDW, but do I think my children actually learn from them at their age? Probably not. But my daughter, who is 6, typed every single animal and description of animal from Animal Kingdom Kidani Savannah. That was educational for her. But we go because Disney is fun, NOT to learn Learning is a nice by-product of our trip though sometimes!

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

my DH was a teacher and I am currently worrking towards my degree
Altho I can't speak for others, but WdW has to be one of the best places to teach kids .. I wish I could homeschool there!
( please keep on mind my child was only 5 )

We always make sure everyday has a lesson plan to it. This goes hand and hand with trip planning.
I know it may sound like a drag to some, but DH and I make it fun..

epcot: We spend 2 days in epcot one day is for science lessons in land and seas and the other is in the showcase for history.. And even a little art..

After each ride or show we say one thing we learned. ( they can not be the same, so let the kids go 1st)

AK :
We walk the trails and read the signs, also talk about what kind of places animals live in..

HS is all about MATH
I know HS does not scream MATH
But we count hidden mickeys, add, subtract ( remember she is only 5 )
DH ( math teacher) wanted me to say, for old kids think " geometry "
mathematics concerned with questions of shape, size, relative position of figures, and the properties of space.
The buildings and art workshops are great for this..

MK :
This is the hardest, just bc there is some much to do....
Here we try to focus on arts... Music, art, and family time..

I think it's just important to remember not to jam the educational part down your kids throats... Keep it in your mind and should you think something is interesting , share it with your kids...
After all kids learn BEST from their parents.. And remember have fun!!!
After all even school has Recess

Sorry that got really long!!

 

[palavra]

I'm not using it as an excuse to pull kids out of school - I'm using a school holiday for our trip. However, I fully see it as educational. But I see educational opportunities EVERYWHERE. That is just how my family works. Cooking dinner is educational - I teach my toddler measurements and about heat/cold. We talk about why sugar dissolves faster in hot water than cold water when I make iced tea. While cooking we even talk about gardening and natural sciences - my three year old knows about decomposition and minerals in soil because we discuss them while cooking (and why we save the onion peels/potato & carrot peels for the compost bin instead of putting them in the trash). My kids ask a LOT of questions, and answer them, in depth.

My husband is a professor and I truly believe that kids learn better by doing/seeing/touching/feeling than sitting in a hard chair. Yes, my kids go to school, and have a lot of paperwork - both are in honors and one is at an advanced magnet school (which uses a LOT of field trips/external experiences/hands on opportunities for learning).

At WDW we don't skip Hall of Presidents (both of my boys have actually asked if we can go again because there is a new president to see that we didn't see in 2006 - I didn't mention it, they did), Carousel of Progress, Entergy, The Land (one of my favorite rides), World Showcase, etc. A lot of the attractions that I see some people complain are boring. After we experience an attraction, we talk about it, in depth. They ask questions. A lot of questions. Hell, even Test Track involves physics (mom, why is the track at an angle?) I'm not the kind of person that ever blows off a question, and I love that my kids constantly ask questions about the world around them. WDW is an excellent opportunity for them to see and experience things that we don't run into every day at home - things that peak their interest and have them asking questions.

Maybe in order for WDW to be educational, you have to have kids who are genuinely interested and pay attention/ask questions. But it absolutely can be educational and fun at the same time. As a matter of fact, the more fun learning is, the better the retention. My kids remember things they could touch/feel/experience while learning much better than something they read in a book.

I'm the original OP, and I posted this question because I feel as you do. But I've seen a number of threads over the years on here claiming that WDW is not educational, it's just a fun place to be. It seemed as though some people were saying that "fun" and "educational" are worlds apart. I know my then 7 year old daughter learned so much when we were last at WDW.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I was seriously considering having DS8 repeat grade 1, but was advised against it by the hospital he was tested at for his learning difficulties. Between them and the school advising against it as well, it was a joint decision to let him advance to grade 2. It has worked well for him, and is keeping up with the grade 2 math, but he continues to struggle with reading and writing. His level for these is barely at a grade 1 level, but the school and I continue to work towards getting it caught up eventually. His previous teachers were a royal pain, in that rather than dealing with the issues he had they were more apt to bug me about getting him on the waiting list to be tested for learning disabilities than helping him. Because of this he crashed and burned in grade 1 because of them. Until he was tested by the only hospital in our area that does the testing, I was having an uphill battle with them. I got the hospital on his side and now he get's alot of extra help in school, but I have realistic expectations for him. It's for this reason that he get's more homework than his brother, much to his dismay. Any more than a couple of days off school, and he falls really behind. So we have to keep this in mind when planning major vacations. Otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to pull the kids out of school for vacations, and have done it in the past with the school giving them homework to do while we were away.

Poor guy Sounds like my nephew - he works his tail off, but he too struggles with reading while doing well in math (he's dyslexic). But, I believe his reading struggles are holding him back in all other areas. My daughters are both excellent readers & I believe it makes the rest of school SOOOO much easier.