January or May?

[goofypooh]

DH & I are planning a family trip to WDW in 2008. We have narrowed it down to either January of May as times we can go. We have 3DD ages 12,10 & 3. We will be pulling the older 2 out of school for a week. I need advice as to which is the best time to go. We know it will be warmer in May, but probably more crowded, too. We are thinking Jan 5-12 or May 17-24. Any advice?

 

[poohfriend77]

Maybe you could talk to the teachers first. Seems to me that Jan. work may be easier to make up than if you're gone so close to the end of the school year, especially if DD12 has some sort of "finals." Then again, maybe end of year stuff is mostly a review or something.

I asked a similar question (Feb. or April) when we were booking. The advice I got was that winter is much better crowd-wise, and cheaper. But if swimming/waterparks are important to your family, wait until the warmer months. We ended up booking for Feb. 2008.

 

[herodrx1]

We have gone the first week of Feb and the middle of May. The weather IMO is better in May.
You do need to make sure when school is doing the standarized tests. You don't want to miss those. Everything else should be able to be made up.

This is coming from a mom who doesn't mind taking kids out of school for vacations.

 

[goofypooh]

Thanks for your replies. I really want to go in January. Mostly because I think it won't be as crowded, but also because it will get here sooner. But, we are going with another family, plus possibly my in-laws & I think they want to go in May so that it will be warmer. Things get complicated when there are so many people involved. But, we are definitely planning around our kids school schedules. Now, we think we might need to go May 24-31 so it will be after their standardized testing. But it will also give my oldest time to get back in time for exam review since school doesn't get out until June 11.
I just can't wait to get it booked so I can start planning!!!