PDD - Post Disney Depression

[eporter66]

We have been back for two weeks and are feeling the effects of PDD (Post Disney Depression). I am sure many of you have experienced the same!!

We went from sunny blue skies and mid 80s, to grey cloudy and 50 degrees. We just have such a great time as a family at WDW, quality fun time!

What made our vacation bittersweet is that next year our daughter will be going to middle school. Through her elementary years we have always taken her out of school for a week to go on vacation. I know the teachers here will cringe, but you know what - spare me. Our daughter is an excellent student, and I would not do anything to jeopardize her studies. Her teachers have always been very cooperative, and she always makes sure her homework assignments are complete, and continues to read while we are on vacation.

That all said, Middle School is a different animal. We think we will be skipping a year possibly, or may need to book a late (and short) vacation around a Superintendent or Teacher Education day when the kids are off school. I dont plan to go to WDW during the typical school holidays, and have no desire to spend a week in Florida during the summer.

Any tips? How do those of you with kids / teenagers plan your WDW vacations?

 

[CarolMN]

You've pretty much ruled out all of the options except homeschooling.

We utilized the school's winter break, usually the week that contained President's Day. It cost more, but we also did not believe taking out daughter out of school was in her best interests, so just went with it. She also was an excellent student. As she got older and more involved in activities, we even had to forego a trip or two. Now she's grown and out on her own, so we go for F&G, F&W and early December to maximize our APs.

 

[DizBub]

My only suggestion would be to look at the school calendar and plan your trip around some kind of a school break like a teacher's institute or conference days. This way they would miss minimal days of actual instruction.

We just pulled our kids too but that was years ago and schools really frown on it these days, up to the point of unexcused absences. A couple of years ago my daughter took the kids for 11 nights and they only missed 4 days of school.

 

[Msmithmd]

We are in the same boat as you. When our oldest begins middle school next year, trips that involve missing school days will likely stop.

Having just been down in June as well as last week, I would advise you to consider the first part of June right after school lets out. It is hot, but really no worse than October. I agree that July and August are only for the brave.

Another consideration would be California- the June weather in Anaheim is usually much milder than in Orlando.

Summer really is doable in Orlando with the proper plan. That would be doing rope drop each day, leaving the park no later than noon, having lunch, swimming, and an afternoon nap, then returning around 5p to the park. You miss both the peak crowds and peak heat this way. And also tend to have a more relaxing vacation...

 

[El&Asmom]

We are in the exact same boat. Just got back on Thursday after a couple days at Disney and then a 4 night cruise on the Dream. Our dd just started middle school this year. It was over Columbus day week, and they had Tuesday off. She only ended up missing 2 days of school. Only one teacher gave her/us a bit of a hard time. She too is a good student.
We are adopting our son from China this winter and are considering taking a year off next year after the 2 week trip to China we are taking. After our trip last week, I keep trying to plan a way to squeeze another trip in before he turns three next December. Gotta get them there before you have to pay for them

 

[LSchrow]

when we got to the same stage as you have, we planned vacations for the last week of august - days before school started in the north..
crowds were lower than summer (many southern schools are back in session, northerners are busy buying school supplies, etc), and weather fell in between the brutal hot of summer, and the more humid september. free dining did increase crowds somewhat, but we found that week the best possible time for us....
until kids graduated of course. now we pretty much go when we want

 

[luckyman_apd]

As a Middle School teacher......take your kid on vacation....you only live once, and they are only kids once. If you're an involved parent, you will see to it that your kid makes up the work and doesn't fall behind. Seriously, life is short in the grand scheme of things...a week of school won't kill them. It won't matter 6 years from now that they got C instead of a B one marking period in a middle school class because they went on vacation....but they will remember all the family time spent together.

And don't ask for the work ahead of time. Let your kid enjoy vacation....and you enjoy it too. They will have time to make it up when they get back. And if any teacher gets annoyed about it....it's not your problem...it's theirs.

My problem as a teacher is I can't go during the school year. I took a personal day on a Monday last month to take the family down for a 3 day weekend and do the Halloween party. Well, I can tell you we rode almost as many rides in the short weekend in September as we did on our 10 day trip in July because of the crowd difference. It's an incredible difference when the crowds are low, and you won't get that during school breaks.....because that's when all the school kids and teachers go

 

[Rmgdisney]

We also have taken our daughter on vacation during the school year. We try to plan when they have a short week due to a holiday or in service day. This year we went Columbus Day week. My daughter is also in middle school and had to make up the work when she went back to school. As long as she's a good student she should be able to catch up on the missed work. Now high school will be a different story, we'll go during school break due to more assignments/homework. I am trying to be brave since next year will be the 1st year going in the summer....

I agree with the previous poster... you only live once, enjoy your family time.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

As a Middle School teacher......take your kid on vacation....you only live once, and they are only kids once. If you're an involved parent, you will see to it that your kid makes up the work and doesn't fall behind. Seriously, life is short in the grand scheme of things...a week of school won't kill them. It won't matter 6 years from now that they got C instead of a B one marking period in a middle school class because they went on vacation....but they will remember all the family time spent together.

And don't ask for the work ahead of time. Let your kid enjoy vacation....and you enjoy it too. They will have time to make it up when they get back. And if any teacher gets annoyed about it....it's not your problem...it's theirs.

My problem as a teacher is I can't go during the school year. I took a personal day on a Monday last month to take the family down for a 3 day weekend and do the Halloween party. Well, I can tell you we rode almost as many rides in the short weekend in September as we did on our 10 day trip in July because of the crowd difference. It's an incredible difference when the crowds are low, and you won't get that during school breaks.....because that's when all the school kids and teachers go

{Like} A lot.

 

[Kidanifan08]

We have gone the third week of each of the last two July's. Is it hot? -- yes! But, it has not been completely offensive. We make an effort to hit the parks early and hit the pool mid-day. If we have energy in the evening, we visit a park for a ride or two. The water parks are great in the summer -- you never feel cold!

We have an 8 yo son and have a visit planned in December. We have some guilt about pulling him from school, but we both work full-time, can't take time off over the holiday break, and love our family time at WDW. I appreciate the honesty of luckyman_apd; that sentiment reflects the same comment I get from my clients who are elementary and middle school teachers.

We anticipate that this may be our last "off season" family trip, as we have concerns about pulling our son for a family vacation during the school year. But who knows. Life is short; as we hear stories about people we know who are faced with a life challenge, we are less concerned about how we are viewed by the local public education system and more motivated to create life experiences for our family.

With that said -- summer is not that bad. I suspect that over the next decade WDW will see us visit in June or July most years.

 

[eporter66]

As a Middle School teacher......take your kid on vacation....you only live once, and they are only kids once. If you're an involved parent, you will see to it that your kid makes up the work and doesn't fall behind. Seriously, life is short in the grand scheme of things...a week of school won't kill them.
And don't ask for the work ahead of time. Let your kid enjoy vacation....and you enjoy it too. They will have time to make it up when they get back. And if any teacher gets annoyed about it....it's not your problem...it's theirs.

Thanks - Love hearing that from a teacher! We are very involved with our daughter in all aspects, not just school. I agree that family time is important, but as other posters have mentioned, most teachers and school districts do not feel that way. Her elementary school teachers have been great, we have never had an issue. She is very conscientious about her schoolwork.

We shall see what happens, I do like trying to find something in the school calendar where we could get a 6 day vacation and only miss one day of school. I will be working hard to make that happen.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

 

[disfanforlife]

I know it depends on where you live. We are fortunate that we took our daughters out of school for 3-5 days a year until they graduated. Now the hey are in college and can't take a week off. We liked going in November around Veterans Day because they only missed three days that week. This year we are going the week before Christmas - our DD's will be on break from college and our son will miss 5 days of school. He is in 9 th grade and rarely misses any school other than our annual trip to Disney. The teacher's are very nice about it. Fortunately he will have Christmas vacation when we get back to catch up on any work if they give it to him ahead of time. If not, he will make it up after the break.

 

[ain0004]

We too have hit the middle school and taking the kiddos out was hard. We have elected to wait And take the kids out end of May/June. Crowds are busy but manageable. We are looking at the week before thanksgiving. We'd before leaving the day of. Missing on 3 days vs 5.