Shocked

[katebeth]

I am in Tennessee and in our county we have fall break this week and next. I know SO MANY families that are at Disney right now just from where I live and I know there are several other counties and private schools that have this week off also...When you start school August first, everyone (teachers, students etc...) are ready for a break!!!

When school starts back up in 2 weeks, everyone is re-energized and ready to go!!

 

[beansmom]

Grammar and spelling were not my strengths, please forgive me. Give me a math problem instead.

If YOU can do math, between us we can RULE THE WORLD!

<---can't balance a check book but can write an essay explaning WHY she can't.

 

[TinkBride]

A travel agent friend of mine said the resorts are also pretty booked the week after Thanksgiving which is traditionally a slow week. I guess the secret is out.

NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! Say it isn't so!?

That is a total bummer......

Lalalalalalala - not listening......

 

[princessmom29]

I didn't read all the replies because they will be the same bit over and over. There are a few things at work here:

1. Fall breaks of various kinds
2. homeschool
3. Parents who believe it is their God given right to pull thier children out of school at any time for any reason, and want to travel in low cost, low crowd periods. I have seen "I don't care what the policy is or what the school says it is my child and I will do what I want" here more times than I can count. Personally, I don't care for that attitude, but to each his own.

 

[princessmom29]

Not so sound snarky but...your argument for missing a bit of school now and then would hold more water if your post was grammatically correct.

I don't get the need to do this. Why, oh ,why do people feel the need to correct other's grammar and spelling? I can only see one reason to do so.....

 

[LAH LAH]

My son is in 8th grade, my daughter is in 6th. I am pulling them both for 5 days in December.

I value school.

I value family.

I value value.


I don't value snide comments about those parents who aren't up to your standards.

I happen to like my standards.


*our school does not have an issue with pulling your kids if they are regular attenders and keeping up with school work. I am sure I would change our vacation days if they did*

 

[maroo]

School debate aside...It was REALLY crowded this week...

Every park is packed. We were here last year same time....about a third of the crowd then. It is shocking. Yesterday at 10:45 all fast passes for Toy Story were gone. Wait time was 130 min.

yes! This is so true! It was packed.

I have been to DHS a bunch of times and this was the most crowded I have ever seen it. I did not go to avoid the crowds - it just happened to work out that I ended up there for the morning - but it was CROWDED!

At 11:00 the wait for Toy Story was 115 minutes, RnR was 65 minutes and ToT was 55 minutes...it wasn't just Toy Story - these were serious crowds.

These crowds beat every crowd I saw for Star Wars Weekend - it was crowded.

And the Saturday crowds at the MK were crazy too.



I think it was due to a bunch of factors...

- LOTS of Fall Break kids
- END of Free Dining Promo
- Beginning of Food and Wine
- Food and Wine Half Marathon Weekend events (which resulted in many online communities getting together and doing meets, etc)
- Great weather! It was quite nice outside - so I bet we had some locals


The MK was so busy because Saturday was the only night during the whole weekend (thurs, fri, sat and sun) that you could see Wishes and MSEP - the rest of the nights were party nights.

Epcot was busy on Fri due to Food and Wine starting...
So all the people that did Epcot on Friday, MK on Saturday ... well, lots of them were at DHS on Sunday. A BUNCH of them.

It was very quiet at Epcot on Sunday when we went.

Yep...I have a friend there and she was at DHS yesterday..against her better judgement. I told her she was nuts but oh no, the girl she is with just had to see Fantasmic!!! So, they suffered. My friend, your trusty board moderator, told me it was a total nightmare.

I will be watching the next few weeks as far as crowds down there. I'm in the process of planning a trip for my dh and myself and another couple next Oct....waiting to see if Columbus Day affects the crowd level that particular week or if we're just better going the next week...16th or so.

Yeah...there were lots of us crazy people there.

I don't think using TSM to judge crowds works very well.

I just checked lines to see how much different DSH is today from yesterday.

DHS is not really that crowded (like a 1 or 2) but Fastpasses for TSM are all gone (at 2 PM, actually they were all gone at 11:30!) and the standby wait is over 60 minutes.

This is on a day when the standby for RNR is 30 minutes, single rider is 8 minutes and fastpasses are available with a return time in about 30 minutes, and the wait for TOT is 8 minutes.

I guess what I am saying is that TSM is always a madhouse, regardless of whether DHS has small or large crowds.

True - but TSM was 115, RnR was 65 and ToT was 55... These were crowds.

 

[Snape]

I had to look if I was still on the right thread. Someone should just cut to the chase and start the "if you pull your kid out of school for Disney, you are the devil incarnate argument."

 

[Joy1619]

I didn't read all the replies because they will be the same bit over and over. There are a few things at work here:

1. Fall breaks of various kinds
2. homeschool
3. Parents who believe it is their God given right to pull thier children out of school at any time for any reason, and want to travel in low cost, low crowd periods. I have seen "I don't care what the policy is or what the school says it is my child and I will do what I want" here more times than I can count. Personally, I don't care for that attitude, but to each his own.

As a matter of fact, it IS our right to see to our children's education (I'm leaving God out of it). As we are the ones who have been with them every step of the way through their entire school career, through homework and art projects and science projects and reading practice and so on and so on.

I pull my kids out of school for vacation trips without thinking twice about it. My DD is in grade 12 and has always been on the honour roll, in the honours math program, and her only non-A mark ever was in phys ed. My DS is in grade 6 and is near the top of his class and finds school "easy", so it is nobody else's business whatsoever if I believe it is my right to pull my children out of school. My parents are both teachers, as are my DH's, and they don't have a problem with people taking their kids out for family vacations - they just give them the assignments etc they missed when they get back, and expect them to do it and hand it in after they get back.

It doesn't sound like you have a very 'to each his own' attitude when you post comments like above - but it really SHOULD be to each their own, as every child, family, etc are different. And yup, I go during the off-season. It's more fun for the kids and for us, more relaxing, and it's nobody else's business but mine

 

[mickey&minniealways]

Not so sound snarky but...your argument for missing a bit of school now and then would hold more water if your post was grammatically correct.

When I learned to read back in the 60's I was among a select group that were taught to read using a phonetic alphabet. It was called ITA. It was deamed a failure because we all have horrid grammer and spelling when we write. When speaking my grammer is wonderful. Reading is beyond compare. I am an extremely fast reading and have a very high retention rate. However, I have to proofread everything.

Now back to the original subject. If the op's children are one break then she no one to complain to but herself. Without really asking she has no idea why people are there. So she should not judge. Just like there are those with hidden disabilities and people judge them all the time without knowing the story. We will be going May 22 to May 29. DS21 graduates from college on the 21. It may be the last time we can all go together. His last week of classes will be the last week in April. That is spring break for DD15. So instead we are taking her out of school in May. I know I will get flack from many for takeing her out durring her freshman year of high school. She has a fairley detailed IEP. There are alternative things she can do for school that her teachers can get creative with. If all her classes were with the general ed population we would probably not do this. I do not like to travel to Disney in the summer, its to hot for me. So this is when I choose to take mine.

 

[MarkyMouse]

As to the original poster's question - my kids (and myself as I teach) are on fall break. Most Kentucky public schools have a week long fall break this week. We are at WDW (and we were also here same week last two years). We spent yesterday at Typhoon Lagoon - NO CROWDS at all! DTD was crowded last night - but it always is - we didn't think any more crowded than last year. EPCOT this am was no different than usual either - no wait for test track - rode twice and got fast passes that we later gave away b/c left for BLT tour. 5-min wait for Land at 11:00 am. No extra crowding in Sunshine Seasons at noon. We are going to MK for EMH tonight - we'll see how that goes and report back if it is worse than the last two years -- but for now we have not noticed any extra crowding. And it is THE BEST weather we have ever had for our annual WDW pilgrimage (20 years and counting). Low 60s night low 80s days and no humidity.

 

[ols386]

First week of Oct and the park is Packed. I
can't believe the number of kids here. What happened to school?

I honestly didn't interpret the op as judging anyone who takes their kids out of school to go to Disney World.

I just thought the op was expecting crowds would be somewhat low because many schools are back in session after a summer break.

 

[JimmyV]

When you start school August first, everyone (teachers, students etc...) are ready for a break!!!

Perhaps the school system could build in a few extra days for teaching grammar.

Just playin' with ya.

I have been to WDW every month on the calendar except December and January, and I have always been amazed at the crowds, even in what were supposed to be "off times". It's always something. Could be regional school breaks that are not familiar to many other people. Or it could be an influx of South American tourists. Sometimes it is European visitors. Often it is school groups there for competitions and performances. But for whatever reason, one should always assume that the Parks will be crowded.

 

[burnurcomputer]

I can understand that. however having a child in middle school there is no way we would do it. The amount of make up work is too extensive. We love staycations and weekend trips.

My oldest is in middle school and you can see we are leaving very soon. My school is sending all his homework and his work is expected back that first day of return. The same is expected of my 5th grader. You can miss school and go to Disney at the same time. We do homework in the evening when we get back, while dinner is being prepared. Our school also has a portal so I can see any additional assignmets that they might have missed, as well as test scores that have come out during our trip. I live in Pa so a staycation or an extended weekend doesn't make sense for us either. Taking your child to Disney, as part of a family trip or as an educational experience, has merit that extends beyond traditional education.

I find it insulting when I hear that education is very important when the complaining about the amount of kids in the park during off peak season. Education is important to every parent that I personally know. To log on and hear that people think that if you take your child to Disney that you are some how being remiss as a parent is an insult on many levels. Parents work different shifts, have down time during the year based on their occupation, or simply can't afford the peak summer season. We are all going to Disney to experience the magic, despite the time of year that works with our family calander.

 

[Chelley00]

Someone should just cut to the chase and start the "if you pull your kid out of school for Disney, you are the devil incarnate argument."

Devil incarnate checking, as I have pulled kids, and will be pulling the 2 youngest kids out of school next week.



That being said. Quite a few Indiana schools had Fall Break last week, more have Fall Break this week and even more the week after.

 

[ccgirl]

My oldest is in middle school and you can see we are leaving very soon. My school is sending all his homework and his work is expected back that first day of return. The same is expected of my 5th grader. You can miss school and go to Disney at the same time. We do homework in the evening when we get back, while dinner is being prepared. Our school also has a portal so I can see any additional assignmets that they might have missed, as well as test scores that have come out during our trip. I live in Pa so a staycation or an extended weekend doesn't make sense for us either. Taking your child to Disney, as part of a family trip or as an educational experience, has merit that extends beyond traditional education.

I find it insulting when I hear that education is very important when the complaining about the amount of kids in the park during off peak season. Education is important to every parent that I personally know. To log on and hear that people think that if you take your child to Disney that you are some how being remiss as a parent is an insult on many levels. Parents work different shifts, have down time during the year based on their occupation, or simply can't afford the peak summer season. We are all going to Disney to experience the magic, despite the time of year that works with our family calander.

Just wanted to say that I thought this was a great post. Very well put.

 

[burnurcomputer]

Jumping of soap box to say................Despite the crowds I hope that you had a great time and thanks for the heads up about the crowds

 

[Lees3rwe]

I am pulling my 5th grader out next week for 2 days (they already have 2 days and the weekend off).

I have never pulled him out for a trip before, but this is the first time that we have had a chance to go (due to family illness for the past 7 years).

Considering the fact that he missed 11 days for H1N1 last year in October/November and still remained on the A honor roll, I think he can handle missing 2 days for a much deserved vacation!

I think people should worry about their own situations and not other families!

 

[bumbershoot]

No actually my children are in year round school and are on their 3 week break.

OP, you are there because your kids are on break, right? Wouldn't it be fair to assume many other kids are on break? Sure, people pull their kids out of school for trips, but probably not that many, KWIM?

Yeah, I think that if a family is there b/c it's the school break, and they see other kids, they should simply assume that *most* of those kids are *also* on school break! But it's very very common, I've noticed since I was in college, for people to get really focused on what their area does, and forget that there are umpteen numbers of other areas. And many of them might well be doing something similar!

Big school district in CA is on break right now, and I know this b/c of a thread on the DLR boards AND because one of my old friends, a teacher in that district, is at DLR. But I'm sure plenty of them go to WDW, too! At Disneyland, crowds are horrendous for Columbus Day weekend, because many of the CA districts have a 3 day weekend for it. Then it turns out AZ has break this week as well, and suddenly a "slow" time for the park is packed with kids that are righteously off of school.

So just b/c one person said they took their kids out for 6 days, doesn't mean ALL of them are playing hooky. It could absolutely positively VERY well simply mean that the school your kids go to isn't the ONLY school in the country that has this week off. Obviously, that's very much NOT so!

 

[hedgehog2owl]

fall break here