Spring break or Summer?

[PoohBearFamily]

We're planning our first trip to Orlando in 2022 and have four kids, 6 years & under. Initially I was thinking we'd go in Feb or May to avoid Spring breakers and Summer time crowds... But I just realized my 6 yr old will be in 1st grade and probably should not pull him out for a week (unless distance learning is option again next year). The other 3 not in grade school yet.

If you had to choose, spring break (ours in March) or summer (we'd probably go early June), which would you pick? Thanks!

 

[Boopuff]

I'd go with early June. Yes it's hot, but not as awful as August. Plus crowds aren't overly horrible. But spring break is a whole other beast!. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

It depends... do you want lower crowds or better weather? For me I can deal with
crowds easier than heat, so I’d pick March.

I’ll also add what might be an unpopular opinion - I’d have no problem pulling a 1st grader out of school for a week. In fact we did it many times when my kids were in elementary and it was never an issue. It gets much harder once they get to middle/high school.

 

[PoohBearFamily]

It depends... do you want lower crowds or better weather? For me I can deal with
crowds easier than heat, so I’d pick March.

I’ll also add what might be an unpopular opinion - I’d have no problem pulling a 1st grader out of school for a week. In fact we did it many times when my kids were in elementary and it was never an issue. It gets much harder once they get to middle/high school.

We typically get spring break a couple of weeks before Easter so I was hoping that might help with crowds in March, but not sure. We'd love to swim but wondering if mid March is too chilly. And I'll consider pulling my 1st grader out, as I'd rather go late April or early May, I just don't want to make any teachers angry!

 

[PoohBearFamily]

I'd go with early June. Yes it's hot, but not as awful as August. Plus crowds aren't overly horrible. But spring break is a whole other beast!. Good luck and enjoy!

Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

We typically get spring break a couple of weeks before Easter so I was hoping that might help with crowds in March, but not sure. We'd love to swim but wondering if mid March is too chilly. And I'll consider pulling my 1st grader out, as I'd rather go late April or early May, I just don't want to make any teachers angry!

My kids will swim if it’s above 70 lol. But mid March is typically plenty warm for swimming.
Regarding teachers, my kids always had amazing teachers who were fully supportive of family vacations. However I also had kids who didn’t struggle at all and had no issues catching up. So a lot depends on your kid(s).

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We're planning our first trip to Orlando in 2022 and have four kids, 6 years & under. Initially I was thinking we'd go in Feb or May to avoid Spring breakers and Summer time crowds... But I just realized my 6 yr old will be in 1st grade and probably should not pull him out for a week (unless distance learning is option again next year). The other 3 not in grade school yet.

If you had to choose, spring break (ours in March) or summer (we'd probably go early June), which would you pick? Thanks!

IN 2022 Easter falls on April 17th. While Spring Break dates varies, generally the closer to Easter it gets, the more crowded it is. Not knowing your travel dates, but just thinking the earlier in March the better. But regardless, for me, I'd go in March. I live in the Southeast and summers are brutal. Wearing a mask makes it worse...for me. As far as school goes....that's been discussed many, many times on these boards. Should I take my child out of school, etc.. I have never been one to take my daughter out of school, it was just a personal choice for me. However, she's in 9th grade now and I can look back and say now that if I were to take her out of school, its' "better/easier" to do it in the lower grades. I would just recommend you fully understand your childs school policy. A friend of mine took her kids of of school leading up to Thanksgiving and after it. It opened up a whole lot of trouble for her. We've already been informed in our school district that virtually learning is not an option for the 2021-2022 school year.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would go in March and pull my 1st grader out of school. We used to pull our kids out and go in March. We stopped once my son hit 5th grade. I miss those days. Then we started going in the summer. It’s doable but hot. Now we started doing jersey week. Once DD graduates I’m so looking forward to going whenever I want to!

If covid has taught me anything it’s to live. Tomorrow isn’t promised. Take the trip when you want. Our kids have survived without formal school all year. One week next year in 1st grade won’t hurt anyone.

 

[Dakota731]

We did May for years until my kids got to fifth grade then we decided they would miss too much school. They were all good students, and the teacher would give them assignments for on the plane and any down time they had. It wasn’t detrimental to their grades or education, but each child and situation is different. And it may depend upon school policy.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We're planning our first trip to Orlando in 2022 and have four kids, 6 years & under. Initially I was thinking we'd go in Feb or May to avoid Spring breakers and Summer time crowds... But I just realized my 6 yr old will be in 1st grade and probably should not pull him out for a week (unless distance learning is option again next year). The other 3 not in grade school yet.

If you had to choose, spring break (ours in March) or summer (we'd probably go early June), which would you pick? Thanks!

Does heat bother you? Depending on where you're from, some people just don't do FL heat and humidity. I've met people that can't take it and refuse to visit from May-October.

We like summer trips over spring break time. Even in normal times with being able to get FP+, I usually only go to the parks around spring break for short bits of time because I despise how crowded it is.

Not knowing what visiting WDW in 2022 will look like it's hard to tell because we're not likely doing a fair comparison, but if all else is equal, I'm always picking summer. Less people, easy ways to mitigate the heat and lower prices. Early June is good because not all schools are out of session yet.

 

[Spunky946]

I would not worry about your first grader missing school, and I’d go early March, before spring break and take advantage of the off season before your kids are too old to miss school.

 

[PoohBearFamily]

I would go in March and pull my 1st grader out of school. We used to pull our kids out and go in March. We stopped once my son hit 5th grade. I miss those days. Then we started going in the summer. It’s doable but hot. Now we started doing jersey week. Once DD graduates I’m so looking forward to going whenever I want to!

If covid has taught me anything it’s to live. Tomorrow isn’t promised. Take the trip when you want. Our kids have survived without formal school all year. One week next year in 1st grade won’t hurt anyone.

Thank you for this advice! That makes a lot of sense. So March, do you mean early before spring break? Is it warm enough to swim?

 

[PoohBearFamily]

We did May for years until my kids got to fifth grade then we decided they would miss too much school. They were all good students, and the teacher would give them assignments for on the plane and any down time they had. It wasn’t detrimental to their grades or education, but each child and situation is different. And it may depend upon school policy.

May sounds nice to me!

 

[PoohBearFamily]

Does heat bother you? Depending on where you're from, some people just don't do FL heat and humidity. I've met people that can't take it and refuse to visit from May-October.

We like summer trips over spring break time. Even in normal times with being able to get FP+, I usually only go to the parks around spring break for short bits of time because I despise how crowded it is.

Not knowing what visiting WDW in 2022 will look like it's hard to tell because we're not likely doing a fair comparison, but if all else is equal, I'm always picking summer. Less people, easy ways to mitigate the heat and lower prices. Early June is good because not all schools are out of session yet.

We're OK with heat but would love to not be scorched by the sun as well, so maybe early March or late April. Early June could work!

 

[PoohBearFamily]

I would not worry about your first grader missing school, and I’d go early March, before spring break and take advantage of the off season before your kids are too old to miss school.

Would you go longer than a week if a first grader was the only one in school? I worry about having to rush around with only a week. We'd love to do 2 weeks but don't want to do heat of summer.

 

[PoohBearFamily]

IN 2022 Easter falls on April 17th. While Spring Break dates varies, generally the closer to Easter it gets, the more crowded it is. Not knowing your travel dates, but just thinking the earlier in March the better. But regardless, for me, I'd go in March. I live in the Southeast and summers are brutal. Wearing a mask makes it worse...for me. As far as school goes....that's been discussed many, many times on these boards. Should I take my child out of school, etc.. I have never been one to take my daughter out of school, it was just a personal choice for me. However, she's in 9th grade now and I can look back and say now that if I were to take her out of school, its' "better/easier" to do it in the lower grades. I would just recommend you fully understand your childs school policy. A friend of mine took her kids of of school leading up to Thanksgiving and after it. It opened up a whole lot of trouble for her. We've already been informed in our school district that virtually learning is not an option for the 2021-2022 school year.

Oh wow I certainly don't want to get ourselves in trouble over a trip! Thanks for the heads up. I'll probably just have to stick with school holidays, unless we decide to homeschool.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Thank you for this advice! That makes a lot of sense. So March, do you mean early before spring break? Is it warm enough to swim?

We used to do early March because that is our kids bdays. It was warm enough to swim. For my kids if it’s 70 degrees they are ready to go swim. Lol. The pools are heated also.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Would you go longer than a week if a first grader was the only one in school? I worry about having to rush around with only a week. We'd love to do 2 weeks but don't want to do heat of summer.

We used to leave Friday after school and come back the following Sunday evening. So about 9 full days. It worked out well.

 

[Spunky946]

Would you go longer than a week if a first grader was the only one in school? I worry about having to rush around with only a week. We'd love to do 2 weeks but don't want to do heat of summer.

Our school district only allows 5 preapproved absence, but I’d still only probably do a week of school. If you leave friday night, you could come back on Sunday. Or if you have any days off, that are just random, you could use that to get an extra day.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Oh wow I certainly don't want to get ourselves in trouble over a trip! Thanks for the heads up. I'll probably just have to stick with school holidays, unless we decide to homeschool.

What her school policy stated (that she didn't know), was that you can't take your children out of school before or after a holiday. It was just a couple of days, like one or two, before and after. It was a long drive to where they were going. She ended up getting letters in the mail about being truant. She had to "appear" at the school. It was a mess. At the end of it all, it didn't get erased from the record.