UK School Schedules?

[LisaS]

DH's brother lives in the UK. He is married with 3 young children, between 2 and 10 years old. They have never been to WDW, so we would like to invite them to share our DVC accommodations with us some time. I'm not familiar with UK school schedules, so I'm just wondering what our options might be for dates for this trip. If possible, we would like to avoid the really busy weeks at WDW and the really hot weather as well. Will that be possible? Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

 

[Miffy2003]

Hi Lisa,

Avoiding the busy times at WDW, hot weather and staying within school schedules might be challenging, unfortunately.

Would your brother be prepared to take the children out of school for say a week, and then he could tag that onto a "Half Term" (week's holiday, mid term) week off from school. If that is an option, the half terms tend to be (roughly) mid Feb for a week, end of May for a week and end of October for a week.

Term tends to start a few days into September until approx 19th Dec. Then again first week of Jan (approx 5th) until Easter. Then Easter until mid July.

I always go in the last 2 weeks of August which tend to be OK for crowds as a lot of the Southern states have gone back. But it will obviously be very hot!

WQould Easter be an option? I realise the parks would be busy, but possibly not for the full two weeks.

If you could let us know roughly where he lives I can look and see if I can find exact dates for you if that would be helpful?

HTH

Karen

 

[LisaS]

Would your brother be prepared to take the children out of school for say a week, and then he could tag that onto a "Half Term" (week's holiday, mid term) week off from school. If that is an option, the half terms tend to be (roughly) mid Feb for a week, end of May for a week and end of October for a week.

End of October is an interesting option. I've never been to WDW during that time but I just looked up the weather stats for October and it looks like it's neither too hot nor too cool that time of year. DVC point requirements are not too bad either. And with no US school holidays at that time, it might make for shorter waits in line.

How common is it for parents to take their kids out of school for a few days?

I hadn't even thought about the length of the trip. We normally go for a week at most, but after reading your response it (finally) occurred to me that coming all that way from the UK, they might want to stay for longer than a week. How long do most UK visitors stay?

And is there any hope of getting reasonable airfare? Their nearest airport is Manchester. They will be paying for their own tickets and I would like to offer them whatever advice I can to help keep costs down.

 

[stitchgonecrazy]

There is no such thing as a cheap flight during our school holidays! I guess they can get an indirect flight but it is quite stressfull. We nearly always come over in October and take my DD out of school for a week. This year we are taking two of families with us to stay at our DVC accommodation. October is quite good for points. Most people from UK come over for two weeks. The flights are just the same price for one as two weeks!

However many schools over here are getting tough and they may not get the permission and get fined. I still have had no reply from my DD's school yet.

Let us know what you decide. I am sure they will have just the greatest time.


Susan (sorry not Kirsty, didn't realise she was still logged in!)

 

[Miffy2003]

End of October is an interesting option. I've never been to WDW during that time but I just looked up the weather stats for October and it looks like it's neither too hot nor too cool that time of year. DVC point requirements are not too bad either. And with no US school holidays at that time, it might make for shorter waits in line.

How common is it for parents to take their kids out of school for a few days?

I hadn't even thought about the length of the trip. We normally go for a week at most, but after reading your response it (finally) occurred to me that coming all that way from the UK, they might want to stay for longer than a week. How long do most UK visitors stay?

And is there any hope of getting reasonable airfare? Their nearest airport is Manchester. They will be paying for their own tickets and I would like to offer them whatever advice I can to help keep costs down.

Lots of UKers love October to visit for the reasons you mention above

Most UK visitors stay in Orlando for at least two weeks. People do sometimes come over for a week and have a great time, but for their first trip, with the expense of the airfare, the jetlag, long flight etc I would definitely want to stay for two weeks Maybe they could spend the first week somewhere offsite and then meet you for the second week in your DVC? (And how lovely of you to share with them!)

There are lots of ways to get more reasonable airfare - flights out of school holidays, midweek, indirect all reduce costs. I always book 11 months before the return flight to secure the best possible price.

You might want to post this on UK Trip Planning too where you may get more responses as this forum is DVC specific but your questions cover all aspects of trip planning

 

[LisaS]

Thank you both very much for all the helpful information. I think Oct (2007) looks like the right time to do this. I agree, it needs to be more than just a one-week trip so I'm going to play with the points charts to see just how many nights I can squeeze out of the points I will have available!

Thanks again!

 

[Cyrano]

We are pulling a number of school holidays here so maybe this could help

 

[LisaS]

Thanks, Cyrano. This weekend I was finally able to verify that DBIL's kids do get a week off at the end of October every year. That will work out great because points are lower during October. We'll be able to stretch our points a little further and stay a bit longer!