when to go?

[me4disney]

I'm trying to plan a trip, but my oldest son(9) is having school problems and I want to minimize his days missed. We have gone in Sept and Oct before and loved it. Short lines and minimum crowds were just our style. We are between 4 time frames:

1. Nov 1-11 (Driving)
2. Nov 28-Dec 7 (Driving)
3. Dec 18-23 (Flying-due to amt of days)
4. Dec 27-Jan 4 (Driving)

We planned on driving to cut costs, but on option we would have to fly. My big questions are which would be the better time crowd wise and weather wise. The kids want to swim and go to the water parks. I like the theme parks. DH hates crowds and isn't a disney maniac like the rest of us. Any input would be greatly appreciated. How bad are the crowds the week after Christmas? Is there anything special going on then and what kind of hours are the parks open? Sorry to have so many questions. I've never had this problem when booking Sept/Oct.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Forget option 3 and most of option 4 (except after Jan 1) if your husband doesn't like crowds! Atleast in my experience last year- it was busyyyyyyy/crowded!

The parks are open later/longer during the busy Christmas season, lots of decorations, Osborne lights, etc. though. Should be MVMCP during those dates also.

Probably too cool for the water parks during that time also??? Depends-I saw people in the pools but us Texans were COLD. That was winter weather to us. LOL

If I had to pick for you- I'd pick option 2- then we could meet you while there. hehe

 

[DMRick]

I'd do option #1. More time able to be spent, and more likely to have codes, since it's not a "real" holiday time. I agree with Bibbidy for the other reasons not to pick those other weeks, however, #2 is Thanksgiving..and I've heard that can be pretty busy too.
If you pick #1, you'll have to vote via absentee, however : )

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Yeah, it will be busier.... but..... not as busy as option 3 or 4.... and.....

There will also be MVMCP on November 30th!! ..... trying to bribe her into going that date. LOL

 

[Beast fan]

WARNING........... This post may sound like a lecture, but it hasn't been brought up yet.......

Your son is having school problems and yet you still insist on him missing MORE school for a trip to WDW? Does that sound odd?

I will never yank my children away from something as important as school (even at your son's age) to go on a petty vacation. My parents took me to WDW (while I was in 6th grade) at the end of May 1979, and I always felt something was missing (oh yeah, that would be attending class, doing schoolwork/homework, going on recess at lunch and all the other things elementary students do). That was the only time they pulled that stunt!

Granted, my DS's are only 2.5 and 5, but school is #1, and DW and I plan vacation time around school, not vice-versa.

I vote # 4 (and could care less about your worrying more about lines at WDW than the school issue(s) your son has) since the other 3 options (unless they are during your school district's vacations) should be impertinent to any parent with school-age children.

Sorry I couldn't send you pixie-dust with this post..... but your audacity just grinds at me.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Please remember that you can't POSSIBLY know every school's schedule and she already said she was basing her vacation times around making him miss as little as possible. So how do you know when they have days scheduled off from school to know only that one option would be the best?
Sorry- but even here in Texas in a 30 mile range the schools all have different schedules, different start & end dates, different spring breaks and teachers days/etc. Perhaps they have time off for Thanksgiving too- we do.

Anyway, I'm quite sure she didn't ask for a lecture on whether or not she should take her child to WDW & miss ANY days or not.... but I guess she got it anyway.

 

[Beast fan]

okay, okay, I guess I should have put it like this...... I vote for whichever choice forces your children to miss the least amount of school.
And I understand that, at this juncture (with only a DS5 and DS2.5) I could not possibly understand what a parent with a DS9 is going through. I did, though, have the same sentiment as you did when DS5 was in Nursery School. But DW, the daughter of an ultra-conversative school teacher, correctly pointed out the fact that he hadn't yet missed school and we were never going to force him to miss school.

GOOD LUCK IN YOUR CHOICE!

 

[me4disney]

Thanks for you opinions. My son really wants to go and we cannot go during the summer due to DH job. The times I listed were all taking school into consideration. His school is important, but everyone else should not have to suffer. I was trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

BibbidyBobbidyBoo,
How crowded is it after Thanksgiving? What kind of waits did you have after Christmas? Being from PA, I think we are used to a little cooler weather than you. Thanks for your input. I have been checking rates and doing the math. Where are you staying in NOV?

 

[disneywith6kids]

Ok I'm ready to get slammed for this and I have never added my opinion before so please go easy. Family is #1, not school. Life is short. I have battled with cancer and nothing will ever make you realize that until you go through the possible end of life. My mother swore by school being #1 and we never went on one family vacation because she was too ill to go in the summer. She passed away when I was 22 I look back on that and say what is life all about if you never live it. I have no regrets for taking my children out of school when they were in school(we now homeschool) They will catch up but you will never be able to replace those precious memories of the time you spent with them whether it is in DW or anywhere else. School is very important but we're not talking about ruining their education. I would never go to DW during Christmas break again. It is so crowded it is hard to do anything except stand on lines and waste time. I would suggest going the 1st 2 weeks of Dec. You'll enjoy the Christmas decorations and yet you'll enjoy your time with your family because you can take it easy and not rush through everything because of the crowds.

PS My oldest daughter is graduating from Homeschool June 14 with honors and leaving for college in Aug. We spent a total of 5 weeks together in DW in the past year and I will never forget the memories. We will probably never get that kind of time together again-they grow up so fast!

OK slam away if you must...

 

[mom2of2]

No slamming here. I'd go for Option #1. We went this past March and I took the boys out of school. My oldest is 12 (6thgrade) and my youngest 5 (pre). They missed 5 days of school and I had alerted the teacher's about 6 weeks before and then reminded them every 2 weeks thereafter. DS12 took schoolwork with him and also did the kidcot and a report on the countries in Epcot for Social Studies class. He's had problems in school before but he was forewarned that his school could not suffer because of our vacation. This was our first time during school that we went anywhere EVER. DS12 actually enjoyed doing the report and got an A for it...extra credit that brought his grade wayyyy up! People shouldn't slam you for putting your FAMILY time 1st!! School will ALWAYS be there and missing a few days of class time is nothing. Face it, they won't be young forever and there will come a day when they won't want to go ANYWHERE with you. I say GO FOR IT!