When would you go? Please help.

[maxtomsmom]

Hi all! I need to hear from other families. We are trying to decide when we should go back. Our children will be 4 and almost 7. Given their ages what do you think is the best situation. We have to work around DH deadlines and such so here is our dilemma:

Option #1 We go from April 15 - 22. DS7 is in first grade and will only miss 2 days of school due to a spring break. We think most of the Northeast have this time off and expect the crowds to be moderate - heavy (but not too heavy). Airfare is more and so will the room. We are waiting for our DVC to close and it will cost us more points to stay during this time. We hear the weather is excellent, not too hot and warm enough to enjoy the pool. We are concerned about the crowds as our younger son is still a bit immature.

Option #2 We go April 29 - May 6. DS will miss 5 days of school which will count as illegal absences. He is doing well, but we would have to bring some work with us. The school shouldn't give us too much of a hard time as I know of others who went away during non holiday times. He is young and is above grade level in each subject. The one thing glitch is he seems to get sick quite easily. Last year we took him out of Kindergarten for 5 days to go to WDW and he ended up missing a total of 12 days due to varying illnesses in addition to the trip. I had excellent doctor notes and the school did send all my info to the superintendent (Our old district, who I worked for, sends reports to the truant office and superintendent after 10 absences.) The rest of the absences were due to the flu, strep, etc. The case was dropped and nothing happened. We are in a new school district, and he has only missed 2 days of school. However what really draws us in is it will be less expensive. The airline is significantly cheaper by $300 and we will need to use less points towards our yearly allotment. We are not sure about the crowd situation, but know it is warmer during that time of year. Not sure how hot it gets.

We have been to WDW twice before with the kids. We went in Sept. 05 and Dec. 06.

Given this info, what would you do? We like to go off season as much as possible until I go back to work full time (I am a special education teacher, but work in early intervention part-time at the moment). We figure we have two more years left until I go back to traditional school break vacations.

Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[brightvalleyjrts]

I think Option #1 sounds better! I hope you figure out which time works best for you!! I am lucky that my kids aren't in school yet, but this is the last year. My son starts kindergarten in Aug. 2008, so we will have to work around his schedule soon!

 

[tanyaandallie]

I'd check some crowd calendars and see which week is less crowded. If crowds are the same, I'd likely pay the extra so he will only miss 2 days of school. If crowds are less and it costs less, I might consider letting him miss the 5 days and going with option no. 2.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

School vacation week is rated 8 out of 10 for crowd levels. I would really take that into consideration when planning a trip. How patient are you and your children? Personally I go in Sept cuz I just can't stand the thought of waiting in lines with a toddler.

 

[mom2aredhead]

Option #2 We go April 29 - May 6. DS will miss 5 days of school which will count as illegal absences. He is doing well, but we would have to bring some work with us. The school shouldn't give us too much of a hard time as I know of others who went away during non holiday times. He is young and is above grade level in each subject.

If you're willing to let him miss a week of school, you can really go whenever...and if that were the case, I'd pick October hands down - the weather and crowds have always been great and we love MNSSHP and the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot.
However, we were there Mother's Day week this year and it was terrific - low crowds, perfect weather, no issues getting ADR's even about 6 weeks out. So I'd go with option #2 since it's closer to those dates and further from the dreaded Easter Week crowd.
Good luck with whatever you decide - enjoy your non-peak vacation time now before you go back to work!

 

[maxtomsmom]

If you're willing to let him miss a week of school, you can really go whenever...and if that were the case, I'd pick October hands down - the weather and crowds have always been great and we love MNSSHP and the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot.
However, we were there Mother's Day week this year and it was terrific - low crowds, perfect weather, no issues getting ADR's even about 6 weeks out. So I'd go with option #2 since it's closer to those dates and further from the dreaded Easter Week crowd.
Good luck with whatever you decide - enjoy your non-peak vacation time now before you go back to work!

Thanks for everyone's input. We need to go before August as some of our points will expire. This will be our first trip as DVC members. If I had to choose between crowds and heat, definitely crowds. Although we loved our Sept. trip it was so hot and I happened to be sick with a 48 hour stomach bug and the heat made it much worse.

 

[TheDizMom]

I'd go with option 1. I have a first grader too and she is really having a hard time adjusting to the all day thing even at this point in the year. She was out of school the first 2 weeks of November with pneumonia, and when she went back I got the first calls I have ever gotten from a teacher about how she wasn't willing to sit down and do her work. It really screwed her up, and I dread what will happen when she goes back on the 3rd after 10 days off for break. I am not one of those you should never take a child out of school for vacation types, but I also think you should take them out for as few days as possible especially if your child is prone to picking up viruses. Yes it will be more crowded, but I can't see a few weeks later making a huge difference. No matter when you go you wait in line, you just have to plan and use the fast passes as much as you can. I have always gone at peaks times and though it can be a pain at times, you just work with it and have a good time.