Balancing WDW Vacations and School - How do you make it work?

[MickeyMomV]

So my DS is now in Junior High and we are having some Disney withdrawals. For the last 5-6 years we have been going once every 9-12 months. Historically with him being in elementary school we just pulled him out for the week and went whenever we wanted. Now with him in Junior High and the fact he is taking advanced math and Spanish we no longer have that ability. He was out sick for 4 days this winter and it took him 2-3 weeks to get fully caught back up.
We have always avoided official school vacation times such as summer vacation and Christmas and spring breaks because everything is so busy but I'm not sure that is going to be an option anymore. I guess I'm just looking to see what some of you do to balance the vacations with Jr. High or High School. Do you take shorter trips around in-service days? Do you fight the crowds during school vacation time? Do you just pull the kids out and deal with it? Or do you just leave them with Grandma and enjoy the trip without them?

 

[ItlngrlBella]

We did it on a week where they had teacher conferences - had the conference before we left - they missed 3 days of school.

 

[Much-Pixie-Dust]

Preface that I am a teacher. In elementary school we would take her out and I would take dock days. We would do a Wednesday to Monday trip during the school year. Trips are permitted in our district. Now that she is in Middle School, it's just not possible with the workload in classes and extracurricular activities. We are there this school year during Easter break and in the summer. I so wish we were a 40 on 15 off school district.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

Our district just sent out a survey asking if we wanted to do a mid-winter break (1 week), which I am for because it would fall when we'd like to take our kids to Disney - mid February. It would lengthen the school year but not by much because they would shorten our weeklong spring break to a long weekend around Easter.

 

[JerseyDad]

......I was so relieved that this type of issue wasn't a problem for us anymore (our youngest is now a junior in college). Due to the "kids situation" ...we always went during "Jersey Week" (1st week of Nov) .....and we always caught the end of the F&W Festival. Our kids were thankfully good students ...so they really didn't have much studying that they needed to do while away.

.....so ....my wife plans our first trip to WDW in 4 yrs ....and it includes an "entourage" ....of all our kids (ages 31, 27, 21) ...my brother and his son ...and my son's (our oldest) girlfriend .....who .....is a TEACHER ....so ....we are relegated to do a 3rd week of August trip so she won't "miss school". I'm getting ready to sweat........

 

[ninjaprincesst]

I'm thinking this is what we may end up doing. I'm just not sold on the August heat.

Thanksgiving is really nice the crowds are not that bad, nice mild weather, and the parks are decorated for Christmas, and it's always neat when you go to your room one night with no decorations and get up the next morning to a decorated resort.

 

[MickeyMomV]

Where do you live? If it's somewhere where it's super hot and humid already then there's no difference... I live in NJ and it's hot as heck here, so we're used to it. We go in the august heat and yes, it's hot but A LOT of stuff at Disney is inside in super duper air conditioning... plus it's an excuse to have a pool day or night or morning or whatever... On a side note, we went in February (2016) and we got (unlucky??) with the weather and it was cold and in the 50s for 90% of our trip. My husband and I agreed that we'd rather go in August and sweat our butts off than be cold on vacation.

We are up in Michigan where in the summer it can be 75 one day and 95 the next.
We were at WDW in February of 2015 for the princess weekend. When we ran the 10k it was 30 at 5:30 am when the race started. Then it was mid 70's by late morning/early afternoon. Florida can have some weird temp swings in the winter/spring. Makes packing hard.
Personally I think we would rather be in shorts and sweatshirts than sweating all day.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

We are up in Michigan where in the summer it can be 75 one day and 95 the next.
We were at WDW in February of 2015 for the princess weekend. When we ran the 10k it was 30 at 5:30 am when the race started. Then it was mid 70's by late morning/early afternoon. Florida can have some weird temp swings in the winter/spring. Makes packing hard.
Personally I think we would rather be in shorts and sweatshirts than sweating all day.

I can totally understand. It's tough. What about going right after a marking period/semester that way it's like the beginning of new information and he shouldn't miss too much.... I know it's hard planning around school... I have 2 kids that are in high school and it gets tough, that's why we have gone in august for so many years. No regrets though. IF you decide to go in august then at least know and be prepared for hot hot hot days and then you and your family won't be disappointed.

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

I would just like to add how jealous that I am that so many school districts start back close to or after labor day. This past year my daughters school started back August 6th. The last day of school is May 25th so the only time you can really vacation outside of the school year is June, July, Thanksgiving week, the day before Christmas-the day after New Year, or Spring Break. We have only had 2 3-day weekends this school year. We have decided to go May 6-13. She will miss a week, but its two weeks before the end of the year (and she is in kindergarten, make up work is pretty simple). I miss the days we could just up and go whenever I could get time off work.

 

[MickeyMomV]

I think we have decided on Thanksgiving week. Depending on flight he is only going to miss the 1/2 day on Wednesday. Worst case we pull him out early on Tuesday. Won't know for sure till May when flights start posting.

 

[wdwfan4eva]

My son and I just got back from a Disney trip for which I took him out of school for 5 days. He's in 5th grade (middle school in my town) and I sent in a note the week before asking for work or assignments that he could complete during or after our trip. I've done this since kindergarten and the response has always been welcomed by teachers and school staff. They may not be happy about the absence but they understand and know he'll catch up. I'm sure as he gets older, it's going to get harder due to tougher work loads.

My parents used to take me and my sister out of school in middle and high school. We'd lug our homework onto the trip with us and work on it when we could (on the plane, in the hotel room). It worked out well but I feel these days, the higher grades' school work is more rigorous and arduous than it was 20 or so years ago.

I say do what works best for your child and you. And always get their input!

 

[Rsj88]

We are thinking about going in early January. My son starts back around the 8th every year. So we are thinking like the third through the tenth. They won't be doing too much when they get back so if he misses a couple of days it won't be too bad to catch up. I love going in January and we use to love this time but I am not sure on the crowds now. We have been going in November and December for free dining.

 

[MickeyMomV]

We are thinking about going in early January. My son starts back around the 8th every year. So we are thinking like the third through the tenth. They won't be doing too much when they get back so if he misses a couple of days it won't be too bad to catch up. I love going in January and we use to love this time but I am not sure on the crowds now. We have been going in November and December for free dining.

We thought about this too. About 4 years ago we did the week before Christmas and it was great. Very low crowd levels right up to Christmas. For the 25th and the 26th (we left mid-day on the 27th) it was just crazy insane with MK being closed most of the time. This year he will be off from 12/22 to 01/08. Our thought is that Thanksgiving may be a little lighter than Christmas.

 

[Figgy1]

We thought about this too. About 4 years ago we did the week before Christmas and it was great. Very low crowd levels right up to Christmas. For the 25th and the 26th (we left mid-day on the 27th) it was just crazy insane with MK being closed most of the time. This year he will be off from 12/22 to 01/08. Our thought is that Thanksgiving may be a little lighter than Christmas.

The first through 7th should be fun. You'd catch the last of the Christmas decorations and somewhat lower crowds after the first.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The first through 7th should be fun. You'd catch the last of the Christmas decorations and somewhat lower crowds after the first.

As New Years Day is on a Monday this year, it is expected to stay busy that entire first week of January. Better than the week before, of course, but still crowded.

 

[Mawg]

our schools get out about a week or two earlier in the Summer than most in the nation. As soon as school gets out for summer we go and it's not too bad yet. I would look to see if your schools get out earlier than most or start latter than most and try to hit the first few weeks of summer or the last few weeks of summer.

 

[Ricap]

I think we have decided on Thanksgiving week. Depending on flight he is only going to miss the 1/2 day on Wednesday. Worst case we pull him out early on Tuesday. Won't know for sure till May when flights start posting.

I went on Thanksgiving week years ago and it was great! With the Christmas switchover after Thanksgiving, we got to experience autumn and winter in Disney in a matter of days.

 

[carriebeth]

Going in September might be a good option for you. Right when school starts up before things start to get real intense. Crowds are low too.

We have many children so they range from infant to high school. We choose to keep our kids home for school so that we can set their schedule. We go to Disney in Sept for more than a week. Kids get off from school. Now they usually do school during the winter break times other children get off but I figure why get that time off when all they are going to do is sit in front of tv or computer as the weather will be cold and they won't be spending time outside etc.

One of my children are in a program now where she is taking college courses from a local college in place of certain high school subjects so she can graduate high school with an associates degree or higher. This was one thing we asked about before she signed up...what about vacations. THe college had no issue with her working ahead in the course before the trip or working to catch up once we returned. THey were much more agreeable then i ever imagined!

 

[JIMINYCR]

We took our DS out of school when he was in elementary school and also Jr high for Disney trips. DS was an excellent student and we had a great relationship with all his teachers. They were willing to give us work to be taken along and he never fell behind his classmates and easily stepped back into the flow of things once we got back. We went when it best suited our abilities to travel and at that time there were certain months when Disney still had lower crowd times. But once he got into HS with a heavier class schedule and more demanding courses we didn't want to risk taking him out of school. So there was a loooong 4 years of no Disney trips.

 

[Figgy1]

We took our DS out of school when he was in elementary school and also Jr high for Disney trips. DS was an excellent student and we had a great relationship with all his teachers. They were willing to give us work to be taken along and he never fell behind his classmates and easily stepped back into the flow of things once we got back. We went when it best suited our abilities to travel and at that time there were certain months when Disney still had lower crowd times. But once he got into HS with a heavier class schedule and more demanding courses we didn't want to risk taking him out of school. So there was a loooong 4 years of no Disney trips.

Sympathy like. My ds may take a few extra courses during the summer so I may soon feel your pain or go on a few short childless trips

 

[KrzyKtty]

In our district if we take our child out for more than three days without the school's permission, we can be brought to court. So... We just make sure to plan it around a long weekend. We are thinking of going during Election week for example. He gets election day off, then we just take an extra two days. If we travel down Friday night after work, we have all day Saturday through Tuesday. Come back home Wednesday and he only missed two days. Also prior communication with the teacher can help. I'm not opposed to taking homework on vacations lol !