Anyone else hate to deviate?

[sbkline]

My wife and I got married in April 2003, and left the next day for our honeymoon to Kissimmee, where we spent 10 days, including 4 at the Disney parks. From then, we established our tradition of going every year, sometime in April, depending on work schedules, Easter, and then when the kids came along, school schedules. We skipped 2006 and 2009, since the kids were born those years and in 2005, we did our April trip to Texas. But I was having Disney withdrawls, so we did a quick extended weekend trip on Memorial Day weekend just long enough to do DTD and Epcot. But other than that, it has been our tradition to go in April, and in 2007, we started staying on property and focusing much more heavily on the WDW part and not quite as much on other area activities, although we do still go off property for some things.

My son is in 1st grade now, and we took him out of school for two weeks this year for our trip, and he was getting stressed out having to keep up with homework the whole trip. And I would really prefer to just take him to the pool or the arcade on our midday breaks without worrying about homework, so I have known for a while that eventually, the time will probably come when we just have to wait until school is out in May, to go on our trips, especially when our daughter gets into school.

I initially had hoped/planned to take him out of school again next April, and keep up the April tradition as long as possible (like when our daughter gets into 1st grade and we no longer want to deal with homework with two kids while on vacation), but then we got his school schedule for next year. They have a mandatory spring musical each year, which we have had to work around for planning our trips, in addition to working around Easter. But next year, if we leave right after Easter like we have been doing, we would miss his Spring musical, unless we shorten the trip, which is unacceptable. It's possible that we could bump the trip back a week, or 10 days or so, but then we would be there right at peak Easter season, which we don't want. Not only because of the crowds, but because of the prices.

I had thought about March, during his spring break, so he only misses a week of school and not two weeks. But we work at Walmart and our store has its annual inventory usually around that time and since inventory isn't set yet for next year, I can't be sure that it wouldn't fall right during that week, as it did this year. So I can't really plan a trip during a week when there may be no vacations approved. Plus, we will be using APs and the year will start from the time we activate the pass on next year's trip, and if we go in March, that means that the 2015 trip would have to take place such that the AP would still be good through the trip, which means we would have to plan for February or early March the following year. So March is out. April is out. That leaves me in the unfortunate situation of having to go ahead and plan it for May when school is out.

I am a creature of habit and it's gonna be really hard breaking with tradition and going in May instead of April. Especially since I don't even know what WDW looks like outside of the Flower and Garden Festival (except what I see on TV). And it's killing me to think that our next trip is more than a year away! Usually, at this time after an April trip, I would know that our next trip is 11 months away, but now it is 12 1/2 months. Uggh!!!

So here are the plusses of going in May: Not having to worry about homework. At least the first part of the trip would seem to fall in "regular" season, as opposed to Peak Season. The second part of the trip would be "summer season". Is that better than peak season, as far as crowds and prices go? It would make it easier to use my AP for the next year's trip. If we decide to take our son out of school one more time before our daughter starts going to school, we could go after Easter (since Easter is early the following year) and use our AP for both trips (as well as for the Christmas trip we really hope/plan to take in 2014). We would be there for Star Wars weekends, as my son and I love Star Wars.

The minuses of the trip are: I'm not sure how the weather generally is at that time of year. In April, we rarely have rain ruin our plans, and it isn't too hot. I'm sure that it's hotter at the end of May, but does it rain much more? And of course, I'm not used to having to wait until May, much less the end of May/beginning of June!

Anyone else had to switch when they normally go, and does it suck as much for you?

 

[zurgandfriend]

When our DS was little we took him out of school mid-late May a couple of times but after 2nd grade the make up work was too much for him. We switched to late August the week before he goes back to school, the weather is hot but the crowds have thinned somewhat. Doesn't suck at all, we look at it this way "we're in Disneyworld everything is fine.

 

[sbkline]

Not that I want, or plan to go any later than what I have already planned, but is there a time during the summer months where the crowds are the lightest? And by "summer" I simply mean, between the dismissal of school in May and the start up of school in August. As far as crowds and prices go, would the end of May/first week of June be just as good, or better, than any other time? Or is there some other time in the summer which may be better?

 

[RedDad]

Our first 3 trips were all in the fall (Oct/Nov) and we loved the weather and crowds that time of year. However, recently we've been branching out a bit and trying different times. Late August last year was great crowd wise, but very hot. This year we're going the first week in June for the same reason as you - our oldest is in middle school now and just can't miss school. We're having to be more and more creative about planning trips as our kids get older - thankfully we only go for a week or so at a time, which is much easier than 2 weeks.

I've heard good things about early/mid May, and the only issue with late May is the Memorial Day weekend crowds. We'll let you know how our first trip in early June turns out!

 

[sbkline]

The tentative dates I have down for now are that we would arrive and check in on Sunday May 25, and Memorial Day would me Monday, May 26. So we would not be there Friday or Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, and we do not do the parks on the first day anyway. So hopefully the only issue would be Memorial Day itself and then hopefully it would die down a little after that.

Of course another thing that concerns me is snow days, since we would literally be leaving our house the day after graduation/awards night. I would hate to have school go on longer because of snow days. On the other hand, even though school was cancelled a few times this year, I don't think they are making the days up at the end of the year. I haven't heard about school being extended because of snow days. As far as I know, school is finishing up exactly as the calendar (which was printed way before the snow days) says. We send him to a private Christian school, so maybe that is part of it.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

I have had to deviate a few times, from Fall (my fav time of year) to Spring and hated it. Just didn't seem the same to me. I missed the food and wine festival, the decorations, the cooler temps and it rarely rained in Oct/Nov.

 

[Violet]

We took our kids out last fall, it was great and would definitely be our preferred time to go. Now, I don't think we can do that anymore, our oldest is getting to the point where he misses a lot of work and it's stressful getting caught up when we get back (on me lol!).

So this year we are going at the end of August, which is right before school starts up again for the year. I know the weather is going to be horrendously hot, so I'm feeling sort of ambivalent.

If this week works for us, we'll keep it. If it doesn't, I don't know what to do next. It seems to be a battle between managing the crowds, the weather and school calendars. Kind of feels like you can't win. I really wish the weather in Florida in the summer wasn't as extreme as it is.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I went with my family in the Spring of 2004. We went in April. I was a sophmore in college at the time and I missed 3 days of classes because my spring break was in March and my younger siblings had their break in April. I didn't mind though. I was interning at a pre-school during that time for my major and they were on spring break anyway.

 

[Zman-ks]

I have had to deviate a few times, from Fall (my fav time of year) to Spring and hated it. Just didn't seem the same to me. I missed the food and wine festival, the decorations, the cooler temps and it rarely rained in Oct/Nov.

Same here...

 

[Disvillain63]

We've been to Disney in January, March, May, June, September, October, November, and December. We've taken kids out of school...elementary, middle, and high school. We've always enjoyed our trips. However, our most favorite time to go is late September into early October...unless we could go in December...but that's not going to happen with DH's job.

Schoolwork was never an issue...most of it was completed before we left or on the way down...they never had anything to do while we were there. As they got older, they would study a bit on the way back home to be ready to go back to school. They always had teachers that worked with us.

 

[SMS55]

The reality is that once you have kids, everything changes to accommodate to them. Once they are in school, YOU are in school with them. You have to wake them every morning, make sure they get there, help with their homework, etc. It's a lot of pressure on the kid to keep up with all that homework and missing the teacher's explanations. The time might be coming where you will have to shorten your trip to take during the school year and then it might have to be around Easter which is not recommended, or wait til they are out of school and go in the summer.

 

[smk]

We too go almost every year in September, late, close to October for our anniversary. This year we just don't see it happening for a number of reasons, too many to put into words really. I KNOW we will miss our trip and regret it if we decide not to go. No kids to worry about, no missing school, no homework issues in our way anymore, just my husband who thinks he wants to go west and visit Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone. I think we could run into bad weather and cold days if we go west that late in the year, I just have alittle more convincing to do and I think he will see it my way! I am a creature of habit and WDW makes me happy, I look forward to the smells, the party, the fireworks, the magic and it will be hard for me to give that up this year. I hope I don't have too!

 

[bubbles1812]

I'd say if your son is starting to stress over the amount of work he has to do to make up, it's time to make the change. Kids know when so much is too much, and two weeks is a lot of work, not to mention explanations to miss. May is not a bad time at all.

Also @smk... Id really encourage you to give Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore a chance. Fall is an absolutely spectacular time of year to visit the national parks. It's gorgeous with the leaves changing. And I think you are over blowing the bad weather and cold risks. Sorry. September is not that late in the year. If you said November you might have a point, but it is simply not that late. It sounds like you are just trying to make an excuse. Please consider your husbands feelings. I obviously don't know the two of you but it sounds to me like he is clearly sending signals he needs a change of pace. Don't let WDW be a cause of strife when he wishes he could have tried a new place but you couldn't let go of the same old, same old for one year.

 

[Nemo14]

Two weeks is definitely a long time to take kids out of school, and this will become more of an issue as he progresses through school. At his age, you can probably get quite a bit of the make-up work done during the car ride, but soon enough even that will become an issue. I'd suggest you look into either overlapping your vacation with his school vacation, or plan on shortening the trip. Have you thought of flying to cut down on some of the travel time?

 

[smk]

No worries Bubbles, we have been peacefully married 32 years and I don't plan on rocking any boat at all. I promise I will survive one year without WDW. I would go to end of the earth with my guy!

 

[sbkline]

Instead of leaving right after school is out next year, I am thinking about waiting 12 days or so, so that the following year (2015), we can go right after school is out and have both trips for sure on the annual pass, in case we don't want to try to take him out of school after Easter in 2015. That would have us being there during the weekend of June 7. I see that this year, Star Wars weekends goes through June 9. I am very much interested in seeing Star Wars weekends, so I just wanted to make sure whether Star Wars Weekends ALWAYS goes through that particular weekend in June. And does "weekend" include Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Or is it just Saturday and Sunday?

 

[foreverbelle]

We usually either go in March and or July. We are sometimes fortunate to go both times. We had to switch it up this year due to circumstances, and pushed our March trip to Memorial day weekend, and booked a longer trip down in August. It was very strange not to be going during March, and a hard little wait for us. We are lucky at the moment that our son is still in the no school age yet, but will be in the fall of 2014, to which I am sure we will have to change our schedules around it just a bit. Its not my favorite thing to do, I too am a creature of habit but sometimes, things happen.

As for Star Wars weekend, weekends only include Sat and Suns, though this weekend does include Friday so I believe it may based on the weekend itself. But I recommend you check it out if you can.

 

[disneygirl76]

We too go almost every year in September, late, close to October for our anniversary. This year we just don't see it happening for a number of reasons, too many to put into words really. I KNOW we will miss our trip and regret it if we decide not to go. No kids to worry about, no missing school, no homework issues in our way anymore, just my husband who thinks he wants to go west and visit Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone. I think we could run into bad weather and cold days if we go west that late in the year, I just have alittle more convincing to do and I think he will see it my way! I am a creature of habit and WDW makes me happy, I look forward to the smells, the party, the fireworks, the magic and it will be hard for me to give that up this year. I hope I don't have too!

I too have a hard time pulling the trigger to go some place else. We go to WDW every year. So its just hard for me to choose something else. I find a way and a reason to go each year. Even if it means forgoing travel to some place else. I know eventually I will have to go someplace else but just thinking about it - I am getting anxious and breaking into sweat.

 

[smk]

I too have a hard time pulling the trigger to go some place else. We go to WDW every year. So its just hard for me to choose something else. I find a way and a reason to go each year. Even if it means forgoing travel to some place else. I know eventually I will have to go someplace else but just thinking about it - I am getting anxious and breaking into sweat.

I know it is hard to think about not going! Last night we started into the planning mode for a fall trip. I just need a vacation, asap, and we may take some time in June to go west. IF we do and we can afford another trip then I am on again for WDW in the fall. All hope is not lost yet!

 

[disneygirl76]

I know it is hard to think about not going! Last night we started into the planning mode for a fall trip. I just need a vacation, asap, and we may take some time in June to go west. IF we do and we can afford another trip then I am on again for WDW in the fall. All hope is not lost yet!

Its never lost! We always find a way...to Disney!