Our kids are in Catholic school too and we took them out last year (1st and Kindergarden then) during thier fall break so they only missed 3 days and one was church and a all school program...we lucked out...

The mid winter might be workable, we have been throwing around going for the Immaculate Conception, they will be off on Thursday 8th and Friday 9th of Decemeber as a teacher planning day. You could do a long weekend or perhaps take the Wedensday before or the Monday after for travel and he/she would not miss much. We have wanted to see WDW at Christmas but do NOT want the Christmas crowds...hope you figure something out
You're definitely on to something with Catholic schools. It seems like there are always some in-service days and some church program days in which the kids wouldn't miss much. Last year, it seemed like we had one of these every time I turned around. Somehow, they always seemed to take me by surprise.
I'm going to need to figure out when all of these things are. There's probably a good break in there somewhere.
Like I mentioned first off I didn't think the crowds were too bad. Easter that year was in March, so the weather was really beautiful. We hit the headliners early to avoid big waits, but I recall Fastpass for most rides lasting much of the day. At that time I think Soarin' and Everest were the only two rides that normally saw waits over an hour.
That's not bad at all. I was looking at the pricing for the holiday period and it's kind of outrageous. I think the holiday rates will probably be enough to keep me away from spring break/Easter 2012. I'm not expecting to find any steals that week.
But it's okay. I'm finding lots of alternatives
We have visited the week before or the week after Easter 3 times now. While the crowds are large, they are certainly not Christmas week-sized. In fact, when planning for a 2012 visit, we asked our 7yr old what she would prefer - a little bit longer lines during Spring Break but with less heat and humidity OR a little bit shorter lines with the heat and humidity of July. She quickly chose Spring Break. Since it is a school break time and holiday, the crowds tend not to be morning people, so get to parks at opening and enjoy the 4 hours before they fill up!
We've employed the same strategy for spring break trips before and it has worked well for us too.
I was up late (for me) last night looking at dates. I noticed that our school starts in late Aug whereas Disney's value season usually starts Aug 15. If I wanted to go this year, I could actually get a pretty good deal the week of Aug 15-Aug 22 with school starting the next day. This isn't really a good year to make such a trip. But perhaps next year this would work.
Or if not, perhaps spring break 2013 will be more accomodating and less holiday-filled.
When do your kids get out for the summer? Any possibility of a trip around Memorial Day?
They haven't posted the final day for school next year yet, but based on their typical schedule that would be an option. This year, the last day of school was the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend. They stick to that schedule pretty closely from year to year.
The tough part about planning around the end of the school year is that if you run into a lot of snow days, the school year might get pushed out. It rarely happens, but you have to figure the minute I lock in a trip right after school lets out, we'll get hit by freak blizzard.
Another challenge when planning (which I'm sure many of you will be able to relate to) is that none of my windows seem to line up very well. By this I mean, I'm always waiting on some piece of info. If I get the school schedule, my vacation availability will be uncertain. Or Disney won't have their deals available yet. Very frustrating. But thankfully, I am ever vigilant when it comes to WDW planning.
Thanks to all for the helpful suggestions! I am definitely less bummed about spring break after looking into plans B-E. As always, it helps to hash things out with the ever-helpful and like-minded members of this forum.
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