How often do you visit with kids?

[crisi]

We'd only do Disney every other year when our kids were little. We had a limited amount of time with them when they were young, and a world to show them. In addition to Disney, we cruised, went to Mexico, Europe, Hawaii, Washington DC and San Francisco - and a lot of other more local trips.

We did pull them from school during elementary - they had a fall break of two days, so we'd pull them for three and get a week. That became not possible by middle school due to the pace of school and activity schedules (i.e. if you want a role in the school play, you need to be at rehearsals over break, and teachers were NOT required to give make up tests for vacations nor were teachers required to let you make up homework, or provide homework for you to do on vacation - so pulling kids meant going from an A to a B in a lot of classes) - and by high school was REALLY not possible - by high school getting them to have a week to vacation at any time was hard - during school breaks they had jobs or activities that they participated in.

 

[MarkNC2Disney]

We have twin kindergartners and a toddler. We pulled them out two weeks (September and week after Thanksgiving) this year because we knew it’d be tougher in the future.

Planning on 3rd week of August going forward. We usually fly from NC, and schools don’t start until last Monday in August. Alternate at our homes Poly and RR, however we’re doing Beach Club next summer.

 

[crisi]

Yep, I don’t think it is an either or thing. I’m just trying to get an idea of whether others have had to taper off or modify the dates they go to Disney once their kids are of a certain age. I have no experience in this yet as we are still in a preschool situation where we can pull our son out at any time and for as long as we want. I am interested in hearing from those who have lived through this in the course of their membership and what they have found in regards to kids missing school (or not) and whether it was worth it to miss school to avoid crowded spring break/super hot summer in florida.

Honestly, I wish I wouldn't have pulled my kids in elementary school. They learned that fun was more important than responsibilities. They learned school could be deprioritized for a few days (and it can, if grandma is dying). This became an issue for my son by middle school - and was an issue for my daughter in college. They became "entitled" to it. It wasn't worth it. We didn't need to - we had Summer vacation and an easy time getting time off our jobs (except my husband didn't get time off between Halloween and the first of the year - ecommerce). I just don't like heat or crowds, but when they were in middle school we did a few heat/crowd vacations - they were fine. Yeah, we made memories, but I have more and better memories of my kids at home than I do of them on the MANY vacations we took. And talking to them as young adults - that's what they remember, home or their grandparents. Especially Disney trips, where we went so often - they can't tell the vacations apart. When I say "do you remember when" they don't - its all just one blur. But my son remembers hitting a homerun in the playoff game in middle school, my daughter remembers Girl Scouts. They remember game night, and overnights with their grandparents and catching fish off the dock at my parents house.

 

[bwang123]

We took our kids out of school for days around holidays when the were in Elementary and some middle school. We were going once a year but sometimes did two. It was never a problem with their grades and placement in classes. It worked for our family and we created great memories without any added stress from school.

 

[MamaMermaid]

We are semi-local; about 2.5 hours away. Our son is 6 and we go about 5x/year. Sometimes more. These are mostly weekends or long weekends.

 

[MonaMN]

We pulled our kid out for a few days when she was in very early elementary (now in high school). We usually picked a week where there was at least one day off, then went for a week or so, but only missing 4 days of school.

I think the last time we did that was 2nd grade, because we learned that doing make-up work was very stressful for our kid. So then we moved to spring break, which for us was usually early March, a bit before the usual spring break rush.

We generally only do one Disney trip per year - we live in Minnesota so every trip requires a flight (we aren't able to take longer trips and the driving would take WAY too much time). This year we added a short extra long weekend trip because we won't be doing spring break this year - flew out after school on Thursday of a week without school on Friday, then flew back Sunday afternoon. It was a whirlwind, but doable because we've been enough to not feel like we needed to do everything.

I don't love going when it's busy, but there's no way I would have pulled my kid in middle school or now in high school. There's just too much going on both in classes and in activities.

 

[taaren]

My travel group's older kids are in their late teens. We go on weekends, 3-4 of them each year we have APs + a short trip in early June when the points are still low right after they're done with the school year. I do miss being able to go midweek for lower crowds/points (we did one trip this last year just adults since the teens can get themselves to school now), but I know we'll be able to go again midweek with them someday. Two out of the three teens weren't studious enough to make up the work, the third was so studious, they didn't want to miss any days. One of the best features of DVC is knowing we've got another 35 years of trips to look forward to.

 

[Rocketeer53]

We have an 11 yo. We go 2-3 times a year. Once over Halloween since the school district closes for a week for teacher conferences and in service days. Then at the end of May when school ends. And once during the FoTA where we take him out for a week. Though next year he goes up to 6th grade and there are different rules, so the one during the year may need to stop for awhile.

 

[kilik64]

Going yearly currently. Did our spring break last 2 years (early March) and this year going week after oldest gets out, so last week in May to see if we like that better vs Spring Break.

We have 3 girls, 3,4, and 9 currently.

 

[philharmagic fan]

We lived in the northeast, and school usually started the Wednesday after Labor Day. We'd go the last week of August; rooms were discounted and the crowd levels had dropped a bit (admittedly, the temperature and humidity were awful). The ONLY time my kids missed school for a Disney trip was the year a hurricane struck on the day we were supposed to fly home (the Friday of Labor Day weekend) and we couldn't get a flight back for 5 days. They missed the first 2 days of school, but we felt we had made a good faith effort with our planning to get back in plenty of time.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I think it really depends on what type of kid you have. And you won't really know that until later on. Some kids would do fine being pulled out a week for a vacation...others, not so much. And it may change as they get older.

I can only speak for my own situation. My son is 10 years old. Most years we've taken him out of school for a full week (5 school days) for a vacation. But our situation is different than the typical student. He's on an 'alternative curriculum' due to his developmental disability. So he already doesn't have the regular homework/schoolwork stuff as his peers. Missing 5 days doesn't hurt him, academically, at all. So we don't mind taking him out.

Last year, we did get some attendance letters as legally they have to send those out after a certain amount of days are missed. But since we're in communication with his school a lot, it wasn't an issue at all. For others, it may become a problem though. So you'd want to look at the rules/laws in your area.

Because he also misses random days for illnesses, I don't like to pull him out of school for more than a 1 week vacation. If we want to take 2 trips during one year, we'll either split it between 2 different academic years (like February/December) or we'll take one trip in the summer.

 

[robinb]

We bought into dvc during the big 2020 sale while our son was basically still a baby. In trying to plan out my trips (and points) for the next few years, I’m now having to consider he will be in public school in the next couple of years. We typically go twice a year during the lower crowd times (I can’t really stand crowds), but of course those are times that kids are in school. I’m hoping to still be able to pull him out of elementary school for a full week for awhile so we can at least continue our September trips, but I’m not sure about pulling him out a second time during a school year, or if we will now have to start traveling over spring break/summer. I’m curious for other dvc members with school aged children, how often do you go, and when?

We bought DVC before our DD24 was born. We went 2-3 times a year until she started kindergarten. Then cut back to 2 times a year and only during school breaks. Some folks have no problem pulling kids out of school but we only did that once. Our DD was a good student but it would have been difficult for her to catch up. I think there will come a time when you will no longer be able to take your son out shortly after the start of school.

We went every Christmas/New Years and then at the end of August before school started. Sometimes we would go over Spring Break. My DD has now graduated from both high school and college so we are back to May and September as our preferred times.

 

[robinb]

Your line of thinking is exactly where my mind is about all of this. I know school is important, but so is their childhood and memories with their families. {snip} We only get such a short time with our kids as kids, I want us both to enjoy it.

You can do ALL OF THAT without taking your kids out of school. My DD24 has been to every Disney park except Shanghai. She's also been to Japan, China, France, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Hawaii, many big US cities, and a slew of Caribbean islands. The only time we took her out of school for a Disney vacation was when we delayed her start of 6th grade by 4 days so we could go to Disneyland Tokyo after we had attended a convention in Yokohama over Labor Day.

 

[DeeBee3]

I did take my older one out when there was Columbus day and a Jewish holiday around the same time, so we got around 5/6 days and only missed 2 days of school. Now that my kids are in a different school, I would not take them out more than a day. They have a good deal of assignments and testing. It's just a higher level of expectations (IMO). It would be stressful to have them miss a week.

We have gone over spring break, summer and Christmas. We have done August twice (did not bother us). Christmas was a once in a while magical trip. We knew what to expect.

We go about once a year.

I think it depends on the grade they are in and the type of school. My neighbors get almost no homework or projects so it would be less of a stress.

 

[crisi]

I think it really depends on what type of kid you have. And you won't really know that until later on. Some kids would do fine being pulled out a week for a vacation...others, not so much. And it may change as they get older.

I can only speak for my own situation. My son is 10 years old. Most years we've taken him out of school for a full week (5 school days) for a vacation. But our situation is different than the typical student. He's on an 'alternative curriculum' due to his developmental disability. So he already doesn't have the regular homework/schoolwork stuff as his peers. Missing 5 days doesn't hurt him, academically, at all. So we don't mind taking him out.

Last year, we did get some attendance letters as legally they have to send those out after a certain amount of days are missed. But since we're in communication with his school a lot, it wasn't an issue at all. For others, it may become a problem though. So you'd want to look at the rules/laws in your area.

Because he also misses random days for illnesses, I don't like to pull him out of school for more than a 1 week vacation. If we want to take 2 trips during one year, we'll either split it between 2 different academic years (like February/December) or we'll take one trip in the summer.

Worse, you really don't know for sure until AFTER you've taken the trips. My kids were both high performing elementary school age kids, I really didn't expect issues - then the larval stage of middle school hit with my son, and - a more delayed reaction for my daughter, her "but I don't wanna so I don't hafta" didn't hit until college. For my son, it was a real shock, because he wasn't only smart, but really disciplined when he was young

 

[mickeymom629]

We bought in 1999 when we had 4 kids ages 5, 7, 9, and 11. We did take them out of school to go to Disney a few times (in elementary, middle and high school), though we mostly went during school breaks because my kids didn't really like missing school. We always told teachers in case there was work they could bring and to make sure they could make up what they missed. My kids knew that this was special and that DH and I cared about their school work performance. My kids have all graduated college, 3 are married, and 2 have children. We went to WDW Jan. 2022 when 2 grandkids were in kindergarden. It was right after winter break and the parents kept them out of school until after our trip because we didn't want anyone getting sick - all 12 of us drove in a rented van so I could be sure we weren't going to catch anything, lol. We went again this past Halloween and the girls missed a week of 1st grade (one only missed 3 1/2 days because of her school schedule). Our way of thinking was that it is okay as long as the kids are able to keep up or stay ahead of their lessons and if it doesn't cause them to miss more than the allowable days (maybe unexcused absences).

 

[Michelle Sinnott]

My twins are in middle school now so we try to go during the summer. We don't mind the heat and usually go in august. We have a trip planned Aug 13-21 at Boardwalk Villas after a two year hiatus.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

I’m just here to say this as a teacher
You are the parent so it’s totally up to you when you want your kid to be out

BUT

If you do take your kid out and they fall behind in class or grades drop or whatever, don’t come jumping down my throat that I need to do more to catch them up/raise their grade

AND

If you ask me to make you work in advance, and I do that, don’t come back saying you didn’t do any of it.

Also, make sure your child is ready to be back in the school routine when they come back. I teach middle school and had a student out for a week. I didn’t know why, thought maybe sick. Kid came back and was sleeping in class and not waking up/working. Called parents who said “oh yeah, sleep schedule is off because we were at Disney for that week they were out. Can you just let them make up the work whenever?” They didn’t mean the work they missed while at Disney—they meant allow sleep and send THAT work home for homework.

My children's teachers were always fine with taking them out (elementary only) - work was prepared and my children had to do it before we would go to the parks. They also collected extra items that related to current school work.

 

[Oldie13]

My children's teachers were always fine with taking them out (elementary only) - work was prepared and my children had to do it before we would go to the parks. They also collected extra items that related to current school work.

That’s great, I’m just speaking from personal experience as a teacher. I’ve taught middle school and high school.

 

[BrianLa]

My simple advice is be willing to pull your kids out of elementary school for a week or extra days around school holidays. We were very reluctant to do so and now regret it as my daughter is now a college freshman and my son is entering High School.