Disney on school breaks

Our son hated going to Disney and missing school We'd usually go for a week or so. If he missed school, he always felt he was so far behind when he got back. When he told us that, we stopped going during school times unless we could limit the number of days of school he would miss to two or less.
 
Your district should have next year's calendar posted online soon (if not already.) You could check and see if there are any 'non-traditional' days off. Our district has election day off in November and May. It can make for a very nice long weekend if you are ok missing the 1 Monday in-between. Also, if you go back to school late (after memorial day) it is typically less crowded from mid-August on.
 
Your district should have next year's calendar posted online soon (if not already.) You could check and see if there are any 'non-traditional' days off. Our district has election day off in November and May. It can make for a very nice long weekend if you are ok missing the 1 Monday in-between. Also, if you go back to school late (after memorial day) it is typically less crowded from mid-August on.


DGD's school hasn't listed next year's school calendar yet however I can still see last year's and the year before and extrapolate 2019/2020's from there.
 
In regards to the idea of taking a vacation during the school year, Disney has a surprising amount of educational opportunities especially in Epcot and Animal Kingdom. I know few people think "we're going to Disney to learn!" but, I can easily see an early elementary age child learning a lot more about animals, nature, science and different cultures in a week at Disney vs a week in a classroom.

This! I homeschool my own children, but we did a HUGE unit on the Epcot countries before we travelled there. It was so much fun. The chances of us actually traveling internationally as a family of 7 are slim to none so Epcot is as good as it's going to get, and it was a great experience to incorporate school into it this last time. I plan to do that again when we go.

My parents pulled my and my siblings from school every 2-3 years while I was growing up, because we could really only travel as a family in winter since we're a farming family. Of course we'd always go to Disney. It never affected our grades or work, and the teachers were never bothered by it. We lived in a fairly rural area though and that might make a difference. (Everyone knows everyone, fewer questions are asked, there's more accountability, etc)
 
The best school break will be spring break, because not all school are out on the same week, unlike christmas and all other schools breaks. You can have a bliss on spring break week specially if it doesn’t coincide with Orlando Spring Break.
Good point there. It is in mid-March this year.
 
Does Florida have winter recess (the week of Presidents’ Day)? I looked at school calendar in Orlando and it was listed as just the Monday off. If so maybe that would be slightly quieter as well
 
Does Florida have winter recess (the week of Presidents’ Day)? I looked at school calendar in Orlando and it was listed as just the Monday off. If so maybe that would be slightly quieter as well

I'd avoid that week if you're looking for low crowds. It's a major winter break for schools in the northeast.
 


We never travel during breaks, 1 crowds 2. The hotels are 2 to 3 times higher 3. Its easier toget of work when you dont compete with other coworkers for the same weeks.

It's really not a big deal with the schools
 
We used to take our kids out of school and go in January, because I teach at a university and have that month off. Once ODS hit middle school we stopped taking them out of school. It's stressful when he misses school for sick days and tries to make up the work, so we booked a late August trip last year. It was amazing! Yes, it was really, really hot, but there were so many places to cool off and the crowds were quite manageable. We would do it again in a heartbeat. I would love to go over Thanksgiving or Christmas, but the crowd level has deterred us so far. I am sure we will try it in the future though--seeing all the decorations would be fantastic. We would just need a very good plan and also need to manage our expectations--fewer rides, longer lines, perhaps more resort time.
 
Look into the school policy. Here if you take your child to Disney they get 0’s for all tests and homework for when you are gone and if you miss more than 5 days including any illness without a doctors note you get sent to court.
 
We have gone mostly in July, once in August. We don’t mind the heat. Back when I got February vacation, we went once. Christmas - New Year’s was very busy, but we had a blast. Summer is our favorite time to go.

In April, we are going to Disneyland for the first time.
 
We've always pulled our kids with no problems so far. Last time we traveled in October when they had a short week and a lot of kids from their school ( and teachers!) were there as well. As they get older it might be more of a problem, so we'll enjoy it while it lasts.
 
We used to go in January, but switched to spring break or summer when the kids started school.

It’s a toss up for me as to which time is better.

If it’s Easter week, spring break can be insanity, but park hours are typically extended and we have always had great weather. Spring break is pricier than summer in my experience - the airlines know when local spring breaks occur and price accordingly. Room rates also seem higher with fewer discounts available.

Summer is hot and still pretty crowded, but more discounts are available and airfare is more reasonably priced. Plus you may have more flexibility over exact dates.

The good thing about traveling during spring break and summer is that there seem to be fewer refurbishments going on around the parks.

But I say do what you want while you’re kid is young. My kids are both in high school and I wish I’d been more laid back about missing school in their younger years. They really can’t miss (nor do they want to) now. And summer gets harder to coordinate every year as they get older.
 
We were discussing taking her out for trips, especially in the younger years, but wasn’t sure how the teachers/school would react to missing days for Disney lol.

Try not to pull her more than once in a school year but I do not think it is a problem IF she is a strong student.
 
Also have to consider state policies. Wisconsin has a law saying that a student cannot miss more then 12 days for a family holiday. Not sure what they do if they do miss more but just an FYI
 
Me and my wife enjoy taking my daughter to DW in the off season, (early February). The thing is she starts school this fall and we will start having to plan around school breaks. My question is, do the parks get that much more crowded, and are there any school breaks that tend to be a little less crowded then the next? Was thinking we’d probably plan around winter break (presidents day week) to get away from the cold, but wasn’t sure if everyone else has the same idea.

I realize that crowds are part of the “package” when you decide to do Disney, but I’m hoping to avoid the “worst” of them if possible.

Thanks

I love getting away that week! Even if it's "cold" in Florida, it's not as cold as here, and the sunshine does wonders for me.

What we used to do when DS was younger was take him out of school for the two days before February break. (We'd pick him up at school on Wednesday and head straight to the airport.) If you can do that, you should have Thursday and Friday without too much of a crowd. Saturday through Monday will be super-crowded, so plan less park/more resort time then, or any other things you want to do (checking out other resorts, anything off site you want to do if you have a car, character meals that would otherwise eat into prime ride time, etc.) Once you hit Tuesday, crowds will thin out (a bit) because not all schools have the whole week off, and some come just for the long weekend.

Advantages:
Kids only miss two school days (and that's usually not new material right before a break).
The weekday flights are often cheaper, at least from where we are.
 
I live in NY and I haven’t been able to find any state laws about attendance and my school districts website is vague.
 
I live in NY and I haven’t been able to find any state laws about attendance and my school districts website is vague.
Another resident of NY here. No idea what the law is here but maybe you should check your county's website or NY State Education Department's. There is some sort of regulation/law for chronic absenteeism but I don't know what the time needed for that to kick in either; sure a vacation trip by itself wouldn't trigger a visit from the truant officer.

I do know what the law is in my house though;):D.
 
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Two things to keep in mind, one of which has been touched on. Where we live 5 days or more requires a doctors note or a truancy charge can be filed. Whether it is or not depends on the school, but it can be done.

The second is this; legally the school is ok with it and teachers will always say how nice it is when informed but it actually puts a great deal of extra work on those same teachers. Some schools don't allow graded work to be done off campus, so you can request their work and get most of it but some will have to be caught up on return. Also, for some subjects, math in particular, when you miss several days you can miss most of a unit of instruction and because so much of math builds on previously taught concepts it requires a great deal of extra work to get the student caught up unless they were already ahead of the class.

My mom, who was a teacher, never pulled my sister or I during school, even early. My MIL, who was also a teacher, never took her kids out of school either, unless it was an actual emergency. The teachers are happy for your kids and do want them to have a good time, but as I said, it does create a lot of extra work for them.
 
Not sure where you're at but in ATL we have "fall break" and that's probably the least crowded school break but it's still pretty crowded because, well, ATL has "fall break" and we all drive to Disney because frankly if it's going to be 90 and humid we may as well enjoy it with The Mouse. Feb break used to be less crowded when we started going but at this point it's pretty nuts too. We're still going though because if you're smart and use FP and ADRs the crowds aren't that big of a deal and as you say, getting out of the "cold" (I say cold, you maybe say 50 degrees sound delightful) is a real draw for us. And I'm not willing to take my kids out of school to go to Disney when we live close enough to go as much as we want.

When is fall/break??
 

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