Disney YES Program?

[zenjenn]

I'm curious if anyone has done the Disney YES (Youth Education Series) programs.

 

I noticed my kids this year will both be ages where they could simultaneously do the same programs (8 and 11 yrs old/3rd & 5th grade) this year.

 

A Disney vacation was not in our plans, but if these programs are excellent I'd consider driving down for a few days just the kids and I.

 

Reviews for the programs are few and far between, however. Has anyone done these? Especially elementary level?

 

My concern is that the programs are not really that different than what we do as nerdy homeschooling parents taking our kids to Disney World. We always spend time at exhibits, EPCOT is our favorite park, we make the effort to enjoy the (included) educational offerings.

 

I was disappointed to see the educational program of 3 hrs includes.. riding rides. For example, the Physics program at Magic Kingdom sounds great, but it looks like they just might talk to a Disney cast member about physics and then go see a few attractions after the talk for context. That's like.. our nerdy little family on a typical outing. BUT.. if the tour includes some behind the scenes stuff or the chance to talk to Disney imagineers, I think it would be worth it.

 

Any insights?

[Mom2OandE]

I'd love to know too. We are an hour away and I've considered doing these.

 

I will say this past March we did the backstage hydroponic tour at Epcot and we really enjoyed it.

[DawnM]

I have done them.  Are you going down just for them or do you also really want to do Disney?  I wouldn't do it just for the classes, although my kids enjoyed them, but if you want to go to Disney anyway, and you want the discount, yes, I would do it.

[TechWife]

My son did the digital storytelling class last month. He said it was fantastic & he has been incorporating what he learned in the class into his photographs. The park discount was great, too! You can't go to the class without having a ticket for the park the class is in, so be sure to factor that into your decision. 

 

As far as the course including riding rides, he said his did not. We did take a backstage tour at Magic Kingdom and while we rode three rides during the tour, we had these special earphones where we heard our tour guide talking about the various history of the ride and the technology that went into it. It was well worth it. 

 

Since Disney has their own engineering department (they call it "Imagineering") I would think that their physics class would be well worth the time. 

[dereksurfs]

My son did the digital storytelling class last month. He said it was fantastic & he has been incorporating what he learned in the class into his photographs. The park discount was great, too! You can't go to the class without having a ticket for the park the class is in, so be sure to factor that into your decision. 

 

As far as the course including riding rides, he said his did not. We did take a backstage tour at Magic Kingdom and while we rode three rides during the tour, we had these special earphones where we heard our tour guide talking about the various history of the ride and the technology that went into it. It was well worth it. 

 

Since Disney has their own engineering department (they call it "Imagineering") I would think that their physics class would be well worth the time.

So I don't get it. Does the price include a discount to the park or would this be the Yes Program cost + park entrance fee = more than standard park entrance fee?   What about parent admission?  Someone please break this down a bit more.  The other challenging part I see with this is if you have multiple children at different ages you need to pick something they can all attend, regardless of age, unless of course they have parallel classes going on.  That would be tough to monitor as a parent I would imagine.

 

It also looks like prices are lower for larger groups of 10+ kids.  So it might be better to plan something with a homeschool group or other families for example.  These are the admission fees I am talking about:  http://www.disneyyouth.com/our-programs/education/sp/youth-education-series/#

[wingedradical]

Wish I lived closer to DisneyWorld and Epcot. There are not as many opportunities at Disneyland.

[Elfknitter.#]

Um, actually there are: http://www.celebrationeducation.com/. Click on Classes at Disneyland. It seems they've branched out to included classes at Knott's Berry Farm as well since last I checked.

 

To answer an above post, my understanding for the YES program at Disneyland, it is the cost of attendance plus the cost of the class.

[wingedradical]

Thank you for the additional link. Alas, I still didn't see what I saw at Epcot - a chemistry class. But the Minecraft looks fun for one of my granddaughters.

[zenjenn]

Well, I'd be primarily going down for the classes BUT I am a Disney freak and would certainly enjoy the rest of the time at the parks with my kids. :) We've been 3 times so if we went, I'd dress it up as a "school trip" and use it as an excuse to plan all of our days around the educational offerings (there's lots of great free stuff once you're in the parks, too), and skip doing the crazy FastPass runs and trying to hit every ride and all that. I think it would be worth it.

 

But the YES programs are $34 a person (in addition to the ticket package) so I'd have to decide if each were worth it. Right now what might work is doing Energy and Waves Physics, Marine Life Conservation and Animal Behavior.

 

Right now they only have programs released through October dates for individual enrollment. I do think they usually open up some offerings in January, too. January would be my preference I think.

 

Or, I'm wondering if I should just pass and wait until Middle School - the Middle and High school classes look more substantive to me (from what every little info they offer.)

[TechWife]

So I don't get it. Does the price include a discount to the park or would this be the Yes Program cost + park entrance fee = more than standard park entrance fee?   What about parent admission?  Someone please break this down a bit more.  The other challenging part I see with this is if you have multiple children at different ages you need to pick something they can all attend, regardless of age, unless of course they have parallel classes going on.  That would be tough to monitor as a parent I would imagine.

 

It also looks like prices are lower for larger groups of 10+ kids.  So it might be better to plan something with a homeschool group or other families for example.  These are the admission fees I am talking about:  http://www.disneyyouth.com/our-programs/education/sp/youth-education-series/#

 

The price includes both the discount ticket and the class. The current prices for the program my son did are on this page. This price included the class. We registered as an individual student, purchasing the three day park hopper. I see that prices have gone up from what we paid, but then again, it's been about 4-5 months since we purchased our tickets. This page shows the regular prices for the three day park hopper. Please note that you register the group first, then purchase your tickets. You register your "group" even if you are attending as an individual student. 

 

While you are purchasing your tickets, the option to purchase tickets for parents pops up. We purchased our tickets and received a discount, I think each of them was about $50 less than regular price. You can get up to two discounted tickets per family, if I remember correctly. 

 

The classes vary as to whether or not a parent has to attend with the kids. I think it is based on age. My son, a high schooler, attended alone. There were other students in his class that had parents attend with them, but they also registered as students, so they took the class as well. I didn't know you could do that! 

 

I think if you picked classes based on your children's interests, you could probably find something that had some appeal for all, but keep in mind that I didn't look closely at classes for younger students. There are several parallel classes going on, so if your kids can attend alone, you can split them up among groups as well. 

[2girls4us]

I'd love to know too. We are an hour away and I've considered doing these.

 

I will say this past March we did the backstage hydroponic tour at Epcot and we really enjoyed it.

Was that the Behind the Seeds tour? We have been wanting to do that, it's nice to hear a good review!

 

We would love to do some of the YES classes, but as Annual Passholders we would have to eat the cost of the park tickets that are required for the classes. They used to allow AP holders to apply the ticket portion toward their AP or toward their AP renewal, but they no longer do that. It just makes the price of the classes way too expensive. :(

[Mom2OandE]

Was that the Behind the Seeds tour? We have been wanting to do that, it's nice to hear a good review!

 

We would love to do some of the YES classes, but as Annual Passholders we would have to eat the cost of the park tickets that are required for the classes. They used to allow AP holders to apply the ticket portion toward their AP or toward their AP renewal, but they no longer do that. It just makes the price of the classes way too expensive. :(

Yes, it was the Behind the Seeds tour.