From Frank Forrester on December 15, 2010 at 1:25 PM
A lot of public schools here in Virginia get out in early June and go back the day after Labor Day. This helps out the local parks as they are able to employ High School students during the busy time for their parks.

A few years back the state tried to change when the school year started, but Kings Dominion fought it and the bill was never passed.

From 75.31.185.119 on December 15, 2010 at 6:31 PM
This story put the insider in Theme Park Insider.

Thanks for the heads up as this is really valuable information for anybody planning a vacation next summer to SoCal.

From 24.90.255.115 on December 15, 2010 at 6:49 PM
NICE theme parks do ahve power I guss. I do NOT see the logic into this at ALL. california typicly does not get snow so they have no unexpected closures. Ex vermont this makes sense casue they get a lo of snow but for a warm californa place Not so much

From Nick Markham on December 15, 2010 at 10:34 PM
Wow, I am surprised you guys got that luxury. Most of the country has to start around August 15 and this is new for you guys? When did your school finish when it started after Labor Day?

From Stephen Tuday on December 16, 2010 at 1:14 AM
Here in Atlanta, Georgia, School gets out the week before Memorial Day and returns the FIRST week in August. Our Six Flags park shuts down for weekday operations the second week in August.

These past few years have seen area school districts entertain the notion of 'year-round' school, meaning the ten weeks of summer break would be distributed throughout the school year in the form of longer holiday breaks, longer spring break, etc, but just a few weeks for summer break. If something like this were to pass, I do not know how SF would handle it. At this point, it is unclear whether or not a year-round school calendar will ever be feasible. For the sake of Six Flags, I sure hope not.

From Bobby Miller on December 16, 2010 at 8:23 AM
Here in Pennsylvania, they get out the first week of June and would go back after Labor Day. But being a big high school football state, they changed it a few years ago so that they now go back to school the week before Labor Day so they can get that extra football game in, great huh. They also talked about year round school but nothing ever became of it so far.

From Robert Niles on December 16, 2010 at 1:14 PM
In response to Nick, the last day of school in Pasadena this past school year was June 24.

From M. Ryan Traylor on December 16, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Blackout dates will surely adjust if the school calendar changes. Means those SoCal APs will start seeing June removed and August added. What AP wants to spend a hot day at Disneyland?

From Nick Markham on December 16, 2010 at 3:44 PM
Wow Robert, that is a pretty late date. Now I understand getting back in September. Our school has always started the third week in August and ended first week of June.

From KJ Simpson on December 16, 2010 at 7:09 PM
I was so surprised several years ago when I found out some kids had to go back to school in August! In New York, school goes until late June, and starts back up after Labor Day. Two month summer vacation.

From Eric G on December 16, 2010 at 8:59 PM
The potential impact is only one-year and it's really minimal. Why does it matter? While LAUSD may be the single largest district, the sum of the other area districts is larger, so calendar year change will have less of an impact than some may think. Also, for most Southern California residents with passes Disneyland is off-limits during the summer months already.

I'm excited, since the calender change will be incentive for Disney to create more blockout dates for the cheapo passholders.

From Tiffany J. L. Alfonso on December 17, 2010 at 7:14 AM
That's what I thought, too, Robert. Before the school start date change in 2007, families packed the parks a 100-mile radius from my home in the Brandon, FL, area in early August. I was one of those families cramming that last bit of free time of summer vacation.

But the school start change affects attendance, but not much in my region thanks to myriad out-of-towners north of it and turismos (including Brazilian tour groups).

From Dan Barnes on December 17, 2010 at 2:07 PM
To expand on what Frank said about Virginia, several school systems actually did get permission from Richmond to start before Labor Day. Virginia Beach was one such city, and they got permission from the state but there was such an uproar from the resort strip, and from students (and their parents) who work at the oceanfront during the summer, that the city didn't go forward with the plan.

From Michael Owen on December 18, 2010 at 9:46 AM
Discoveryland (Tomorrowland) at Disneyland Paris thank you very much. A strong attraction line-up - Space Mountain, Star Tours and Buzz - coupled with some marvellous architecture. Somewhat dated in parts, but that can add to the charm of it.