No, DeSantis isn't "winning" against Walt Disney World

We cluster trips around holiday weekends often to save on PTO when possible. It's nice having a freebie day off.

Our trip this Fall is in early October, so we save a day with Columbus Day. We also did the same for our spring trip with Juneteenth as the freebie.

Why not?

Hey Jeff!! I found your person ^^^

I mean, why wouldn't you? If you don't have unlimited PTO, if I can take a 5-6 day trip around a holiday weekend using just 2 days off... That just means more trips I can take?

Or carefully using holidays as rest days after a big trip... Flying for 8-9 hours back from Europe on a Sunday and then having Monday off to just unpack/sleep/chill is always nice.

I don't get how this would be unusual, at all.

This pretty much says everything we already said.

After being able to lump time around holidays to save PTO for years, my employer got rid of separate holidays and converted it all to PTO. Sure, we plussed up on vacation time, but it didn't feel like the same victory.

I don't know that Disney really much more expensive than it was 5 years ago relative to any other vacation option. The Florida beach condo that we've stayed in since 2019 went up 30% from last summer to this summer after being relatively flat. The Disney trip I took in 2018 has gone up by about the same rate. I guess my point is that everything is more expensive and Disney is no different.

Sure, stuff has all increased, but I can still stay in a hotel for, give or take a tiny amount, the same price as five years ago. Also, going to make a HP trip and tickets are maybe 5 bucks more than I paid in the past. Knoebels on the other hand has almost doubled on per ride prices, but that was over the past 10 years. So, some stuff has gone crazy and other stuff just not so much.

bigboy:

my employer got rid of separate holidays and converted it all to PTO

`Merica

I should clarify that we are a 365 day a year operation and we're open on every holiday, including Thanksgiving and Christmas. As someone who managed the schedules of multiple full time employees, my life was a lot easier onceI didn't have to figure out how to squeeze everyone's floating holidays into a 2 pay period window.

Jeff:

I read an HR article somewhere that said people rarely take off entire weeks and instead tend to cluster days before and after a holiday weekend.

Yeah, this is what I do too when it makes sense. If I can take a 5-6 day trip on only 1-2 days of PTO due to a long weekend/paid holiday, etc., as long as where I'm going and what I'm doing isn't impacted by insane holiday crowds it makes the most sense.

I can't even remember the last time I took off a full Monday-Friday 40 hours week as a full week of PTO. I'd hate to drain my PTO bank like that when there are a half dozen or so opportunities to use long weekends to take almost the same number of days with a small fraction of the charged PTO.

I guess I used to do this too, but I've been on unlimited PTO for most of the last decade, and I use 4-ish weeks a year. It'll probably be 5 this year. The other way to look at it is that if you do the five days between weekends, it's nine straight work-free days.

I saw the new Indy Jones the other night and quite enjoyed it. I hate how the media spins box office numbers these days.

the real reason the movie isn’t performing as well as the last one is:

1. It’s been 15 years since Indy 4
2. Indy 4 wasn’t very well liked
3. People under 35 don’t have much attachment to the franchise.

I agree. It was way better than I was expecting based on what the hive mind has been saying. It sits right in the middle of the Indy movies for me.

Jeff:

The other way to look at it is that if you do the five days between weekends, it's nine straight work-free days.

I agree wholeheartedly. Taking a 5 day long weekend is just not the same as 9 days off.

No, but I'd rather take 8 or 9 five day weekends a year is than taking 3 or 4 nine day stretches.

I am in a particularly unique situation (pastor of a church, kids in school) but I literally never take vacation except in week long chunks. Everything in my work life is built around a weekly schedule, so taking off a weekday here and a few days there is basically "not a thing." The kids also have these large week-long breaks (spring break, winter break, and now some random week in late Sept. for who-knows-why).

Since my wife and I are both teachers we take two different types of vacations. Obviously in the summer we take longer vacations. During spring break, winter break, or some random weekends we keep things pretty short. I enjoy both types and don't think I could exclusively take long vacations or short vacations.

I have a very unique schedule. I work 7 12 hour shifts in a row and then get the next 7 days off. I also get 3 weeks of vacation which means 3 times a year I get 3 weeks off in a row. It’s not for everyone but it’s great for me, I’ve really adjusted to working less than half the year. Yes 12 hours is a long shift and yes working every other weekend is t great either but I’ll gladly trade 4 weekend days a month for 10 weekdays.

I'm also in a position where my regular work week is actually Sunday-Thursday, but that can be adjusted based on events, programs, etc., that require me to change my work days.

At least 4-5 times a year it works out where I need to work on a Friday or Saturday, so I will do my regular Sunday-Thursday week and then the next week do a Tuesday-Saturday. I can do a 4 day weekend trip without taking any PTO or turn it into a Wednesday-Tuesday type deal and only take one or two days. It's nice flexibility and a great way to save PTO.

Boring talk about things like office PTO policies > Rip Ride Rockit

I love that even though I am a M-F person, I can work weekends and take off through the week with no problem. Taking Fri/Sat off one week and Sun/Mon off the next makes it so easy to take 4 day vacations all the time without burning vacation days. Even then, I only need to add one vacation day to a 4 day weekend and I can take a 5 day cruise with only using 8 hours of benefit time. I take so many trips throughout the year this way and its great.

For what it’s worth, I live and work on the Jersey Shore, another highly seasonal vacation region and the entire shore, or beach as everyone outside of NJ calls it, was mobbed all last week, with a slight uptick at the front end with people taking advantage of a 4 day weekend.

But the entire week was pretty much mobbed and in comparison, there was a huge perceptible drop this current week compared to the week of the 4th and even the week prior.

So yeah, I think when the 4th falls toward the middle of the week, you get three groups of vacationers. The front and back enders taking long weekends and those who take the entire week off.