My school district is very understanding. We can pre-arrange an absence and ask that it be counted as an educational, and thus excused, absence. We just have to identify the concepts our children will be learning while away from school.
We've stayed in a Lion King Suite and a Cars Suite at AoA and we loved both of them! It did seem like our bus leaving MK was always the furthest away from the park. I would absolutely go back to AoA!
I'm hoping to get to take my kiddos to WDW during late Oct through early Nov and I am so excited about the MNSSHP! We've been during Thanksgiving, Spring Break, and in August so it'll be exciting to see Disney during Halloween!