Teen Band Trip

[taradelao]

My kiddo and her marching band are heading to Disney in the late spring. They're supposed to be performing at MK?

Her band is notoriously vague and horrible at communicating so I have no idea what to expect on this trip. I'm not quite sure I trust the company planning it either (Can any other Disney fans relate to thinking, "No, no... you're doing it all wrong!"). I mean, the band directors haven't been to Disney since pre-COVID so I'm not sure if they know what to expect.

Anyways, have any other parents gone to Disney with their kid's marching band? What should I expect?

 

[DL1WDW2]

A year ago, our family also rearranged all Spring Travel when their band announced performing for Spring Break at WDW…
and also very vague… Turns out Disney sells many “ packages” … they had practice performances on Disney quality sound stage but never really performed on Main Street or Disney Springs.
Makes me wonder just how the Bands on Main Street /Disney Springs were chosen ( ? ).
Does anybody know?

 

[taradelao]

A year ago, our family also rearranged all Spring Travel when their band announced performing for Spring Break at WDW…
and also very vague… Turns out Disney sells many “ packages” … they had practice performances on Disney quality sound stage but never really performed on Main Street or Disney Springs.
Makes me wonder just how the Bands on Main Street /Disney Springs were chosen ( ? ).
Does anybody know?

Interesting. The package they have is also pretty pricey and they're not even staying on site. Hotel per night is less than a value AND they have 4 kids per room.

Looks like we're paying for motorcoaches to stay and transport them to Disney throughout their trip (could stay on site for a little more and cut the motorcoaches), AND we're paying for extra overnight security (back in MY day lol, our cheer coach and chaperones would just tape paper on the outside of our doors across the door threshold and if it was ripped, they'd know we got out). They're also in Orlando for less than a week and only doing 3 Disney parks.

To put in perspective, I'm rooming by myself for twice the amount of days and twice the amount of park days for the same price.

 

[disny_luvr]

My boys’ marching band performed in Magic Kingdom in April of last year. I don’t know much about the planning, but their school used a local agency that often plans high school trips to Disney. It was pretty seamless for us parents. It was very organized and everything was spelled out for us.

The marching band marched on Main Street before the afternoon parade. Another high school band did, too. The orchestra and chorus also went on the trip and they performed at Disney Springs on another day. All students got to attend a session with Disney musicians and learn from them and play with them, too. My boys absolutely loved that!

As far as performing, each of the music departments had to submit audition tapes prior to being selected.

They drove down to Disney and did not stay on property. They visited MK, Epcot, and DHS over three days and went to Universal one day, too.

My DH and I flew down ourselves and visited the Disney park they were in each day. We’d meet up once a day, but otherwise they were with their friends and we were on our own.

It was such an awesome experience for them and they loved going on the trip with their friends!

 

[taradelao]

My boys’ marching band performed in Magic Kingdom in April of last year. I don’t know much about the planning, but their school used a local agency that often plans high school trips to Disney. It was pretty seamless for us parents. It was very organized and everything was spelled out for us.

The marching band marched on Main Street before the afternoon parade. Another high school band did, too. The orchestra and chorus also went on the trip and they performed at Disney Springs on another day. All students got to attend a session with Disney musicians and learn from them and play with them, too. My boys absolutely loved that!

As far as performing, each of the music departments had to submit audition tapes prior to being selected.

They drove down to Disney and did not stay on property. They visited MK, Epcot, and DHS over three days and went to Universal one day, too.

My DH and I flew down ourselves and visited the Disney park they were in each day. We’d meet up once a day, but otherwise they were with their friends and we were on our own.

It was such an awesome experience for them and they loved going on the trip with their friends!

That sounds really cool! To my knowledge, they haven't submitted any audition tapes to Disney so maybe that's why I'm a little confused.
Seems like their travel agency messed up too, because I pointed out that they were missing a date on their itinerary and conflicting info on the park days. The band director has now been waiting for 3 days for a response from the agent.

 

[disny_luvr]

That sounds really cool! To my knowledge, they haven't submitted any audition tapes to Disney so maybe that's why I'm a little confused.
Seems like their travel agency messed up too, because I pointed out that they were missing a date on their itinerary and conflicting info on the park days. The band director has now been waiting for 3 days for a response from the agent.

Yikes, that’s not good. I hope everything gets worked out.

 

[danjoealexis3006]

Where is the best place to get pictures of the band at MK?

 

[disny_luvr]

Where is the best place to get pictures of the band at MK?

We stood in the hub so the castle would be behind them in pictures.