Do The Rushed Experiences of Band Trips Ruin Disney for Some?

[Crockett]

I love WDW because of growing up experiencing the parks and having fond memories.

I talked to a co-worker the other day who had a much lesser opinion of WDW, which I respect. But the reason she dislikes WDW so highly is due to a very rushed, disorganized band trip she took part in while back in H.S. years.

She didn't tell me 100% of the details, but from what I could capture, her school arrived at MK just in time to set up for the parade, were allowed only so many hours to freely roam the park, had to meet back on Mainstreet to check-in w/ teachers every 3+ hrs, did not stay for MSEP, Wishes(well, Fantasy in the Sky back then), etc. Had never been on POTC or HM either.

The group also had a split day between DHS & Epcot.

It just seemed to me like she & her peers did not get to experience WDW the way most of us have. With such rushed time constraints, I cannot blame her. Had I grown up at Disney, not getting to experience all the rides, shows, only half-days at Epcot, and so on...I may not have been as tempted to return either.

Disney can be loved or loathed depending on if it's done correctly. Do you think many band students these days do not really get to grasp WDW for what it is? Had I rushed through 4 theme parks in 2.5 days, with numerous meeting points/schedules thrown in, I often wonder what my taste in the place would be today.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I agree, they absolutely do hinder the experience, and for a lot of people, an organized school trip is their only exposure to WDW.

When I was a kid, my family took a vacation to WDW every year or two. After several trips, I went on a trip with my school band. It was during spring break, the parks were packed, and it was exactly as you described - rushed, unresearched, unorganized. I spent half the trip explaining to everyone that "its not normally like this."

Now, granted, not every band/school/whatever trip is rushed and poorly planned out, and I'm sure many of the students still have fun on their trip simply just by being with their big group of friends. But yeah, unfortunately I've found from talking to anyone who's only exposure to WDW was through an organized trip that they usually have a less than favorable opinion of WDW.

 

[Retlaw Yensid]

I think it is definitely true that when people are at WDW for band trips they do not get the same experience as if they were there on their own vacation. Similar to this, I know people who had sports tournaments at the Wide World of Sports, and they did not seem to thrilled by what WDW had to offer. For some people, they simply don't enjoy Disney as much as other do. However, if you take a trip there for sports or band or what have you, your perception of WDW is different than what it would be if you went there purely for vacation.

 

[surfsupdon]

Our students are very, very lucky that our school puts on such an incredible SENIOR TRIP....I am a class advisor who is currently planning a trip for around 150 kids...right now working on room lists...YIKES!!

5 nights at Caribbean Beach
5 day Ultimate Ticket (not MYW..allows unlimited hopping and water parks)
2 Meal coupons PER day
10 bucks per day
Pizza party nightly/ contintental breakfast daily
1 Unlimited Mug


Students must be out of rooms by 9am, must check in with chaperone at Caribbean Beach anytime from 2-4pm, and must be in by curfew (midnight or later) depending on park hours. They can be at the Resort during the day but not hang out in their room.

You'll find that for many, this will be their only trip to WDW and we try to make it as incredible as possible. Lots of the seniors will also CHOOSE to hang around their teachers, because we know the ins and outs of Disney. It really is a lot of fun and we are proud to offer so much for the kids!!

I hear many horror stories of how terrible other trips can be, so I can understand.

 

[Crockett]

Our students are very, very lucky that our school puts on such an incredible SENIOR TRIP....I am a class advisor who is currently planning a trip for around 150 kids...right now working on room lists...YIKES!!

5 nights at Caribbean Beach
5 day Ultimate Ticket (not MYW..allows unlimited hopping and water parks)
2 Meal coupons PER day
10 bucks per day
Pizza party nightly/ contintental breakfast daily
1 Unlimited Mug


Students must be out of rooms by 9am, must check in with chaperone at Caribbean Beach anytime from 2-4pm, and must be in by curfew (midnight or later) depending on park hours. They can be at the Resort during the day but not hang out in their room.

You'll find that for many, this will be their only trip to WDW and we try to make it as incredible as possible. Lots of the seniors will also CHOOSE to hang around their teachers, because we know the ins and outs of Disney. It really is a lot of fun and we are proud to offer so much for the kids!!

I hear many horror stories of how terrible other trips can be, so I can understand.

^Now this seems like a proper way to organize a group trip to Disney. Your group is lucky to actually have someone who knows WDW being behind all the set-up details.

It's sad how many other kids will never really "get" the magic that most of us here know, due to being rushed through the parks and not doing it correctly. As so many of the guidebooks & Travel Channel specials say...you have to PLAN accordingly to really get what it's all about.

 

[VDisneyFan18]

Our students are very, very lucky that our school puts on such an incredible SENIOR TRIP....I am a class advisor who is currently planning a trip for around 150 kids...right now working on room lists...YIKES!!

5 nights at Caribbean Beach
5 day Ultimate Ticket (not MYW..allows unlimited hopping and water parks)
2 Meal coupons PER day
10 bucks per day
Pizza party nightly/ contintental breakfast daily
1 Unlimited Mug


Students must be out of rooms by 9am, must check in with chaperone at Caribbean Beach anytime from 2-4pm, and must be in by curfew (midnight or later) depending on park hours. They can be at the Resort during the day but not hang out in their room.

You'll find that for many, this will be their only trip to WDW and we try to make it as incredible as possible. Lots of the seniors will also CHOOSE to hang around their teachers, because we know the ins and outs of Disney. It really is a lot of fun and we are proud to offer so much for the kids!!

I hear many horror stories of how terrible other trips can be, so I can understand.

i would die for your job that would e soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much funb to plan something like that

 

[BrittanyRose428]

I've never been with a band or any other group besides my family but my roommate has and from what I've heard that was exactly her experience-- rushed. The only time she went was with her high school band, and they only had about 4 days, split between the parks and downtown Disney, and most of their time in the Magic Kingdom was spent preparing for the parade. She made it sound like she really didn't get to see a lot, and she seemed kind of disappointed that she was able to go backstage. She claims that while backstage she saw a character without a head on, and to me that sounds scarring for a first trip. I'm assuming she's telling the truth about that, because I don't see why she would lie, but that makes me wish Disney would have a separate area just for high school bands, I would not want to see that during my first trip.

 

[MickeyMind]

I took a trip to disneyland in high school, and I had an amazing time, 2 days in dl 1 in universal and 1 in san diego zoo.. It was probably the best field trip I ever went on.

My experience was alot different from hers I guess. We never checked in with our chaperones, only on 1 day where we had to sing a couple of disney songs for 15 min, but that was it. The rest of the time was spent just hanging out and exploring the parks with our friends.

Awesome trip, didnt ruin disneyland at all for me, if anything it made me want to go visit again

 

[BrittanyRose428]

So it must really depend on the school then. I'm assuming in my roommate's case whoever planned the trip didn't plan it with enough time for the band-members to do much besides the parade. It seems like it could go either way, that it could be a really fun experience or a really rushed one.

 

[Tigger1988]

Our students are very, very lucky that our school puts on such an incredible SENIOR TRIP....I am a class advisor who is currently planning a trip for around 150 kids...right now working on room lists...YIKES!!

5 nights at Caribbean Beach
5 day Ultimate Ticket (not MYW..allows unlimited hopping and water parks)
2 Meal coupons PER day
10 bucks per day
Pizza party nightly/ contintental breakfast daily
1 Unlimited Mug


Students must be out of rooms by 9am, must check in with chaperone at Caribbean Beach anytime from 2-4pm, and must be in by curfew (midnight or later) depending on park hours. They can be at the Resort during the day but not hang out in their room.

You'll find that for many, this will be their only trip to WDW and we try to make it as incredible as possible. Lots of the seniors will also CHOOSE to hang around their teachers, because we know the ins and outs of Disney. It really is a lot of fun and we are proud to offer so much for the kids!!

I hear many horror stories of how terrible other trips can be, so I can understand.

When I was in High School our senior trip was VERY similar to this (also in the OC of NJ...). We stayed at All Star Sports though, would've liked to stay at a resort like Caribbean Beach!

 

[nolatron]

I went to WDW twice with my band for marching in parades in the Magic Music Days program. For the most part I don't ever recall it being rushed. We left Tuesday night (Mardi Gras) and came back I think Sunday morning, so it was long trip for us. They weren't my first trip though as I've been a few times with family before hand.

We usually took the buses to a particular park in the morning after a group breakfast at the hotel. Once at the park you were on your own till the designated "be back at the bus" time, usually just after park closing. So groups of friends would get together or whatever and hit the parks. If you had a park hopper you could hit another park if you wanted. Just as long as you got your butt on the bus on time they didn't care much.

The night before the parade we would return to the hotel early to rehearse in the parking lot and then parade day it was pretty much the same, except we had to be back stage to dress by a certain time. We did two parades each trip, 1 daytime one day and 1 nighttime the other. I remember walking past a line up of the MSEP floats backstage. That was pretty cool.

But all in all they were great trips for me. Never seen so may cameras pointed at ya though. I always wonder how many vacation photoalbums I'm in, lol.

 

[wolf359]

I think the end experience depends on the quality of the planning, no different from any "normal" vacation. Bad planning, band trip or not, can certainly make a less than magical trip to Walt Disney World.

Disney has rules requiring performances on an in-park day, so any touring has to be combined with taking the time to meet and perform. Also, check ins also are part of the "student trip experience" but between the explosion of cell phone technology and Disney's own (VERY well tuned) chaperone support keeping the kids safe is much simpler now than it was back when I was a student.

I agree cramming too much into a short period of time is a recipe for disappointment, but it can be a tough call balancing wanting to visit all of the parks with having enough quality time in each of them. When I planned my last student trip I opted for a split day between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios knowing it would be a little hectic but I also used park hours to help maximize in-park time. I also followed it up with a whole day each for Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.

 

[chrissyw14]

I agree the WDW trip I took with the school orchestra was not all that great.

We only had 4 days in the parks and one of them was at a water park which I don't like going too. the first day we went to hollywood studios and it was fun but we went over easter break and it was incredibly crowded. We did not get to spend a lot of time in Magic Kingdom. However, I got to perform at cosmic rays and we went underground and walked through the tunnels, so that was cool. with only 4 days, i would rather not spending time at downtown disney. Luckily my family had gone the summer before and we went again the summer after. I still love disney going with the school juust isnt fun.

especially with 22 hour bus ride and going to golden corral too much

 

[Rob562]

My sister chaperoned my niece's band trip to WDW. While they had a general outline of what was going to happen each day, there was some leeway, except on the day of their performance in Downtown Disney and the seminar that evening.

My sister had been to WDW a few times (three with me), and my niece was along on one of those trips when she was about 6 or 7. My sister knew to ask me for complete guidance in figuring out a gameplan to make the most of their outlined trip, and I obliged. Gave her a general idea in what order to hit major attractions, FastPass strategies, fast food suggestions, fireworks viewing locations, etc.

While kids weren't required to stay with chaperones while in the parks, my sister did have a group or 4 or 5 kids (not my niece) who chose to go around with "the cool band mom". After the trip, those kids thanked my sister over and over because when they compared notes with the other kids, they'd seen at least twice what the other kids had.

The band leader knew Disney, but still made some questionable choices...

On their performance day, after they finished at the Marketplace, changed out of their performance clothes and put them and the instruments on the bus, they had to get to Epcot. The band leader told everyone to take a Disney bus to the Poly, monorail to the TTC and then monorail to Epcot. When my sister phoned me and told me this, I told her it was crazy. I told her to take a bus to Port Orleans, get off and wait for an Epcot bus. Depsite being the 3rd or 4th group to leave, they were the 2nd to reach Epcot, and would've been first if they hadn't been stuck waiting 35+ minutes for the Epcot bus at French Quarter...

The other time, they were going from a half-day at the Studios (which was a last-minute addition/option rather than a morning of relaxing at the hotel pool) and had to go to the MK. The band leader wanted everyone to walk to Epcot, walk *through* Epcot to take the monorail to TTC and then MK. Once my sister found out that they had to walk through Epcot, she immediately called me. (She has a bad knee and goes a bit slowly, even with the brace she wears when she knows she'll be doing a lot of walking) I told her to get on the bus to the TTC and then monorail to the MK. She did that, and even had time for a stop at the Grand Floridian to look around, sit down and relax and recharge her phone from a nearby outlet. And she *still* beat many of the groups to the MK (though they apparently stopped in Epcot to ride one or two things en route).

-Rob

 

[BelleofDE]

This thread strikes a chord with me. My first trip to WDW was on my junior band trip. We were only given 2 HOURS in one park of our choosing. I was very upset when I found out this information. We spent 2 whole days in Universal/Islands of Adventure and only got 2 hrs at WDW. I had waited my whole life to get to go (my parents could never afford to take the whole family so I knew band in HS was going to be my only option to go). My friends and I managed to get on 5 rides in those 2 hrs, but it was really rushed.

If I didn't meet my husband who is a total Disney fanatic, I don't think I would have ever gone back to WDW. He was the one to really give me my first true WDW trip, and I really don't count that one band trip as my first trip to the World.

 

[Crockett]

My first trip to WDW was on my junior band trip. We were only given 2 HOURS in one park of our choosing.

That would be cruel & harsh punishment. Only getting 2 hrs in all of WDW?? That's like giving a hungry man a cracker as he watches others eat off the full buffet.

 

[kstella]

A few years ago I went with my son's school. It was a joint band/orchestra trip. I was put in charge of planning day to day activities and I think I did a pretty good job. I made sure to allow lots of time at each park and we gave the kids two options of park per day. They had to stay in groups of three or more and check in in person every few hours at appointed times and places with the assigned chaperone. Any deviation from the daily plan had to be approved in person by the chaperones. Extra magic hours were allowed, or they could stay and hang at the resort if they wanted to. Everyone had to be in their own rooms by ten and if they ran into a problem leaving the park they had to check in and let a chaperone know. We had no trouble and I think the kids really had a chance to experience the magic of Disney.

 

[Hakunamatata]

My first trip to E.P.C.O.T. was on a band trip. We were supposed to go as groups but because I had visited MK numerous times growing up, I pretty much decided to break off from my group and go at it alone. I was able to pretty much get enough of a taste of it and enough photos to convince my parents that we should go back that summer, which we did.

 

[ArtieJim]

I went back in 2003 with my high school's entire music program (marching band, jazz band, jazz choir, regular chorus) and we were down there for five days at AS Music, had two meal vouchers each day as was mentioned for another school trip. We never had to really check in but we were at the parks until close each night, we weren't supposed to park hop either but they could have avoided that by not giving us park hopper passes. I guess no one of authority realized we had park hopper passes because my friends and I were every where. We all had a great time.