natebenma
Beach Club Dee
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2008
8th Grade Class Trip/Disney Youth Education Series (Y.E.S.) Program
June 8-12, 2015, All Star Movies
112 teens, 43 adults
everybody to my second trip chaperoning teenagers from our middle school on their 8th grade class trip to Disney World.
My name is Dee, my son is Ben (age 14) but the rest of my traveling companions will remain nameless and faceless, to protect the innocent (and not so innocent) people I know. Our walking group was 12 boys and 5 chaperones.
Throughout this report, I will sprinkle some flashbacks to the trip I chaperoned 3 years ago with my older son Nate. For those of you who followed that trip, you know there was quite a bit of drama involved.
145 Middle Schoolers
Wicked Awesome or Epic Fail???
Background of trip:
For the past 13 years, since 2001, the 8th grade class has gone to Disney World to participate in the Y.E.S program as a class trip. Every year we hear from groups of parents who question the cost and educational value of the trip compared to a trip to say Washington DC or New York City.
This year’s trip was $875 for students, $925 for chaperones and included transportation to and from the airport, roundtrip nonstop airfare to Orlando, 4 nights at All Star Movies, 3 day Park Hopper passes to the theme parks, 2 special classes at the theme parks, 2 counter service meals per day for the 3 park days, grab and go Continental breakfast provided by the teachers and water for the parks. About the only extra expense necessary for students was food for the travel days, any extra snacks and souvenirs.
Every effort is made to ensure that any student who earns the right to go on this trip by demonstrating proper behavior and effort throughout the school year, regardless of ability to pay, is able to participate in this trip.
I doubt you can really plan a trip to Washington DC for much less, plus the idea of being on a bus for 10-12 hours, of moving 150 people around the city and trying to find affordable places to eat for a group of this size all scare me!
While no place is perfectly secure, a trip to the World offers convenient transportation, a wide variety of food options and unrivaled security that is very assuring to school staff, chaperones and parents sending their children on this trip.
We hire Disney security guards to patrol our hallways overnight and we bring 2 nurses on the trip.
There is no shortage of chaperones volunteering to come along.
How is this educational?
The first two mornings the students are in the park, they attend organized and unique classes through Disney’s Youth Education Series (Y.E.S ) program. There are a variety of offerings in all 4 theme parks. The classes we actually take are based on the availability of instructors for the size of our group on the days we will be there. Some examples are a physics class where the kids ride Space Mountain with the lights on and off and compare the experience and a class on Imagineering at Hollywood Studios.
This year was Energy and Waves at Magic Kingdom, featuring a backstage visit at Haunted Mansion and Careers in Marine Biology at EPCOT. I’ll describe these in depth in my report.
Energy and Waves, 2012
Opportunities abound within the parks for educational experiences:
Exposure to exotic animals and environmental lessons at Animal Kingdom
Lessons about attention to period detail, entertainment history and exposure to important musical influences (Aerosmith) for a new generation at Hollywood Studios.
Magic Kingdom has Carousel of Progress and Hall of Presidents. OK, nobody actually goes to these attractions. But we could!
EPCOT has acres of learning disguised as fun- cultural studies in the World Showcase, hands-on physics and engineering experience at Test Track and Sum of All Thrills, history of communication, cutting edge horticulture and immersive study of energy and conservation practices.
Not to mention the constant math that happened during the trip.
We have 17 people, 3 sitting out- how many in our ride party?
But the greatest lessons learned on this trip are the social ones. Travelling with a large group of peers and sharing experiences with both friends and with kids who do not normally interact. Compromise- making sure that the needs of everyone in the group are considered when deciding what to do, when to do it and where to eat. Appropriate public behavior. Money management.
When I first participated in the class trip 3 years ago, I was duly impressed by how well-organized this trip was. And kudos do not come easily from me.
But these past few years the school has had a secret weapon, someone with a serious addiction to the Mouse and the Disney expertise to help navigate the World of Magic Bands, Fast Passes, Park Hours and Food Options.
In preparation for this trip, I managed (with assistance) the creation of 13 My Disney Experience accounts for our walking groups, linking of park tickets for everyone on the trip, booking 150 Fast Passes each for 3 days at the parks and preparation of concise informational resources for chaperones on the trip.
A volunteer by nature, I have been offering my assistance on past trips, but this year it was personal!
I devoted many waking hours to the success of this trip but who knew
“I Can Organize This Trip in My Sleep!”
Next Up: Getting There is Half the Fun. Wait. No it isn't!
June 8-12, 2015, All Star Movies
112 teens, 43 adults
everybody to my second trip chaperoning teenagers from our middle school on their 8th grade class trip to Disney World. My name is Dee, my son is Ben (age 14) but the rest of my traveling companions will remain nameless and faceless, to protect the innocent (and not so innocent) people I know. Our walking group was 12 boys and 5 chaperones.
Throughout this report, I will sprinkle some flashbacks to the trip I chaperoned 3 years ago with my older son Nate. For those of you who followed that trip, you know there was quite a bit of drama involved.
145 Middle Schoolers
Wicked Awesome or Epic Fail??? Background of trip:
For the past 13 years, since 2001, the 8th grade class has gone to Disney World to participate in the Y.E.S program as a class trip. Every year we hear from groups of parents who question the cost and educational value of the trip compared to a trip to say Washington DC or New York City.
This year’s trip was $875 for students, $925 for chaperones and included transportation to and from the airport, roundtrip nonstop airfare to Orlando, 4 nights at All Star Movies, 3 day Park Hopper passes to the theme parks, 2 special classes at the theme parks, 2 counter service meals per day for the 3 park days, grab and go Continental breakfast provided by the teachers and water for the parks. About the only extra expense necessary for students was food for the travel days, any extra snacks and souvenirs.
Every effort is made to ensure that any student who earns the right to go on this trip by demonstrating proper behavior and effort throughout the school year, regardless of ability to pay, is able to participate in this trip.
I doubt you can really plan a trip to Washington DC for much less, plus the idea of being on a bus for 10-12 hours, of moving 150 people around the city and trying to find affordable places to eat for a group of this size all scare me!
While no place is perfectly secure, a trip to the World offers convenient transportation, a wide variety of food options and unrivaled security that is very assuring to school staff, chaperones and parents sending their children on this trip.
We hire Disney security guards to patrol our hallways overnight and we bring 2 nurses on the trip.
There is no shortage of chaperones volunteering to come along.
How is this educational?
The first two mornings the students are in the park, they attend organized and unique classes through Disney’s Youth Education Series (Y.E.S ) program. There are a variety of offerings in all 4 theme parks. The classes we actually take are based on the availability of instructors for the size of our group on the days we will be there. Some examples are a physics class where the kids ride Space Mountain with the lights on and off and compare the experience and a class on Imagineering at Hollywood Studios.
This year was Energy and Waves at Magic Kingdom, featuring a backstage visit at Haunted Mansion and Careers in Marine Biology at EPCOT. I’ll describe these in depth in my report.
Energy and Waves, 2012
Opportunities abound within the parks for educational experiences:
Exposure to exotic animals and environmental lessons at Animal Kingdom
Lessons about attention to period detail, entertainment history and exposure to important musical influences (Aerosmith) for a new generation at Hollywood Studios.
Magic Kingdom has Carousel of Progress and Hall of Presidents. OK, nobody actually goes to these attractions. But we could!
EPCOT has acres of learning disguised as fun- cultural studies in the World Showcase, hands-on physics and engineering experience at Test Track and Sum of All Thrills, history of communication, cutting edge horticulture and immersive study of energy and conservation practices.
Not to mention the constant math that happened during the trip.
We have 17 people, 3 sitting out- how many in our ride party?
But the greatest lessons learned on this trip are the social ones. Travelling with a large group of peers and sharing experiences with both friends and with kids who do not normally interact. Compromise- making sure that the needs of everyone in the group are considered when deciding what to do, when to do it and where to eat. Appropriate public behavior. Money management.
When I first participated in the class trip 3 years ago, I was duly impressed by how well-organized this trip was. And kudos do not come easily from me.
But these past few years the school has had a secret weapon, someone with a serious addiction to the Mouse and the Disney expertise to help navigate the World of Magic Bands, Fast Passes, Park Hours and Food Options.
In preparation for this trip, I managed (with assistance) the creation of 13 My Disney Experience accounts for our walking groups, linking of park tickets for everyone on the trip, booking 150 Fast Passes each for 3 days at the parks and preparation of concise informational resources for chaperones on the trip.
A volunteer by nature, I have been offering my assistance on past trips, but this year it was personal!
I devoted many waking hours to the success of this trip but who knew
“I Can Organize This Trip in My Sleep!”
Next Up: Getting There is Half the Fun. Wait. No it isn't!
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Joining! I have never heard of the Y.E.S program. My high school graduation trip was to WDW. That was, however, only a day trip, decades ago and our bus trip was only 2.5 hours.
I'm in! Looking forward to reading all about the fun and your uber organizational skills. 
