Crazy Band Mom Chaperoning in February

[LOMBmom]

It was just announced our high school bands will going to Disney in February! I am beyond excited. I have the dubious honor in our family of being the consummate Disney planner. My family loves the fact that prior to the new fast pass plus system we never waited more than 15 minutes in a line and always rode every ride we wanted, saw every attraction and met every character.

I would love to be able to help ALL of our band kids experience Disney they way my family has become accustomed to. We have not been to DisneyWorld since the new fast pass plus system started so I'm at as loss as even where to begin. We will be staying offsite and I highly doubt the schedule will allow for being at rope drop every morning.

Other than putting together a mini-tutorial about how the fast pass plus system works, recommending single rider lines for those rides with crazy long lines and making sure they take every opportunity for a disney photo since we will be purchasing memory maker. Any advice that will help a bunch of teenagers have a memorable park experience? FYI - once we get in the parks, they will be allowed to separate into small groups.

Thanks so much
LOMBmom

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

I assume your band is performing at Disney. You'll buy the park tickets thru Disney performing arts. There is a special number you can call to schedule fast passes for that large number of people. I haven't used it as our group was only 10 dancers but they did offer it to us. I added everyone to MDE and booked their fast passes for them.

 

[mousefan73]

I just wonder how if they can separate into small groups, how can you plan FPs for them if they decide last minute which group to form.. Teenagers are unpredictable. If they can go off on their own, by you planning their FPs, they have to stick to a plan... Will they do this?

 

[hiroMYhero]

@subtchr chaperones large groups on trips to the World. She'll be able to give you lots of tips. I believe she checks in every so often.

 

[bbjunkie]

 

[LOMBmom]

I just wonder how if they can separate into small groups, how can you plan FPs for them if they decide last minute which group to form.. Teenagers are unpredictable. If they can go off on their own, by you planning their FPs, they have to stick to a plan... Will they do this?

With 100+ students it would be a nightmare to keep them all together. So I'm really just hoping to give them good advice so they don't have to stand in lines. Whether they choose to take my advice is up to them. I know my son's group will because he HATES standing in lines! I've spoiled him . . . .

 

[LOMBmom]

@subtchr chaperones large groups on trips to the World. She'll be able to give you lots of tips. I believe she checks in every so often.

Thanks!

 

[mousefan73]

I would then suggest they make their own groups and a group leader who makes a MDE account and they manage their own.... if they are juniors or seniors they can handle this.

 

[mousefan73]

I would maybe highlight also THE rides where you really need a FP.. not sure when you guys are going.. but some one needs to say that FP for SDMT is not available day of. same for maybe other tier ones...

 

[Love Tink]

With 100+ students it would be a nightmare to keep them all together. So I'm really just hoping to give them good advice so they don't have to stand in lines. Whether they choose to take my advice is up to them. I know my son's group will because he HATES standing in lines! I've spoiled him . . . .

I appreciate your instinct, but I doubt there is much you can do. The not-standing-in-line-experience is for people who arrive before opening, know how to maximize FP, can move quickly, have a smart touring plan, etc. There is no magic advice you can give 100+ kids that will keep them out of lines if they arrive at MK at 10:00 and mostly want to ride the thrill rides.

My experience with my teenage son at local amusement parks (having been for a concert field trip and with groups of friends) is that they don't work that way anyway - or some might, but not all of them do. Waiting (and flirting and taking selfies and grabbing each other) in line is all part of the experience.

If you are going to be there until closing, you might suggest that they wait and ride one of the headliners at the end of the day. But usually with school groups you have to leave before the crowds thin out (another element that makes it more difficult). Unfortunately, there are only three single rider lines at WDW, and none at the MK, so that advice won't help much.

 

[Love Tink]

I appreciate your instinct, but I doubt there is much you can do. The not-standing-in-line-experience is for people who arrive before opening, know how to maximize FP, can move quickly, have a smart touring plan, etc. There is no magic advice you can give 100+ kids that will keep them out of lines if they arrive at MK at 10:00 and mostly want to ride the thrill rides.

I am going to respond to my own post by saying that the not-standing-in-line-experience can also be for people who only do attractions that don't get long lines, or won't get in long lines. But most kids won't be happy limiting themselves to the Tiki Room and Hall of Presidents.

You could be sure to tell them about the MDE app, which posts wait times. That would be useful.

 

[Recca135]

I know when I went with marching band in 2010 we were actually very limited to what we could do. There wasn't magic bands yet but we had a hard time getting our chaperones to get us fast passes. Also, something that came to mind, we did a lot of Disney "extras" for the performing arts. We did a parade, a music seminar, behind the scenes tour, and made our own Disney performing arts video.

It was extremely difficult for us to actually plan anything. The only day we could actually somewhat plan was our final day at Magic Kingdom. At the time of the trip, I was the Disney veteran in the band. That trip was number 15 for me. I did a lot with helping people who have never been to Disney figuring out what they wanted to try to do.

All together, the trip was a blast. I highly enjoyed everything that Disney had us do. We went in April over spring break. I remember waiting 2.5 hours for Soarin' in the standby line since we weren't at the park early enough to grab an actual fast pass.

Just remember, there is a major possibility that a lot of things will no go as planned during this trip. Especially with 100+ high schoolers. I've been there, done that with a trip like that and honestly, if my children ever want to be in the performing arts, I will not want to chaperone it. I give you credit times a million for doing this and helping out your child's band.

 

[DisneyEllie]

Our local HS band went to Disney this year, they had several special events planned for them by someone - highlights were the illuminations dessert party, and pre park dining reservations at AK (tusker house?) and also hoop dee do?. My kid is a rising freshman, so we only heard the highlights - everyone raved about the illuminations dessert party - the chatter I heard was, besides performing in the MSEP, the private illuminations dessert party was the highlight for the kids. Maybe you could see about coordinating something like that? I am guessing the costs of these events was rolled into the cost of the trip?! Just needed someone to organize.

(For reference this band marched in the MSEP and I think has about 100+ people.)

 

[mjkacmom]

Our HS choirs went this year, but stayed on site. As always, groups were made up ahead of time, and they had to check in with chaperones every few hours. Dd15 and her group set everything up on the app, I made fast passes for them, and signed up for touring plans based on their itinerary. Ds18 overheard, so his group did the same. They got to do so much!

 

[wollydoodle]

My son went with his HS band this year. They were able to book Fastpasses only after they received their tickets once they arrived. (Keep in mind it depends on the type of ticket they will have. It's my understanding there are several. You would need to find that out from the tour company.) They each had to make MDE accounts and I'm not sure about all the other groups but my son was familiar with the system so his group linked theirs using a "group" option on the app and then he entered their ticket info. They were able to get just about everything they wanted but also used single rider lines a lot. Maybe you can just give a heads up about how to do that. Sorry I don't have more detail but I wasn't there to see how it was done. He was happy with how much they got to ride though! (That was Presidents' Day week in February so it was pretty busy.)

 

[HelloMimi]

I chaperoned my little sisters' high school's performing arts dept. trip to Orlando last March, and while we had a lot of fun (it was our first time at WDW!), there were a lot of things out of my control. The department director for their school had never been to WDW before, so he had no idea how much planning was needed. As a result, the students didn't get their tickets until we were actually at the park the first day, which meant they weren't able to book FP+. My group was the only one to have Fastpasses booked (I just chose the rides that I thought would appeal most to teenagers), and only because the department director let me take the tickets one week before the trip. My girls were SO thankful for the FP+, but it was pretty sad seeing the faces of their friends in the standby lines as we passed them by... Additionally, on our day at HS, we were supposed to stay for Fantasmic!, but about an hour before our group had planned to meet up, one of the other chaperones called me to say that tickets were "sold out" and we were leaving early. ?????? All this to say that you'll want to make sure whoever's in charge of your trip understands the importance of planning in advance, and hope that they care (our director didn't).

A few more things:
1) Make sure the director stresses the importance of good behavior and the consequences the students might face if they break any rules. I know, this sounds obvious, but I still can't believe how awful the orchestra kids and drill team were on our trip. The bus ride to Orlando was 14 hours of screaming, bad rap music, and loud swearing. It was torture. And I'm pretty sure the hotel we stayed at will never let students from that high school stay there again. We even had a situation where one of the drill team girls committed a crime, which, strangely, didn't get her kicked off the team.
2) Make sure the director stresses the importance of what "chaperoning" means to the chaperones. I didn't have any issues with the parent chaperones on our trip, but the two teacher chaperones were completely useless. On our last day at the parks, the director actually ended up ranting about the orchestra teacher to me and my group of girls. I think he was trying to avoid telling her how to do her job.
3) Make sure the students budget their money appropriately! Two girls in my group ran out of money two days before we got home because they spent most of their money on souvenirs.
4) Make sure the students dress appropriately! When my sisters and I went back to WDW in January, there were a couple of school groups there. We saw a lot of girls wearing tank tops and short-shorts in 40/50-degree weather, and it was pretty obvious that they were cold. Winter is no time to be trying to impress the boys with your lady bits.

Ha, sorry for all the text. I think I just had to get my feelings out.

 

[subtchr]

Thanks for the tag, @hiroMYhero!

I am a tour director for a company that organizes trips for high school bands and choirs. I end up with groups from 50 - 300 about 8-10 times per year at WDW (we also do trips to many other locations, but Orlando is definitely the most popular!).

A couple questions for you to allow me to give my best advice. Do you have a travel company organizing your trip? Do you know the basic itinerary? What Disney Performing Arts activities will they be participating in? A parade, concert, workshop, all of the above?

Without knowing answers to those questions, I'll start with the basics:

1. As hard as it is, let go of your idea of an "ideal" WDW trip. It sounds as if you already realize that is necessary, but it's important enough that I wanted to reiterate it. The biggest problem is that your schedule is not your own. Say the group is doing an MK parade, marching before Festival of Fantasy. If they go to the MK in the morning, they will load everything on their buses, then have fun at the park until meeting at Golden Oak Outpost by 1:00. They will be escorted backstage, where their buses will meet them, to change and warmup before marching. They'll get back into the park after changing out of uniform and loading their instruments about 4:00 or so. So that's 3 hours in the middle of the day that are not available for touring. Also, in probably 50-60 group trips over the past 8 years, the only time I have a group at rope drop is when we do an in-park breakfast before opening, followed by a "first on" ride somewhere. (Those are awesome, by the way!)

2. Different companies do this differently, as the previous responses have shown, but there is no reason the kids can't do SOME pre-planning if they are so inclined. Every traveler who uses our company has an online account with us. We send them their ticket number over 30 days in advance, through their online account. We do not send them their actual hard ticket -- I pass those out when we arrive. But as long as they have the ticket number, they can link it to MDE and book fastpasses.

Of course, to book FP, they need to know the basic park schedule for the group. For example, with the MK example I gave earlier, they could book FP before noon or after 4, or a combination of both.

3. Even though some pre-planning is possible, you would be surprised how many group members just don't do it. We send an email to every client, describing how to set up at MDE account, link their ticket, and book FP. We do what we can to help them understand how much that will enhance their trip. But you know that old saying about leading a horse to water? A big percentage don't "drink". It's frustrating, but it is what it is. I will say, the first night at the hotel, after the non-planners have seen how much better the planners' day goes, I always set up some time to be in the lobby helping them set up and use MDE, because they have come around from the dark side!

A mini-tutorial is a great idea. Maybe meet in the band hall for everyone interested. Good luck, and know that you are doing your best!

4. How Disney-savvy is the director? Is he or she doing most of the planning? Do you have a good enough relationship with him or her that you can discuss the plans and provide some help and insights? How about travel-savvy in general? Does the band travel much?

Years ago, before every kid had a cell phone, many groups had kids report to chaperones physically several times during the day. You can just imagine how difficult and disruptive to a touring plan that could be. What I recommend to the director who still want a checkin during the day is to allow "selfie checks". The kids must send a selfie of themselves with their friends at a recognizable place in the park they are supposed to be. It's great, the kids get very creative!d

The other thing I recommend is a group messaging system like REMIND. It's secure, it's safe, and I can send pertinent information to everyone at once. And they don't even have to be listening!!

I'm sure I'll think of more. Please let me know if you have any questions for me! I'll be back with my latest group in a couple weeks.

 

[sdgrady1917]

Thanks for the tag, @hiroMYhero!

I am a tour director for a company that organizes trips for high school bands and choirs. I end up with groups from 50 - 300 about 8-10 times per year at WDW (we also do trips to many other locations, but Orlando is definitely the most popular!).

A couple questions for you to allow me to give my best advice. Do you have a travel company organizing your trip? Do you know the basic itinerary? What Disney Performing Arts activities will they be participating in? A parade, concert, workshop, all of the above?

Without knowing answers to those questions, I'll start with the basics:

1. As hard as it is, let go of your idea of an "ideal" WDW trip. It sounds as if you already realize that is necessary, but it's important enough that I wanted to reiterate it. The biggest problem is that your schedule is not your own. Say the group is doing an MK parade, marching before Festival of Fantasy. If they go to the MK in the morning, they will load everything on their buses, then have fun at the park until meeting at Golden Oak Outpost by 1:00. They will be escorted backstage, where their buses will meet them, to change and warmup before marching. They'll get back into the park after changing out of uniform and loading their instruments about 4:00 or so. So that's 3 hours in the middle of the day that are not available for touring. Also, in probably 50-60 group trips over the past 8 years, the only time I have a group at rope drop is when we do an in-park breakfast before opening, followed by a "first on" ride somewhere. (Those are awesome, by the way!)

2. Different companies do this differently, as the previous responses have shown, but there is no reason the kids can't do SOME pre-planning if they are so inclined. Every traveler who uses our company has an online account with us. We send them their ticket number over 30 days in advance, through their online account. We do not send them their actual hard ticket -- I pass those out when we arrive. But as long as they have the ticket number, they can link it to MDE and book fastpasses.

Of course, to book FP, they need to know the basic park schedule for the group. For example, with the MK example I gave earlier, they could book FP before noon or after 4, or a combination of both.

3. Even though some pre-planning is possible, you would be surprised how many group members just don't do it. We send an email to every client, describing how to set up at MDE account, link their ticket, and book FP. We do what we can to help them understand how much that will enhance their trip. But you know that old saying about leading a horse to water? A big percentage don't "drink". It's frustrating, but it is what it is. I will say, the first night at the hotel, after the non-planners have seen how much better the planners' day goes, I always set up some time to be in the lobby helping them set up and use MDE, because they have come around from the dark side!

A mini-tutorial is a great idea. Maybe meet in the band hall for everyone interested. Good luck, and know that you are doing your best!

4. How Disney-savvy is the director? Is he or she doing most of the planning? Do you have a good enough relationship with him or her that you can discuss the plans and provide some help and insights? How about travel-savvy in general? Does the band travel much?

Years ago, before every kid had a cell phone, many groups had kids report to chaperones physically several times during the day. You can just imagine how difficult and disruptive to a touring plan that could be. What I recommend to the director who still want a checkin during the day is to allow "selfie checks". The kids must send a selfie of themselves with their friends at a recognizable place in the park they are supposed to be. It's great, the kids get very creative!d

The other thing I recommend is a group messaging system like REMIND. It's secure, it's safe, and I can send pertinent information to everyone at once. And they don't even have to be listening!!

I'm sure I'll think of more. Please let me know if you have any questions for me! I'll be back with my latest group in a couple weeks.

 

[sdgrady1917]

Has anyone done recent band trips?

 

[subtchr]

Has anyone done recent band trips?

I had four this spring, and another one scheduled for October.