Going with a Marching Band whose organizer does not know Disney

[AngelaDMcLaughlin]

Oh boy. For a Disney nerd, this has been SO painful to watch.
My daughter's marching Band was originally scheduled to go to Disney in April, 2020, then Covid-19 happened. They bumped the trip to May 31st, 2021. All along, I've been trying to tell them they need to get tickets, and schedule days at the parks. They insisted that the whole group was fine, and the tour company assured them they would be all in the same parks that the itinerary stated. (Narrator Voice: This was not the case.)
They STILL have not bought tickets, and therefore, have not been able to schedule their park days so the entire band misses out on Hollywood studios, and now probably Magic Kingdom also. Their itinerary is a joke because they have the kids splitting up into groups of five at most, and expect them to all park hop to different parks to meet up with the tour bus at the end of the day to get back to their resort, which is off property. These poor kids have mostly never been to Disney, and they expect them to find their way around, park hop without supervision, and make it back to the hotel as a group each night? Oh, man. My husband and I are going separately with our youngest. We asked my oldest daughter if she wanted to just come along with us, but of course she wants to be with the band. I may upgrade my tickets to park hoppers just so I can help rescue confused band kids.

Any tips or tricks for this crazy situation are greatly appreciated!

 

[AngelaDMcLaughlin]

Question for the Dreams Unlimited Travel Co: Do you handle large groups like Marching Bands? Because if you do, they go every three years, and I will push HARD for them to hire you guys.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would recommend you contact Dreams Unlimited directly as I’m not sure they they will see the message here.

All the best!

 

[Tigerlulu]

So I’ve been in your shoes. 2 trips now, this
was supposed to be the trip for our 3rd band student and I will have at least one more kiddo to go with at some point.

I book everything separate including getting my own tickets. Our band director will give the kids their tickets as they arrive at Disney so they could never make fast passes or anything. Nope not for me.

I did always send my kid with the band. They are expected to never be alone. They can park hop or whatever, just always with at least one other person. I was nervous the first time as my daughter was just a freshman but it was surprisingly fine! I book only like two meals for them to eat with us and one of them they can bring a friend. Once we did it as a dessert party. But they always prefer to hang with friends and not as much with us, which is fine.

Question: are they getting to March? We are hoping to get to go next year but not sure if we will or not.

I did always make sure my kiddos had a magic band attached to my account so they can charge and not have to worry about daily allotted cash and such. With the understanding if they charged outrageous amounts they would be on the hook for them and we never had an issue.

 

[Tigerlulu]

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[FCDub]

I will take the opposite point and largely say stay out of it. Obviously there need to be park reservations made in order for people to actually get into the park, but beyond that, let it go. The kids will care more about being with each other outside of school more than any “perfect” day. I went on plenty of field trips where chaperones tried to make everything perfect for everyone, and we just didn't care. We were excited to not be in school.