Help me help my kid! School trip :)

[saraheliz]

Kiddo is going on a music trip to Disney with her high school program. It sounds like they will have ticket numbers to enter into MDE. I told DD that if she had a group of friends whose parents are willing to pay for etc some Genie + or ILL I'd help them and even book them from home but it probably doesn't make sense to do too much of it since it's tricky to manage with their schedule.

I'm posting the schedule below. I'm thinking it would make sense to *try* to get them ILL for FoP and RotR if possible, even if that's all they get it would help tremendously with those two parks.

Questions: Does trying to get FoP seem reasonable to try for given that they have a good part of the day in AK and we wouldn't be super bound by time? And would it be beneficial? Then they would maybe be able to fit in a few other rides standby?

RotR...is there any way to manage getting this given that they're only at HS for a few hours? Or are they better off forgetting Rise and I try to get them 2-3 Genie + rides to fly through during those hours? If I see a good Rise time and try to grab it and end up with a time that won't work, can I deal with customer service from home for them?

If they decide they do want to do it- what's the best way? My daughter is on our MDE already and it seems like maybe a cluster to try to do it and link them from there and might potentially screw with our tickets etc for summer? Should I have her make her own account and link her friends from there?

Also, the music director said "I paid Disney to make all of our park reservations for us with each ticket number so once that's done I'll give everyone their numbers to enter into MDE." Anyone know how this works? They haven't gone in 4 years so last time this worked with FP but now obviously there are park reservations involved. Will their park reservations be linked to that ticket and show up?

Thanks for any thoughts/input. She's asked for my help and I'm trying to walk a fine line of pushing her to just go and have a good time while also providing a little help if it will make their time more fun. I don't want a group of freshmen trying to manage Genie+ in the parks- I think that's a recipe for disaster given the intricacies. And standing in line with your friends is half the fun at that age!

Friday: MK 9-5:30
Saturday: TL 10-2, HS 3-9
Sunday: EP 9-4:30 (half her friends will leave for a band workshop at 1, it seems best to leave this day alone completely)
Monday: AK 9-5 (then to the airport for their flight home)

 

[AprilsZoo]

Do they not have any performances scheduled during those days?

I’ve never seen a Disney Band trip that didn’t have various performances to work around. With my kids, they knew which parade they’d march in weeks ahead of time, but the exact time of the jazz performance wasn’t confirmed until a few days prior to arrival.

I wouldn’t waste money on genie+. It’s just gonna cause more frustration than it helps. You don’t even know yet how their band director is going handle check-ins. On the one day that our kids didn’t have a workshop or performance, our director had them all report to the front of the park midday. Trying to figure out times for G+ from afar seems like a lot of work for an extra ride or two, at most.

Also keep in mind that teens are fickle little creatures who may decide (after you’ve bought ILL) that they’d rather go on something else instead. Or that they’re gonna hang out with someone different in the afternoon. Or they might have a disagreement and decide they aren’t friends anymore. Then by breakfast they’ve made up again.

Since DD’s been there before, she’s used to you planning everything out for your family. That’s why she wants your help for this trip. But you don’t want her to end up coming off as bossy with her friends. Which could happen without her even meaning to, if it’s her mom who is managing everything.

Honestly, our kids didn’t really expect to get on tons of rides. They were there for the music stuff, and to be with their friends. Some had the goal of seeing how many Disney snacks they could scarf down and still fit into their band uniforms, lol. [There were more than a couple churro and Mickey bar lovers in the group… and several more converts by the end of each trip. Teens and junk food— two things that will always go hand in hand.]

My advice would be to tell her that for this trip, she and her friends should just pick one ride each that is their must do each day. If they get on more, awesome. (If they don’t each get to have a second round choice on a given day, those kids get their choice #2 first on the following day) Beyond that they should soak in the ambiance, have snacks that they can only get at Disney. And enjoy the experience!