high school trip - need input from those who've btdt

[hvanes]

The band kids didn't get their magic bands until they arrived at the parks, so it wasn't possible for them to make FP reservations early. And the travel company helping them with the arrangements wouldn't give us ticket numbers because they couldn't keep track of who got what. So we made sure the Disney savvy kids knew to set up their FPs the night they arrived after they got their Magic Bands. For the most part, they were able to find some good options. But it made my daughter appreciate me more for all the pre-planning I do before we go!

I think this is what's going to happen with our group. They are staying offsite and my guess is that they'll get their tickets right before entering MK (btw, they're going to MK on a day when it has EMH... but they're staying off-site ). So I'm going to tell my son to get in a standby line and start making his FP for the rest of the trip while he's waiting in line.

 

[hvanes]

They really need to let the experienced Disney Moms handle the planning!!! haha!

The problem is, this experienced Disney Mom feels really overwhelmed by this situation!

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

For what it's worth, I went on a Disney trip with my high school choir about 8 years ago. It was pre FP+ and the way the itinerary was set up, we entered MK around 4pm one day and all of the paper FPs were gone. It was bad planning..there were long waits....yet, it worked out. My friends and I still had an AMAZING TIME and I remember that trip fondly even though we had to wait and it was way less "smoothly run" then my parent's highly organized trips and the trips I take now as an adult. It was the trip where I was forced on Splash Mountain for the first time!

 

[kj2mom]

My son definitely had a great time, it was just interesting to me that he noticed the steps I took to limit the amount of wait time and maximize our 'fun' time. It was a little bit of an issue with him when I said we had to start doing Disney training walks a couple of months before our trip. He would sass back about how he didn't understand why we had to walk when all we would be doing is waiting in line. I reassured him there would be lots of walking and I would do my best to limit line waiting and to trust me. Half way into our trip I thought to ask him if he still felt that it was all waiting in line and he was quick to respond that I was right. With the band trip they couldn't do rope drop because of performances, they couldn't stay late because of curfew and all of the other intricacies (like not being able to book FP until he got there) just couldn't happen during the band trip. They did skip a number of rides purely based on the length of the lines but they had a wonderful time and I have no doubt it will be a trip he will remember for a lifetime (as much because of the number of awards/trophies they came home with)! I just thought it was sweet when he acknowledged the efforts I put in to make our trips as great as they can be!

 

[acwsmom]

I think this is what's going to happen with our group. They are staying offsite and my guess is that they'll get their tickets right before entering MK (btw, they're going to MK on a day when it has EMH... but they're staying off-site ). So I'm going to tell my son to get in a standby line and start making his FP for the rest of the trip while he's waiting in line.

Yep - that's the best way to handle it. They didn't get all of the FP's they wanted, but they were able to find some good ones and were happy just being there. Plus, at their age, they really didn't have problems doing the stand-by line - they even waited 2 hours to see Baymax and just sat, talked and played on their phones while they waited. The school picked the days they would be at each park but then let the kids split up into groups with a minimum of four and only text/meet up with their chaperone every couple of hours. So four teenage girls running around the parks free of parents made them happy regardless of which rides they managed to get on.

 

[hvanes]

So four teenage girls running around the parks free of parents made them happy regardless of which rides they managed to get on.

My DH said the same thing. Standing in line at Disney World with your best friends and a smartphone (while your other classmates are all still in class back home) is still pretty much winning at life!

 

[VillainFavs]

My kids just got back from a high school band trip and had an absolute BLAST! It was very, very well organized, well run. They stayed at All Star Music. They were given their ticket numbers about a month ahead of time so they could set up MDE and schedule fast passes. They got $10 food gift cards for breakfast each day and one QS meal voucher per day. They stayed four nights, five full days. Spent one day in each park. Plus one day split between Disney Springs and hanging out at the resort (they day of their performance at Disney Springs). Great trip top to bottom.

Feel free to PM if there's any questions!