Marching Bands going to Disney Parent thread

[Pembo]

SilverMickey and I were talking thru pm's about our kids trips to Disney.

Here's an official thread for all of us that will be watching our kids march at WDW.

DS is a freshman and he marches at the MK in March, in the evening. His trip costs $600.

The cost for the family to go is WAY more than that.

Next....

 

[Cindy B]

My son's symphonic, orchestra and wind ensemble show band is scheduled to go end of March.

However, the trip is four days, including hotel, airfare, dining cards and such for $960. I think it is a little high.. (we did our first trip for FOUR for the same amount of money).

It is even offsite.. if it was onsite I'd do it. So far, there isn't much interest due to cost.

 

[elgerber]

My daughters choir is going, does that count? Her trip is $699 for air, room and tickets, at All Star Movies, 5 nights in January.

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

Our HS band is going in February for 5 nights. They are staying offsite and will be performing as an orchestra band. They are staying offsite and the total cost is $840. That covers bus, hotel, tickets, and food.

The rest of us are flying down and we will be keeping her when the bus heads back home for a few days of family time. I'm in the process right now of deciding were the family will be staying -- I want to give her some space but am having problems deciding were to stay.

Our school goes every other year and I have heard it is a great time, as my daughter is a freshman we are looking forward to this experience!

 

[marcyinPA]

As you can see by my ticker my DS15 will be going to WDW with his HS band in February. They are staying at POR, all meals and park hoppers, plus air fare and transfers, are included...$1140. OUCH. What makes this extra hard is that six months after Disney, the band is going to Hawaii! $2400...double OUCH!

My DS11 and I, and my best friend and her DD11 are going too. We are staying at POP, upgraded free dining, four day tix, no hoppers.

 

[Pembo]

Ouch...some of those trips are expensive!

Ours includes bus, offsite hotel and park tix. They leave Friday night and return home on Thursday night. DS will be staying and flying home with us. Hogwarts is calling...

How much fundraising do your schools do? DS has a flower sale in the spring, candy in the fall, and fruit in the winter.

 

[Tracy Savage]

Not until next year for my drummer boy! I know I am going to be bawling the whole time! Pembo, where are you in Ohio?

 

[klj27]

My daughter's band is going in the beginning of June. The trip was initially set for April and I was signed up to go, but when the dates changed I declined. The cost is $600 per person. They will be gone four nights (two spent on bus) and it includes transporation, food and tickets.

We are doing extra fundraisers and 100% of the money you raise goes into your trip account.

 

[marcyinPA]

Ouch...some of those trips are expensive!

Ours includes bus, offsite hotel and park tix. They leave Friday night and return home on Thursday night. DS will be staying and flying home with us. Hogwarts is calling...

How much fundraising do your schools do? DS has a flower sale in the spring, candy in the fall, and fruit in the winter.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that they are staying for five nights.

Our band sells EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN. There is a fundraiser going on constantly. They sell (and make) hoagies every month. They sell Enjoy the City and Entertainment coupon books. Fall mums; poinsettias, wreaths, and cemetery logs; bulbs; spring flowers, hanging baskets and veggie plants; engraved cake pans; pizzas; candles; pies in the fall and spring; salsa....

I think that's it...but there might be more.

We choose not to sell everything. We do the coupon books, mums (just sold 57 of them...DS gets $2.75 each towards his fair share), we'll sell the poinsettias and wreaths, and the spring flowers. We might do pizzas at some point...I just hate asking people to buy stuff all the time. But then again, $3500 for two trips in the next year is a TON of money to come up with!

 

[Pembo]

So let's talk about what they are doing on their trips.

Ds goes to all 4 parks, one water park and Medieval Times for dinner. Their one and only performance is before the nighttime parade at the MK.

The worst part is they go to Epcot all day the last day and get on the buses after Illuminations to head home. I can't imagine touring all day and then climbing straight on the bus. However ds will be coming home with us. I'm sure he'll be happy to sleep in a bed that night as opposed to a bus seat.

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

We are doing extra fundraisers and 100% of the money you raise goes into your trip account.

I like that policy -- at our school the fundraising goes to the general account to keep costs down. But I bet we would have better/more workers if our school did it your way! Although our main fundraisers are dinners in the cafeteria before basketball games which could be difficult to divide properly.

Our kids get to go to all four parks and Harry Potter world. The last day is always spent at Animal Kingdom because it usually closes at 5:00 or 6:00. Then they pile on the bus and head back to Michigan. We are also keeping our child for a few days and hitting Sea World and Kennedy Space Center.

 

[georgina]

DD is going with her HS end of April. They are only staying 3 nights off site, with airfare it is over $1000. (yikes!) There is a Medieval Times dinner in there; I think DD would rather have the choice to stay in the park longer instead. They are doing 3 parks, then Blizzard Beach the last day. The HS band is marching in a parade, and the orchestra and chorus will be performing on stage sometime.

There are several individual fund raisers they can do to help with trip costs. Someone else was saying the last weekend in April was a big cheerleading weekend, so it may be crowded.

 

[marcyinPA]

So let's talk about what they are doing on their trips.

Ds goes to all 4 parks, one water park and Medieval Times for dinner. Their one and only performance is before the nighttime parade at the MK.

The worst part is they go to Epcot all day the last day and get on the buses after Illuminations to head home. I can't imagine touring all day and then climbing straight on the bus. However ds will be coming home with us. I'm sure he'll be happy to sleep in a bed that night as opposed to a bus seat.

Our kids will arrive late on Tuesday night, and fly out relatively early on Sunday (around noon). They are staying at POR, so they will use the pool I'm sure!

I believe that our kids are only doing the four parks. They have four day park hoppers. I'm not sure how that will work...300 kids hopping from park to park? I'm glad I'm not a chaperone. They are also doing Downtown Disney, but I'm not sure if that's a scheduled thing, or if they have the option of going there.

They are marching during the day parade in the MK, and then marching the night parade at the MK the following night.

We don't have a full itinerary yet, so I'm sure more info will be coming soon!

 

[Pembo]

Bit the bullet and bought my airfare today. Flying out of CLE is $$$.