Sydney2977
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2013
- Messages
- 1,407
Welcome to my first ever pre-trip report as a chaperone!
You will see in my signature that I have been to WDW 8 times with my family, but also went three times when I was a kid with my family. I also visited Universal waaaaay back in the 90's with my brother for a day when we were teens.
DH, younger DS, and I did our first trip without older DS this past Spring, though older DS did go with his girlfriend the previous Christmas. We weren't planning to go again until late summer or fall of 2018 after younger DS graduates high school. But then this past Fall his band director started bringing up the idea of taking the band to Disney, and DS and I got that bug...
Fast forward to now. The trip is a definite GO! DH had already said he was fine with DS and I going on the trip. DS practically insisted that I go- like he knew I'll use any excuse to go to WDW, but he doesn't want to get stuck with an annoying chaperone, as he put it. We have already put 2 payments in and there is one more fundraiser between now and the trip as well.
This is DS and I from our last trip:
Because this involves a school group I won't share too many details prior to the trip that could compromise safety. I will say we are staying off site but at a nice hotel very close to WDW. The band director, although this is his third year at this school, has been a director for many years and has used the same travel agent (who only does Orlando vacations) for trips with other school groups. So far there are about 70 of the 145 band and color guard students going, the director and several other staff members, and eight chaperones. The travel agent is also doing "tag along" packages for any families that would like to come but not serve as chaperones.
The day of departure we will be leaving the school before the day ends- I think they miss their last two classes. This is right before their Spring Break, so there probably won't be much work planned anyway. Because it's a school trip they will be able to do work ahead of time or make it up. When we drive it only takes about 6 hours plus stopping for a meal and other breaks (like the mandatory stop at the I-95 Florida rest stop for the juice samples!) On buses it's going to be longer... they're planning on eight hours total travel time. Normally I can sleep in the car, but I doubt I'll be able to on a bus full of teenagers! We'll arrive at the hotel, check-in and get settled for the night.
The second day the band is doing a performance. Disney has not gotten back to their director yet on exactly what they want them to do- a parade style or concert style performance- or where they will be performing. Because they don't know the exact details he has tentatively planned to do the performance, then do half a day at either AK or DHS. This may change of course.
This is what their uniforms look like:
The third day they are supposed to go to MK all day! I don't even care that we won't have magic bands or fp+, I just want to soak up the fun of experiencing it kind of as a solo traveler and kind of as a parent watching my DS enjoy Disney with his friends. Some of his best friends and his girl friend are going so they should have a blast. His girlfriend's parents aren't able to go so they have repeatedly expressed to me that they are glad I am going.
The fourth day we are going to Universal. They will have the pass that lets you go to both parks. This is going to be totally new to me because as I said before, I haven't been to Universal in over 20 years, and it was only for one day. While older DS and I enjoy thrill rides, younger DS and DH are not into them. They'll do the WDW coasters (except RnR) but don't do ToT. None of us can do the simulator rides though. This is why we've never done Universal as a family. So this will give us a taste of the parks to see if it's something we would all enjoy doing on a later trip. DS and I are both really excited to get to experience the Harry Potter worlds. I'm thinking DS won't do most of the coasters, but DH said he may just because his friends are. We're only there a day and it's going to be busy, so it's not like we'll even be able to do that much anyway. We'll end the evening by seeing the Blue Man Group performance before heading back to the hotel. The next morning we'll check out and head home.
The hotel we're staying at has a full breakfast every morning. We are supposed to have some kind of meal vouchers for lunch and dinner in the parks- I'll update what that includes when I find out. The only thing we'll pay out of pocket for is dinner wherever we stop on the way there and lunch on the way home- and of course souvenirs! It's $600 for the students and chaperones will pay less- that will be determined a little later. Truthfully, I'm willing to pay full price just to get to go! A band parent whose family just moved from another state said their band did the same trip last year and it cost the kids $900, though some of that could have been added travel distance.
One other cool thing about this trip is that older DS's girlfriend will be working at WDW! She got accepted to the college program and starts in Feb. She knows she will be working at a ride in MK but not which one yet. She said if she is off the day of their performance she will definitely come see it- she knows other kids in the band too. If she is off on our park days she said she'll come hang out with me too.
This is her and DS from their Christmas trip in 2015:
That's about all the details for now. Being the over-planner that I am it feels really weird to not have any control over this trip. It will probably be good for me. Once I find out the food situation I will probably decide where and what to eat. Gotta choose outfits for each day. Need to make a list of must-do's for each park. Can anyone think of anything else I can plan? It's gonna drive me crazy for the next 69 days till we leave!!!
You will see in my signature that I have been to WDW 8 times with my family, but also went three times when I was a kid with my family. I also visited Universal waaaaay back in the 90's with my brother for a day when we were teens.
DH, younger DS, and I did our first trip without older DS this past Spring, though older DS did go with his girlfriend the previous Christmas. We weren't planning to go again until late summer or fall of 2018 after younger DS graduates high school. But then this past Fall his band director started bringing up the idea of taking the band to Disney, and DS and I got that bug...
Fast forward to now. The trip is a definite GO! DH had already said he was fine with DS and I going on the trip. DS practically insisted that I go- like he knew I'll use any excuse to go to WDW, but he doesn't want to get stuck with an annoying chaperone, as he put it. We have already put 2 payments in and there is one more fundraiser between now and the trip as well.
This is DS and I from our last trip:
Because this involves a school group I won't share too many details prior to the trip that could compromise safety. I will say we are staying off site but at a nice hotel very close to WDW. The band director, although this is his third year at this school, has been a director for many years and has used the same travel agent (who only does Orlando vacations) for trips with other school groups. So far there are about 70 of the 145 band and color guard students going, the director and several other staff members, and eight chaperones. The travel agent is also doing "tag along" packages for any families that would like to come but not serve as chaperones.
The day of departure we will be leaving the school before the day ends- I think they miss their last two classes. This is right before their Spring Break, so there probably won't be much work planned anyway. Because it's a school trip they will be able to do work ahead of time or make it up. When we drive it only takes about 6 hours plus stopping for a meal and other breaks (like the mandatory stop at the I-95 Florida rest stop for the juice samples!) On buses it's going to be longer... they're planning on eight hours total travel time. Normally I can sleep in the car, but I doubt I'll be able to on a bus full of teenagers! We'll arrive at the hotel, check-in and get settled for the night.
The second day the band is doing a performance. Disney has not gotten back to their director yet on exactly what they want them to do- a parade style or concert style performance- or where they will be performing. Because they don't know the exact details he has tentatively planned to do the performance, then do half a day at either AK or DHS. This may change of course.
This is what their uniforms look like:
The third day they are supposed to go to MK all day! I don't even care that we won't have magic bands or fp+, I just want to soak up the fun of experiencing it kind of as a solo traveler and kind of as a parent watching my DS enjoy Disney with his friends. Some of his best friends and his girl friend are going so they should have a blast. His girlfriend's parents aren't able to go so they have repeatedly expressed to me that they are glad I am going.
The fourth day we are going to Universal. They will have the pass that lets you go to both parks. This is going to be totally new to me because as I said before, I haven't been to Universal in over 20 years, and it was only for one day. While older DS and I enjoy thrill rides, younger DS and DH are not into them. They'll do the WDW coasters (except RnR) but don't do ToT. None of us can do the simulator rides though. This is why we've never done Universal as a family. So this will give us a taste of the parks to see if it's something we would all enjoy doing on a later trip. DS and I are both really excited to get to experience the Harry Potter worlds. I'm thinking DS won't do most of the coasters, but DH said he may just because his friends are. We're only there a day and it's going to be busy, so it's not like we'll even be able to do that much anyway. We'll end the evening by seeing the Blue Man Group performance before heading back to the hotel. The next morning we'll check out and head home.
The hotel we're staying at has a full breakfast every morning. We are supposed to have some kind of meal vouchers for lunch and dinner in the parks- I'll update what that includes when I find out. The only thing we'll pay out of pocket for is dinner wherever we stop on the way there and lunch on the way home- and of course souvenirs! It's $600 for the students and chaperones will pay less- that will be determined a little later. Truthfully, I'm willing to pay full price just to get to go! A band parent whose family just moved from another state said their band did the same trip last year and it cost the kids $900, though some of that could have been added travel distance.
One other cool thing about this trip is that older DS's girlfriend will be working at WDW! She got accepted to the college program and starts in Feb. She knows she will be working at a ride in MK but not which one yet. She said if she is off the day of their performance she will definitely come see it- she knows other kids in the band too. If she is off on our park days she said she'll come hang out with me too.
This is her and DS from their Christmas trip in 2015:
That's about all the details for now. Being the over-planner that I am it feels really weird to not have any control over this trip. It will probably be good for me. Once I find out the food situation I will probably decide where and what to eat. Gotta choose outfits for each day. Need to make a list of must-do's for each park. Can anyone think of anything else I can plan? It's gonna drive me crazy for the next 69 days till we leave!!!
