Over spring break, the Hayes Grand Pacer Marching Band embarked on an over 16 hour bus ride to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
With the majority of band students going on the trip, they were able to perform in a parade in Magic Kingdom through Disney Imagination Campus. After applying at least a year in advance, they were accepted to perform at Disney.
While on the six day trip, the students split off into groups around the parks, experiencing each area as little or as much as they wanted.
Out of the four Disney parks, they got to see the three parks other than Epcot, since Epcot is celebrating its International Flower and Garden Festival this time of year.
However, due to the group’s excitement towards the bigger rides, the band opted to go to Universal Studios instead. “[Universal Studios] isn’t as kiddie as the other parks especially when it comes to the rides,” senior and color guard member Maddie Young.
They were able to go around three Disney parks and Universal Studios in groups, experiencing what they wanted to see most while maintaining a series of check-ins throughout the day with the rest of the band.
“I truly just loved going to the parks, bringing my loved ones with me that I normally wouldn’t be able to vacation with was really awesome,” junior saxophone player Julia Fowley said.
On the day of the parade, the band experienced some parts of the Magic Kingdom before performing down Main Street in the afternoon.
Main Street is full of shops and restaurants leading through the front of the park up to Cinderella Castle. The band got to walk a parade route similar to the daily Festival of Fantasy parade.
“It was different to go behind the scenes, it was really cool to have that experience,” Young said.
On any high traffic day at Walt Disney World, wait times can get long with the number of guests growing each year.
Adding to the already busy parks, Disney saw many different groups, such as bands, participating in the parade; two of which were from Ohio, including Delaware Hayes and Marysville.
The entire Delaware group met up at the end of the park days to watch the fireworks and shows at the different parks.
“Because of the schedule, it was harder for me to plan out the day and get us on all the rides,” Fowley said.
The newest feature that Disney World has begun to utilize is the virtual queue. It allows guests to be waiting for a ride while not standing directly in line.
This was popular with the newest ride at Disney, Tron, based on the 1982 film and its sequel Tron Legacy from 2001.
The ride was only accessible to those staying on Disney World’s properties, Lightning Lane holders and towards the middle of the day for those that went for the virtual queue route.
Those that had the app were able to wait in the queue and eventually ride Tron before the end of their day.
The marching band attended a workshop while at the Imagination Campus.
In the just over two hour workshop the students were taught by a professional saxophonist, learning and performing original scores from Disney films.
“I could tell that they were really excited about seeing the professional side of things and how that works,” Hayes band director Bill Fowles said.
The band played arrangements of Aladdin’s Arabian Nights, Raiders March from Indiana Jones and selections from Moana.
After sight reading and getting instructed, the ensemble got to record the pieces from Moana that were then synced up to the scenes from the Disney film.
The group wrapped up their Florida trip with a day at Universal Studios, riding more rides such as The Incredible Hulk Coaster as well as experiencing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter among other areas of the park.
“It was such a fun trip … and I look forward to the next one,” Fowles said.
