Disney World Through the Eyes of a Trojan Marching Band Student
Read a first-person account of New Castle HS (IN)’s Walt Disney World adventure, written by band student Teagan Swift.
The Trojan Marching Band (TMB) had a great time at Disney. From hanging out in the hotel to exploring the parks, we definitely endured many adventures. And after a long bus ride there, we showed up ready for action in our first park of the week, Animal Kingdom!
Animal Kingdom
This park was like stepping into a Safari. The decor and live music made this park pretty awesome. While walking through the park, we stumbled upon a bird show, which really sealed the deal on how cool this park was. Kilimanjaro Safari was the first attraction my group tried and it was very fascinating to see all the animals they have. I have to say my favorite ride here was definitely Expedition Everest. I love the thrill of it and the details throughout were very on theme. Earlier in the afternoon, we stopped for lunch at the Satu’li Canteen, and though they had many strange options, I found something wonderful to eat. Overall, this park was a great start to our trip.
Epcot
Epcot was our second park, and wow, was I blown away. The first thing my group did was race to the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind which was so much fun. I think it was one of my favorite rides entirely. For lunch was food from the Katsura Grill. It was great, definitely fun for us to try something new. We then headed over to try drinks from around the world. My group was not a big fan of them, but later in the day, we learned that some people really did like these crazy drinks.
We hung out in France for a little bit to ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and it was such an interesting experience. This 4D ride really made us feel like we were inside the movie; it was awesome. We grabbed some tasty pastries from Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie after, and my friend Emily P. got the biggest chocolate-covered croissant I’ve ever seen and ate almost the whole thing.
To wrap up the day, we headed to Disney Springs Planet Hollywood for Thanksgiving dinner and did a bit of shopping back in Epcot. To finish off the evening, we gathered to watch the incredible Luminous: The Symphony of Us.
Magic Kingdom and the TMB Performance!
As soon as we saw the castle, I was sure that Disney World really is as magical as they say it is. After seeing the beautiful monument, we headed straight for Space Mountain. Walking right onto the ride was great. Then we went over to TRON, which was very fun and one of the fastest rides I’ve ever ridden. We hopped onto the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and grabbed some food right before our performance.
We got taken backstage to prepare for the parade. Our performance went very smoothly thanks to all the help from Disney and our amazing directors, Jonathon Edwards and Rebecca Wand. After we performed, the band all rode It’s a Small World, a TMB tradition. Later, after the ride, we went to eat dinner at our reservation and rode a few more rides at the end of the night.
Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Studios was by far my favorite park and I think the rest of my group agrees. The theming and the overall park were great. We walked right onto the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster first and then jumped over to the Tower of Terror, my personal favorite. After the first two attractions, we headed over to the Star Wars area of the park and had a fantastic time on the Rise of the Resistance and the Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run. Then we waited to meet Goofy and Max: my dream came true.
We hit Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway before going to our reservations for lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. Once we finished eating, a few of us ran over to visit Daisy Duck. We then regrouped to watch the Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After before re-riding the Tower of Terror. To end our time at Disney, we watched the Fantasmic! show. I think it was a great way to end our time at Disney.
The Hotel
Even though we may have been sad to leave the parks at the end of each day, we can’t forget about how much fun we had just at the hotel. The first night we got to swim in the hotel pool with the choir, which was very fun. One night, we also had a bunch of band kids hanging out in the hot tub because, though it was warmer than home, it was still too cold to swim in the pool. Later that same night, my parents got some pizza for my room and we ended up having a bunch of people come and take our pizza. Our very own hotel room pizza party.
Overall, we had a great trip and definitely made a lot of new memories that we won’t forget. Thank you to Music Travel Consultants and to Conlon for being a great tour guide and organizing a fantastic trip for the band. And thank you to our directors for preparing us and making sure we had a great time. Last but certainly not least, a big thanks to the parent chaperones: we wouldn’t have been able to have all the fun we did without you guys.
About Teagan
Teagan Swift is a sophomore in high school. Her future plans include studying film, social media marketing or writing. She loves all things music, movies and reading.
No matter where Teagan ends up, she hopes to change the world and inspire others!
