By Stephen T. McClard - Complete Article List
I am sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, relaxing after an amazing high school band trip to Disney World in Florida. My assistant director and I took a group of 110 parents and students on a five day excursion from Southwest Missouri to Cocoa Beach and then Orlando. In all, we traveled 2300 miles on two charter buses, frolicked in the ocean at Cocoa Beach, performed in the afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom, participated in the Disney You're Instrumental workshop at Epcot and spent our last day at Hollywood Studios. We spent the last evening at Downtown Disney where we met up with our charter buses to make the 24 hour trip back home.
The entire cost for this amazing trip was $574 per person, which represents two years of hard work and planning. Students participated in seven fundraisers and made multiple payments to a designated trip account. In all, we raised nearly $60,000 from a small community of 10,000 residents.
Although I have planned many band tours over the years, this was my first time to take a large group to Disney and by far the largest trip I have ever put together for a school group. When I set out to organize this trip, I had one main goal in mind. I wanted to make sure the cost was kept down without sacrificing the quality of the experience. We definitely achieved our goal.
If you are a new band director and eager to plan your own Disney trip on a budget, the following bits of advise may help you along the way. Don't be afraid to do this on your own. There is really no need to waste your hard earned fundraiser money on a travel agent. With a little advise from me and the help you will receive from the people at Disney, you will find that this trip can be easy to put together and affordable for your students. Use the following advise to plan your own magical music experience:
Publicity
The first item on your agenda will be publicity. The more excitement you can generate among your students and parents, the easier your job will be along the way. Start as early as possible. We announced our trip in May of 2008. When band camp rolled around in July, we already had students asking for details. By the start of school in August we had the initial letter and itinerary in their hands, along with a proposed per person cost and payment schedule.
Itinerary
Before you get too far into planning a Disney trip, decide how many days you are going to stay. A minimum of three days in the parks will be necessary. Many bands will stay four days or more. We used the following schedule for our trip:
- Monday Depart 8am - Drive straight through 24 hours
- Tuesday Arrive Cocoa Beach 8am - Depart for Orlando 3pm
- Wednesday - Magic Kingdom and Parade
- Thursday - Epcot and Workshop
- Friday - Hotel Checkout - Hollywood Studios until 3pm then Downtown Disney
- Friday - Depart at 8pm for home
- Saturday - Arrive home at 8pm
Payments
As you begin to publicize your trip, you will want to lock down the exact cost. This is a daunting process since so many variables go into this figure. I cannot begin to describe how complicated this can actually get. Remember, you will have more than just the average band student traveling with you. You will also have parents who will be taking their entire families. You will have students who will travel with you there and then stay in Florida with their great aunt. You will have some parents wanting to stay extra nights and a few who wish to arrive early. Each of these sce
narios will be necessary for your trip to work well for everyone. Planning an exact cost will only be possible if you charge for each item used by each individual. Think less in terms of overall per person cost and more along the lines of an À la carte plan. The overall per person cost should only be used as an overestimated example. Make sure parents know this is only an estimate for the average student and not an exact amount for everyone.
The best way to approach this is to call Disney and lock down a current price for each item (Transportation will be the big variable and I will explain more on that below). I have included examples below by showing you the costs for our trip. You will need to consider similar items for your trip.
- Charter Bus Cost - $8,392 each
- Hotel - $107.00 for each room night stayed (up to quad occupancy)
- Park Ticket (3 Day Park Hopper) - $138
- Event at Epcot - $1000 for the first 28 students and $25 for each additional student
- Shirt (locally printed) $7 per shirt
- Disney Meal Plan (6 meals or 2 a day) $84 or $14 per meal
- 1 Large Meal at Cocoa Beach - $1000
As I said before, the best way to approach the overall cost of the trip is to consider each item separately for each person going. You should always assume that these costs will increase by the next year so add at least 5% to the overall cost of each item. Make sure your participants know that the final cost of the trip will be announced at least three months before the date of the trip.
It will also be important to consider the fact that your transportation cost will depend on the number of students participating. As an example, if you have 65 participants going, you still need two charter buses since one bus only holds 57 passengers. This leaves 49 empty seats which spreads extra cost around to everyone. Empty seats cost money so make sure you announce that the transportation cost is variable depending on how many participants you have riding the bus. Plan for the worst. You can always drop the price if you fill two buses completely.
Spreadsheet
Your next task will be the creation of a spreadsheet. Success will depend on your ability to create and maintain a fairly complicated spreadsheet. If you need help, contact a band parent who can do this for you. Make sure you watch them create the spreadsheet so you can see how easy it really is. Once this task is complete, you will only need to enter information as it becomes available. The spreadsheet should list each participant followed by each item they will purchase on the trip. Your spreadsheet will also include payments for each installment and the amounts for each and every fundraiser. This information will be used to place your final order with Disney and for your sanity in keeping track of payments and money owed. Don't use paper for this task. It's much easier to have instant calculations from a spreadsheet.
I would strongly suggest that you keep this spreadsheet backed up regularly. We kept our spreadsheet on the school network and backed it up daily on our flash drives. This is not the type of information you can afford to lose.
Florida Sales Tax
If you are planning this trip from outside the state of Florida, you will need to apply for a Florida tax exempt status. This is an easy process but it takes time to complete. Start on this early and make sure you provide this information to Disney before you order your tickets and rooms. We saved approximately $2500 on our trip with this simple step.
Deadlines and Payments
Disney will give you all the information you will need for your trip down to the finest detail. They will provide deadlines for payments and spell everything out in the simplest terms. Read your information carefully and everything will go well. Your payments will be made in large sums of money. The standard credit card will not work in this situation. Unless your school has a credit card that will take large sums of money, you will need to use cashiers checks for your payments. Make sure and double/triple check how these checks are made out. If you enter the wrong name on the check and the endorsement does not match from Disney, you will have delays with your payments. Banks are sticky with endorsements of large cashier checks so take great care in this area. It is best to call Disney before filling out the checks.
Medical Release and Liability Waiver
There's little doubt that anyone has more liability in a school district than the band director. Add the liability issues of a major Disney trip and you run the risk of losing your job and way of life. Having a liability waiver and medical release included with your permission form is vital. If, God forbid, someone gets hurt on your trip, you will need access to their insurance information. You will also need power of attorney for medical attention to be provided. Keep in mind that you will still be liable, despite your waiver, if you are negligent. Take this responsibility seriously as you plan your trip.
Meals
The Disney meal voucher is a must! It costs approximately $15 per meal and includes more food than one person can eat. In fact, if you really want to save money, pair your students together and have them split their meals. My wife and I split our meals and still had food left at the end. Two tickets per student is sufficient for each day. Breakfast can also be purchased with a meal voucher but does not provide the same value as lunch and dinner. Keep in mind that one meal voucher will include the main course, dessert and a drink. Even if the meal would normally cost $22, the $15 voucher will cover the meal. An adequate breakfast will only cost around $8 in the Disney resort dining hall so a meal voucher will be wasted for this purpose.
Two Month Deadlines
At least two months before your trip, make sure all payments are received and you have sent your final rooming list. Disney will provide you with a spreadsheet for this information, which will include check-in and checkout dates and any special considerations for your guests. It is important to have all your final details from parents completed by this point. Changes become difficult after the final rooming list is completed. Inform parents of this deadline so you know exactly how many room nights you will need. If you are leaving Disney in the evening and driving long distances, make sure you hold your drivers rooms for an extra day. Checkout is at 11:00 am and the drivers will need to rest until you leave.
Last Check
Three weeks before your trip, check in with Disney and all other vendors. Make sure you are set and that every detail is perfect. Call your charter company and go over the details. Call each week thereafter and check again. It may be hard to believe, but you may be the only person looking out for your best interests. Simple phone conversations can ensure that others are thinking about your trip as much as you. These simple checks also give you peace of mind along the way and avoid the problems associated with loose ends. You will have doubts about your abilities to plan this trip in the last three weeks. Think through the trip and be as thorough as possible to improve your confidence.
Chaperons
Get to know your chaperons before you take your trip and make sure you know the difference between the various adults attending your trip. One group will be taking their entire family and will not want to supervise others. Some of the adults traveling with you will want to assist in any way possible. It will be important to know the difference between these two groups. If you are taking a large group, assign students to trusted chaperons in groups of no more than 10 students. Assign chaperons duties ahead of time to save you time and trouble along the way. Make sure you make a separate chaperon itinerary that outlines each minute of the trip. Have student groups check-in with their chaperon groups and then have the chaperons check-in with you. This saves time for everyone along the way.
Travel and Storage
Where a high school band is concerned, a standard charter bus is adequate to move your students, luggage, instruments and uniforms. As long as you are careful with the amount of luggage you allow students to bring, the storage capacity of your bus should be sufficient. It is best to limit students to one large bag under the bus and a carry-on for snacks and other items.
Travel and Electronics
Your students will all have cell phones with text message capabilities. Batteries for cell phones are not able to last an entire day with constant use. Despite this fact, there are a few things that can be done to ensure that students have access to their phones for extended periods of time. Here are a few ideas we had for our students:
- Lower the brightness of the screen
- Turn off wi/fi, 3G and Bluetooth
- Avoid unnecessary use such as games and internet
- Keep the phone off. Periodically turn it on to check for missed calls and texts.
I would strongly suggest purchasing a cigarette lighter extension plug with multiple plug-ins. Some even come with USB ports. Radio Shack and most truck stops sell these for under $20. Most charter buses will have at least one cigarette lighter port near the driver. Save one port for the driver's GPS and use the other for your cell phone. As the director of the trip, you will need constant access to your phone. You may even want to consider a USB extension cable depending on your brand of phone.
Travel Snacks and Meds
Most people have a tendency to over-prepare for a large trip on the night before the trip. I notice allot of waste on every trip we take. Keep in mind that your charter drivers will need to stop every few hundred miles to rest and fuel the bus. Students have time to get snacks and necessities along the way as needed. Although these may cost more at the Flying-J, student can save money overall by only buying what they need at each stop. Encourage your students and parents to travel light and purchase only what they need at the moment.
Communication
As soon as your trip is under way, have your students enter your cell phone number and the numbers for chaperons into their phones. Then have them all send you a text with their name in the body of the text. Entering each student into your contacts will be a great way to pass the time and will give you instant communication with your students in an emergency. This also saves you the trouble of asking, "Who is this" every time a student texts you during the trip.
Hotel
When you check-in to your hotel, make sure you remind your students to keep their keys with them when they leave. When students lock themselves out of their room, the director is required to go all the way back to the lobby to get another key. At a Disney resort, this can take 25 minutes or more. It is inevitable that this will happen, so make sure you remind your students of the work they create for you when they are not responsible.
Tickets
Park Hopper tickets and meal vouchers are easily lost. A great way to avoid this is to issue each student a simple lanyard and name badge with their tickets. Have them wear their ticket and check for the lanyard before you leave each day. Another great way to keep track of tickets and personal items is to use simple nylon backpack bags. Have some of these printed up with your band logo and attach this to the price of the trip.
Safety
Plan your trip with safety in mind. Decide when students will be required to stay with chaperons and when they are free to travel in small groups apart form chaperons. Disney is one of the safest places on earth for children. Once a student enters a park, it will not be necessary for them to remain with a chaperon if they are over the age of 13. All students under the age of 18 should be told to stay in groups of 3 or more. While traveling or when walking in city areas outside Disney, chaperons groups should be used.
Expectation Meetings
Every step you take with your students should be proceeded by a short meeting where expectations, meeting times and rules are explained. Make sure your chaperons help you out in this area. Don't assume your students have read the itinerary or that they already know what is happening next. Include these meetings into your itinerary so everyone knows and expects the information. Most of the unnecessary work that arises on a trip is due to unclear expectation.
Disney Parade
Disney will expect directors to dress nice and have a school logo shirt. Students will be expected to wear a complete uniform. Temperatures and humidity can be an issue so be prepared. Disney provides bathrooms, changing rooms and a shaded area with fountains. We found that it was best to have students change into uniform and stay on the air-conditioned bus until the last minute. The Disney representative that is assigned to your group will help you with timing and with any medical needs that arise.
Instrumental Workshop
I would highly recommend the Disney You're Instrumental workshop. If you are not totally thrilled with the idea of marching in a hot parade, this workshop would be enough to justify the musical needs of your group. We participated in both the parade and the workshop.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope this information helps you plan a great Disney trip for your students. This is information that I wish I had before planning my own trip. If you are a seasoned Disney veteran and have suggestions for this article, feel free to use the comments section below. I would be more than happy to edit this guide to include more tips and tricks from those who have planned their own Disney excursions.
GOOD LUCK!
