Indy’s band left for their long-awaited field trip to Disneyland on March 8. The 50-person group left at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and drove in two buses for over 15 hours to reach Florida. They arrived at their destination on Thursday at 9 a.m., after a few rest and food stops.

Upon arrival, students split into small groups and spent the day walking around the different sections and going on the park’s 173 rides. 

“I love roller coasters, so that was definitely something I enjoyed a lot over there,” said Siya Jha (11), one of the students in band. “The one thing on my bucket list while we were in Disney was to go to Pandora – The World of Avatar. That place was awesome. It looks exactly like the movies, and the river ride was such a good experience; I can’t explain it properly.”

Students then also had the opportunity to participate in a private music clinic at a soundstage on Disney property, where a professional composer taught them Disney songs. After playing the arrangements, they also had the benefit of having a Disney sound technician overlay the piece onto a clip from the Lion King.

After a long day, all groups met up in the Epcot theme park and attended Disney’s Harmonious Epcot Fireworks Show. The students then spent all three nights of their visit at the SpringHill Suites Hotel. 

On Saturday night, as the group was getting ready to leave, one of the two buses broke down, leaving them stranded for over 6 hours. After waiting in front of the park entrance for a couple of hours, they got directed to a nearby hotel’s lobby where they could get some rest. 

“We thought they would fix the issue in like an hour,” said Finn Keenan (11), another student in band. 

The bus finally arrived around 5 a.m., and the group got back to school at 9.30 p.m..

“That was definitely an experience, and let me just say – you can really see somebody’s true personality when they’re sleep deprived and just want to get home. Everybody went through 5 stages of grief that night; and once we did get on the bus, everybody passed out and just didn’t talk,” added Jha.

When asked about her overall opinion on the trip, Jha reported: “I don’t regret any part of the trip at all, it was totally worth it, and I would do it all over again without a doubt.”

“I thought that it was a lot of fun, and getting stuck outside of Disney was definitely an adventure,” Brendan Breitzmann (11), a student in band said. “Football while we were stuck and the shows we’d go to at night were probably the most memorable parts. Definitely worth it.”