Characters roam around the area as park-goers walk by and gaze at the rides and attractions on a Saturday morning. Meanwhile, a high school marching band prepares to march through, excited and nervous for their approaching performance. The band members raise their instruments, get into position, and begin to play as a choir watches and thinks about an upcoming concert the next day at another location, which would be the last part of their time at the park.

The Revere High School band and choir took a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, from March 2 to March 7. 100 band and eighteen choir members took charter buses and drove to their destination. Revere band director Darren LeBeau explained how often the music department travels.

“[We travel about] every two years. We usually do a large trip like Disney and Fiesta Bowl on a four year rotation and closer trips like Chicago, Williamsburg, and Virginia Beach in-between,” LeBeau said.

This year, the band led a parade featuring various Disney characters on Saturday, March 4, and the choir performed in Disney Springs for visitors on Sunday, March 5. LeBeau elaborated on how the band practiced for their performance.

“While we are preparing for large group contest the Friday we get back from Disney, March 10, we have been playing pep tunes, [some of which are] ‘Centuries’ and ‘Uma Thurman’ [by Fallout Boy] on days fifth period is interrupted for other school activities. We have been able to go outside and march once so far, but it looks like we will be able to get outside again, at least one more time before we leave,” LeBeau said.

The choir prepared for the Disney trip in a similar manner. They rehearsed for their performance along with their regular routine. Choir director Alice Forney described what they have been doing in anticipation of the trip.

“We have a contest as soon as we return, so we will perform [our contest] repertoire at Disney. We also are preparing logistics, such as field trip forms, chaperones, bus lists, rooming lists, and so on,” Forney said.

Band president and senior Noah Sigsworth participates in both band and choir, and will be going to Disney World with the music department. He performed in both the choir and band programs. He described how students learned about the trip.

“We started to receive information on the Disney trip at the end of last year, and those that chose to go have made payments over a long period of time, kind of like a mortgage. The total is a little over 1,000 dollars,” Sigsworth said.

The staff and students also had time to explore other locations, including Disney Hollywood Studios, Universal Studios, including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Universal’s Islands of Adventure on their trip.

After the band’s performance, the band and choir students of Revere look around at the sights and sounds of Disney World.