Over spring break, the Music Department traveled to Orlando, Florida for two performances at Walt Disney World. The band and color guard, guided by Band Director Mr. Michael Greene, marched down the Main Street of Magic Kingdom and the Vocal Ensemble, guided by Choir Director Mrs. Gretchen Obrovac, performed at the Waterside Stage at Disney Springs.
SUNDAY, APRIL 5
The trip began with students boarding two Baron’s Buses for a sixteen hour trip to the Hyatt Place Orlando/Lake Buena Vista Hotel. Freshman Sydney Swansiger recalled that as the trip began, she was anticipating time to embroider her shorts and color. However, she reflected that she mostly slept, conversed with her friends, and listened to music. Nevertheless, she admitted that she was also prepared to make many fun memories with her friends, and that plan was successful.
Among the rest stops was Buc-ee’s, a highlight for Mr. Greene who announced, “I love Buc-ees. He’s like a bro.”
MONDAY, APRIL 6
At the hotel, the group spent the afternoon playing chicken and pickle-in-the-middle in the pool. The original plan was to relax and get set up in everyone’s hotel rooms before the band practiced and everyone ate at Pirates Dinner Adventure. However, due to late check outs and the hotel being understaffed, only a few people were in their rooms before late into the evening. Still, as Obrovac recalls, everyone remained respectful and flexible throughout the inconvenience.
Afterwards the band practiced marching, everyone attended a dinner theater performance at Pirates Dinner Adventure, where they were served dinner and enjoyed a performance featuring acrobatics, singing, and mermaids. The show was interactive requiring audience participation.
The Indy Music Department sat in the orange section, and Andre was their pirate representative.
Before the show began, each pirate chose volunteers from their section to compete in the relay race, and among the competitors were eighth-grader Freddie Averre, freshman Leeh Creel, junior Penny Averre, and seniors Kayla Newcomer and Lindsey Lieu. The volunteers had to do a variety of tasks, including racing a flag up a string and tossing bags of coins to the crows nest.
Even though the orange team came in second, they left with their heads held high when Andre defeated every other pirate, and the captain, in the final fight of the night. The show was filled with stunts, including aerial performances performed by the mermaid and the green pirate of which Penny Averre commented felt like something straight “out of The Greatest Showman.” Overall, it was an exciting, well-received show and was the talk of many Indy Music Department members.
TUESDAY, APRIL 7
Their day at Magic Kingdom opened with a parade down Main Street featuring the song “Hooked On a Feeling”. Mr.Greene followed the band from the back, watching everything unfold, and expressed that “it feels awesome, almost every time. I get this really overwhelming sense of just pride that they’re doing the thing.”
This was Senior MaryAnne Leroy’s first time marching in Disney, and she felt that it was a magical experience. Although she was stressed about marching out of time, she allowed herself relax and “pushed forward with confidence”. Furthermore, she advises anyone considering joining marching band to lose hesitance and just join. She was sad she waited until second semester to join, but since joining, she’s gained so many skills and enjoyed surrounding herself with kind people. Leroy also advises people to not be afraid to fail, give their full effort and practice consistently for the benefit of the group.
Freshman and baritone Liam Barstow claimed that the parade was his favorite part of the trip, and seeing the big castle was a big moment for him.
The evening ended with the “Happily Ever After” fireworks show, many being spotted in tears walking back to the bus.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8
Their next adventure was at Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure, a park for those more interested in thrill rides. Penny Averre remarked that Universal was her favorite park, specifically because of VelociCoaster. She loved how the story was displayed through the architecture, and she felt that because it was very interesting, it made the lines feel less lengthy.
That night the Vocal Ensemble, weary after two activity-filled days of theme park fun, danced their way through their set for the next day’s performance.
THURSDAY, APRIL 9
While everyone else went through shops at Disney Springs, the Vocal Ensemble performed their Spring set (“Somebody to Love,” “Walking on Sunshine,” “My Way,” “Take a Chance on Me,” and “Beautiful Creatures”). After the sound check, a piece of plexiglass fell off of the music stand and hit a button on the keyboard. The performance began set to Clavichord rather than piano, which had to be switched halfway through “Somebody to Love”. “Queen and Clavichord don’t mix” claims Obrovac. A recording of the performance is available on YouTube now on the IndyFlix YouTube channel.
Obrovac was a little worried about the performance, as learning the songs came immediately after Christmas, OMEA Contest, and many snow days that cut a lot of learning time. Still, she is happy with the result, “I was not nervous going to the performance, I thought everybody was prepared and we looked good and it was clean, and it was gonna be good. So even though we had a short timeline, I felt like things were in good shape.”
After singing, the Music Department made their way over to Hollywood Studios, with many making a special hotel stay at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, most going multiple times.
FRIDAY, APRIL 10
The final day of the trip was rife with emotion as they packed up for the ride home. First, however, was a trip around the world in Epcot. Less of a park for rides, many ate food from a variety of cultures, whilst some went on Sydney loved Cosmic Rewind as much as possible. Sydney loved all of the countries with the architecture, designs, food, shopping. The night closed with a performance of Epcot’s famous Fantasmic show, promptly followed with a retreat to the bus.
At midnight the bus returned to Buc-ee’s, where Independence came face to face with Ignatius as they returned from their Universal trip. Independence paused for an hour as one of the buses got a flat tire, but promptly resumed and returned to the road.
SATURDAY, APRIL 11
Obrovac led a reflection on her bus as they neared Independence, and for hours the bus was filled with memories, merriment, and melancholic tears.
Swansiger loved spending time with people she doesn’t usually hang out with. Also, she liked changing her environment and declared it was, overall, a great experience.
Leroy loved the Luminous show at Epcot, the way the music connected with the lights, and the way the beat drops accented the important parts of the message. Although she doesn’t have a favorite park, she enjoys Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, where she had fun the whole time because there was a lot to do.
Penny Averre appreciated this vacation because it was unique in that one gets to spend the majority of it with their friends, and their performances are appreciated by many on a world-stage. More than that, she felt that Disney is special to her because she gets to be “a part of their world” (meaning Disney characters). Lastly, she stresses that although the trip is expensive, one shouldn’t count the opportunity out because of it.
Nora Olexa shared that this was her favorite trip out of the other ones she’s been on, and that “because it’s senior year, it made it so much more special.” Beyond that, she enjoyed spending time with people she hasn’t usually hung out with. Ultimately, she also loved going on “many good rides and eating so much good food.”
