Spring Trip, April 19-23, TRIP INFORMATION
Spring Trip, April 19-23, Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida TRIP INFORMATION
Please read at your convenience and PLEASE read ALL of this information carefully, including the provided forms, before asking questions.
If you missed the meeting and/or your student has not picked up the informational forms, they are linked below. There are four forms which should contain most of the information you need. I’ve also covered a lot of important specifics, including things discussed in the meeting, below.
- Universal Studios Student Flyer
- Universal Studios Trip Itinerary
- Universal Studios Paper Registration Form
- Trip Payment Options for Springdale Travel
* Springdale Travel is handling ALL of the registration and payment. Do NOT turn in any forms or money to me or the money box in the band room. Everything goes to Springdale Travel.
– You can choose any of the 3 ways on form #4 to sign up for and make payments to the trip. All band fees (including Spring, Indoor Percussion and Winter Guard fees) MUST be paid PRIOR to the Spring Trip in order to go on the trip. This means even if you have paid for your entire trip, the student will not be allowed to go if he/she has overdue fees.
*Please note the “payment schedule” laid out in the top right square on the paper registration form.
– Lunch and Dinner on the initial travel day and lunches while in the park for 3 days are not provided by Springdale Travel. Students may bring a “cooler/lunchbox” that can fit under their legs on the bus to contain lunch/dinner items if they want to save the lunch/dinner cost – and – can pack snack items in their carry-on bag which can be stored in the over-head compartments for the ride down and back.
*Specifics on packing and medicine-procedures will be discussed closer to the trip (we will have a medical assistant (or two) to help keep track of and administer medications for students).
– If you have monetary credits in your student’s CHARMS account, they can be used to pay for the trip (after all fees are paid). This includes all the fees that will be due through the Spring, up to the trip. If you have CHARMS credits that you want to apply to your/your student’s trip, you will need to let me know so I can get you on the list (amount) to be paid from the band account to Springdale Travel.
– Trip Insurance is very strongly encouraged because if an extenuating circumstance causes you or your student to not be able to go, your trip insurance will cover you. (See the registration form to request more information about Trip Insurance.) IF the entire group were to not travel for some uncontrollable reason, monies would be refunded group wide. Other than these provisions, payments are non-refundable and non-transferrable.
– There must be at least 50 paying members to fill a bus (56 passenger). Therefore, the first 56 paying registrants (students and parent chaperons) will ‘lock-in’ their spot on the trip. The next 43 will be on a “waiting list” until there are 44 more paying members to meet the 50 per bus minimum. *PLEASE SIGN-UP NOW
– You’ll see full trip price options on the bottom of the Student Flyer page. Students will have the opportunity to specify who they want to room with, but to fit 4 to a room (unless otherwise specified by student/parent) the director will have the final say on rooming arrangements. Students will not be charged extra if we end up with a room of 2 or 3. Chaperons may also choose their roommates and choose whichever option of 2, 3, 4 to a room subject to the price specifications.
*Rooms will have 2 queen beds, so 4-to-a-room means 2-to-a-bed unless a student opts to sleep on the floor.
– You’ll notice we are traveling all day Wednesday with a good night’s rest at the hotel (right next to Universal Studios) to be rested well before beginning the 3 day stay in Orlando. The Sound Studio clinic will be the first morning. We will not take/wear tuxes and dresses. A certain number of parents will be allowed in with the students who will be performing in a professional sound studio while watching their music be applied to a portion of a silent movie (Options will include movies like Frankenstein, Despicable Me, The Lorax) and receiving instruction (according to National Music Education Standards) from a trained clinician. The music is prepared by world-wide renowned composer Robert W. Smith and we will come away with a recording for all to see/hear.
*The sound studio clinic is IN Universal Studios, so parents and Color Guard members who may not participate in this clinic will be able to jump in to the park.
– You will also see how we are not staying the final night (Saturday night) in order to save the hotel cost and simply ride back overnight so everyone has Sunday to “recover”. Students/parents can bring a fair-sized pillow and blanket on the bus. We will find a suitable place for everyone to “freshen up” after having spent the whole day in the parks, before beginning the long trip home. The itinerary currently says “depart for home – 7:00PM” but we will get to choose any time we want to leave that late evening.
*Drivers will be exchanged so that our students are safe at all times!
– Students will be held to a high standard when traveling – representing not just themselves and their families, but our band program, myself, and the school. Any discipline issues will be handled by me, according a ‘no-nonsense, first time offense’ policy causing the student(s) to be stuck with a chaperon if they cannot control themselves. The chaperon will not be obligated to do what the students wants, but the other way around. (Teenagers will be teenagers – but they will be expected to exhibit a sufficient level of maturity. We will have fun and I will be fair, but not following instructions including meeting crucial expectations for check-in times in the mornings, throughout the day, and for doors-closed times will be met with immediate consequences as previously mentioned.)
*Students’ hotel room doors will have a piece of duct tape placed tightly in the corner so as to show if a student has cracked or opened the door overnight. Chaperons (only) will remove tape before morning call-times.
– Students will not have to stay with a chaperon throughout the parks, but will rather be required to “check-in” every 2-3 hours depending on what I decide that day. Check-in’s may constitute a picture text with context of time (public clock or phone time) – OR – face-to-face meet up with chaperons. Myself and the chaperons will make the students safety and well-being THE most important policy of the trip, with having fun our second priority. *If a student or students is/are found by themselves or in a group less than 3, they will be made to stay with a chaperon for the remainder of the trip, no questions asked*
*Any student or parent who is found to be involved in any seriously unsavory or illegal activities will be sent home at their expense. The director will have the final judgment call.* Our students are some of the best anywhere and we almost never have any problems, but must be prepared just in case.
PLEASE read this information carefully, including the provided forms before asking questions. But if you find something not included, please feel free to email me or [email protected] for clarification. This is going to be an awesome trip! I don’t know about you, but I’m especially excited about the clinic, the Blue Man Group concert, Medieval Times, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
Jacob Souder
Band Director
Buckhorn High School
256-851-3300 ext. 21142