As the bus finally settles to a stop at the hotel parking lot, the excitement is almost visible in the air. 25 hours and they finally made it. The 2017 Trojan marching band trip to Florida from April 17th-23rd was truly an occasion to remember, especially for Disney lovers Brett Cherry ‘20 and Glenda Reighard ‘19.

There were many reasons why they both chose to go on the trip. “I’ve never been anywhere by myself so I thought it would be fun to do that,” Cherry says. Cherry has been to Disney World a total of 18 times, 17 being with his family. The band trip was his first time travelling without his family. According to Cherry, it was a good learning experience.“This time, I was the one who had to plan all the stuff so I guess I had more responsibility. But also had more freedom to do things because I was with my friends and I could go and do whatever I wanted” says Cherry.

Cherry had more responsibility than others who went. Because he had already been to Disney World 17 times, many thought of him as the go-to guy for all their questions and Disney facts. “This was the best thing and the worst thing about the trip at the same time. I had to be like the leader for everyone because I was the only one who knew what I was doing,” Cherry says. He also mentions, “I mean that was good because then I could help people and that’s what I like to do.” Many would ask him where they should go and what they should do; some would even try and join his group.

Although about 50 hours total were spent riding a bus, Cherry enjoyed himself, “it was a really fun trip because I got to spend time with my friends and go to my favorite place and go to Disney World and it was fun.” Even though he did not sleep much, he did not think that the bus ride was that bad, “I thought it was going to feel like it took forever but it really didn’t, it felt pretty fast.”

Cherry recounts the funniest moment on the trip, “We were riding the bus and it was like these college age kids sitting on the bus and it was busy so we had to stand. They were sitting; we were standing next to them. The girl was like ‘I don’t need no foot to drive a car,’ and the guy was like ‘No, y’all needs two foots to drive a car.’ And we just about cracked up in the middle of the bus,” recounts Cherry. By the end of the day Cherry’s bus knew all about it. It may have been one of those jokes where you had to be there to find if funny, but “Y’all needs two foots to drive a car,” became a recurring joke throughout the remainder of the trip. Reighard was on the same bus as Cherry but the funniest moment for her was different. “The funniest thing that happened to me on the trip was when I cried and screamed at the top of my lungs on the 4D Harry Potter ride at Universal. I was terrified,” recalls Reighard.

For Cherry and Reighard, along with many others, the trip was a success. The two are looking forward to the marching season and to the next few years they will spend in band. Cherry says the main difference between marching and concert band is that all the freshmen were in the same band during marching season in the fall. After the first trimester some of the freshmen left the band to join Symphonic or Wind Ensemble. Cherry had more fun during marching since the freshmen were all together as a group and there were more people he knew. Reighard also enjoyed marching band more, “In my opinion, the main difference is the type of music being played and the whole marching part is clearly different from concert band. Concert band is more serious and marching band is basically having fun.” Reighard also mentions that during marching band they have a larger audience, but concert band is less physical work, as they do not have to walk from the band rooms down to the football field and back just to practice their music.

Although Reighard and Cherry have similar thoughts about marching and concert band, they had different experiences on the trip. This was Reighard’s first time in Disney, “I’ve never been to Florida and it gave me an excuse to go.” She had a good experience there, especially in Magic Kingdom, “It gave me an amazing feeling. It had an old vibe to it that I really liked as well.” Disney’s Magic Kingdom firework show, Wishes, touched Reighard on a personal level, “For me, it was emotional. I cried and it just felt so magical and I felt like I had made a connection with the Magic Kingdom. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it made me really happy and filled me up with joy.”

Reighard was also very happy about seeing Cinderella’s Castle, “When I saw it, I started to jump up and down. I cried a little bit as well. I felt as if my childhood had been completed.”

Seeing it was one of the best moments of the trip for her, “I don’t think I’ve ever been that happy before. I called my mom freaking out about how awesome it was. I’ve never enjoyed a moment that much before. It was always a dream of mine to go there, but my family never had the money to. So I saved up and took the opportunity to go on this amazing trip.”

In addition to attaining her childhood dreams by seeing the castle she also got to meet other characters from her childhood like Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.

Going to Florida was rewarding for Reighard in a few ways. “It made me feel like I have accomplished a lot and completed the last on my bucket list from my childhood,” she says. “I met a ton of new freshmen, who turned out to be very weird but fun to talk to. I spent the majority of my time with the same group of freshman girls.”

The 2017 band trip to Orlando, Florida was a great experience for these two. New friends were made, dreams were achieved, greater levels of maturity were reached, a new sense of responsibility was learned and it was a great time.