Every four years the Lakeview Marching Band takes a trip to Disney in Orlando Florida. This has been a tradition and exciting trip every band student looks forward to experiencing themselves. Finally, the four year wait was over and it was time for the 2022 Lakeview Marching Band Disney Trip.

The Lakeview Marching Band was not the only ones who were excited about the upcoming Disney Trip. The Category 1 Hurricane, Nicole also wanted to make an appearance. Unfortunately this made for some last minute changes with the Bulldogs. With constant communication with the travel planners, staff, and the flight crew, big changes were made just the night before the Bulldogs took flight. 

With all of this communication, it was decided the safest option was to change their flight. This quick change then changed the Bulldogs flight from after school on Wednesday November 9th in the early evening to the flight now departing at 10:15 am. 

With this last minute change, everyone did what they could to make it work. Everyone cooperated together on this change so not only the trip could happen, but it would happen in the safest way possible with the visit of Hurricane Nicole. 

The Bulldogs took off almost a whole day earlier than planned but all went well. After landing in Florida, the Bulldogs entertained themselves with playing card games, talking, laughing, and eating as they waited for their time to arrive at check-in in the hotel.

On November 10th, Hurricane Nicole made landfall. This day, the Bulldogs tried to make the most out of what they could and still had an exciting time. The parks changed their hours around this day because of the storm, but the Bulldogs got their ponchos ready and still got to go in the early evening.

Senior baritone player Ethan Baker said, “The Disney trip was an amazing experience. I will remember the hurricane because of how crazy and hectic it made everything. It was still fun because we were in an unfamiliar place with great people. My favorite part of the trip was the feeling of marching down main street at Magic Kingdom and being right next to the castle. It was an amazing feeling, and I will never forget. I also won’t forget when we had to leave the park at nine, and junior Nathan Shrum and I were hungry, so we got 14 inch hot dogs 20 min before attendance time.”

Here in Disney the Lakeview Marching Bulldogs went to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Universal Studios where they got to experience the Universal Stars Sound Design workshop where they learned to play with animation, music, and voice overs. 

Senior French horn player, Xavier Madorma said, “Despite the hurricane it was still fun, I had a great time hanging out with friends as we traveled around the parks. Universal Studios was definitely my favorite part and flying into the hurricane was also interesting since it was something we did not expect to come with us on the trip, and since we never experienced something like this before. Although the hurricane changed the way the beginning of our trip looked, it did not at all decrease the quality of the trip.”

As they encountered tons of rain, they made many memories. The weather started to improve throughout the week and their parade later in the trip was showing almost perfect weather. The changes in weather gave the Bulldogs hope that they would get a few nice days without tons of rain. 

Junior majorette Elizabeth Fazekas said, “Marching past Cinderella’s castle was one of my favorite moments about Disney. I had an amazing experience on the Disney trip that I will never forget.”

The weather did in fact improve throughout the trip. It was finally time for the long awaited Disney Parade. This parade is what so many students look forward to and is definitely one of the most special and memorable parts about the trip. The Marching Bulldogs ecstatically and proudly marched through the parade past Cinderella’s castle with big smiles on their faces, as they fulfilled this memory that they will forever remember. 

Both the Marching Bulldogs and Hurricane Nicole got to take a quick Disney Trip. Despite the hurricane weather in the beginning of the trip, it all worked out perfectly. As the parade occurred at the end of the Disney Trip, all of the chaos was over. The Bulldogs got to finally enjoy what they so patiently and anxiously waited for, for every four years. The Marching Bulldogs had a great time in Disney as they made memories even with Hurricane Nicole, that will forever be remembered.