"Exclusive opportunity to record....

[BWCSH]

Has anyone sent their choir kiddo to DLR on a school trip. My son's choir is going in November. The registration packet says the choir will have an opportunity to record in a professional recording studio. But, when I look at the schedule, I don't see anything about this. If you have experience with this, could you please share???

The travel agent is still giving me grief...it feels like they want the kids to pay a small fortune for a trip and then not access any of the normal Disney offerings. My son wants to see World of Color, and I'm willing to pay for the dessert thing. Seriously...would they schedule a choir to record something that late at night??? TIA!

 

[DizneyMommy]

Has anyone sent their choir kiddo to DLR on a school trip. My son's choir is going in November. The registration packet says the choir will have an opportunity to record in a professional recording studio. But, when I look at the schedule, I don't see anything about this. If you have experience with this, could you please share???

The travel agent is still giving me grief...it feels like they want the kids to pay a small fortune for a trip and then not access any of the normal Disney offerings. My son wants to see World of Color, and I'm willing to pay for the dessert thing. Seriously...would they schedule a choir to record something that late at night??? TIA!

Im local (well was until May) and our local schools get to perform at DL all the time. Of all the trips my kids’ friends have done, I’ve never heard of a choir recording in a studio. I don’t think there even is a professional recording studio on the property. They do that kind of stuff in LA, not at the theme park. Unless they aren’t doing that on-property.

 

[BWCSH]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I wondered if maybe that was dropped into the original packet because they wanted to make sure they have the minimum 150 kids needed for the trip. (I would guess that requirement is the travel agent...not Disney.) Unless someone else can assure me that, yes, this really is a thing, I'm going to mark my calendar so I remember which day I need to call for reservations!

 

[tanyaewa]

Wouldn’t your school organizer be the best person to ask information? And in my experience with school and team trips students don’t have the opportunity to go off on their own to see their own agenda. It should be a tightly scheduled and orchestrated trip if they are taking 150 kids

 

[gincz24]

Actually yes that is a thing. There is a recording studio at the Disneyland Resort. My daughter’s boyfriend just had this opportunity with our high school band. I believe they did the recording before afternoon. They were just there last week over Spring Break. We are from Texas.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

My son's band recorded in the recording studio in Disneyland. It's backstage, behind Toontown. Yes, the trip costs a lot. No, it's not supposed to be a regular Disneyland trip. The travel agent may not even know the itinerary details fully yet. Times for recording studio and performances are dependent on Disney, and I don't know when Disney releases that final information to the visiting groups. In addition, the school or visiting group could be involved in setting the remainder of the itinerary. Again, I have no knowledge of the nature of your organization, but my sons have been on several school and boy scout trips. Never in our experience is a minor allowed to go off on his or her own away from the group for personal activities. That doesn't mean they don't get some "free times", but even then they are still with a buddy or group, and there are usually some guidelines of where they can be. During my son's band Disneyland trip, they were allowed to go freely back and forth between the two parks for the hours that were designated on the schedule as park time. During the time designated as downtown Disney time, that's where they had to be; they couldn't be in the parks or off resting at the hotel or in the bus. I don't know how your trip will be run, but it's a group trip, so it probably will run on a group schedule.

 

[debdreamsofdis]

We did this when I was in high school as part of the Magic Music Days Workshop. The recording and workshop was held in the backstage area behind ToonTown.

My husband is a choir director and has taken his choirs to Disneyland multiple times and says there is a second recording studio in the California Adventure backstage area now as well. The workshops are typically earlier in the day or possibly a few hours in the afternoon, but my husbands groups do get several hours to be on their own in Disneyland and choose their own activities. While each school is different and the workshops certainly wouldn't take up the entire day, I would say to not look forward to this trip as personal vacation time. As previously mentioned, there will more than likely be a schedule that needs to be followed. Also consider that your child might likely be required to stay in a small group during free time. While you may be willing to purchase the dessert party, would any of his friends be willing to buy it as well?

I feel your pain at the travel company's prices being more than what you would pay yourself. I'm going with my daughter and her school in May and while the price is higher than I would like (and we're not even staying in a very nice hotel), I have to remember that there are fees for the workshop, bus transportation, and the travel company also provides their own security guards at the hotel. Plus the travel agent gets their cut. There are many pieces to put together when organizing a large group trip.

No matter what, I'm sure your child is going to have a fantastic time being at Disneyland with his friends. Some of my best memories in high school were made on our band and choir trips to Disneyland.

 

[Malcon10t]

Has anyone sent their choir kiddo to DLR on a school trip. My son's choir is going in November. The registration packet says the choir will have an opportunity to record in a professional recording studio. But, when I look at the schedule, I don't see anything about this. If you have experience with this, could you please share???

The travel agent is still giving me grief...it feels like they want the kids to pay a small fortune for a trip and then not access any of the normal Disney offerings. My son wants to see World of Color, and I'm willing to pay for the dessert thing. Seriously...would they schedule a choir to record something that late at night??? TIA!

Because of the number of schools involved, the timing is usually not finalized until 2 weeks prior to the trip. Yes, they record, yes, they will stay together, and no, it is probably not a good idea to book the WOC package for just your son. Usually, he will need to stay with the group. You don't know what time they will be departing the parks back to the hotel.

We do these trips often. I am chaperoning my niece's trip the end of April. I realize I won't have a schedule until about April 15th. It is just how this works. They aren't working with just her choir and band, there will be many others too.

 

[bumbershoot]

The travel agent is still giving me grief...it feels like they want the kids to pay a small fortune for a trip and then not access any of the normal Disney offerings.

Welcome to Disney youth stuff.

 

[94bruin]

My middle school daughter is on this exact trip as I type this! She was supposed to have a concert today, but it got cancelled. (secretly jealous as that means she has a whole Disney day while I sit here in my office.)

Tomorrow, they will have a recording studio session. They did not get their schedule until last week.

They are pretty much on their own otherwise. I think it depends on the group's own rules. It's a group of 200-300 kids from different music groups in a public middle school. No way the kids are all staying together as one group. They are just required to be with one other person from the trip and must check in with their chaperone from time to time.

Feel free to PM if you have any more questions.

 

[BWCSH]

The kids' time in the parks is their own...that was in the original packet. He's in a choir that often performs without any adult supervision...as in, they have sung at VFW statue dedications, private Christmas parties, and as part of a local universities' Nutcracker by themselves- no adult with them at all! The trip was only offered to 2 of the choirs- I think because these kids already know the behavior expected of them. I am pretty sure there would be other kids to join him...they just have to book the party on their own so their own credit cards get charged. Good to hear that there actually is a recording event. How far ahead do you have to cancel these days? It would work for us if I made reservations for both nights, then cancelled the one on the day they are recording, just in case that ran late.

 

[Malcon10t]

The kids' time in the parks is their own...that was in the original packet. He's in a choir that often performs without any adult supervision...as in, they have sung at VFW statue dedications, private Christmas parties, and as part of a local universities' Nutcracker by themselves- no adult with them at all! The trip was only offered to 2 of the choirs- I think because these kids already know the behavior expected of them. I am pretty sure there would be other kids to join him...they just have to book the party on their own so their own credit cards get charged. Good to hear that there actually is a recording event. How far ahead do you have to cancel these days? It would work for us if I made reservations for both nights, then cancelled the one on the day they are recording, just in case that ran late.

It is nice to hear your son does al of that. I know the choirs I work with are similar, but when they travel to perform, the school has different requirements, such as traveling to and from hotels in a group, check ins during the day, no leaving the parks to DTD, etc... Yes, just book his entertainment. It says cancellation is 24 hour, but in the past it was non-refundable.

 

[mich311e]

My son's band recorded in the recording studio in Disneyland. It's backstage, behind Toontown. Yes, the trip costs a lot. No, it's not supposed to be a regular Disneyland trip.

I chaperoned my middle-schooler's trip last year. The 8th graders to record in the studio at Disneyland and it's amazing! The 7th graders took performance workshops and I sat in on one and it was awesome! Looking forward to my son going again in about 6 weeks!

 

[Malcon10t]

I am helping with a HS that is going April 27-29, and we just got the schedule.