Every other year, the Orcas Island High School band and strings partners with Sedro Woolley band and strings for a trip to Disneyland, in California. The trip requires a joint audition for the opportunity to perform onstage in the California Adventure park, as well as a backstage studio session with professional musicians employed by Disney. The studio session is the most amazing part of the trip: students get to play and record in an official studio with original movie soundtrack scores, and then watch the music they just played overlaid with the corresponding scenes. Then, the next day, they appear onstage to perform their own pieces to the crowds.
However, in addition to being an amazing opportunity, the Disney trip is also very difficult to prepare for. There is of course the audition to go to–and then fundraising begins. The Sedro and Orcas groups combined often reach nearly 100 students, and each one needs lodging, plane tickets, and food. To prepare for these costs, parents and students are placed in charge of fundraising efforts, organizing bake sales, car washes, and more creative endeavors such as selling tickets to buy tamales.
Then, once it is confirmed that both groups will be able to go, they must schedule days to travel and practice music together. Each group will take a full day out of school to go to the other school and run through the music which will later be performed on stage. After that, there are still the logistics of moving larger instruments, like cellos and tubas, all the way down to California. Any instrument which cannot fit into the overhead carry-on space on an airplane must be driven down ahead of time.
Finally, the group departs after school and drives to the airport. After this day, they most likely will not get more than five hours of sleep a night. They will be playing music and exploring the park from open to close, attempting to make the most of the experience.