Pennsbury Marching Band Will Be First To Perform At All Disney Parks
A photo of the castle at Disney Shanghai Resort.
Credit: MasaneMiyaPA
The Pennsbury High School marching band and concert jazz band will be heading to Disney’s Shanghai park resort.
The high school’s musicians were invited by officials at Disney and are expected to perform at Shanghai Disney Resort’s Mickey Avenue, which is similar to other park’s Main Street U.S.A., over spring break 2020. The trip is expected to last from April 3 to April 10.
Once the “Long Orange Line” plays the new Shanghai park resort, they will become the first marching band in the world to play all of Disney’s park resorts. Previously, the marching band has performed at Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland Resort in California, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in China.
Band director Frank Mazzeo told the district Education Committee in early February that the estimated cost for the trip is $3,595 per student. He said students and boosters would help raise funds for the trip. Three district staff members, two administrators, and a school nurse would travel at no cost as Disney’s guests. In total, there are expected to be a little over 150 people heading to China.
Mazzeo said that he will seek to book a hotel without balconies to avoid any accidents, and he is also seeking to bring a Pennsbury security guard to keep an eye on the students.
In addition to the visit to the Shanghai Disney Resort, the students will perform in Beijing, visit Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China, possibly even performing “Hail to the Falcons” on the wall, Mazzeo said.
The fundraising efforts for the visit are designed to ensure every band member who wants to go is able to visit China, a trip that Superintendent Dr. William Gretzula said is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Mazzeo assured the Education Committee that the boosters and school would make sure that every student would be able to attend.
“I can honestly say that in all the trips I have done every student who has signed up and wanted to go on the trip went on the trip,” he said. “We saw that it happened. Everyone of them.”
In addition to performing, the students will also learn more about the local culture and will have time for sightseeing, Mazzeo said.
The Pennsbury School Board approved the trip at their most recent meeting.
