Running Disney LiveBlog

I'm not sure how many people read this blog but don't read the Band's listserv, Oxymoron, but just in case, here are the blog posts I wrote while on our Disney trip. I'd have posted them in real time, but I didn't have Internet access in Orlando.

Day 1: The Penn Band . . . ON A PLANE!!!

Brian Greenberg here, intrepid alumni blogger, reporting live from the All Star Music resort in Walt Disney World. The kids are recharging for their first full Disney day, the wife has passed out while examining tomorrow's myriad of dining options, I'm writing this, and most of the band is in the piano-shaped pool playing Marco Polo (at last check, Adam Sherr's daughters were winning handily).

The day began at the Philadelphia International Airport, where 30 bandos and 20 "chaperones" (hah!) met around 7:30 AM for their 9:30 flight. Most folks had either coffee to wake them up, or iPods to keep them from waking up. Carly had a big, furry Russian ski hat. Still not sure what that's about.

The flight was uneventful. Adam and my son, Avery, had a Sudoku race in the in-flight magazine. I'd love to report that Avery won, but Adam did prevail. It was pretty close, though.

In Orlando, we waited on what I hope will be the longest line of the trip, while the Disney Welcome Center processed hundreds of people at once. Eventually, we made it to the hotel where we once again waited, this time for all of our room keys to be ready. Joe passed the time by learning how to talk without cursing, in deference to the children of Disneyworld (in particular, the ones we brought along).

From there it was a buffet dinner at Hollywood & Vine (the first test of our meal plan), then some free time, and then the Fantasmic show at Disney's Hollywood Studios (f.k.a MGM). Noah informed me that my credibility was on the line, since I had told everyone it was an awesome show. I haven't seen him since it ended, so I don't know the verdict yet, but I can tell you that it certainly met my high expectations.

That's the update for now. Until tomorrow. . .

Day 2 - The Band of a Thousand Dances

Howdy, folks. Brian Greenberg, intrepid alumni blogger, here again for a daily dose of Penn Band in Disneyworld news.

Today saw the band basically scatter to the winds, with different groups going in different directions to do their own thing, before we all get back together tomorrow for a Princess Breakfast & our command performance. But alas, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I can tell you the most about the travels of "the three families" (they being Greenberg, Gupta & Sherr - sounds rather like a law firm, no?). We started our day in Animal Kingdom with the safari, in hopes of seeing animal feeding time. We didn't see any feeding, but we did see lots of animals, including a white rhino that almost charged our bus. Also in Animal Kingdom, we saw the Lion King show (big thumbs up), Finding Nemo - the Musical (big thumbs down), and It's Tough to be a Bug (Meh...). Then we headed to Epcot, where we saw the newly renovated Spaceship Earth (now no longer predicting a future in which people communicate electronically over long distances), the Finding Nemo ride (also a big thumbs up), Turtle Talk with Crush (amazing technology, but none of our kids got called on, so the show wasn't so great), and Soarin' (simulated hang gliding - a big hit with everyone but Adam, who's not a fan of heights - real or simulated).

We ran into HHTT at dinner, who's group had abandoned him for their second steak meal in a row (way to make that meal plan pay, folks!), so he accompanied us to Test Track, which was a fun ride, but the wait was too long. Next was Illuminations, Epcot's fireworks show, which proves that Disney can basically turn any location into a production number with enough money, special effects and pyrotechnics. After that, Tom rejoined some bandos for their trip through Soarin', while we walked "around the world," stopping only to watch a draw bridge go up & down and for a late night snack of French crepes.

As for the rest of the band, stories I heard suggest a good day as well. Some were in Epcot all day, checking out "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience," which come to think of it, might explain how Noah lost all that weight. Test Track got good reviews as well, as did Mission Space. A bunch were in MGM (Beauty and the Beast got a fair to thumbs down review...); but Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller coaster were hits. Oh, and the award for Most Dedicated Grandfather most definitely goes to Greer, who went on It's a Small World *TWICE*, at the request of his granddaughter. He did give rave reviews about Philharmagic, though, which is a 3-D movie of Mickey conducting an orchestra. Talk about gravitating to stuff you can relate to, huh Greer?

Anyway, everyone had a magical day (or so we kept getting told by the Disney folks), and now it's onward to tomorrow, when we all pray that the rain holds out and the Disney marathon doesn't mess with our travel plans too much.

And for those who are starting to feel sorry they didn't come along, here's a little consolation: call tomorrow morning is 7:45AM, and it's for breakfast with Princesses, not a performance.

Day 3 - The Penn Band Goes Downtown (Disney, that is)

Day 3 started with a 7:45AM call. Or, as those running the Disney marathon call it, sleeping in late. We boarded a special character breakfast bus to the Ticket & Transportation center ("special" defined here as "waits in traffic like every other damn bus..."). At any rate, we finally made it to Norway for our Princess Breakfast at around 9:15. I'm happy to report that despite meeting the Low Brass section, Belle still identifies "The Beast" as a Disney character and Snow White can still legitimately keep her name. Mulan, on the other hand, was all about the flirting - trying on HHTT's "spy glasses" and asking others to "join her army.". (Editor's Note: I'm told this is less weird if you're one of the three people who saw the Mulan movie).

Anyway, the surprise sexual tension of the meal came in the person of Alexander, the Norwegian waiter, who not only saved the day by scaring up pancakes and waffles for my kids when none existed on the menu, but also spent a fair amount of time going over the bill with Vicky ("going over the bill" defined here as actually going over the bill). And so, despite encouragement to get Alexander's "digits," Vicky passed. The next suggestion was that maybe HHTT should try for some digits, on the off chance that he was more Alexander's type - not that there's anything wrong with that (Editor's Note #2 - you'll have to forgive me, this is what happens when you blog right after watching Seinfeld). Anyway, at the end of the meal, it was left to me to get Alexander's manager's number in the form of the restaurant's business card. Still no word if the back of that card ever wound up with Alexander's digits or not.

From breakfast, it was the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, where several band members met up to encourage my son, Avery, to go on Space Mountain. Not that he needed encouragement. He informed Koosh that he only made the 44" cutoff because of his hair. Koosh, of course, had no such concern, although he did have the opposite problem - concern that he was too tall to ride, and that a low hanging crossbar could make the entire hair discussion sadly irrelevant.

Then there was lunch, where I discovered that Adam Sherr is a Celine Dion fan. It's a long story, and I'll let him fill in the details.
Suffice to say, it ended with "you're going to put that on the blog, aren't you...". Oh yes, Adam - oh, yes.

By 5:30, the band was back in it's fabled Maroon & Khaki (made famous by that 1898 song, "Hurrah for the Maroon and the Khaki.". But I digress..). Anyway, aside from a brief threat of rain, which was quickly taken care of by the Disney people (these people really do control the customer experience out here), we hit the stage at 6:30pm. Our audience consisted of the four families (Greenberg, Gupta and Sherr + the Cheeseman crew), as well as Bjorn, Melody Joy Kramer, and that typical crowd that gathers whenever a Disney announcer says over the loudspeaker, "And now, ladies and gentlemen..."

The band formed a traditional semi-circle, with the exception of the drumline, which was behind the band, obscured from their view of the conductor, outside of the spotlights (to make music reading difficult), and playing the sub-par instruments provided by the Disney people. As we've come to expect of the drumline, there were no complaints ("no" defined here as "lots").

Despite these minor difficulties, the performance went off without a hitch. Well, OK - one hitch. But it was one of those songs the band doesn't know too well. A little tune called The University of Pennsylvania Band March. Something about "tempo" and "playing together.". I was a little confused. At any rate, when Koosh posts the postage stamp-sized Flash video, you can see and hear for yourself on pennband.net.

So after that, it was all over. Except for the time when Joe and Noah attempted to pick up a high school dance team with no shirts on (Joe and Noah had no shirts, not the dance team). And once again, we were all impressed with Disney's customer service, who improved everyone's experience by getting them to rerobe (Editor's Note #3: no, that's not a word, but it should be).

Thus concluded day three. Day four promises the opportunity to get on all the rides and shows that we missed thus far, and to spend as much as possible on the prepaid meal plan cards. Wish us all luck!

Day 4 - Ow, My Aching Feet

Another day of "scatter and do what you want," so not much to report in the Band Blogging sense. GG&S conquered the Magic Kingdom, hitting just about every ride once, and several of them multiple times (I'm looking at you, Buzz Lightyear). We joined up with the Cheeseman crew for dinner in Cinderella's castle, where Adam got chased down a hallway by two giant mice. Again, I'll let him explain.

The only other thing to note is the rain, which came rather impressively in the early afternoon, but stopped by early evening, leaving nice enough weather for an awesome fireworks show over the castle, but leaving behind puddles big enough to sell a couple of pair of Mickey Crocs to kids with wet feet.

As for the rest of the band, we were up so early, moving so fast, and left so late that I didn't even get to ask anyone else what they did yesterday. I'll leave those stories to my fellow bloggers.

One last note before signing off from Orlando: those of you who wanted to go on this trip but couldn't, you missed out on a great time. Those who could go, but decided not to, screwed up big time. The Disney attitude, atmosphere, and entertainment value is the professional equivalent of what the Penn Band does at the college level. Being here is always fun; being here with the Penn Band was a extra special bonus. If you get another chance to do it, take it. 'Nuff said.

On a related, personal note, the Greenberg family would like to publicly thank Greer, Adam and Koosh for inviting us along - it was fantastic. We'd also like to thank the rest of the band. These trips are mostly about making memories for the kids (and their parents), and without necessarily trying, you guys did that for us this week as well.

See you all at basketball homecoming and, of course, in OxyWorld...