Magic Carpet
A long journey, one step at a time
The Everett High Marching Band needed a year to turn the dream of Disney Magic Music Days into reality
by Sean McDevitt
For Gene O'Brien and the Everett High School Crimson Tide Marching Band, the journey to Disney Magic Music Days began simply enough.
"One of my students left a poster on my desk about going to Disney last year," the band director recalls. "She had just returned with her family from Walt Disney World Resort and was quite excited. She told me about a band that she saw in the parade in Magic Kingdom, and she said, 'Wouldn't it be neat to have our band go?'"
With that in mind, an idea was hatched at the school located north of Boston, and a plan was put in motion. O'Brien first turned to colleagues for help with fund-raising and school approvals, then he contacted Disney Magic Music Days.
Approval came shortly afterward—and the fund-raising began. They sold oranges, plants, ad books and took donations. "Slowly but surely, the dream started to become reality," O'Brien says. "Some students were doing extremely well with fund-raising, while others struggled." But with community support, the band's goals were ultimately reached.
The band prepared for its trip with various performances, including one in the cold at Foxboro's Gillette Stadium. "The temperature was 15 degrees Fahrenheit," O'Brien says. "It was the coldest day in the history of the band. Every instrument froze, and the students brought them into the restrooms to defrost. Boy, Disney World looked really good at that point."
Finally in January, roughly one year after beginning their quest, the students headed for the airport—while their instruments hit the road. (A rental truck was driven 1,350 miles in 23 hours in order to transport the 45-member band's gear to Florida.)
"Many of the students had never flown before," O'Brien says. "As the plane headed down the runway, all the kids had their hands in the air like they were on a roller coaster ride. We flew right over Everett, where the temperature was 34 degrees, and we made it to Orlando, where the temperature was 80. The glow of the students was quite evident—we had made it."