Florida Trip 2025
The Massillon Tiger Swing Band will be hitting the road during Spring Break 2025!!
Destination – Florida!
On Wednesday, May 22, 2024, the Massillon Board of Education approved a trip for the Massillon Tiger Swing Band during Spring Break of 2025. The band will be traveling to Florida from March 24th-28th to perform at Universal Studios.
This trip is optional, but our hope is that every Tiger Swing Band member that wants to go on this trip can have this opportunity. That is why the band booster organization has decided to contribute a significant amount of the cost!
The actual cost of the trip is $1,273 per student, but due to the hard work and financial support of the booster organization/parents, we are able to offer it to the students at a reduced price. The boosters will pick up $273 of the cost for each student! (Remember though, that in addition to the trip costs, all band accounts must be paid in full prior to the trip.)
Payment Schedule
We are including the following schedule so that you can see that the payments are split up to make paying for this trip more manageable for each family. Please also know that ALL meals (except for those on the bus ride there and back) are included in the cost of this trip.
| Date | Amount |
|---|---|
| August 2, 2024 | $150* |
| September 6, 2024 | $200 |
| October 4, 2024 | $200 |
| November 1, 2024 | $200 |
| January 10, 2024 | $250 |
| January 24, 2024 | |
| Total Cost |
*We have intentionally made the first payment less than the others to encourage you to purchase the trip insurance that is only offered at the time of the first payment. If you do not purchase trip insurance, you cannot receive any refund should you need to pull out of the trip.
First Step – Register!
The first step for interested students is to check out the trip details/itinerary and register for the trip.
If you intend to travel with the band on this trip, you must register and pay the first deposit by August 2, 2024. Once you have registered, you will receive email instructions/reminders regarding when to make each of the payments. You can also enable the auto-pay feature, to have your payments automatically applied at each payment date for your convenience.
Trip Composers
We have chosen Trip Composers tour company for this trip. This company has organized trips for several area bands and has extensive experience with large group performance trips to Orlando, Florida. They will be collecting all registration and payments on a website called “Group Collect“. In other words, all payments are made through each student’s personal account with Trip Composers. No payments should be sent to the band boosters or the band staff.
Insurance
Again, we strongly recommend that you purchase the trip insurance because without it, no payment that you make is refundable (unless the entire trip is canceled). There are two types of insurance to choose from:
- Standard Protection – $58
- Enhanced Protection – $97 – includes the policy “Cancel For Any Reason (including COVID-19 situations)”
You can read more about these protections on the website when you log in.
Performing at Universal
As of now, we are scheduled for a morning march at Universal Studios on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. We should receive confirmation of our program time approximately 2-3 weeks prior to our arrival in Florida.
Mandatory Meeting
There will be a mandatory meeting closer to the trip to discuss logistical details and expectations. The date of that meeting will be chosen and published closer to the time of the trip.
Questions?
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Mr. Neel via email at jneel@massillonschools.org or call him at 330-830-3901 x51501.
A Note About Chaperones
On a trip such as this one there is typically a large amount of interest from parents who would like to chaperone. Chaperones will be selected based on the final number of students registered. At that time we will contact potential chaperones in this order:
- Current booster officers/spouses
- Stadium concession booth chairs/spouses and committee chairs/spouses
- Parents* of senior/junior band members
- Parents* of sophomore/freshman band members
*Priority will be given to families who assist in helping the booster organization.
If you are interested, please send an email to jneel@massillonschools.org so we can add you to the “potential” list. DO NOT sign up as a chaperone with Trip Composers until you have been contacted and confirmed by the band.
Download the Chaperone Interest Letter for more information.