One thing that is even more fun than visiting a Disney park is performing there, being a part of the show. Magic Music Days gives performing groups a chance to perform in one of the most exciting places around.

When I was a high school senior, our concert band had the chance to perform in the Magic Kingdom. We had some difficulties getting there due to mechanical problems on the bus, but we drove all night and made it with time to spare.

I still remember my excitement as our bus went from the hotel where we were staying to Walt Disney World, and how exciting it was to take the backstage roads into the Magic Kingdom. We first went to the warm-up area behind where Splash Mountain now stands before getting back on the bus and going to the backstage area behind Fantasyland. Because Disney likes everything to run on time, we got to Fantasyland quite early, so we had plenty of time to wait around before our performance. I enjoyed looking out the windows through the woods to catch a glimpse every now and then of the trains of the Walt Disney World Railroad passing by.

Eventually, the time came for our performance, and we went out onto the Fantasy Faire stage next to the Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant. That was an exciting location for me, because I had seen shows there before, such as a show for Donald Duck's 50th birthday in 1984. The stage was actually a rising stage, which could rise from the floor with sets already set up, but that feature wasn't used for our performance.

Once we were all seated, Jack Wagner announced us (on tape, of course): "Walt Disney World Magic Music Days proudly presents the Memphis Harding Academy Senior Concert Band from Memphis, Tennessee." Another thrill, because I immediately recognized Jack's voice. I told my friends later that we were introduced by Jack Wagner, and they said, "Who?"

Despite our lack of sleep from riding on the bus all night, we gave a pretty good performance, as I remember. We had a pretty good crowd, thanks to the parents from our group and the overflow seating from the nearby restaurant.

Once the concert was over, we rode on the bus back to the service area behind Adventureland and Frontierland. There, we changed from our band uniforms back into normal clothes. We then were able to walk down a sidewalk, under a railroad track bridge, and out into the park through a door next to Pirates of the Caribbean. We spent the next two days enjoying the parks, as well as our time out of school.

It was exciting to be a part of the "show" at a Disney park. At that time the backstage areas still held some mystique for me, so it was fun to actually see them, feeling like we were seeing something special. We each got a Magic Music Days T-shirt and pin, long before pin trading was popular. And we got a special plaque to display in our band room back home.

It was fun for me, a guy who spent most of his spare time reading anything he could about Disney. But I got the feeling that it was fun for everyone else in our group as well. We really felt special, knowing it was just a bit different from our usual performances in the school auditorium back home. I had the feeling that we were almost like Cast Members, if only for a few hours.

- Story and Photos by Steve Burns
Posted

Steve is a three-time Disney Store National Trivia finalist and webmaster of BurnsLand, home of Steve's Disney Railroad Adventures.

E-mail Steve at steve@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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