Butler marching band performs at Disney
The Butler High School Golden Tornado Marching Band performed at Walt Disney World in Orlando on Wednesday evening.
According to band director Jeffrey Kroner, 172 students traveled south to participate in the parade in Disney's Magic Kingdom.
The band was unable to travel to Disney World last year due to COVID-19, Kroner said.
“We've traveled here since 1997 with the exception of last year,” Kroner said. “It's so great to have the kids be able to do a trip.”
Students and chaperones departed by bus from Butler Monday morning and traveled 20 hours to Orlando. They will leave the amusement park Saturday and return to Butler on Sunday.
Kroner said the parade performance at Disney World featured the same song and dance routines seen by Butler natives in Butler's Spirit of Christmas Parade.
“They're exhausted, it's a lot of walking,” Kroner said of the students in the band. “There's a lot of smiling faces. For some of them, it's their first time in the parks.
“My goal for these trips is always for the kids to build memories they'll hold onto for a lifetime,” he said.
Sequinette dancers Stella Scialabba, Zoe Fischer and Caroline Rundle said this was their first year attending the Disney parade with the band, and they were enjoying themselves.
Caroline and Stella thought the band and dancers did especially well during their performance.“I think it was really good. We kept saying, 'We're in Disney World, we can't mess up!'” Caroline said.“We got the opportunity to (perform) in Disney, so we had to do well. I feel like it's every little girl's dream to dance in Disney,” Stella said.Zoe and Caroline both enjoyed their time marching down the street in front of Cinderella's Castle in the park.“Everyone looked so excited to see us,” Zoe said.“Going down the street, seeing everyone so happy, it was so magical,” Caroline said.Kroner said students have received good feedback from their performance.“They're amazing, their performances and behavior and manners have been exceptional,” Kroner said. “Numerous staff commented on how polite they are and how well they're representing their community.”
