Seniors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School attended Grad Bash on Friday, April 4, as their graduation trip. Students visited Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure Park. Grad Bash is an event at which these parks, and their restaurants, stay open from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. for only high school seniors.
“I want to go to Grad Bash to have fun with my friends and go on rides together,” senior Sandra Martin said.
MSD had early admission to the park, giving students the chance to get on rides before other high schools arrived. This allowed MSD students to get into the park at 4 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., which is when the schools without early admission were permitted to enter.
“Grad Bash was a really fun and special experience,” senior Savita Bagirathan said. “The only thing I wish was different was the amount of students that attended because there were too many people.”
Seniors attending Grad Bash were required to go to a meeting on Wednesday, March 19, the week before spring break. During the meeting buses were assigned and rules and regulations were discussed. Students had to follow the rules of Universal Studios Grad Bash, which included not wearing school attire, not carrying large bags and not bringing food and drinks into the park.
“We want to make sure that everyone’s making good choices, especially because we like to point out that when we are in Orlando, we are no longer under the umbrella of Broward County schools and our security system,” senior class representative Danielle Driscoll said. “If somebody makes a poor choice, they are now in the hands of Universal Studios and the Orange County Police Department.”
The trip was planned by the senior class and senior class representatives. They were in charge of managing various aspects of the field trip, including the bus list and permission slips. They even managed putting the tickets up on the E-Store and coordinated who could attend with administration, as well as which students had medical needs.
The cost of tickets was affected by how many buses were needed. Tickets cost $225 for the bus ride and early admission into the park. The ticket did not include food or drink, and students had to bring their own money to spend.
Seniors and chaperones went to the auditorium after A lunch on April 4, and had to leave campus no later than 12:30 p.m., arriving at the parks around 5 p.m. Once students got to the parks, they were unable to leave until 2 a.m. and returned to MSD at around 6-7 a.m. the following day.
Students were on charter buses that held 50 students each. There were 30 chaperones in total, including staff members and teacher volunteers.
“Teachers don’t have to wait in lines at Grad Bash, so it’s an amazing opportunity to go to a theme park and not stand in any line for almost any ride,” chaperone Jacob Abraham said.
Students who wanted to go on the trip bought tickets on the E-Store. If tickets were not purchased on time the student was put on a waitlist. The only paperwork required to be filled out was a field trip form. Students with major disciplinary issues were not allowed to attend.
Grad Bash represents the sending off of seniors, who are now entering society and adulthood. The trip was a part of many other senior activities, including prom, and gave seniors a fun memory to hold onto as they enter the next chapter of their lives.
