The beauty of a new year is that endless opportunities for new experiences abound. Whether it’s a new historic destination, festival, theme park or otherwise, the excitement around planning your next student trip can be heightened even further by stepping outside of your comfort zone to bring your class somewhere they’ve never been! Luckily, there’s plenty of “new” to explore in 2025—keeping reading to learn more!
Disney Imagination Campus: Musical Storytelling Workshop
The new Disney Imagination Campus Musical Storytelling workshop allows students who are ideally already studying music to utilize listening skills and observations to showcase how Disney uses music to immerse guests in a story.
With Epcot as their backdrop, students could: listen and analyze music from various Disney locations and movies to determine what story is being told and why; identify the musical style, instruments, tempos, melodies, and more and how they assist in storytelling; gain a better understanding of international cultures and the role music plays in those cultures; and identify emotions elicited through different musical styles.
Universal Epic Universe
Come mid to late 2025, Universal Orlando Resort will unveil its next gamechanger for theme park entertainment with the debut of its most ambitious theme park yet: Universal Epic Universe. Epic Universe will present an unmatched level of theme park immersion and innovation, transporting students to expansive worlds featuring more than 50 awe-inspiring attraction, entertainment, dining and shopping experiences that come together to create an unforgettable adventure that is nothing short of epic.
Whether it’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ — Ministry of Magic™, SUPER NINTENDO WORLD™, How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, Dark Universe or Celestial Park, options for fun, adventure and learning are endless. This new addition to Universal Orlando Resort also sees the development of multiple new lodging options, so students can be fully immersed in the Epic Universe world from sun up to sun down.
Virginia International Tattoo
Presented by the Virginia Arts Festival, Virginia International Tattoo is the third largest international Tattoo in the world and offers students a chance to both admire and take part in the spectacle. The Tattoo features over 800 cast members from all around the world—including from branches of the U.S. military—showing off their skills. Students can expect to see incredible displays from military bands, drill teams, massed pipes and drums, Celtic dancers, choirs and more.
Virginia International Tattoo makes for a great music department experience! Students could participate in student music competitions, masterclasses and workshops; take part in custom pre-performance opportunities and discussions with artists, directors and producers; be granted access to behind-the-scenes immersive learning experiences; and more.
Taking place April 24-27, 2025, and April 23-26, 2026, this annual celebration of patriotism and international goodwill is one that students won’t want to miss out on. Can’t make those dates? Virginia Arts Festival performances run from March through June throughout Coastal Virginia that your groups could participate in.
Planning for America 250
While 2026 is the year America turns 250 years old, 2025 is the time to plan your America 250 activities. The official entity charged by Congress with planning the anniversary, America 250 has various festivities planned, most of which are focused on the Eastern Seaboard, where colonial America’s roots lie.
Whether it’s delving into the Battles of Saratoga in New York and the beginnings of the American Revolution in Boston, New England and Virginia, or stepping foot where America was birthed in Philadelphia and seeing historic monuments and documents in Washington, DC, there will be plenty of special chances for students to see history come alive like never before. There’s also America’s Field Trip, a contest that invites students across the country in grades 3–12 to be part of America’s 250th anniversary by sharing their perspectives on what America means to them. If chosen, it could mean earning an unforgettable field trip experience!
Tours, festivities, exhibitions and more abound, offering students a truly monumental opportunity to commemorate America’s Semiquincentennial. Don’t miss out!
Siren’s Curse at Cedar Point
Thrills are being taken to a whole new level with the brand-new Siren’s Curse at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, coming in 2025. The tallest, longest, fastest tilt coaster in North America promises students a heart-pumping and immersive experience, as they experience what it’s like to ascend an old 160-foot-tall Lake Erie shipping crane tower and encounter the roller coaster’s signature moment: a dead stop on a “broken off” section of track, which then slowly tilts into a 90-degree vertical position.
Based on the lore of Lake Erie’s sirens and other mysterious underwater creatures, the ride is a two-minute adventure full of twists and turns, including: 2,966 feet of track at a top speed of 58 mph; 13 weightless airtime moments; two 360-degree, zero-gravity barrel rolls; and a high-speed “triple-down” element with twisted and overbanked track. Are your students brave enough to try it?
So much excitement awaits in 2025, and ETI can help make it all happen for you and your students. Reach out to us now to learn how we can assist in your trip planning process and make your dream trip a reality!
Courtesy of ETI.
