ASHLAND, Ohio — Even after thieves stole dozens of musical instruments during a once‑in‑a‑lifetime trip to Walt Disney World, Ashland High School’s band didn’t miss a beat.

Roughly a quarter of the band’s instruments were stolen overnight during the group’s Florida trip, just hours before students were scheduled to perform in a Disney parade. The theft left students and staff scrambling, but thanks to quick thinking, community support and help from music stores hundreds of miles away, every student still performed.

“We discovered it Sunday morning, and the band had to march Monday,” said Marty Kral, Ashland High School’s head band director and music department chair. “They had to think really fast.”

The students had arrived in Florida Saturday night as part of the school’s four‑year tradition of taking the band, orchestra and choir to Disney, a culminating experience many students save and fundraise for throughout high school.

According to officials, the group brought four tour buses and a trailer carrying instruments and equipment. When staff went to unload the trailer Sunday morning, they found the locks missing.

“They took whatever they could grab quickly, flutes, clarinets, saxophones and some trumpets,” said Michael Metcalf, owner of Mike’s Music Corner in Ashland. “Probably 20 to 30 instruments easily.”

The theft impacted about 20% of the band’s instruments, leaving students without the tools they had trained with for years.

“For a lot of kids, those instruments are part of who they are,” Metcalf said. “They’ve had them since fifth grade. It’s like losing a piece of yourself.”

With just hours to spare, band leaders reached out to Music & Arts, a national music retailer that partners with Mike’s Music Corner. Two Music & Arts locations in the Orlando area opened on Sunday and worked quickly to rent replacement instruments.

“It took two stores to get everything we needed,” said assistant band director Cameron Dietrich. “But by Sunday night, we had instruments back in kids’ hands.”

There was even one last‑minute hurdle: the band was still one instrument short. That problem was solved after a Facebook message to another Ohio school band performing in Disney that same weekend.

Around midnight, staff met a stranger, a parent from the Anna High School band in Ohio, to borrow the final saxophone.

“It was a really powerful moment of band families coming together,” Dietrich said.

Ultimately, every Ashland student performed, some on instruments they had never played before.

“About 20% of the kids in that parade were using instruments they’d never touched,” Kral said. “And they still nailed it.”

The band marched down Main Street at Walt Disney World on Monday, playing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from “Toy Story,” drawing cheers from crowds and beaming smiles from parents lining the route.

“They didn’t miss a beat,” Metcalf said.

Students are now finishing their trip and are expected to return to Ashland on Thursday. Donations and offers of help have continued pouring in from the community.

Local police in Orange County, Florida, are investigating the theft and reviewing hotel surveillance video, but no arrests have been announced.

Kral says despite the setback, the experience has shown students something just as meaningful as the performance itself.

“We tell our kids to celebrate success,” he said. “And the success here is that no matter what happened, every kid performed. Nobody brought us down.”