Here at Disney Parks, we continue our long-standing tradition of support for military service members and their families. And this weekend we had the honor of hosting several performances by the West Point Glee Club at Disney Springs. What makes their visit even more extraordinary was the special connection between Disney and the West Point team. One of the members of the Glee Club is Cadet Ashton A. Perez, the son of Walt Disney World Resort cast member, Alfredo Perez, a Housekeeping Director at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
Cadet Perez was happy to be home for the weekend.
“Growing up here at Disney [World] was incredible and to come back and perform with my fellow cadets has been a very touching opportunity,” he said. “I get to show my fellow cadets around my home, and we get to perform for the community.”
The West Point Glee Club is one of the U.S. Military Academy’s most visible cadet organizations. For more than one hundred years, its members have entertained audiences around the world with a model depiction of the Corps of Cadets through live performances in the nation’s finest concert halls, feature film appearances and more.
For cast member, Alfredo Perez, watching his son perform just fills him with pride.
“Ashton worked very hard to earn the opportunity to attend West Point,” said Alfredo. “As a family, we could not be any prouder of him for all his academic accomplishments and his commitment to serve his country.”
The cadets sang a collection of popular songs along with some military classics. Of note was their performance of the Armed Forces Medley where veterans in the crowd at the AdventHealth Waterside Stage were invited to stand and be recognized by the crowd when their service branch’s song was performed.
For U.S. Army Colonel Julia Coxen, Deputy Department Head of West Point’s Department of Systems Engineering and Officer in Charge of the Glee Club, seeing the band perform in public is always special.
“As their faculty chaperone, I see the hard work the cadets put into their performance and this club,” said Col. Coxen. “This is all on top of a highly demanding academic and military training. They really exemplify what the model cadet of the West Point Military Academy is.”
We thank these future U.S. Army officers and their support team for entertaining our guests with their inspiring performances throughout the weekend. We salute them and all those serving in the Armed Forces at duty stations around the world.
