The Disney Institute was fashioned after the
Chautauqua Institution - located in western New York. It styled the campus area after the Chatauqua grounds and used the education/revival theme as it's foundation.
It used the accommodations that were originally part of the Disney Village Resort - which included bungalows, townhomes, Treehouse Villas and Grand Vista suites. These accommodations were spread out over a large area and were left intact as part of DI. Many guests even used golf carts to "get around" the resort.
The DI included a Cinema, a Performance Center and an outdoor bandshell theater in addition to a variety of classroom settings - both outdoor and indoors. Classes in a wide variety of subjects were offered. We took classes in cooking, animation, gardening and one called "As Walt Would Tell It". We also attended a Valentine's Day program titled "Mickey Loves Minnie" which was offered in the Cinema and was taught by a Disney animator who lectured on the relationship of Mickey and Minnie - using film examples. (GREAT program!)
Also offered were TV production, wall climbing, golf, tennis, photography and the list goes on and on ... and on.
IMO, the program could have been marketed very differently and the programs could/sould have been promoted more to guests staying at other resorts. There was a
DVC discount offered for these programs.
Seasons was a wonderful restaurant with a great chef and very upscale menu - but it was never fully utilized and closed even before the resort itself.
SSR still uses some of the classroom areas, but the outdoor bandshell is now the site for the High Rock Springs Pool. The Cinema is now home to the DVC models for AKV and the Performance Center (used for theatrical programs - and even a poetry reading by James Earl Jones) remains, but is rarely used any longer.
SSR has removed/replaced all of the accommodations formerly part of DI (and Disney Village) - except for the Treehouse Villas, which are now home to foreign CMs. The Treehouses are 2 stories, with a sleeping capacity of 6. None are accessible and a number of them were damaged during the hurricanes of the last few years. They are NOT part of SSR at this time.
