Disney Institute

[wereallwet]

Hello everyone!! I am new to the DISboards and had a question for you guys.

I'm 24 and I've been to Disney World 6 times. I have a career in marketing and I have been out of college for about 3 years now. I am interested in pursuing my education with Disney! I may do Disney Institute this Fall/Winter and was wondering if anyone here has ever done it? Thanks!

 

[emnbensdad]

Yes. Yes! YES!

I have been fortunate to attend 3 Disney Institute courses: Leadership Excellence, Quality Service and People Management. The next two on my list are Creativity & Innovation and Brand Loyalty.

The quality of the instructors/facilitators (they do encourage discussion within the groups), the field experiences (some hands on interaction in the parks takes place) and the wonderful food all make up for a great experience.

It turns out I have forged a wonderful relationship with one of my first facilitators.

You'll learn communication topics, learn strategies Disney uses to foster individual responsibility, and you'll learn how to implement your own guidelines to align your vision, goals and continued development.

You'll generally sleep on sight. You'll eat on site. You'll use Disney transportation. You will be completely immersed in the experience.

HIGHLY recommend it.

David

 

[wereallwet]

Thanks for the reply, David! Sounds like you have had a great time!!

I plan on starting out with the Disney Analytics & Optimization Summit 2012 in August. I work in social media and online marketing so I was pretty happy when I saw this. I will probably book my flight/hotel here in the next couple weeks. I can't wait!

The creativity and innovation course sounds interesting as well. Thanks for all of the info!

Ryan

 

[Seri]

I will be attending my first Institute class (Leadership Excellence) in July and I'm very excited! I can't find too much information about it posted online by participants so I'm thrilled to find this thread. I work in Digital Marketing as well Ryan, and I'll let you know how it goes!

-Seri

 

[wereallwet]

That's awesome, Seri! Yes, keep us posted!

 

[emnbensdad]

Seri,

I don't want to give away too much. You'll experience it in your own way, but I'm confident in saying it will be an eye opener.

Leadership Excellence was the first course I took. I was not ready for that one. Even though I've been a retail manager for many years, I never considered myself a leader.

Be prepared to be challenged. And, if I may encourage you, please speak up in class and participate. It will open up your thinking and encourage other classmates as well. The team exercises are fantastic!

If you're doing the July class, looks like you'll be at the Yacht & Beach Club. Wonderful resort, great rooms, GREAT attention to detail.

If you can, let me know who your facilitators are. You won't know until you get there and the first class begins.

Have fun!!!!!

David

 

[emnbensdad]

Ryan,

Sounds like an interesting "geeky" kind of class. I do have my geek side that would love to hear about the numbers behind the scenes and how companies use them to model future returns. While I don't have a formal IT or Info. Systems degree, I'm married to a math teacher and I'm a numbers nerd. I like to see historical data and . . . . well . . . that's it. I love reading tables, figures, etc. The new Theme Park report should be out in June and I love reading about the attendance numbers around the world.

I see the conference is at the Contemporary. Will you be staying on-site? How many nights are you staying? Extending your trip to include some park time by any chance?

David

 

[wereallwet]

David,

Yes it does! Perfect for a Disney geek like myself.

I am also interested in numbers. I love analytics, reporting and social media, that is what I do at my current job. I have an undergrad degree in marketing and I am taking web design classes right now as well.

YES, I am definitely staying at the Contemporary Resort. This will be my first time staying there. I plan on going down a day early and staying a day after the summit. Probably doing Downtown Disney and hopefully I can squeeze 1 park in as well. So, probably 3 nights/4 days.