Has anyone had a child do the "Leadership Excellence"
and the "World of Physics, Energy and Waves"? What grades were they in and did they enjoy it/them?
These are the 2 we are interested in registering for.
Anyone??
I am going to follow with them again next week..........DD7 and I did the Synergy in Science class, at Epcot, on January 24. We thought it was kind of boring. I really hate to say that. The instructor was so nice, but the program itself just didn't hold our interest.
I should have reported sooner so the details were fresh in my mind, sorry. I will say that at the beginning of the class she took the kids into the Innoventions West building to find a spot to sit on the floor. She showed them some photos of the building of Spaceship Earth, inside the 'ball' and that kind of thing. They were split into groups and given some tinkertoys. I think they were supposed to cooperate to build something, though they only had half a dozen pieces per group to build with or less. DD was upset because the boys in her group totally bulldozed her and she didn't get to give any opinions at all.
She showed them a piece of rubber-like material and asked them to look for where it was used on the ride...
Then we all went to ride Spaceship Earth. It was a little awkward because people who weren't in our group ended up in between us and the instructor was trying, at the loading point, to get us all together again. We gathered outside the exit for her to ask the kids if they spotted the material in use. (It was the skin of the animatronic people.)
Afterwards we headed over to ride Journey Into Imagination with Figment. Then the instructor gathered the kids into a group, sitting on the ground, to the side of the Imagination building near the restrooms. They covered an eye to look at things, then the other eye, stuff like that. (I'm so sorry I can't be more specific, but I'm a little ashamed to admit that I wasn't paying attention.) She led us all into Honey I Shrunk the Audience which was about to start in a minute or two. She handed out special 3D glasses 'overlays' to hold up over the regular 3D glasses. She told the kids to try different things with them during the show -- experiment.
When the movie was over she asked the kids what happened when they experimented with their 3D glasses. We went into the building that houses the Character Meet spot, can't remember what it's called if anything, but we were behind the character area near the restrooms. She had the kids sit on the floor and she pulled out a bunch of large square cards that were covered in tiny square pictures of Disney movie scenes and characters. They put the cards in order, upside down, by the numbers on the back 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, etc. When they flipped them over all the little squares (pixels basically) formed one larger picture. DD did think that part was pretty cool. And we were done, about 15 minutes ahead of schedule.
It was mentioned somewhere that some sort of free gift comes along with the class for each student, but we didn't get anything.
My DD isn't exceptionally bright or anything, but this class just seemed to not challenge her at all. The language, concepts and terms used were very simplistic. The instructor would be great at teaching a preschool or kindergarten class, with this program, I think. DD thought it was boring, and unfortunately I agree with her.
There were no behind the scenes peeks at anything. When we entered attractions it was in the regular standby entrance along with everyone else.
Yes, I think that was her name.
the age ranged from 3rd-12th grade,I'd say 3rd-4th grade would top out at liking it....basically a lot of odd games that made the kids feel uncomfortable b/c they were corny- (dressing up in Grammas hat and playacting in public does NOT appeal to 10th grade boys FYI)Jcemom: Thanks for posting your program info. I looked to see age range on that class which was 1st to 5th grade.
The class we're doing said 3rd to 12th...thats a HUGE spread and why I was wondering if anyone did it, it is Physics, energy and waves and is at MK.
Gee, sorry the class was so boring for your daughter. I'd like to avoid that scenario if we can and am hoping that the class for my ds is much more involved/educational. Again, if anyone has had a child do either of the two, Leadership or physics, pls let me know.
Thanks again everyone.....
BY the way, I dropped an email to the youth group area, last week and heard nothing. Thats rather disappointing as I had specific questions.
to a pp,who thought the class was boring.... a year or 2 ago-I signed 2 kids up for a class at the studios,it was about making movies,it sounded good,it was really awful.
it was LONG,and the kids ended up mad at me for making them 'waste' park time with a childish class.
It wasn't open enrollment,it was a homeschool days class,so in reality,I have no idea if open enrollment improves on the idea or not- but later in an email,I did suggest that the age range was too big to truly satisfy any of the attendees- the 7 year olds seemed to enjoy it,but my 8 year old was not impressed,and he enjoys games and learning.
I think these programs COULD be awesome,but the one experience we had wasn't so great- we tried to make the best of it,but it wasn't up to Disney par,IMHO.
BTW,this past year,I signed up my youngest for an open enrollment class to try this option,and he ended up sick and throwing up all night so we couldn;t try it!
If anyone else has tried both offerings,how do they compare? are they the same courses?
I am surprised no one did the leadership or Physics one, was hoping for some input....that age range does scare me
When participating in these programs you are being offered a little something extra for a LOT LESS cost. If Starbucks decided to offer a special where you could try their new chef's muffin recipe with your usual GRANDE MOCHA LATTE and for participating they give you your GRANDE FOR HALF PRICE. Do you say that this is the nastiest muffin you ever had and a waste of calories? Or do you say SWEET- HALF PRICE and come back tomorrow for the same special? (Who knows maybe tomorrow the muffin will be blue-ribbon quality)
Just a little thought here...
Was it Lights, Motor, Action, a 3-D movie, or Indiana Jones? No. But it was a nice CLASS. There were moments that were less than exciting but the overall class was awesome. We had real Disney engineers sharing with us. For us the whole trip was a huge fieldtrip. We had learned about the countries at Epcot before going. Did my children love all the pre-fieldtrip activitites? No. But they sure loved the fieldtrip. I guess I just hope those who are giving feedback remember to include the positive. I don't think any CLASS is going to be as fun as riding Soarin' or watching Lights, Motor,Action but it has got to be better than sitting in a classroom somewhere other than DISNEY! We need a class critique thread somewhere on these boards. Who wants to start one?
I think this is a great idea, not sure how to develop the thread though, would be glad to help out...
I guess I just hope those who are giving feedback remember to include the positive. I don't think any CLASS is going to be as fun as riding Soarin' or watching Lights, Motor,Action but it has got to be better than sitting in a classroom somewhere other than DISNEY!
