Friday, October 22, 2010

First Week of Classes

Last week was my first week of classes. I am taking two classes offered through the Disney College Program. The first is a Professional Development Study on Entertainment Show Production. The second is a Disney Exploration Series on Marketing.

The Entertainment Show Production PDS is really exciting. It is limited to students studying theatre or performing arts, and I was lucky enough to get it. In a class of 90 students, there are also 90 students who were waitlisted. The class will give us a look at how Walt Disney World develops, implements and maintains their theatrical productions, from parades to stage shows. We'll delve into business planning, creative direction, production, opening and operations.

We meet each week on Tuesdays at the Maingate office building, which is home to the Disney Entertainment division, located near Animal Kingdom. Throughout our classes, we'll have guest speakers and presentations about everything entertainment-related at Disney World. We are also going to do a tour of the theatre at Hollywood Studios which houses Fantasmic! That's what I'm most excited about. I'm also really excited about all of the great networking opportunities. With so many guest speakers, there will be plenty of opportunities for meeting leaders in the Entertainment department.

My other class is a Marketing Exploration Series. It's similar in set-up to the Entertainment PDS. We meet every Friday morning at the Commons apartment building for about two hours. We'll have guest speakers each week from various departments of Walt Disney Theme Parks and Resorts, talking to us about the various marketing campaigns and techniques used throughout the company. Speakers will include Cast Members from Walt Disney World Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, and Disney Event Group.

I'm excited about all of the great career insight and tips I'll most definitely gain from taking these two classes!

6 comments:

Corri said...

I'm going to be there in spring, and am hoping to take the entertainment class too! As a theatre MANAGEMENT major, will I be eligible to take it? (I know its for theatre majors only)...

Zach said...

Absolutely you can take it! As long as your major is theatre of some sort (performance, management, design, etc.) you are eligible for the class. Just make sure to sign up as soon as possible. There are about 90 people in the class, but they said there are also about 90 people waitlisted who didn't get in.

It's a really interesting class and gives you a great look at the production process of their shows/parades/etc.

Corri said...

Great! You sign up once you get there, right?

Zach said...

Yep. On check-in day, make sure you find out when and where class registration is. For me, it was at Vista a couple of hours after all of the check-in process was done. So make sure you go that day if you want a better chance of getting in. Some people waited until later in their first week to sign up, and they had trouble getting the classes they wanted.

Megan said...

I'm also taking the Exploration Marketing Series. Are you in the Thursday class from 8:30 to 10:30?

Zach said...

I'm actually on Friday mornings

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