Snowed in...at the House of Mouse!

Contrary to what my title says, I am not actually at the House of Mouse, but I am indeed snowed in. Monster Blizzard 2010 has struck my neck of the woods, depositing an 18-inch fluffy white blanket of snow. Needless to say, I'm not going anywhere this weekend.

In other news, This post will entail something that many people are probably starting to think about in relation to the Walt Disney World College Program......classes! There are many different classes you can take in the Disney College Program. Some classes even offer credit that can be transferred back to your college when you return. I am having a meeting with the chair of my department on Monday the 15th to talk about which classes in Disney would be transferable to my major. It's difficult to match the classes at my current college with those from Disney though, especially since my major is Elementary Education and I've taken pretty much all my gen. ed. classes. I may be able to get an internship out of this experience though so fingers crossed!

-EXTRA LONG INFORMATIONAL POST AHEAD: PROCEED WITH CAUTION-

What types of Disney classes are there?

Great question! There are three different groups of Disney classes:

1. The Collegiate Courses
2. The Professional Development Studies
3. The Disney Exploration Series

And other wonderful learning opportunities.

THE COLLEGIATE COURSES (These are the courses recommended for credit by the American Council on Education)

Advanced Studies in Hospitality Management
Corporate Analysis
Corporate Communication
Creativity & Innovation: Gaining the Edge <- I'm super interested in this one!
Experiential Learning <- This one too!
Human Resource Management Marketing You <- This one helps you build a great resume! Might try this one too.
Organizational Leadership

THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (These are the major-specific courses)

Engineering
Entertainment Show Production
Finance
Security

THE DISNEY EXPLORATION SERIES (These classes are very interactive and take place in the parks I believe)

Exploring Communication Processes at the Walt Disney World Resort
Exploring Guest Service at the Walt Disney World Resort
Exploring Leadership at the Walt Disney World Resort
Exploring Marketing at the Walt Disney World Resort
Exploring People Management at the Walt Disney World Resort

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*All of these classes can be found at http://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com/ and in much greater detail including descriptions of classes and syllabi. It really is a goldmine of information!

A big plus to taking classes at Disney, besides learning valuable information, is the fact that the classes don't cost anything! The only things that you would have to pay for are the books and materials for classes. Most aren't that expensive. You may not even need a book for the class!

So if you want to take any of these lovely classes for credit, I definitely recommend reading over them thoroughly and gathering as much information as you can for your advisor so you can plead your case.

I really like the Creativity and Innovations and Experiential Learning classes and I'm hoping they can be taken for credit by my college. So I'll be taking my own advice and getting all the information on these courses and sending them to the chair of the education department.

I will probably do a second post about the classes when I learn more about them.

On another note, people have begun getting accepted in the program already! (Via PURPLE EMAIL, kudos to Disney for being green) Congratulations to all accepted and good luck to those still waiting. Plenty of pixie dust coming your way. I just passed the week mark myself so I might be getting my own email within the next week. Here's hoping!

Until next time,


HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!