wow.

What an awesome experience.

Our eight day trip around the "World" was out-of-control awesome. We met so many insanely intelligent and super interesting people, and the amount of knowledge made available to us was massive. Disney World is so much more than just a bunch of parks-- it truly is a body of hardworking people and cutting-edge ideas that really do "Create Happiness."

The coolest part of this entire trip was actually seeing everything we've spent eight weeks learning about in action. The Disney company makes use of simple concepts and ideas (the four keys-- safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency along with components of setting such as architectural design, sounds, smell, light, etc) to the fullest extent and really crafts another World. For those eight days, I was out of touch with the real world-- Facebooking and texting fell to the wayside-- but it didn't matter. Disney creates and maintains its own seemingly self-sufficent world. We were truly shown how little things, like details and small courtesies that otherwise would be overlooked, make a huge difference.

On top of all the learning we did, just the fact that we were at Disney World was too cool. We got to experience it not only as students, but as Guests. Not just any Guest, but one that was informed, which made the whole shebang that much more engrossing and COOL.

It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This is a class that is not to be missed.


Now, onward to my final project-- the culmination of our research!


Ethan Knight
3.23.2011

gotta fill you in on a few days...

Well, hello again faithful readers!

Sorry I haven't written in the last few days-- we've been pulling 8 am to midnight days. Phwew! We've experienced so much in the past week. Let's start with:

SUNDAY:

We hit up Disney's Hollywood Studios. OBVIOUSLY, we rode the Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania several times. Shortly after, we met up with Jim Korkis, a Disney Historian, for a guided tour of a good chunk of the park. Jim was overflowing with knowledge-- he even gave us "First Visit" pins to wear throughout the park, to signify that we were really seeing the park for the first time, with educated eyes. It was mind-boggling to go in to the park, experience it for an hour or two, and then go back through with Jim. He really transformed what was a sort of boring park into one that was packed to the brim with in-jokes, homages, and details.

MONDAY:

Back to the Magic Kingdom for a "Keys to the Kingdom" tour with Scott, the best tour guide in the "World." He gave us a guided tour through the park, including a few attractions, and then took us all over backstage. We even went spelunking in the famed Utilidors--the tunnels below the park. Scott was hilarious as well as knowledgable. His point of view was also very interesting, as he is a current;y employed Cast Member, as opposed to a former Cast Member--so the way he communicated information to us was markedly different. This tour was also special because it was a "Keys" tour that sparked Lord Zanolla's interest in Disney several years ago.

TUESDAY:

We visited Animal Kingdom on Tuesday. Jeff Kober joined us again, and he gave us a guided tour throughout the park. Today we got quite a bit more interaction with him, and yet again, soaked in an insane amount of knowledge--not only about the Animal Kingdom or even Disney World, but the entire company. 

And today was our last day in the parks. Le sigh...

As always, a few photo highlights:

A handful of fastpasses!

Lots-O'-Huggin Bear!!

STITCH!

This hat at Epcot matched my poncho...

Leah and I being pregnant together.

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

I'm a little sunburned...

Hello, faithful readers! Are you ready to hear about some Disney magic?

We've been here only four days, but each day only gets better and better. After TWO magical moments on the first day, I was a slightly afraid we may have peaked too early, but since then we've:

Had a personal tour of Disney University, where each and every Cast Member is trained.

Had a personal tour of ESPN's Wide World of Sports, including backstage areas.

Had lunch and a Q&A with the Vice President of Epcot.

Watched IllumiNations (the AWESOME Epcot fireworks show) from a roped-off VIP section.

Had a walk-around of Epcot with Jeff Kober, who wrote one of the textbooks for our class and who was a former high-up Cast Member.

And that's only the beginning...

So, basically, I can never return to Disney World. Because this trip has spoiled me. Haha. It couldn't possibly get any better than what we've had happen so far. Or can it? ... 

Seriously, this trip has been out of this world. David Zanolla is awesome. 

SO, obviously, you've all been waiting for fun pictures. So enjoy:

A view from the girl's room in our hotel, the Walt Disney World Swan.

Backstage at the Disney University!

Our view from inside Spaceship Earth.

Big Thunder Jane and I representin' at the ESPN Wide Word of Sports.

I'm in a glass case of emotion in England.

I wish I knew who this was...

Fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. 

Until next time...

a few scandalous photos...

Mickey was a hit with the girls...





And I'm now dating Minnie.

day one.

Well, hello, faithful readers. It's Ethan again, and yet again I'm studying abroad. Although this time, I'm not traveling to a different country, but to a different "World." Disney World. 
Rather than a semester long exchange program, I'm taking a course called "Communication Around the 'World,'" which essentially examines how the Disney company communicates its mission statement ("We Create Happiness") to the average theme park customer (or as Disney calls them, the "Guest"). The class is small, with only seven students, and we spend the first eight weeks of the semester learning about Walt Disney World's organizational culture, history, design, and goals. The class leads up to an eight day spring break trip to Disney World to see first-hand what we've learned about. After the trip (which involves much more than just visiting the parks), each student must present a research project in which we examine a "Land" in one of the parks, a single attraction, and a restaurant or resort hotel.
Pretty cool, huh?

So, today marked out first day of our trip to the "World." It involved a lot of traveling-- to the airport, the flight itself, and to the actual Disney World Resort. We're staying on Disney property in the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel-- pretty sweet.

 Of course, we didn't spend much time in the rooms. Since we only have seven days worth of tickets, we didn't actually enter any of the parks, but we did take a trip down to the Magic Kingdom to ride the monorail to the fantastic Polynesian Hotel, were we dined at "Ohana," the "best meal on property" according to our fearless leader and endlessly knowledgable instructor, David Zanolla (or, as we lovingly call him, Lord Zanolla). And it truly was a ROCKING meal.

Above, clearly part of the best meal on property.

Get excited.

More to come to-morrow, I promise.