Trip Report: Disney's Homeschool Days

You might not be aware that Disney hosts Homeschool Days twice a year--I wasn't until I did a bit of research. I wrote a bit about it in this post. So when we made the decision to homeschool this year--a decision we're thrilled with so far--we were able to take advantage of this unique program.

I went into the program a little blind. You really can't find a lot of information online about Disney's Homeschool Days, other than dates and ticket prices (which are pretty amazing, btw). There are a few descriptions for the programs you can pay an additional price to participate in--programs such as Animation Magic, Career Discovery, and Production Arts and Sciences-- but my children really aren't old enough yet to qualify (maybe in a year or two!) But I had no idea what to expect from our free "Homeschool Presentation."  It wasn't until about two weeks before our trip that I received a brief email offering the title of the presentation: Experience the Arts. OK, with that I was totally on board!

The presentation was at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday at the Premier Theatre in the Studios. There was a table set up outside the DHS gate, where you could check in and get a wrist band as early as 8:30. This gave us enough time to grab a FastPass for Toy Story Midway Mania and even ride it once before the presentation--yay! (The crowd calendar for DHS that day was a ridiculously low .5 (yes, that's .5, not 5!). We even stopped to have our family photo taken with Lightening McQueen and Mater, since they were just outside the theatre.



The theatre was about half full, and the facility was quite comfortable. The stage was set with various artistic items--a costume on a mannequin, a large poster, what appeared to be three fairy houses. All these items certainly piqued the interest of us all. We started right on time, with a moderator and a panel of four Disney employees (or Cast Memebers, as they're called). But these weren't just any old CMs--they were upper-level artistic CMs. I wish I had taken notes of all their names and jobs, but here's the best I can do:

• Douglas Enderle, Senior Costume Designer. He's one of only 7 people in the world who do what he does. Born and raised in Missouri (not far from Walt's hometown), Douglas has been with Disney for nearly 30 years. Oh, and he has an Emmy!


• Debbie Peterson, Art Director at Epcot and Disney Imagineer. She has had a hand in a ton of Disney projects, most recently the amazing pizza ovens at Via Napoli in the Italy pavilion.


• Disney Event Planner (can't remember her name). Her job seems to be planning unique and sometimes extravagant events for corporations within the Parks and/or Disney Resorts. She had only been with Disney for a couple of years, but she has been in entertainment for many more.


• Disney Artist of some sort, dealing primarily with large architectural-type projects (also can't remember her name). She's the one who brought the lovely fairy houses, which were actually light fixtures. She also discussed the dozens of different types of concrete used by Disney. Who knew walking surfaces could be so interesting!

All four speakers were interesting and inspiring, but I think it's obvious that Doug and Debbie were my favorites. First of all, I love fashion, so it was fun to see the evolution of Disney costumes over the years and hear Doug discuss  the research and design process. As for Debbie, it was just so obvious that she has a real passion for what she does and that she has fun being creative every day.



The most interesting highlight of the presentation was the explanation for the three pizza ovens in Via Napoli. The idea for them originated from three famous volcanoes in Italy (I only remember the name of one--Stromboli--because it's also food!). Debbie discussed how they then gave them distinct personalities and made sketches from that. She talked about the actual construction of the ovens...materials used and issues they encountered. The best part was feeling her excitement as she recounted the first day they were lit and she was able to see the inspiration come to life.

After each panelist spoke for about 10-15 minutes, there was a Q&A session. Our youngest was getting pretty restless at this point, so we skipped out early. (I wasn't especially excited about hearing every 8-year-old's lengthy and/or irrelevent-to-me question either. Does that make me a bad homeschooling mom?)

We really enjoyed the session and would certainly make a point to attend again. One thing we (and the panelists) noticed was that although the crowd was full of families, many of which had young children, the theatre audience was nearly silent when each panelist was speaking. This is either a testament to the quality of the speakers, the good behavior of most homeschooled kids, or both! In any event, it made listening so much easier and more enjoyable!

If you're a homeschooling family, I heartily recommend Disney's Homeschool Days. The next event is scheduled for January of 2011.