George Kalogridis | |
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![]() Kalogridis at the Disneyland Resort 55th Anniversary celebration | |
Born | George Anthony Kalogridis November 19, 1953 |
Education | Sociology [1] |
Alma mater | University of Central Florida |
Occupation(s) | President, Disney Segment Development and Enrichment |
Partner | Andy Hardy |
George Anthony Kalogridis (born November 19, 1953) is an American corporate executive. Kalogridis is the former president of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. [2] [3] Kalogridis became president of Disney Segment Development and Enrichment for Disney Parks, Experiences and Products in November 2019. [4]
Kalogridis was raised in Winter Haven, and is of Greek ancestry; the Greek spelling of his name is Γιώργος Καλογρίδης. He attended the University of Central Florida and graduated with a degree in sociology [5] in 1976. [6]
Kalogridis has a long history with The Walt Disney Company. He has worked with the company almost exclusively for 40 years. Kalogridis first started working for Disney while he was in college. He bussed tables at Disney's Contemporary Resort when the Walt Disney World Resort first opened in 1971.
Kalogridis quickly moved up the ladder in The Walt Disney Company, becoming vice president of operations at Epcot, senior vice president at the Disneyland Resort from 2000 to 2002, vice president at the Disney Reservation Center in Orlando from 2002 to 2006, chief operating officer (COO) at Disneyland Paris from 2006 to 2009, and president of the Disneyland Resort from 2009 to 2013. [7]
Kalogridis was named president of The Walt Disney World Resort on January 9, 2013. [3]
In 2019, he was promoted to president, Disney Segment Development and Enrichment. In this new position, he is responsible for developing strategic and operational business initiatives while developing and scaling best practices across sites and lines of business. He also leads the Disney Institute, and serves as strategic advisor to park operators. [8]
In September of 2021, Kalogridis was honored with a window on Main Street, U.S.A. at the Magic Kingdom, one of the top honors for Disney Parks cast members. [9] [10]
In 1999, a customer wrote a letter to Kalogridis, then vice president of Epcot, voicing his dissatisfaction with a rehab of a ride. Kalogridis personally called him at home. "I was floored," the customer said. "He must have been hearing from hundreds of people. For him to make the rounds, I was really impressed by that." [11]
While working as the manager of Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, a hostess stated that she wished that the grass was dry, since the hotel was going to host a convention on the lawn soon. Kalogridis took some employees and towels with him and dried the lawn off with towels. "That’s the attention to detail – and how he’ll do everything possible for guests – that George is famous for," Meg Crofton, then president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, said. [12]
Kalogridis lives with his partner Andy Hardy who also works at Disney. [13] [14]
His favorite character is Eeyore, and his favorite movie is Mary Poppins . [12]
The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The property covers nearly 25,000 acres, of which half has been developed. Walt Disney World contains numerous recreational facilities designed to attract visitors for an extended stay, including four theme parks, two water parks, four golf courses, conference centers, a competitive sports complex and a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex. Additionally, there are 19 Disney-owned resort hotels and one camping resort on the property, and many other non-Disney-operated resorts on and near the property.
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences division. The park opened on October 1, 1982, as EPCOT Center, the second of four theme parks built at the resort. Often referred to as a "permanent world's fair", Epcot is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, particularly technological innovation and international culture.
Soarin', also known as Soarin' Over California, Soarin' Around the World, Soaring Over the Horizon and Soaring: Fantastic Flight, is a flight motion simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure, Epcot, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea. It employs a mechanical lift system, a projected presentation on an 80 ft (24 m) concave 180-degree dome screen, and artificial scents and wind to simulate a hang gliding flight over locations in six of the world's continents. Many consider it the first flying theater.
Magic Kingdom Park is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The official park name has changed slightly over the years, from Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017). The park was initialized by Walt Disney and designed by WED Enterprises. The park layout and attractions were based on Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, and are dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters.
Disney Springs is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando. First opened in 1975 as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, it has been expanded and rebranded over the years as Walt Disney World Village (1977), Disney Village Marketplace (1989), and Downtown Disney (1997), becoming Disney Springs in 2015. A similar complex is being developed on the opposite side of Walt Disney World called Flamingo Crossings.
Disney Experiences is one of the three major divisions of The Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Walt Disney World.
Martin A. "Marty" Sklar was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs and constructs Disney theme parks and resorts across the world. He was formerly vice president of Concepts and Planning for the company, before being promoted to president, then vice chairman and principal creative executive before his final role. Disney honored him with a Disneyland window dedication ceremony on his date of retirement, July 17, 2009.
The Skyway was a gondola lift attraction at Disneyland, at the Magic Kingdom, and at Tokyo Disneyland. Since all versions of this attraction took riders back and forth between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, the route from Tomorrowland was called Skyway to Fantasyland, and the route from Fantasyland was called Skyway to Tomorrowland.
Imagination! is a pavilion located in the World Celebration section of Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The pavilion opened with the park in 1982, and is themed to human imagination, creativity, and the arts. Kodak was the former title sponsor of the pavilion.
Ronald Logan was an American businessman who served as executive vice president of Walt Disney Entertainment. After retiring from the company in 2001, he was formally a professor at the University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management in Orlando, Florida, United States.
Joseph Rohde is the Experience Architect for Virgin Galactic. Rohde was previously a veteran executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of The Walt Disney Company that designs and builds Disney's theme parks and resort hotels. Rohde's formal title was Executive Designer and Vice President, Creative.
Edward Arthur Grier is the dean of the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business. Before coming to SCU, he was the dean at VCU, and before that he was an executive at The Walt Disney Company.
The France Pavilion is a French-themed pavilion that is part of the World Showcase within Epcot at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. Its location is between the Morocco and United Kingdom pavilions.
Meg Gilbert Crofton is an American businesswoman, who served as president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in the United States and France. She was named to the position on August 7, 2006, replacing Al Weiss, who had been promoted to president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in November 2005.
Toy Story Midway Mania! is an interactive 4-D theme park attraction, located at three Disney theme parks: Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort, Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort.
The Earffel Tower is a faux water tower located at Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris in Seine-et-Marne, and formerly at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Adorned with a set of Mickey Mouse ears, it is inspired by the real water tower located at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. A pun on the Eiffel Tower, it is based on water towers commonly found on Hollywood studio backlots of the first half of the 1900s, which were originally a safety measure to douse fires on highly flammable wooden film sets. However, the Earffel Tower has never contained water.
The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is an annual food festival at Epcot, in the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It would typically run from late September to mid-November, though in recent years the start date has moved earlier to mid-July. Special kiosks are set up around the World Showcase with food and drinks that reflect various countries. The activities, themes and corporate sponsors have changed over the years since the festival began in 1995.
The Disney Skyliner is a gondola lift system, part of the Disney Transport system, that opened on September 29, 2019, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The system is composed of five stations that service four resorts and two theme parks, with a fleet of over 250 gondola cabins that can accommodate up to ten guests per cabin, or up to six with an open wheelchair or other mobility device. Guests sit on twin, inward-facing, wooden benches.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is an enclosed roller coaster at Epcot at Walt Disney World, manufactured by Dutch company Vekoma. Based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Guardians of the Galaxy films, it is the first attraction at Walt Disney World to feature characters from the Marvel Universe. Opened on May 27, 2022, it is Epcot's first roller coaster and Disney's first backwards-launched roller coaster. It replaced the Universe of Energy pavilion, which closed on August 13, 2017.
Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, also known as Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, is a motion-based trackless 3D dark ride, based on the 2007 Disney-Pixar animated film Ratatouille, located at Disneyland Paris's Walt Disney Studios Park in France and at Walt Disney World's France Pavilion at Epcot.
Effective February 1, 2013