Disney World is in for a BIG weekend! And no, we’re not just talking about the latest ride change! 

Goofy and the Dreamers in 2023

Disney is no stranger to giving back and this week the company is giving back in the form of its Disney Dreamers Academy! Are you unfamiliar with the 4-day event that starts its celebration at Magic Kingdom? Don’t worry, we’ll explain everything!

The Disney Dreamers Academy is a mentorship program that selects youth applicants to participate in a 4-day event at Disney World from April 4th to April 7th, 2024. It was created to “broaden career awareness and create exclusive enrichment opportunities for 100 Black high school students and teens from underrepresented communities,” according to Disney.

Disney Dreamers Academy 2023

The event includes a Disney Dreamers Academy Pre-Parade in Magic Kingdom and a follow-up interview with Disney Executive Champion Tracey Powell and Dreambassador. We’re kicking things off by checking out the PARADE!

Let’s go!

Of course, Drum Major Mickey was here to lead the parade alongside the Dreamers, and we can’t get over his snazzy outfit!

Bandleader Mickey!

Not only that, but Princess Tiana was also featured alongside Dara Renee, who stars in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on the Disney Channel.

Dreamers

The event sees the specially selected Disney Dreamers mentored through career workshops, interviewing skill-building, networking tutorials, and professional dress tips. Participants also receive complimentary airfare, hotel accommodations, and theme park tickets for themselves and a parent/guardian.

Minnie and more

Disney selected 100 young applicants between the ages of 13 to 19 to become Dreamers by looking for standouts who exemplify certain qualities, including “intellectual curiosity, compassion, courage, a positive outlook, generous spirit, and optimism about the future”. Per Disney, the name “Dreamer” is a reference to The Walt Disney Company’s first Dreamer — Walt Disney.

Look at all those dreamers!

We’re excited to see what the future holds for these young Dreamers! To keep up with Disney’s philanthropic programs as well as all things Disney, stay posted right here at DFB for all the latest!

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Have you ever participated in a Disney program? Share your experiences in the comments below!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend their media preview of the Disney Dreamers Academy Pre-Parade. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ