Since 2013, George Kalogridis has been the president of the Walt Disney World Resort. Before that, he was president at the Disneyland Resort. This week, it was announced that he is being promoted to a new position. George Kalogridis will be the President, Disney Segment Development and Enrichment.
In this new role, Kalogridis will be tasked with developing strategic and operational business initiatives. At the same time, he will be developing and scaling best practices across sites and lines of business. He will also be leading the Disney Institute and serve as a strategic advisor to park operators.
George Kalogridis has worked for Disney for nearly 50 years. He was an opening day Cast Member at the Walt Disney World Resort in 1971. Because of this experience, he is uniquely qualified to advise theme park operators. He also will be the official Global Ambassador for Walt Disney World Resort’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Bob Chapek, Chairman of Disney Parks, Products and Experiences, said: “George’s 48 years of experience put him in a perfect position to share best practices across the organization, and serve as a key advisor to leadership.”
George Kalogridis began his Disney career at Disney’s Contemporary Resort where he bussed tables when the Walt Disney World Resort opened in 1971. He went on to become a successful leader at The Walt Disney Company. Throughout his career, he has served as the vice president of Travel Operations at Walt Disney World in Orlando and the vice president of the Epcot theme park where he led the Millennium Celebration for The Walt Disney Company. He went on to serve as the senior vice president of Resort Operations for the Disneyland Resort. In this role, he helped the Disneyland Resort expand with the opening of Disney California Adventure and the Downtown Disney District. He then went on to Disneyland Paris where he was the chief operating officer for Disneyland Resort Paris. Following this, he became the Disneyland President and then the Walt Disney World President.
