The Center for Career Engagement’s Winter Break Trip to Orlando
By Kyle Hammerness, Features Editor
Over winter break the Center for Career Engagement (CCE) completed a “career trek” which examined the family vacation market and completed market research in the amusement parks in Orlando, Florida. The trip was directed by Associate Director of Career Assessment and Marketing Christopher Bloom Ford and Director of External Relations Billy Ferrell.
A “career trek” is an immersive experience directed by the CCE to help students gain real world experience in different fields. This year saw the return of the Orlando career trek that CCE had done prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bloom Ford said, “It started with taking about seven students which grew to twelve pre-COVID. After COVID, we went back to ten to get our footing back. It’s really a market research experience in the family vacation market in Orlando.”
The idea for this experience was created six years ago when Greg Edelson ’87, a member of the Alumni Board of Directors, approached CCE and said he had valuable experience that involved market research in Orlando. As the president of ValidFill Inc., an exclusive partner with The Coca-Cola Company and Whirley-DrinkWorks!, Edelson collaborates professionally with Coca-Cola executives and offered insight into the family vacation market that few others have.
Bloom Ford explained that “Edelson wanted to give Gettysburg students an opportunity to learn firsthand, by meeting with professionals in Orlando, what is going on in the market and how to navigate it.”
The trip began with students flying down to Orlando and getting to know each other. Their work started on Monday when they sat down with Atlanta-based Coca-Cola executives that Edelson brought down. The executives presented a marketing brand strategy presentation focusing on what Coca-Cola does in the Orlando market.
Ferrell said, “They have a lot of inside knowledge about the entire market so the Coca-Cola folks can tell us about Disney, Universal and SeaWorld because they are such a big partner with those companies.”
According to Bloom Ford, the next few days focused on different companies, so the presentation by Coca-Cola laid the groundwork for the entire trip. Bloom Ford gave each student pre-work on one of the companies they would be exploring: Disney, Universal, LEGOLAND and SeaWorld. On Monday afternoon, each student presented on their assigned company to inform the other students.
Bloom Ford explained that on Tuesday, the students focused on Disney. In the past the group has been able to see the Disney internship program or the Food and Beverage Lab which develops all the food and drinks in the Disney Parks; however, this year, the students went into the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Bloom Ford said that this experience allowed the group to “understand Disney’s hospitality piece and their luxury resorts that they have on property. They also [heard] about how they theme those resorts.”
Next on the itinerary, the students turned their attention to the waterpark, Blizzard Beach, to learn about that part of the Disney portfolio before going into Epcot. Bloom Ford discussed the importance of the students going into the parks to identify and experience the things that they discussed with the executives and operators behind the scenes.
“We always end the day in one of the parks to understand the product. All day, students hear from Disney house about how Disney develops a storyline and how they monetize that, and they go into the parks as consumers to see, ‘did what I just learned just now track with my experiences,’” said Bloom Ford.
While Anna Baitel ’23 was walking through Blizzard Beach, she noticed that “they incorporated a ski lift to take people up to the highest slide. They also designed it to be the main focal point of the top of the mountain…they even had icicles which…genuinely made you feel like it was cooler because there was snow everywhere, which I found interesting. This was an excellent way for Disney to immerse consumers in this cold and exciting ‘winter’ environment.”
Bloom Ford explained that Wednesday highlighted Universal Studios. The day was structured in a very similar way to the previous day at Disney so the students could compare the companies. The group started by hearing from Loews Hotels who are the proprietors of all the Universal hospitality properties.
Baitel mentioned how impressed she was with the immersive experience that Loews provided guests.
She said, “when we pulled up to the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, it really [felt] like you’re in Italy. The architecture adds to this experience and makes you believe that you are in a different country when in reality, you are still in Orlando. You have an opera singer performing on the balcony of the hotel every single night. The operator from Loews touched on this during her presentation, and then we saw how Loews was able to show people that you do not need to go thousands of miles away to get that luxurious, European experience.”
After hearing from the operators of City Walk, the students visited Universal’s waterpark, Volcano Bay, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
“I was really excited about [Wizarding World of Harry Potter] because I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, and you walk in, and the first thing you see is the dragon breathing fire. I also noticed that Diagon Alley is structured in a way where the road seems longer than it is, which makes you want to explore more,” said Baitel.
Bloom Ford emphasized that, “These large companies like the Walt Disney Company or Universal, NBC, NBC Universal acquired these massive Ip’s like Marvel or Lucasfilm, so the students get a really good dive into that; some of the head operators of the parks are present and sometimes they share exciting park developments.”
Thursday differed from the previous days because it focused on LEGOLAND and SeaWorld, explained Bloom Ford. In the morning, students talked with the head of marketing at LEGOLAND, and they experienced a new ride opening.
Students spoke with the director of marketing at the LEGOLAND hotel during the CCE winter break trip to Florida (Photo courtesy of Billy Ferrell)
In the afternoon, the group went to Discovery Cove, SeaWorld’s “swim with the dolphins” experience. They also heard from park operators and vendors to learn SeaWorld competes with other parks.
“At SeaWorld there was this ice themed fast-food bar, and they painted the machines white to go with the theme so that it didn’t stand out and I would have not even thought twice about that if I was just walking in,” said Baitel.
On Friday, the students created a presentation for SeaWorld C-suite executives. This year, an engineer, a food and beverage operator, a marketing professional, and a business partner attended.
Students talked to park operators at SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove during the CCE winter break trip to Florida (Photo courtesy of Billy Ferrell)
Baitel said that this meeting was her favorite part of the trip. “I feel like it was definitely the best and the most nerve-racking part. We all had to collaborate to create this presentation which ended up going pretty well,” she shared.
According to Bloom Ford, this trip is typically very competitive, so interested students should pay attention to future advertisements from CCE to apply.
