Former Walt Disney World President George Kalogridis to retire and another leadership shuffle of DPEP

May 20, 2022 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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George Kalogridis bio photo

Posted: Friday May 20, 2022 8:18pm by WDWMAGIC Staff

Former Walt Disney World President George Kalogridis has announced his retirement after a 50 year long career with the Walt Disney Company.

George A. Kalogridis leaves the company after 50 years of service

George held a number of senior positions in the parks throughout his long career, including President of Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort. He was recently honored with a window on Main Street U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom.

George A. Kalogridis window on Main Street U.S.A

Alongside the news of George's departure, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D'Amaro has made some organizational changes to the segment.

Thomas Mazloum role as President, New Experiences Portfolio and Disney Signature Experiences has been expanded to include the exploration of additional new initiatives beyond the parks.

Stephanie Young moves into the role of President, Disney Vacation Club, Adventures & Expeditions, and Disney Institute/National Geographic Live, reporting to Thomas Mazloum.

Finally, Tasia Filippatos will take on the role of President, Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, reporting to Josh D'Amaro.

Here is the memo to Cast Members from Josh D'Amaro.

We have always been a company built on imagination, creativity and innovation, and on our most recent earnings call, our domestic parks were a standout, powered by strong demand coupled with customized and personalized Guest experience enhancements. As we continue to transform our Disney Parks, Experiences and Products business, our talent is the cornerstone of our success, and often we identify opportunities to rotate our senior leaders. As we launch new businesses around the globe, this must be one of our top priorities.
With our focus on growing our business, I have asked Thomas Mazloum to expand his role as President, New Experiences Portfolio and Disney Signature Experiences, to include the exploration of additional new initiatives beyond the berm, keeping our business development pipeline full. This will allow Thomas to continue to grow our DSE portfolio, while leading important growth initiatives as we launch new businesses.
I would also like to announce that after 50 years of distinguished service, George Kalogridis has made the decision to retire. George started on the Walt Disney World opening team when he was 17, and his career has included leadership roles at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Paris, and most recently Disney Institute and National Geographic Live. Having had a positive influence on thousands of Cast Members during his impressive tenure, he now serves as Global Ambassador for the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration. I want to personally thank George for his significant contributions and commitment to DPEP and our teams around the world. Over the next several months, he will continue to play an important role representing the company on several nonprofit boards and councils to complete his work strengthening our segment DEI efforts.
With George’s retirement, I have made the decision to shift Disney Institute and National Geographic Live to Disney Signature Experiences. As Thomas shifts his broader focus to the New Experiences Portfolio, and with George’s retirement, I am pleased to announce the following changes:

Stephanie Young will transition into the role of President, Disney Vacation Club, Adventures & Expeditions, and Disney Institute/National Geographic Live, reporting to Thomas. Given Thomas’ increased scope and the high expectations of these businesses, Stephanie’s focus in these areas will be crucial for our segment. Her extensive background as a proven leader with deep operational expertise makes her ideally suited for this role.

With Stephanie’s move, I am excited to announce that Tasia Filippatos will take on the role of President, Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, reporting to me. Tasia joined Disney Parks in 2008, moved to CPGP in 2012, and since 2018 has led the CPGP business across Europe, Africa and Russia. She has done an exceptional job in her role in EMEA, and her rich experience and proven leadership within CPGP make her exceptionally well suited for this role.

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castlecake2.0May 22, 2022

I used this post office before it closed and found it interesting that they wore RCID name tags, now I know why!

LilofanMay 20, 2022

Near Crossroads in the early 1990s was the infamous Baja Beach Club where locals and tourists , happy hour included the foam party that frothed up the dance floor where it got crazy.

Disstevefan1May 20, 2022

He worked in I guess you could call a RCID post office. Let me backup a little. Before RCID he retired from the US Postal System. Then he got a job working what I will call the RCID post office. He was a RCID employee but worked in what was called a "contract post office" These are post offices if you were to look at them look just like US post offices, and are public post offices, but have contracts with the US government to operate a US post office. I presume WDW would use this post office as sort of a mailroom where their mailings are handled, but they are also fully operational US post offices for anyone to use. His location was in the now closed Crossroads. Ah, the good old days....

SirwalterraleighMay 20, 2022

…but typically your pay is depressed for it.

peter11435May 20, 2022

What exactly did he do for RCID?

larryzMay 20, 2022

You can't buy that kind of experience on the open labor market.

Disstevefan1May 20, 2022

My father-in-law retired from RCID several years ago, he had many perks like a WDW cast member like his own main gate pass, extra passes, passes to parties, SUPER merch discounts, food coupons etc. but I digress. Anyway he was regularly mailed the Eyes and Ears, it's like the WDW cast newspaper and I always noticed that many cast members and VERY LONG careers, 25, 35, 45, 50 years. It was really great to see.

SirwalterraleighMay 20, 2022

One word: Fukushima

SirwalterraleighMay 20, 2022

No…it’s really that I don’t do faint praise. DVC…like many segments in the “company” doesn’t appear to be particularly well run. …keep building towers on top of old stuff and increasing the prices…what genius 🙄

SirwalterraleighMay 20, 2022

George is/was great…so was Karl holz Judson green was before my time…

correcaminosMay 20, 2022

Yeah that was a whole other story and not a usual outcome due to the nature of it all. Hard to believe that was over 10 years ago (and Aulani is still not sold out.....)

LilofanMay 20, 2022

I've got a better story. When we were standing in front of DHS , Great Movie Ride about 16 years ago, High School Musical was about to perform but the pavement was wet from a recent rainstorm. While cast members were attempting to dry the wet pavement with clean towels , a mother in the audience yelled out " let our kids help you !". In a minute approx 30 children were given clean towels and all were on their hands and knees drying up the area the HSM cast were to perform at. Many in the crowd were cheering and in about 10 minutes the pavement was suitable for the show to go on!