Kartika Rodriguez named as new Vice President EPCOT

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Walt Disney World Vice Presidents March 2021

Posted: Friday March 26, 2021 7:20pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Kartika Rodriguez has been named as the new Vice President EPCOT, taking over from former Vice President Melissa Valiquette.

Kartika Rodriguez, Vice President EPCOT

Her promotion comes after serving five years as General Manager, EPCOT Operations. Kartika makes history at Walt Disney World as the first Black, female Vice President of a Walt Disney World theme park.

In a reshuffle late January 2021, new Vice Presidents were named for both Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom, with the role at EPCOT unfilled.

At that time, Magic Kingdom Vice President Jason Kirk was promoted to Senior Vice President Operations, a similar role to that currently occupied by Jim MacPhee who is set to retire in April after 42 years with the company.

Melissa Valiquette, Vice President Magic Kingdom

EPCOT VP Melissa Valiquette moved from EPCOT to take over from Jason Kirk at Magic Kingdom.

Sarah Riles, previously Vice President, Optimization & Business Transformation at Walt Disney World, took over from the retiring Djuan Rivers at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Sarah has been with the company for more than 20 years in a number of operations and engineering roles.

Sarah Riles, Vice President Disney's Animal Kingdom

Jackie Swisher remains as Vice President Disney's Hollywood Studios, the role she took over from the retiring Phil Holmes back in August 2020.

Jackie Swisher, Vice President Disney's Hollywood Studios

With this latest appointment, all four Walt Disney World theme parks now have female leadership, a first for the company.

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Poly1974Mar 28, 2021

I couldn't agree more with this. The magic is fading but as long as the attendance numbers are strong, nobody cares. The current management has their marching orders and I don't see that changing. I have great memories going back to the mid 70's as a child and then with my own children through 2015. I saw what was happening, sold my DVC and moved on. I went for a one day visit to the MK with my brother in 2019. We had a good time but found ourselves talking more about what used to be than what was new and exciting. I still keep an eye on what is happening at WDW but I have no plans to visit any time soon.

Figments FriendMar 28, 2021

This scene needs to be recreated with glorious sets and Animatonic figures whenever the next major refresh of 'Spaceship Earth' happens. -

LilofanMar 27, 2021

The one exec who left and got away and is doing his own thing is Dan Cockerell. He would have been moving up the exec ladder if he didn't retire early.

THEMEPARKPIONEERMar 27, 2021

They need to clean house

tirianMar 27, 2021

Not without completely new leadership. Walt’s company is dead. I don’t mean to sound despairing. I’ve accepted this fact and will enjoy the remaining good stuff as long as I can. :) Less experienced fans will continue defending bad decisions with a creepy, questionable religious faith based on an entertainment company. The rest of us will just have to remember how much more magic used to be there before the late Iger era.

TrainsOfDisneyMar 27, 2021

I’m not sure if we will ever recover from that mistake. :(

tirianMar 27, 2021

Obviously, PR has crafted over-the-top statements to signal the correct boxes were checked, but they might be fantastic leaders. We’ll have to wait to see. I do hope they’re good at their jobs, because the last time a “statement hire” was made, it was a disaster (in-over-her-head Meg). We are still dealing with the repercussions of Meg’s tenure: the preschool-ization of WDW.