Central Florida students can apply to be Disney Dreamers and Doers

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Oscar season may be over for now, but Walt Disney World’s version of the famed awards are in full swing. Everybody knows what the Oscars are. But do you know what the “Mousecars” honor? The exclusive golden Mickey Mouse statues are bestowed on some of the most promising students in Central Florida next month through the Disney Dreamers and Doers program.

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For more than three decades, this award program has recognized local students who have inspired others and made the world a better place. In return, The Walt Disney Co. hopes to inspire and reward the area’s student leaders with theme-park tickets — or even annual passes — to Walt Disney World and provide Disney-themed keepsakes, such as the Mousecars.

Disney relies on each school in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake and Polk counties (plus the Florida Virtual School) to nominate one child for the honor of being named a Disney Dreamer and Doer.

The process begins when students are asked to nominate themselves by writing a 300-word paragraph describing their achievements. These achievements don’t necessarily have to be academic. The official rules give these examples of student contributions: “strengthening their families; conservation/environmental projects; helping others; safety; school achievement in spite of barriers; improving their schools; serving as a role model for siblings/friends; or other positive actions.”

Then, the student asks a teacher to champion his or her application by writing a 75-word endorsement. The two essays are turned in to the school’s principal by the school’s announced deadline, and a school winner is chosen based on the strength of the essay. (Grammatical accuracy is not a factor.)

This year’s deadline for each school to submit its Disney Dreamer and Doer winner is April 24. That means each school likely has set earlier deadlines – within the next two weeks — that local students will want to check.

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In total, there are about 400 students from elementary, middle- and high-school students in Central Florida chosen to receive the one-day park-hopper tickets, medals and certificates.

Once a school’s Disney Dreamer and Doer is chosen, he or she is entered in a larger competition, Disney’s Shining Stars. The awards are given to 18 students — one elementary, middle and high school student in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake and Polk counties and from the Florida Virtual School. Disney officials, not school principals, choose the Shining Stars. Shining Stars receive Disney World annual passes for their immediate families for one year, Mousecar statues and certificates noting their accomplishments.

“Students may be comfortable in the spotlight, or shy away from it. Some take positive action that is visible; some actions may not be visible to many,” the Disney press release states. “We believe all students do good things and have the potential to be a Disney Dreamer and Doer. We look forward to hearing about students in each of these categories.”

Among last year’s winners are a student who learned to give back after living in a homeless shelter; a student who organized book drives for needy kids; and a student who excelled in science education with a goal of creating clean, unlimited power sources.

Schools will be notified by May 8 if their students are among this year’s Shining Stars.

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2 Replies to “Central Florida students can apply to be Disney Dreamers and Doers”

  1. My son, Maguire Schmid, was chosen to represent Harrison School for the Performing Arts in this year’s Dreamers & Doers contest. We are away on vacation and I failed to bring the letter that he received with us. If I remember correctly, the deadline to make contact for our tickets is today, June 30th. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you, Katie B. Schmid

    KRISTIN: I do not have contact info for the 2015 winners, but if the process is the same as the year before, your son has about a year to use his complimentary tickets. You don’t have to contact Disney by a certain date, but you do have to contact them a couple weeks before you want to visit the parks to allow them time to set up the tickets. That was the system for the 2014 winners, but, again, I do not know if it changed for 2015. Hope that helps!

  2. I am trying to find out where to pickup the PARK HOPPER TICKETS I’VE JUST about every number department and no one has even heard of this program. Please help if you know who to contact THANK YOU 💜

    KRISTIN: If your child was chosen as a Disney Dreamer and Doer, you should have received a letter from WDW with his or her medal and certificate that explains how to schedule the tickets your child won.