Disney Dreamers Academy 2024 Applications are Now Open
Applications for the 2024 Disney Dreamers Academy (DDA) are officially open. The announcement was made during the 2023 ESSENCE Music Festival. Gospel artist, Pastor Mike Jr., joined Disney on stage during the announcement that was part of a session on the Essence stage to give attendees insight into the annual four-day transformational program, which is held every Spring at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. DDA is designed to broaden career and personal development for a select group of 100 teens from Black and underrepresented communities across America.
Interested students looking to achieve their dreams can apply and, for the first time this year, be nominated for the program at www.DisneyDreamersAcademy.com. The application will be open through October. 100 selected students will receive an all-expense-paid trip along with one parent or guardian to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida to experience a combination of inspiration, education, and fun at The Most Magical Place on Earth.
At the 2023 experience, The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey served as the official ambassador. Celebrity mentors included Priah Furgeson, Marsai Martin, Questlove, Beauty and the Beast star H.E.R., and Dominique Thorne to name a few. Since its inception, DDA has inspired more than 1,500 students from across the country. Each year, graduates have gone on to become doctors, engineers, performing artists, entrepreneurs, Disney Cast Members, and more, and some have transitioned into mentors to the Disney Dreamers who followed them.
In his interview with PopCulture.com while serving as a mentor for DDA 2023, Pastor Mike Jr. spoke about the importance of young people staying connected to their faith while working toward their dreams. But more importantly, he says connecting to younger people on their level as leaders in faith is paramount.
"I believe one of the biggest things we got to change, especially young pastors, is this notion that to be poor is to be saved. In church growing up, you couldn't wear makeup, you couldn't wear nothing. If you had something, it was the devil. And to me, I believe you could be saved and paid, or God doesn't mind you having stuff, but he does mind stuff having you," he told us. "Just show them that you can be saved and saucy and still love God and still kick it and still have a good time and still live a blessed life. If not, man, this generation, they not believing like we did. Church was forced on us, but sadly, their parents went through so much in church that now if mom and daddy ain't believing how that's going to impact you. So I think we just got to come out the church and just be really personal."