Dan Cockerell, Vice President of Magic Kingdom will be departing The Walt Disney Company on May 11th, 2018.
Cockerell moved over to Magic Kingdom in 2015 after being the Vice President of Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Disney has yet to announce who will take over as the new Vice President of the Magic Kingdom, or why Cockerell is leaving.
Very sad news! He is one of the best in the Disney Management team!!
Wonder if this is connected to the security debacle where the Canadian guy got his bag stolen at the MK bag check area. Then when he complained vocally Security had the Sheriffs deputies slam him to the ground and roughed him up not to mention trespass him for life. The details of this incident made it to a popular Canadian news program warning Canadians about possible criminal activity at MK. It’s a publicity nightmare that the company didn’t see coming, and didn’t want. Local news didn’t even want to cover it, and downplayed it hard.
I sure some Canadians reconsidered Disney World as a vacation destination for all of….ohhhh…….2 seconds.
I’m pretty confident that wasn’t the reason.
Best part is they found out that Disney security DID take the bag! Police have it in their custody. Not sure if related to this guys departure. Nobody good usually lasts at Disney. They hire cheapest talent, not the best, so Disney wouldn’t care much about the arrest issue. As long as the guy worked a ton of hours for little pay. Disney really doesn’t care much about the customer aspect minus their wallet to be honest.
Not disagreeing or agreeing with you Randy L…. BUT, do you mind providing us with legitimate facts to actually back up your statement?? And please define “talent”.. kind of a relative term, right?
Actually this ties into the the erection of the giant American Woody statue at DHS. Cockerall just could not measure up anymore
He’s leaving to start a speaking and consulting business…like his father.
here is the letter he sent to CM’s:
A note I sent to my Disney team today………
After a 26 year career with Disney, I will be leaving Disney to start a speaking/consulting company, Dancockerell.com. My last day will be May 11th.
Valerie and I have raised three incredible kids, Jullian, Margot, and Tristan, and we are 18 months away from becoming empty nesters. We have also had a few big milestones recently. In February, I turned 49, and this past Tuesday was our 25th wedding anniversary.
The big question we have had for the past year was, “what will the next 25 years look like?”
Well, if you know my wife, you know she has a vision, and it is all about adventure. Valerie left France and moved to London when she was 16 years old, speaking no English, and lived there for a year and a half, before returning to France to finish her studies. She has instilled that sense of wanderlust in me.
I also happen to have a wise mentor, who has helped me think about my next move. Lee, my dad, has given me some great advice on how to get started (and luckily, my mom, Priscilla has given him some great advice!). It’s a family affair.
Continue to do what you do so well, make magic!
Sincerely,
Dan
Dan Cockerell is leaving disney to start his own consulting company and travel, just like his dad.
Best wishes Dan! You will be missed!