Djuan Rivers’ journey as Vice President of Disney’s Animal Kingdom has come to an end, as he has announced his retirement.
The news broke from fellow recent retiree, Imagineer Joe Rohde, on his Instagram account, praising Rivers as “a people person, warm, outgoing, plain-spoken and ready to laugh.”
Rivers became Vice President of Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2014, overseeing projects including Pandora – The World of Avatar and the addition of nighttime offerings to make it a truly full-day park. This is the culmination of an over 30-year tenure with Disney, where he has served in such capacities as General Manager of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Vice President of Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs), Vice President for New Business Development of Disney Parks & Resorts, Vice President of Aulani, Disney’s resort in Hawaii, and Vice President for Hotels and Business Solutions for Disneyland Paris.
We at WDWNT wish Mr. Rivers a very happy and enjoyable retirement. You can hear his remarks on Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s twentieth anniversary in our video below.
Featured Image: Emory University
Ok, something’s going on here with all the retirements.
Fleeing a sinking ship.
it seems a number of well qualified people are abandoning a sinking ship. with the way disney is treating the most loyal customers, can you blame them? welcome to the new disney business model brought to you by the new management. guests are to be fleeced and all of their magical experience taken away. new restricted park hopper. pay for the magic bands because they need the money. no magical express. and with the dues being raised after disney got a big reduction on their property taxes, how long before dvc members see the writing on the wall and abandon ship also? #not so magical anymore. FOR SHAME!
Funny how the only people left in the company are the ones with no imagination or magic, who only want to shovel out a half-assed project based on an IP that probably doesn’t even fit the theme of the area where it’s placed. Exactly the kind of people Chapek wants to work for him.