Are you interested in earning the American Heritage Merit Badge at Disney World during you Orlando vacation?

Disney offers a series of education classes for youth groups at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. These classes are part of the Disney Youth Education Series. YES programs give students –and their leaders/teachers – a hands-on, educational adventure.

Sessions, lasting approximately three hours, are conducted in the parks by specially trained Cast Members.

How to Earn the MB on your Family Vacation

Disney only offers the YES programs to groups of 10 or more youths. Scouts visiting Disney during their family vacation are not eligible to register as a single participant. However, they may still be able to complete Merit Badge requirements by using the outline of the YES class and working closely with their Merit Badge Counselor.

American Heritage Merit Badge

The following American Heritage Merit Badge Requirements will be accomplished during your stroll around Liberty Square and Frontierland:

• 2a
• 2b
• 3b
• 4d
• 5a

Discovering the American Spirit Program

Journey into Liberty Square to get better acquainted with our country’s great leaders and understand the impact of their influence. Then explore Frontierland to learn about sharing our cultural values and traditions from one generation to the next.

YES Class Material

• Overview and Learning Outcomes
• Pre and Post Trip Coursework

Conflicts and Resolutions in American History

• Visit the pristine Hall of Presidents in the heart of Liberty Square—modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia—and make your way beneath an awe-inspiring grand rotunda.

• Notice the Presidential Seal located in the hall.

• Explore an authentic artifact collection nearby where you’ll discover such treasures as George Washington’s dental instruments and Abraham Lincoln’s leather portfolio.

• Then watch the Hall of Presidents presentation where you will come face-to-face with past Presidents of the United States of America.

“During the presentation, revel in America’s enduring origins, the formation of our Constitution, and the hard-fought struggles along the way—such as the American Revolution and the Civil War. Listen to the stirring words of John F. Kennedy echo throughout the theater and watch Abraham Lincoln—in attendance on stage—deliver his Gettysburg address.
Then, witness a very special display as the curtain rises to reveal each and every United States President, together for the very first time—followed by speeches delivered by Presidents George Washington and Donald J. Trump.“

Your Role in the American Story

When you visit Liberty Square, you’ll be transported back in time to Boston and Philadelphia to discover the Colonial American way of life.

• Sign the Declaration of Independence by ringing an authentic replica of the Liberty Bell
• Watch “The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History.” Gather outside The Hall of Presidents to watch historical tales told in hysterical fashion as only the Muppets can. From the midnight ride of Paul Revere to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Muppets appear throughout the day to share their own unique take on the founding fathers and the birth of the United States of America.

Westward Expansion

The runaway mine train of Thunder Mountain Railroad takes students on a high-speed ride through the days of the Gold Rush.

• During the queue and the ride look for challenges the prospectors, merchants, or investors would face in settling the western frontier and the impact of the Gold Rush on the nation.
• Using Frontierland as a backdrop imagine a western boomtown and compare it to today’s main street or city block. Add the number “18” in front of the building numbers and you have the time period represented in the architecture and details. (source)

Oral Traditions

Splash Mountain® takes you on a trip through the 19th-century South to discover storytelling as a method of communication.

Oral traditions were a way of communicating values, events, and heritage from one generation to the next.

• Ride Splash Mountain and listen to the story of Brer Rabbit.

To complete the MB requirements

• Listen for major conflicts and resolutions of 19th Century America, including how the conflicts of the Civil War and Reconstruction Era tested our nation and its constitution
• List and compare several Presidential accomplishments, contributions, and the influences they had upon the development of our nation
• Visit the Presidential Seal
• Ride Big Thunder Mountain and visit Frontierland then recount the settings and challenges with regard to the historical events depicted.
• Ride Splash Mountain and recount the story of Brer Rabbit and the possible impact the author (Uncle Remus, aka Joel Chandler Harris) and storytelling had on American History.

You may also find these articles and videos interesting as you prepare for your trip:

• How Disney Came to Define What Constitutes the American Experience – Smithsonian Magazine
• Disney World: A Muppet take on American history – USA Today
• Behind the Scenes of the Parks
  • Frontierland Part One | Two | Three
  • Liberty Square Part One | Two

Important reminder

• Disney Cast Members are not Merit Badge counselors, therefore, blue card sign-off must be arranged by the scout independently with their local MB counselors.