Bob minnick

With more than 40 years of experience in various technical leadership roles, including two years overseas, Bob spent over sixteen years with the Walt Disney Company learning Disney's world class customer service culture, safety culture, and attention to detail making dreams come true.

Bob joined Walt Disney World Resort in April of 1998 as Technical Director of Architecture and Facilities Engineering.  He directed a 75 person team that oversaw the design of $17MM worth of facilities annually in capital and expense projects for the Walt Disney World Resort.  The scope of work ranged from new attractions like Disney's Rock N' Roller coaster to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, to world class restaurants like the Flying Fish on Disney's Boardwalk.  A major focus of that work was acting as the owner's advocate for "universal design," ensuring that Disney theme parks, attractions, and hotels were designed for everyone.

In July 2001, Bob was named Technical Director,  Facility Safety and Accessibility for all of Disney's Parks and Resorts worldwide.  The scope of work involved ensuring all Disney's hotels, attractions, entertainment venues and properties complied with unique Disney safety standards and were accessible for guests with disabilities.  Bob's team innovated award-winning ways to permit guests using wheelchairs to board ride vehicles where ride dynamics allowed.  Early in 2001, Bob's team introduced an award-winning technology known as Disney's handheld captioning for guests with hearing disabilities.  Similar in appearance to a personal digital assistant (PDA), the handheld caption system delivered the text of the narration in Disney's popular moving attractions.  In 2009, Bob's team rolled out audio description services for guests with visual disabilities featuring attraction description and outdoor audio description menus.  Disney's handheld device and services is available at all domestic theme parks and the Disney Cruise Line ships.

Bob's facility safety team performed incident analysis and studied industry trends to identify and institutionalize safety improvements worldwide throughout Disney's parks and resorts.  The key to success for Disney's excellent ride safety program is their use of a structured process called performance alignment.  Bob applied the ride safety model to facility life safety initiatives.  For example, Bob led Disney's program to improve emergency response for sudden cardiac arrest that has saved more than 130 lives since it was implemented.

In June 2016, Bob became an Adjunct Professor at the University of Central Florida's Hospitality School where he has taught a course on amusement industry risk management.

Bob is a licensed Professional Engineer in Florida and New York.  He is also a Certified Safety Professional.