As someone who wants to be an Imagineer at some point, I am always looking for ways to learn more and bring myself a few steps closer to my dream job. Here are some of the ways I do that in my everyday life at home.
Books:
I have more than a few books on my shelf about the Disney Parks. My favorites (other than a couple of “trivia books” and a book with “102 ways to save money at Walt Disney World”) are the Imagineering Field Guides for each of the parks and Jason Surrell’s book, The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at its Peak. Of all of my books, those are the ones that I go back to again and again. I love reading the back stories for my favorite rides and attractions as well as seeing the pictures and concept art.
For some people, it might “ruin the magic,” but I love seeing how the magic gets made.
Disney Infinity:
Disney Infinity is one of the best games for any future Imagineer. Zach Kaplan just wrote a beginner’s guide to the game. What I love about it is the ability to build and create classic Disney Parks attractions or completely new ones.
The game itself comes with tons of toys and set pieces, many from the parks. Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain just to name a few. Placing your MagicBand on the Disney Infinity base gives you access to even more like the Fantasyland dragon,“it’s a small world” and the Partners statue (also, placing your Oceaneers band on the base gives you some cool Disney Cruise Line themed toys), and then, there are the power discs which allow you to theme your world to “it’s a small world” or Tomorrowland, or it lets you drive anything from Dumbo to Peter Pan’s ship, to a parking tram to a Main Street Electrical Parade float.
The game boasts “infinite possibilities,” and I don’t think they’re wrong.
Disney Kingdoms:
As a MARVEL fan, I would be remiss to not mention their Disney Kingdoms line of comics as a way to bring the magic home (in part because I will take any excuse to talk about MARVEL on a Walt Disney World blog). MARVEL Comics has partnered with some of Disney’s Imagineers to create a new line of comics based on characters and attractions from the theme parks. Seekers of the Weird was their first story based on a concept for a companion attraction to the Haunted Mansion called Museum of the Weird. They followed that up with the surprise hit, Figment, which told the origin of the title character and his partner in crime, the Dreamfinder. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was the next attraction to get the comic treatment and, this month, they just started the latest story in the Disney Kingdoms line, Figment 2.
(Photos from the author’s personal collection.)
Do you have suggestions for books or games that help to bring home the Walt Disney World magic? Share them in the comments section, on the WDW Radio Facebook page, or on Twitter (#bringhomethewdwmagic).
Chris grew up during the Disney renaissance of animation and took his first trip to Disney World when he was ten. Even though he has loved Disney his whole life, his obsession didn’t start until he began planning a trip for his honeymoon. Right now, his primary job (at least the one that doesn’t pay the bills) is to indoctrinate his daughter with his love of Disney while at the same time convincing his wife to move to Orlando so he can become a tour guide in the parks.
The post Bring the WDW Magic Home for the Future Imagineer appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.