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Tuesday, October 05, 2021
How Imagineers Help Build Disney's Next Dreamliner
Variety: When the artisans at Walt Disney Imagineering set out to design the newest cruise ship in the Disney fleet, the Wish, they aimed to make it as efficient as possible while creating a fully immersive experience for passengers.
7 comments:
Louise Cutter
said...
Over the past couple of years I have had a small growing obsession with Disneyland and Disneyworld. I loved the rides, food, entertainment, but most of all, the atmosphere. This is what I think Disney does best, building environments that feel detached from our current world. In this way the parks are a form of escapism. This new Disney fleet does not shy away from Disney's goal of immersion. It has an overall stylized architecture, along with specific themed rooms. The imagineer's (Disney Designers) attention to detail is something I admire. Every object and space you interact with is very clearly thought out and designed. As an artist, this is a reminder of intention, especially when creating art in physical spaces. I do not think I am going to go into scenic design, but if I do, this is the headspace I would work in. Everything you put into the audience's view affects their experience with the show, so it has to be though out carefully.
It’s actually been a dream of mine to work on a cruise ship at some point in my life, or to even spec one. It’s really cool to see that so much thought goes into every detail, even to take natural habits of people into consideration, I.E. moving the elevators away from the grand atrium to make the guests detour around the deck and take in all the sights. I also appreciate the consistency of theme across the entire cruise ship. I have been on two cruises before and I can say that I have never seen such attention to detail, in molding, décor, or even theme. Although, I cannot say I am surprised that Disney is pushing further than the “status quo” for cruise liners. The title caught my attention because I assumed it was referring to a cruise ship, but I wasn’t sure. The name “Dreamliner” suits the elegance of the ship very well and further caters to the immersive experience they provide for all of their guests.
When thinking about Disney, I never really think about their cruise line or really that it even exists. Furthermore, when I think about Imagineers and their jobs, I really only think about the parks. That being said, I think designing cruise ships is a really neat job. I have always been interested in working on a cruise ship myself, and the idea being part of the initial design team is even more interesting. What's different is that a cruise ship seams to be almost an all in one product. From hotel rooms, to theaters, too pool decks and even attractions, a cruise ship is a floating city almost. Being on the design team, even if you are only working on one specific part, you have to have an idea of how all these different parts come together to add up to one amazing guest experience. I hope to get to work on something like this one day.
While I am not the biggest fan of Disney as a company (see my comment from last week about them being greedy money hoarders), I can’t help but be interested by their designs (which they are able to pull off with all of their money… sigh). With all the money they have, they certainly create some incredible pieces of work, from their films and tv shows to their cruise ships and theme parks. While I have never been on a Disney cruise, I have certainly seen pictures, and have seen a couple more from their newest ship… and wow. Even just the chandelier in the main hall is breathtaking… and that is only one tiny little aspect of the overall ship. In reading the article, I found the part about the elevators to be pretty humorous. “Imagineers moved elevators away from the central Grand Hall to help draw guests to other parts of the ship.” Yeah. They know their customers too well. I know that I will personally opt to take an elevator even if it is out of my way, or just one floor, or will take longer than just walking up the stairs. This is such a small detail, but it is a very clever (and effective!) method of getting people to explore more than just the Grand Hall.
I've never been one of those people who has dreams of working for Disney but I do love reading what they're up to. I think that their cruise lines are one of the most intriguing things to me. Last semester we had a guest speaker in one of our classes who worked on shows in the cruise ship and I was just intrigued about how much went into that process. I love that they're trying to make an immersive experience with everything that they do and that every area of the ship will be different and intriguing to different groups of people. As someone who has never been on a Disney cruise (and probably will never be because I'm afraid of them), I was hoping to see more photos of what the inside of the ship looks like or will look like. I think they're intentionally holding back and that's the part of Disney that I don't enjoy. I hate the whole motto of "you have to pay to know what anything looks like or else it will absolutely spoil it for everyone who does pay money to see it" simply because I don't believe that's true. I saw the main entrance posted in the article and I would still pay to see that in person (plus everything else).
One thing that I admire the most about Disney is their attention to details. You can see it in their parks, their movies, their products and even in their cruise line. In the article it mentioned how the chandelier at the Great Hall will resemble the pattern of the fairy dust that surrounded Cinderella, and I think it will be another tiny bonus detail for deep Disney fans! In my own experience, I think Disney’s aesthetic is unique in the way that there’s a specific style in every story they tell. For example, the aesthetics of Star Wars will be very different from that of Snow White. But you will be able to distinguish and identify which fantasy world you’re in simply by the colour scheme, decoration, architectural style etc. I’m excited to see how the Imagineers will bring all the elements and different stories together.
Disney has always been pretty great at making their theme parks immersive and efficient. While I don’t particularly like Disney as a corporation, they are good at what they do. And as DJ said tho, I never think about cruise ships whenever I think of disney, but I bet it’s a big industry for them as well. Just from seeing the one picture in the article of the grand hall and chandelier is really cool, and I think it would’ve been nice to be able to see more pictures of either designs or interior spaces. I get not wanting to spoil the magic or mauve waiting to keep it behind a paywall but, at least for me, it would probably be more of an incentive to want to go if I could get a glimpse of something else as well. Other people really seem to enjoy being on cruises, but everything about them is like a nightmare for me. So while I would never want to work on one, especially for disney, I think it’s cool to look at and would probably be fun to fabricate.
7 comments:
Over the past couple of years I have had a small growing obsession with Disneyland and Disneyworld. I loved the rides, food, entertainment, but most of all, the atmosphere. This is what I think Disney does best, building environments that feel detached from our current world. In this way the parks are a form of escapism. This new Disney fleet does not shy away from Disney's goal of immersion. It has an overall stylized architecture, along with specific themed rooms. The imagineer's (Disney Designers) attention to detail is something I admire. Every object and space you interact with is very clearly thought out and designed. As an artist, this is a reminder of intention, especially when creating art in physical spaces. I do not think I am going to go into scenic design, but if I do, this is the headspace I would work in. Everything you put into the audience's view affects their experience with the show, so it has to be though out carefully.
It’s actually been a dream of mine to work on a cruise ship at some point in my life, or to even spec one. It’s really cool to see that so much thought goes into every detail, even to take natural habits of people into consideration, I.E. moving the elevators away from the grand atrium to make the guests detour around the deck and take in all the sights. I also appreciate the consistency of theme across the entire cruise ship. I have been on two cruises before and I can say that I have never seen such attention to detail, in molding, décor, or even theme. Although, I cannot say I am surprised that Disney is pushing further than the “status quo” for cruise liners. The title caught my attention because I assumed it was referring to a cruise ship, but I wasn’t sure. The name “Dreamliner” suits the elegance of the ship very well and further caters to the immersive experience they provide for all of their guests.
When thinking about Disney, I never really think about their cruise line or really that it even exists. Furthermore, when I think about Imagineers and their jobs, I really only think about the parks. That being said, I think designing cruise ships is a really neat job. I have always been interested in working on a cruise ship myself, and the idea being part of the initial design team is even more interesting. What's different is that a cruise ship seams to be almost an all in one product. From hotel rooms, to theaters, too pool decks and even attractions, a cruise ship is a floating city almost. Being on the design team, even if you are only working on one specific part, you have to have an idea of how all these different parts come together to add up to one amazing guest experience. I hope to get to work on something like this one day.
While I am not the biggest fan of Disney as a company (see my comment from last week about them being greedy money hoarders), I can’t help but be interested by their designs (which they are able to pull off with all of their money… sigh). With all the money they have, they certainly create some incredible pieces of work, from their films and tv shows to their cruise ships and theme parks. While I have never been on a Disney cruise, I have certainly seen pictures, and have seen a couple more from their newest ship… and wow. Even just the chandelier in the main hall is breathtaking… and that is only one tiny little aspect of the overall ship. In reading the article, I found the part about the elevators to be pretty humorous. “Imagineers moved elevators away from the central Grand Hall to help draw guests to other parts of the ship.” Yeah. They know their customers too well. I know that I will personally opt to take an elevator even if it is out of my way, or just one floor, or will take longer than just walking up the stairs. This is such a small detail, but it is a very clever (and effective!) method of getting people to explore more than just the Grand Hall.
I've never been one of those people who has dreams of working for Disney but I do love reading what they're up to. I think that their cruise lines are one of the most intriguing things to me. Last semester we had a guest speaker in one of our classes who worked on shows in the cruise ship and I was just intrigued about how much went into that process. I love that they're trying to make an immersive experience with everything that they do and that every area of the ship will be different and intriguing to different groups of people. As someone who has never been on a Disney cruise (and probably will never be because I'm afraid of them), I was hoping to see more photos of what the inside of the ship looks like or will look like. I think they're intentionally holding back and that's the part of Disney that I don't enjoy. I hate the whole motto of "you have to pay to know what anything looks like or else it will absolutely spoil it for everyone who does pay money to see it" simply because I don't believe that's true. I saw the main entrance posted in the article and I would still pay to see that in person (plus everything else).
One thing that I admire the most about Disney is their attention to details. You can see it in their parks, their movies, their products and even in their cruise line. In the article it mentioned how the chandelier at the Great Hall will resemble the pattern of the fairy dust that surrounded Cinderella, and I think it will be another tiny bonus detail for deep Disney fans! In my own experience, I think Disney’s aesthetic is unique in the way that there’s a specific style in every story they tell. For example, the aesthetics of Star Wars will be very different from that of Snow White. But you will be able to distinguish and identify which fantasy world you’re in simply by the colour scheme, decoration, architectural style etc. I’m excited to see how the Imagineers will bring all the elements and different stories together.
Disney has always been pretty great at making their theme parks immersive and efficient. While I don’t particularly like Disney as a corporation, they are good at what they do. And as DJ said tho, I never think about cruise ships whenever I think of disney, but I bet it’s a big industry for them as well. Just from seeing the one picture in the article of the grand hall and chandelier is really cool, and I think it would’ve been nice to be able to see more pictures of either designs or interior spaces. I get not wanting to spoil the magic or mauve waiting to keep it behind a paywall but, at least for me, it would probably be more of an incentive to want to go if I could get a glimpse of something else as well. Other people really seem to enjoy being on cruises, but everything about them is like a nightmare for me. So while I would never want to work on one, especially for disney, I think it’s cool to look at and would probably be fun to fabricate.
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