I'll be dining with an Imagineer at the end of June, help me come up with questions

[mikepizzo]

This is happening during my next trip down to Walt Disney World (06/20 - 06/28). As there's no telling what kind of Imagineer I will be dining with (costuming, ride engineering, etc.) I'd like to have a list of potential questions at the ready so I can engage the Imagineer in what they may be most knowledgeable about. Of course I'll want to ask some general questions that I feel any Imagineer can answer, but I'd like to hear what you would ask if you were dining with an Imagineer. Also, I'm not even sure how many different facets there are to Imagineering (I'm sure many). Here are the questions I have so far:

General Questions

• If you were in charge of building a 5th gate, what would the theme be?
• If you're familiar with Walt's vision of EPCOT (the community), do you think it would be a success or failure?
• What is your favorite "thing" (little detail, piece of audio, etc.) that you think most guests overlook?
• How did your path lead you to working for the Walt Disney Company?
• What was your favorite/least favorite project you worked on?
• Obviously staying within what you are allowed to tell us, what are you looking forward to the most in regards to the Disney Parks?
• With the amount of planning one does for a Walt Disney World vacation, coupled with the sheer amount of people in each of the parks every day, are Imagineers thinking of new ways to add that extra little magic (i.e. finding a pain brush on Tom Sawyer Island for a fast past). - courtesy of Skywise.

Costuming Questions

• Out of all the costumes in Disney, which one is your favorite/least favorite?
• What costume took the most amount of time to build?
• If you ever worked in the building that the Backlot Tour would drive though, did you love it or hate it?

Engineering Questions

• In your opinion, out of all the Disney attractions, what is the biggest feat of engineering?
• If you could change one thing about one ride, what would it be?
• What was your least favorite change that happened to a Disney ride?

 

[AGoofykindagirl]

Gosh, those are all excellent questions! I hope you will come back with what you learned. Enjoy!!!

 

[Skywise]

Where is Walt cryogenically frozen at?

How do you handle personalized experiences/interactions with increasing crowds and internet publicity (EG You used to be able to ask for the grey stuff at BoG and get it for free because it was an "in joke" - then it got out over the internet and EVERYBODY had to have it. Or how stitch would laugh from one of the bushes in MK. Or how characters just used to freely roam the park instead of having "ticketed" engagement areas) These kind of things seem to be disappearing all around WDW in lieu of planned mass experiences. A necessary evil I'm sure but it kills the magic. Are the imagineers considering anything like that?

 

[mikepizzo]

Where is Walt cryogenically frozen at?

How do you handle personalized experiences/interactions with increasing crowds and internet publicity (EG You used to be able to ask for the grey stuff at BoG and get it for free because it was an "in joke" - then it got out over the internet and EVERYBODY had to have it. Or how stitch would laugh from one of the bushes in MK. Or how characters just used to freely roam the park instead of having "ticketed" engagement areas) These kind of things seem to be disappearing all around WDW in lieu of planned mass experiences. A necessary evil I'm sure but it kills the magic. Are the imagineers considering anything like that?

That's an interesting question!

"With the amount of planning one does for a Walt Disney World vacation, coupled with the sheer amount of people in each of the parks every day, are Imagineers thinking of new ways to add that extra little magic (i.e. finding a pain brush on Tom Sawyer Island for a fast past)."

I like that, I'll add it to the list!

 

[rastahomie]

Besides Audio-Animatronics, what are some examples of technologies/processes produced specifically for Disney Imagineering as opposed to using existing technology/staging tricks? (For example, some scenes in The Haunted Mansion rely on special FX in use in Parisian cabarets in the 1890's, where as many many other attractions use tech/FX specifically designed by Imagineering).

If you came here as a guest, what would be your must-do attractions and restaurants?

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

how do you become an Imagineer? What's the education background? Are you generating ideas or building other people's ideas or some combination of both?

 

[tinka-belle]

We had a dinner with an Imagineer at Flying Fish a few years ago before they discontinued it at that location. Got a fellow who was an architect/engineer, very interesting to hear about his work and background, and all the park projects he had been a part of like Magicband technology, FP+ and Sorcerers of the MK game. Had worked mostly architecture at Disneyland, mostly engineering in WDW. He would work on the architectural placement and blending into the existing attraction, as well as the locations and methods for placing electrical, lighting, or other needed elements. Seemed to be a very interesting combination job.

Generally they will tell of their education and work background with Disney, and fill in some details of their present jobs and projects to get the ball rolling.

The ground rules are (as we were told at the beginning): Can't talk about speculation or attractions that are not yet open other than info that has already been released, and he really steered away from any personal opinions when asked, which is understandable since he was still in CM mode.

 

[Princess Mulan]

We just dined with an Imagineer! The food (at Hollywood Brown Derby) was fabulous, and the Imagineer was delightful. He spoke at length and anticipated most of our questions, so it wasn't necessary for us to quiz him. While he certainly was open to questions, most of ours were follow-ups to his excellent presentation.

 

[wishtdream]

Thanks for the great thread. My daughter and I will be doing this in August. Those who have done this - Would you be so kind as to tell me how long the experience lasted and what the most interesting portion of the experience was?

 

[Princess Mulan]

Thanks for the great thread. My daughter and I will be doing this in August. Those who have done this - Would you be so kind as to tell me how long the experience lasted and what the most interesting portion of the experience was?

It is listed as a 3-hour event, which was accurate for our experience. Truly, everything was interesting, from the introductions of our group to the Imagineer's talk to the presentation of the food. It was well worth the time and money.

 

[CMNJ]

Thanks for the great thread. My daughter and I will be doing this in August. Those who have done this - Would you be so kind as to tell me how long the experience lasted and what the most interesting portion of the experience was?

Our dinner was closer to 3.5 hrs (we did the dinner at Citrico's in May)
Our imagineer was very interesting and had worked for Disney for a long time. He told us his background and then went around the table asking each of us to introduce ourselves and tell him what we hoped to get out of the experience. That obviously generated many additional avenues of conversation and led to him sharing many other stories about his former projects

 

[Micca]

Gosh, those are all excellent questions! I hope you will come back with what you learned. Enjoy!!!

No kidding, Mike these are excellent! Assuming that you're with a group of other guests you probably have enough questions right there in your post.
And please do report back with the experience.

 

[chigirl]

My daughter and I did this in 2012 when she was starting college for animation. We got the art director for Hollywood Studios, who Im pretty sure is not there anymore. I can tell you that almost all of your questions in the general category were asked by our group. He was friendly and informative, but a bit guarded. I asked about Marvel stuff and I got the impression thst was a topic that wasnt popular (maybe because of the weird "no Marvel East of the Mississippi" rule due to licensing with Universal? If your Imagineer is good, as ours was, the conversation will flow easily and you will come up with questions on the fly. Our server at Brown Derby was very, very into BD history and wanted to do his schpiel, but our group was chatty. Enjoy your trip!!!

Our experience was 3.5 hours. Worth it!!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Excellent questions put forth here so far. I did this about 12 years ago, Brown Derby. It was excellent, and about 3 1/2 hours also. Hope to hear your experience, Mike.

 

[lvdis]

• What is your favorite "thing" (little detail, piece of audio, etc.) that you think most guests overlook?

I think this would be my favorite question. I hope you have a great time!

 

[CarrieR]

I've done Imagineer twice, and both experiences were very different. First was a project engineer who had overseen a very large recent expansion - second was a civil engineer who did things like underground work, canals, ground prep etc. (At least that was the gist of it.) They were both great, but "prepared questions" would have worked a little better with the second than the first - where conversation flowed very naturally based around the Imagineer's experience and personality.

All of that to say I wouldn't set your heart on getting through a list - I'd hate to have a great experience tarnished because it didn't end up how you thought it would go. (Does that make sense? Sometimes a great reality can be disappointing when it doesn't meet the expectation.)

 

[andiraye]

I would want to know how he/she got to where they are. Aside from education, what each of their jobs with WDW has been, what projects they worked on, whether they worked with any well known people, whether they generally work independently or in teams, if the latter how the teams function. Also what the process is in their area from idea to finished product.

 

[agavegirl1]

My daughter is an animator in California and works for a video game company. She was seriously inspired by the Animation Academy when DHS was MGM...I like the idea of a question about the Imagineer's inspiration to become a Disney Imagineer. I always like to know what inspires someone.

 

[mikepizzo]

I've done Imagineer twice, and both experiences were very different. First was a project engineer who had overseen a very large recent expansion - second was a civil engineer who did things like underground work, canals, ground prep etc. (At least that was the gist of it.) They were both great, but "prepared questions" would have worked a little better with the second than the first - where conversation flowed very naturally based around the Imagineer's experience and personality.

All of that to say I wouldn't set your heart on getting through a list - I'd hate to have a great experience tarnished because it didn't end up how you thought it would go. (Does that make sense? Sometimes a great reality can be disappointing when it doesn't meet the expectation.)

I completely understand! I think I'm just trying to have some in my back pocket. I don't expect to get through all the questions I have (others have to ask theirs after all ). Perhaps it's my odd way of trying to show the Imagineer that I actually have some knowledge about the history of the parks and would love to go deeper than he/she may would for just a typical park visitor...I know...I'm crazy

 

[wishtdream]

I completely understand! I think I'm just trying to have some in my back pocket. I don't expect to get through all the questions I have (others have to ask theirs after all ). Perhaps it's my odd way of trying to show the Imagineer that I actually have some knowledge about the history of the parks and would love to go deeper than he/she may would for just a typical park visitor...I know...I'm crazy

Considering this is not an easy reservation to secure (I was unable to get it at all for my last trip and litterally tried several times a day for 85 consecutive days before securing it for my upcoming trip) I would imagine the "Imaginear" knows anyone in attendance is not your "typical park visitor". I think CarrieR is giving exellent advice to go in with an open mind. I agree with her opinion that unrealistic expections can ruin an experience. I hope that you enjoy your opportunity and will give a report when the experience is over.