Posted on by Matt Gilligan

Take an Imagineering Course for Free Online and Learn Your Own Disney Magic

If you’ve ever thought about designing your own magical theme park, the time to do it is now. Khan Academy, Pixar and the Walt Disney Imagineers have come together to bring us Imagineering in a Box.

This is a free online course on what goes on behind-the-scenes of designing a theme park and is perfect for anyone who loves rides and always wanted to know how they were created.

In a Disney blog post, Josh Gorin, a creative development executive at Walt Disney Imagineering wrote,

“With so many families at home together right now, we thought this would be an especially useful time to share this program with you.

It’s available to all and completely free.”

In the course, viewers will find more than 30 videos, activities and case-studies.

Photo Credit: Magicguides.com

Students are led through 3 sessions.

The first is called “Creating Worlds,” and it takes the students through how to develop a theme and designing layouts and landscaping.

The Imagineers explain how to incorporate all the senses to immerse the guests in the land.

Photo Credit: Magicguides.com

The second session is about creating attractions and rides, including a ride simulator activity. Finally, the third session is about characters–an important component of any theme.

The free program can be found on the Khan Academy website. Show what you’re doing on Instagram and use the hashtags #Disney, #BetterTogether and #ImagineeringinaBox. Tag @WaltDisneyImagineering for a chance to be featured.

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If I’m in isolation I might as well do something interesting. I started the @disneyparksimagineering Imagineering in a Box course on Khan Academy. It’s 3 lessons. First lesson is about world-building and designing a land. . . I decided to go with a land representing my favorite non-park Disney IP: Ducktales. Specifically, Duckburg and the larger ducktales Universe, which is actually larger and more complex than most people realize. It has been developing for literally 70 years. Worldwide, Donald and Scrooge are nearly as popular and well-known as Mickey. In some countries, Scrooge is MORE popular. . . Anyway, the first several exercises had me thinking of what themes the land has and what a guest would feel as they experience it. I decided Duckburg should have the dual (and sometimes contradictory) theme of adventure, and the theme of family/friendship having more value than treasure. . . In the past 70 years, Duckburg has been drawn and mapped many different ways. The 2017 iteration is more closely related to the one from the 1980s cartoon show than it is to the comics from the 50s and 60s. Using screenshots, I was able to print off a bunch of reference pictures of buildings, including McDuck Manor and the iconic Money Bin. . . I also started imagining a map for the land. The Duckburg of the show is huge and has many neighborhoods and zones. I imagine my Duckburg being about the size of Cars Land, using similar illusions of scale. Some neighborhoods will have to be closer together than they appear in the show. Also the industrial harbor may have to merge with the bay into one waterway feature. . . One problem I’m mulling in my head is that of the “wienie”. The Money Bin seems a natural choice, but McDuck Manor is situated much higher on a hill. No solution yet. . . . #waltdisneyimagineering #imagineeringinabox #duckburg #ducktales #disneyimagineeringdesign #themeparkdesign @joerohde @imjoshg @dawsondill

A post shared by Professor Paul Robinson (@tikiadventurersclub) on

You may even come up with a new concept, like @tikiadventurersclub did with Ducktales and Duckburg! And what if Disney tapped you on the shoulder to actually make it happen? That would be pretty magical!

Which lands would you want to see come to life? Tell us in the comments and then go make it happen, fam! The only limit is your imagination!

The post Take an Imagineering Course for Free Online and Learn Your Own Disney Magic appeared first on UberFacts.

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