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When most people think of Christmas, they're filled with memories of constant Santa tracking, early morning runs downstairs to open presents, and barely survivable dinners with their entire families. I, however, immediately think of epic sing-alongs to "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," breakfast at the Crystal Palace, riding the PeopleMover at three in the morning, and the sparkling finale to Fantasmic- all perfectly normal as I have never spent a single Christmas at home.
Every Christmas of my life has been spent in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The tradition started with my dad; when he was a kid, his parents would pack up all eight of their children and drive from New York to Florida, where they would all camp out at Fort Wilderness. After I was born, my parents decided to continue the tradition, and since then, I've been to Disney over twenty times and it has always been where I'm my happiest. Thus, I feel as though I cannot define my life without it. |
When I’m older, I want to be an Imagineer, a designer of the attractions for the Disney theme parks. I want to be an Imagineer because I have grown up with a love of reading; there’s rarely been a moment in my life where I’m not in the middle of at least three books. Imagineering is essentially glorified storytelling. It’s the Imagineers’ job to create the immersive environment for their guests to experience- an environment where the buildings, music, and attractions come together to develop a setting, characters, and narrative that come alive.
People always looked at me strangely when I tell them I want to be an Imagineer. I've never been a stranger to crazy aspirations (when I was in elementary school, I was convinced that I was destined to be a forensic pathologist or Egyptologist), but somehow everyone feels the need to raise their eyebrows whenever I mention it. It used to bother me immensely. I felt as though I wasn't ever taken seriously. Even my parents, who've always pushed me to pursue my passions, used to tell me, “Abby, you need to have a back-up plan, just in case. You know you’ve never been great at math."
I was frustrated for a long time until I realized that everyone had just mistakenly taken “Imagineer” to be synonymous with “Roller Coast Engineer.” To everyone, it seemed dry and purely systematic, based on the bounded rules of our universe, and consequently a job that was unfit for someone who lived solely in their imagination. But I knew the difference. The Imagineers’ philosophy is based on the art of storytelling, of giving fiction vitality, in order to immerse audiences into a fanatical environment. That is what makes the attractions breathe and evolves them into a character of their own right, which in turn gives Disney its magic.
I chose to do my capstone project on Imagineering because I can only explain so much through the spoken word- after all, the Imagineers allow guests to experience their stories rather then merely tell them. I want to help people understand that Imagineering isn’t just engineering, it’s also writing and art, film and costuming, music and landscaping, and most importantly: dreaming. I want to introduce you to the Imagineers’ creative ideology that I have fallen in love with.
People always looked at me strangely when I tell them I want to be an Imagineer. I've never been a stranger to crazy aspirations (when I was in elementary school, I was convinced that I was destined to be a forensic pathologist or Egyptologist), but somehow everyone feels the need to raise their eyebrows whenever I mention it. It used to bother me immensely. I felt as though I wasn't ever taken seriously. Even my parents, who've always pushed me to pursue my passions, used to tell me, “Abby, you need to have a back-up plan, just in case. You know you’ve never been great at math."
I was frustrated for a long time until I realized that everyone had just mistakenly taken “Imagineer” to be synonymous with “Roller Coast Engineer.” To everyone, it seemed dry and purely systematic, based on the bounded rules of our universe, and consequently a job that was unfit for someone who lived solely in their imagination. But I knew the difference. The Imagineers’ philosophy is based on the art of storytelling, of giving fiction vitality, in order to immerse audiences into a fanatical environment. That is what makes the attractions breathe and evolves them into a character of their own right, which in turn gives Disney its magic.
I chose to do my capstone project on Imagineering because I can only explain so much through the spoken word- after all, the Imagineers allow guests to experience their stories rather then merely tell them. I want to help people understand that Imagineering isn’t just engineering, it’s also writing and art, film and costuming, music and landscaping, and most importantly: dreaming. I want to introduce you to the Imagineers’ creative ideology that I have fallen in love with.