Imagineering in a Box

This course is a part of Storytelling, a 2-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

Have you ever wondered how theme parks come to life? Disney Imagineers from hundreds of career disciplines around the world share how they use a wide range of skills – from story development and conceptual design, to math, physics and engineering – that all come together to create immersive experiences. Imagineering in a Box allows you to explore different aspects of theme park design, from characters to ride development, as you design a theme park of your very own.

This course contains 5 segments:

Getting started

Learn about Imagineering in a Box - a series about the art and science of theme park design. This course was created by Disney in collaboration with the creators of Pixar in a Box.

Lesson 1: Creating worlds

Creating worlds addresses the question: where do you want to go? It introduces the idea of experiential storytelling and the difference between an amusement park and a theme park. We’ll explore how storytelling and theme impact every decision made in the design of a land and how they engage all senses. You'll walk out of this lesson with a theme and high concept for a land of your own design, along with a mood board and map that conveys the land.

Lesson 2: Designing attractions

Designing attractions addresses the question: what do you want to do in your themed land? It introduces students to the range of possible attractions within a themed land with a focus on dark rides. It exposes the importance of theme and storytelling in attractions in general. Following the creative development process at Walt Disney Imagineering, students envision and design their own dark ride. This includes both the artistic (beat sheets, models) and engineering (throughput, footprint) aspects of ride design. You'll walk out of this lesson with a beat sheet, a digital layout and a physical model of your attraction.

Lesson 3: Bringing characters to life

Bringing characters to life addresses the question: who do you want to meet in your land or attraction? (Who lives there?) The lesson introduces a variety of ways that Walt Disney Imagineering brings characters to life and explores the process of character development through character sheets, performance, costume design, armatures, actuation, and control (with a focus on animatronics). You'll walk out of this lesson with a character sheet, a costume, a simple physical armature design, and a digital actuated armature.

Teacher resources

Imagineering in a Box course overview and teacher guide.