Imagineering 101: What Disney Imagineering R&D Told a Game Class
Imagineering 101 was a March 2011 guest lecture by Asa Kalama of Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, given to a university game development course. Walt Disney Imagineering is still online, but the speaker's old profile page is not.
Updated
The 2011 lecture
On Wednesday, March 16, 2011, from 9:35 to 10:25, Asa Kalama, a member of the technical staff at Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, spoke to Michael Young's CSC482 Game Development class in room 1226 of building EB2. The talk gave an overview of what Imagineers do, from designing theme park attractions to researching Disney games and other interactive experiences.
Disney describes Walt Disney Imagineering as the creative force behind Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the group that imagines, designs and builds all Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions, cruise ships and regional entertainment venues worldwide.
How Imagineering describes its method
Disney's description of Imagineering in 2011 starts from story. Artists, script writers and model makers first work out how an attraction might look, how the plot unfolds and how guests should feel. Engineers, business planners, project managers and design specialists then decide how to build it. The team also playtests early prototypes to see that the experience is fun and compelling.
The same description says it takes over 150 different disciplines and up to five years to turn an idea into a finished attraction, with every decision supporting the original story. It names Audio-Animatronics in Pirates of the Caribbean, the freefall of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the hang glider flight of Soarin' Over California as examples, and counts more than 115 company-owned patents at that time.
What is true today
Walt Disney Imagineering runs its own website, and it loads in November 2026. It says Walt Disney founded the group in 1952 and calls it a design firm, a development company, a storytelling studio and an innovation lab in one. Its navigation covers its story, culture, projects, process, impact and careers.
The group's process page now says its teams ideate and design all Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions, live shows, cruise ships and real estate developments, drawing on hundreds of distinct disciplines. The chapters on the way to opening day begin with Blue Sky, which asks what the project could be. Its story page records the May 2019 opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, developed with Lucasfilm Story Group at Disneyland Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios; one of its attractions, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, is a simulator ride in which guests pilot the ship.
The profile page that introduced the 2011 speaker sat on a Disney education address, dep.disney.go.com. That address no longer loads, so the speaker's profile is no longer available there.
Of the lecture itself, no recording was found online.
Questions about the lecture
Who gave the Imagineering 101 lecture?
Asa Kalama, a member of the technical staff at Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, on March 16, 2011.
What does Walt Disney Imagineering do?
It designs and builds Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions and cruise ships. The group's own site calls it a design firm, development company, storytelling studio and innovation lab.
Is the lecture available to watch?
No recording was found. The event was a classroom talk to a game development course.
When was Walt Disney Imagineering founded?
In 1952, by Walt Disney, according to the group's own website.