A tour in Adventureland loads guests onto Jeeps for a peaceful safari led by Mickey Mouse himself. As Mickey begins to narrate, the safari stops when a tree falls, blocking the path.
Mickey tells riders it’s about to get rough before turning onto a bumpy road. Things go awry when the group disturbs animals, who give chase.
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This ride doesn’t exist — other than on paper during a unique course at UC Riverside.
It came from the imagination of UCR students who are putting themselves into the minds of Disney’s best Imagineers.
The student-led course, “Disneyland Imagineer,” blends the magic of Disneyland with engineering and imagination as students simulate bringing rides off paper and into reality.
Jennifer Ibarra, 20, a third-year education and liberal arts student from Fontana — is leading 20 students through a class about Disney Imagineering this winter quarter. She uses guest lectures from current and past Imagineers and offers students the chance to design their own Disneyland ride.
“The class is basically teaching us the process of creation when it comes to the Imagineering lessons and, like, how they create the attractions and theaters, which I genuinely enjoy, ” said Hailie Nash, a 22-year-old computational mathematics major who’s taking the course.
Nash, also a graphic design artist, wants to use her knowledge of math, engineering and art to become a Disney Imagineer or follow a similar path.
“I originally wanted to go into civil engineering and, to be fair, more precisely I wanted to go straight into mechanical engineering because I was interested in roller coasters, and I think a lot of the math and physics behind the creation of roller coasters … is really interesting,” Nash said.
The Walt Disney Imagineering Department got its start in 1952 when Walt and Roy Disney set up a separate enterprise to create the Disneyland Park in Anaheim three years before it opened.
For almost 70…
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