Unveiling the Magic: Inside Disney's Collaboration To Transform Imagination into Reality.
Teams at Disney work together to turn massive ideas into reality. Here's how they do it.
A life-sized Millennium Falcon docks inside Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
You first see it when you round a corner. Appearing in front of you, almost out of nowhere. The Falcon looks exactly like the ship made famous by Han and Chewy in the movies. Everything is in the proper place. The pipes and the panels. The offset cockpit.
(Galaxy’s Edge - Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
Disney takes you inside the Falcon on Smuggler's Run.
A five-year creation that includes the life-sized model and a simulation ride. Inside, you see the infamous hologram chess table and cockpit entrance. Your journey through that door is to secure much-needed energy. Well, to steal it from the Empire as a pilot, gunner, or engineer.
This is the magic of Disney.
Imagineers build rides and experiences to take us to other worlds. Ones that often only exist in our imaginations. In this case, this is part of the Star Wars world of Batuu. Galaxy's Edge, Disney's largest-ever expansion, was a six year project, ideation to finish.
The Falcon docks here, in a galaxy far, far away.
My wife, Amy Yack, and I are here in a land of imagination come to life with over 7,000 original props. All created and built by imagineers. Even the water fountains look out of this world.
(allears.net)
This project included a second immersive experience, Rise of the Resistance. Disney's longest ride with a run-time of about 15 minutes.
An attraction that also attracts a wait. Disney knows lines are the least desirable part of a theme park experience. So, imagineers elevate the experience by filling the line with Star Wars props.
You see blasters, pilot uniforms, and fancy space lights.
To the imagineer, every detail matters. That's what sets Disney apart. When looking at a Renoir, you notice the details. Paying attention to these details is what broadens your perspective.
You see the amount of work in those details.
That's what helped shift my own perspective about Disney. I was only looking at the parks on a surface level. Thinking Disney was a place for kids, I ignored the work and time put into making these attractions. It's their art made real, tangible, interactive, immersive.
It required an innovative mindset.
It required creative problem solving.
It required teamwork.
Disney, when cooking up new ideas, knows teamwork is the essential ingredient. Having that ingredient allows Disney to take on tough challenges, confidently. To work together to take risks, build bigger things, to find innovative solutions.
To create memorable experiences like putting the Falcon into warp speed.
The lever to do so evolving from imagination to reality. A lever you pull like Han or Chewy - individuals working towards a common goal.
Teams, of course, are a collection of people working towards a project goal. How well they work together - as individuals - yields the results.
Amy, a teamwork expert and founder of Painted Porch Strategies, says,
"It goes back to having a shared purpose, a shared vision, and having everyone in alignment and agreement of where you want to take it. That doesn't mean that you work in perfect harmony all the time. In fact, it's better if you don't because then you're challenging one another."
Being a good teammate requires the skills of mindfulness, communication, and collaboration.
Collaboration is what allows the Falcon to take flight. It's what brings life-sized storm troopers, AT-ATs, and Kylo Ren's lightsaber to life. It's what takes you on a trackless sled through the inner corridors of a Star Destroyer.
(photo credit: Chris Hunter)
Collaboration is what turns the imaginative idea into reality. Creating the Falcon required massive teams working 24-hours per day. Disney did it, despite that obstacle. They trusted their teams.
And their teams delivered.
Imagineer Paul Bailey, one of the project managers, highlights how important communication is.
"You spend a significant chunk of your time being an educator."
Adding, "but in doing that...you give them the ownership of the item. You allow them to take it and internalize it. You make it part of their personal set of goals where they can flourish along the way."
Education is about listening.
Bailey's job is to ask a lot of questions. Listening provides information. Information you can sift through, spot patterns, and coach. Communication allows Bailey to chart a course and steer the ship.
A pilot with the skills of mindfulness has the ability to chart a course through light speed. Imagineer Bailey met Disney's high expectations. He said, “The key to doing something massive like this, you have to lead an army through their hearts.”
The heart of Han is what attracts you the Falcon.
You, too, can pilot the Falcon through light speed because the teams that created it put their heart into it. They united around this purpose, spending years working together. All so you can see, feel, touch, hear, and even taste Star Wars.
George Lucas's imagination realized at Disneyland.
Disneyland is where Walt Disney's imagination became life-sized. Disney World followed later as Walt's imagination expanded.
A legacy that outlives him.
Whatever your perspective is about the company, Disney showcases what is possible. And how teams can build imaginations into reality.
To take you inside one of the iconic ship in movie history.
P.S. - Amy joined me on the Equal Matters podcast. We recorded it while waiting in line at Rise. She goes in detail about how it is possible for a team to create something so magnificent together. You'll also hear what the ride is like. Click here to listen or search Equal Matters wherever you get your podcasts.
Rob & Amy