CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A team of four undergraduate students from the University of Illinois has designed a concept for an interactive thrill ride that has been named a finalist in Walt Disney Imagineering's 19th ImagiNations design competition. The students will travel to Glendale, Calif., June 8-16 to present their completed project to a judging panel of 25 Walt Disney Imagineering executives.
Walt Disney Imagineering is the creative arm of Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide that develops all Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions, cruise ships, real estate developments and regional entertainment venues. Walt Disney Imagineering designed and sponsors the ImagiNations competition to cultivate new talent for the company and encourage students and professionals to consider careers in the fields of digital arts, engineering and next-generation interactivity.
The competition requires teams of students and professionals to design a ride, attraction, hotel, themed restaurant or themed land within an existing Disney theme park or resort, or develop a concept for an entirely new theme park, resort or venue. The company has no plans to build any of the ideas submitted through the competition.
Inspired by the 1982 film "Tron," about a computer hacker abducted into a digital world by a villainous computer Master Control Program, the U. of I. team designed an attraction called TRON: Gridlock as part of Tomorrowland, one of the themed areas within the Disney theme parks.
The team designed the attraction as an independent study project for a course taught by Matthew Niermann, a visiting faculty member in the School of Architecture.
The TRON: Gridlock attraction digitizes guests and imprisons them within a computer. Guests then embark on a high-speed mission through TRON city in an escape vehicle called the Light Shuttle, which is split in two by an enemy vehicle before the guests are de-digitized to the real world.
"We wanted something that would be unique, that not a lot of other teams would work on and that lent itself well to the core ideals of Disney Imagineering - excitement, interactivity and an immersive environment," said team founder John Wieser, a senior in architecture from Palatine, Ill. "We chose the 'Tron' concept because it's kind of obscure and, more importantly, provides some wonderful story-telling opportunities. It's an old movie, but it's also being reinvented this year with the sequel."
"Tron Legacy," a sequel to the 1982 film, is to be released to theaters Dec. 15, but the U. of I. team had no details about the sequel's storyline, "which was actually a great benefit because it gave us freedom to craft an alternate storyline about what happened during the time between the end of the first movie and 2010," Niermann said.
Since Disney's theme-park attractions are story-based, teams in the competition are advised to "begin with a great story before developing anything else," according to a Disney press release. The competition judges evaluate how well all the components of each project - technology, architecture, costumes, transportation and attractions - support the team's chosen story.
In preparation for the competition, the team members read several books about Disney's creative process written by Imagineers, researched the original movie's infrastructure and characters, and developed a storyline.
For judging, they submitted a description of the concept, boards with architectural renderings, posters, a small model of the vehicle that guests would ride in and a welcome video for guests.
"We worked really hard and knew that we had produced a remarkable product," Niermann said. "We were very excited about it and were hoping to make it to the semifinals, but weren't expecting to get much farther because it's a notoriously difficult competition."
The team learned that they had been selected as finalists during a conference call with Disney representatives in April, Niermann said.
Along with Wieser, the U. of I. team comprises Brent Dirks, a senior in computer engineering from Rochester, Ill.; Marchelle Gant, a senior in architecture from Springfield, Ill.; and Samantha Juna, a junior in industrial design from Carol Stream, Ill.
Wieser, who said that he had been aware of the competition for a couple of years, asked Gant, whom he knew from being in the same academic program, if she would be interested in forming a team and developing an entry. Wieser and Gant then recruited and interviewed other potential team members on campus before selecting Dirks and Juna to round out their team.
The U. of I. team will compete against other teams of finalists - some of which span multiple schools - representing Carnegie Mellon University, Eastern Michigan University, Taylor University, the University of Arizona and Virginia Polytechnic and State University.
The finalists will have opportunities to interview for internships with Disney and network with the Imagineers while they are in Glendale for the competition and the awards ceremony, which will take place June 16.