Disney Parkitecture: New "We Call it Imagineering" Episode Celebrates the World Outside the Attractions

The newest episode of We Call it Imagineering is here, and it celebrates Disney Architecture, or as Disney calls it "Parkitecture."

Architecture is key to the guest experience at Disney Parks because the way buildings and views are designed can help guests feel whatever way the designers are trying to achieve. One early example of that is the Disneyland berm. It's a simple mound of dirt, but one that blocks guests' view of the world outside the resort, allowing them to feel more like they are in another world.

One way Imagineering handles the way guests' views inside the park are handled is through balloon tests, something which the Piston Peak construction at Magic Kingdom recently completed. In balloon tests, massive balloons are elevated to the highest points where development will reach, then Imagineers can walk the rest of the park to see where those points will be visible.

The same test was done about a year ago, and it was determined that some of the Piston Peak elevations were actually too high. Apparently the highest points of Piston Peak would have been visible from places where they should not be. This has now been adjusted.

Frequently the architecture in Disney Parks is about bringing iconic locations to life in a physical way. Such is the case with Disney Hollywood Studios' Monstropolis land. Imagineers discuss working with Pixar to understand the design of the city in Monsters Inc. and then we get to se how some of those same design elements are coming to life in the park.

But before you can build, you need to decide what you're going to build. The new episode gives us a look at the sample yard for Disney's Animal Kingdom's Tropical Americas, where we see small scale builds of interior and exterior designs that allow Imagineers to see how different colors and textures will look, so they can figure out which ones they need to use to create the architecture they're going for. It also allows them to test the weathering by leaving it all out in the elements.

In the case of Animal Kingdom's upcoming Encanto attraction, that meant traveling to Columbia to learn about the actual architecture in the region so that elements of it could be replicated.

Cutting edge technology is also being used to fine tune Disney architecture. At the upcoming Lakeshore Lodge, augmented reality is being used in order to help Imaginers visualize what the architecture will look like before it's ever constructed. WDI has developed proprietary software that works with commercially available hardware so that Imagineers can see exactly what the goal is, and match it exactly.

It's suggested this same sort of technology could be used to help pre-visualize other Disney Parks experiences, like creating fireworks displays for nighttime spectaculars or make modifications to the movements of Audio-Animatronics.

The Magic of Disney Animation Courtyard, which opens soon at Disney's Hollywood Studios is a different sort of architectural design, in part because it's based not on a fictional world, but the real world. The structures are inspired by the actual Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. Some elements of the design are taken directly from the studio, while others are pure theme park magic.

One classic element of Disney Parks architecture is forced perspective, a technique that makes buildings look taller than they actually are. That method is still being used today, and will be part of the design of Casita for the new Encanto attraction. Guests won't actually be able to get closer than 40 feet from the front of the building, so the design of the building, and even the trees in front of it, will be used to make the house and the surrounding area look bigger than it is.

Finally, the episode takes a step back in time to look at Pandora - the World of Avatar, and the way that alien landscape was brought into reality.

Check out the full episode here:

More Walt Disney Imagineering News:

• A recent episode of YouTube's Pardon Our Pixie Dust recently gave us a different look at the construction of Lakeshore Lodge.
• Walt Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde will be the guest of honor at a special D23 breakfast celebrating the release of his new memoir.
• The upcoming second season of The Imagineering Story should celebrate its failures as well as its successes.