Lunch with an Imagineer. . .

terp79

terp79

Member
Original Poster
Hey people, just wondering how many of you out there have done the dinner with an imagineer while on vacation? I'm heading to the kingdom for a 6 night/6 day vacation and have signed up for the lunch with the imagineer dinner at MGM. I'll be dining with Jason Surrell. I'm so excited to meet him. If anyone has done this I would love to hear about their experience.
 
WishinUponAStar

WishinUponAStar

New Member
I just got back from WDW yesterday and did the Lunch with an Imagineer last Wednesday, it was MORE than I expected. I LOVED IT!!! We got to have lunch with Pamela Rawlins, a Design Administrator with WD Imagineering, and she was SO informative and fun. We were seated with her at 11:30 am and she didn't leave until 1:30 pm!! TOTALLY worth every penny, I would consider doing it again on our next trip, in fact, I think I am!!
 
One Lil Spark

One Lil Spark

EPCOT Center Defender
comics101 said:
I didn't know this was possible. How do you sign up? How much money extra is it? That could be really cool.
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I bet this costs a pretty, pretty penny! :lol:

I guess the question really is, how much are you willing to pay to have a meal with an imagineer? :drevil:
 
D

darthjohnny

Active Member
Wow! That's awesome! I've wanted to do this, but it does cost a lot. It's cheaper if you have lunch than dinner I believe. I hope you report what you did when you get back, terp79! Please! Make sure you ask juicy questions on what's coming to the parks! :D
 
Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
We are planning on doing it in January for lunch, which the cost, I believe is either $69 or $99 per person, I cant remember which. And I have heard rumors that they will be discontinuing it.

The lunch and dinner is at The Brown Derby I believe.
 
terp79

terp79

Member
Original Poster
amazing!!!!

So guys i just got back from the kingdom 2 daze ago and needless to say that the dinner with an imagineer was brilliant. The dinner cost around 70 bucks per person. It was such a lavish dinner and I was full after the 2nd course. It's held at the Brown Derby and is only open for 8 people. If you're thinking about doing it book in advance. Our Imagineer was Kevin Thomas, Senior Graphic Designer at WDI which was sweet becuz i'm a graphic designer. He was amazing.We hit it off right away and talked up a storm. We were scheduled to have Jason Surell but he couldn't make it. Either way it was soooo amazing. We get these really neat name badges that look very much like cast members, you get a brilliant dinner, amazing company, great stories, and an Imagineering dinner plate signed by the Imagineer. It was sooooo amazing. If you want to know more about the experience just ask. And to the person who had Pam Rawlins....isn't she amazing? I had an interview with her for a position at WDI 2 months ago she was so nice.
 
Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
terp79 said:
So guys i just got back from the kingdom 2 daze ago and needless to say that the dinner with an imagineer was brilliant. The dinner cost around 70 bucks per person. It was such a lavish dinner and I was full after the 2nd course. It's held at the Brown Derby and is only open for 8 people. If you're thinking about doing it book in advance. Our Imagineer was Kevin Thomas, Senior Graphic Designer at WDI which was sweet becuz i'm a graphic designer. He was amazing.We hit it off right away and talked up a storm. We were scheduled to have Jason Surell but he couldn't make it. Either way it was soooo amazing. We get these really neat name badges that look very much like cast members, you get a brilliant dinner, amazing company, great stories, and an Imagineering dinner plate signed by the Imagineer. It was sooooo amazing. If you want to know more about the experience just ask. And to the person who had Pam Rawlins....isn't she amazing? I had an interview with her for a position at WDI 2 months ago she was so nice.
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We are doing lunch with an imagineer in January. Was there any subject that was off limits, or that the imagineer would not comment on?
 
terp79

terp79

Member
Original Poster
Questions...

Well i posed a fair few questions to the Imagineer knowing very well that he couldn't answer them. I wanted to see what sort of reaction he would give. I asked if Walt Disney Worlds Monsters Inc attraction would be similiar to Disneylands....he smiled and laughed and said he wasn't at liberty to say. Then most of the other guests started asking about the ride and saying that they had heard nothing of the up and coming attraction. I also asked if Jack Skellington would ever being making an apperence to the World and he said that at the moment no talk of Nightmare Before Christmas was going on but he said it with a smile. I also asked if any Imagineers had been toying around with the notion of something based on Kingdom Hearts and he did say that one of his fellow Imagineers where assigned when the first game came out, to begin developing ideas but nothing has come about of it. He told us how the 50th Castle decorations would be coming down soon and that the new ones that celebrate Disney Worlds Birthday are going to be even more amazing. I told him I can't wait to see as long as it's not a giant birthday cake. We both laughed. He also said to keep an eye out on Epcot and that we may very well see a new land being added to the worlds showcase in the up and coming years. I asked him about the rumors of DCA being re-Imagineered over the next 10 years and he said that he hadn't heard anything about that. Most of his stress was on Epcot and how guests are going to see some major changes in the next few years. He said that Epcot is stuck between decades and that it needs an overlift and that's what Imagineers are focusing on.

I only asked a few questions about up-and-coming attractions/rumors because I didn't want to come off as a Disney Dork. I mainly asked questions to keep conversation going and that would envoke questions from the other guests. I asked our Imagineer how many blue sky sessions he had been in on. When i asked everyone at the table asked, "what's blue sky?" Which then gave our Imagineer the opportunity to tell them more about WDI and about what he had been envolved in. Most of the other guests asked normal questions like: What's your favorite Disney attraction? If you could change one thing about Disney World what would it be? What does my daughter need to do to become an Imagineer? Whereas me and my guest asked: What programs do you use in designing? What is the most challenging part of our jobs? How many jobs are you working on at once? What's the main time frame for your team? How often do you work with WDI in Glendale? What are you currently working on? Who requests what gets made?

Over all it still was amazing to see his face light up when certain things where asked and to see that twinkle in his eye as he said, "I can't say. . ."
 
terp79

terp79

Member
Original Poster
i forgot . . .

i forgot to tell you all that he and his team are working currently on pleasure island and i asked if it was a cast member or an imagineer who placed mr. toad in the haunted mansion's pet cemetary. he said that it was an imagineer not a cast member.
 
brucie

brucie

Active Member
Cool thanks for the info! I had no idea you could do that. Im going in 10 days, I don't think that would be in the budget, it's prob to late to book it anyway. But it was great to hear about it, if you remember any more details let us know!
 

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