So, You Want to be an Imagineer Season 14 - Sign-Ups & Festival of Imagination

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Wow, I'm thrilled by the amount of interest so far! I can't wait until sign-ups begin, simply so you can further express interest. I must agree with Tiki on this one; we have the potential to make Season 14 the best season in SYWTBAI history. That's saying something. We've had some truly great seasons in the past, but with enough faith, trust and pixie dust (cheesy, I know), we could easily surpass the past.

We'll continue posting hype and other tidbits as we get closer to February 20th - Sign-Up Day. In the meantime, chat away, my friends.

 

[Magic Feather]

Can't wait to join! Glad the date was moved up!

 

[The Excavator]

I'd like to play! Can this start sooner? Like now I blocked out time till March for The Creator Games but now that is cancelled and I don't know if I'll have time later on in April or May

 

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Well, folks. You did it. You actually did it.

Due to your popular demand, raging fan mail, friendly letters, rabid emails, and curious bits of adult-flavored fanfiction, we here at the Fifty Shades of... Wait, wrong thread. Yeesh. Wrong website entirely. Ignore this.

*Clears Throat*

Due to popular demand, @TheOriginalTiki and I have decided to bump the original sign-up date of Monday, February 20th to tonight, Friday, January 27th. Additionally, we have made the conjoint decision to kick off Season 14 on a new date: Thursday, February 9th, 2017. That's right, my friends. SYWTBAI will be coming your way waaaaay sooner than previously anticipated!!

Applaud away, Australian chap. Applaud away. Trust me, we're just as excited as you are.

Why did we make this decision? Because of you guys! Seriously, we are touched and overwhelmed with the fantastic response we have received over the past few hours. We are on track to creating something truly special here, and it's all thanks to you, the community. As a collective team, we can turn the world of armchair Imagineering into something truly special. Season 14 promises to be the best season yet, and it's all thanks to you.

As mentioned earlier, we are looking to fill the seats of twelve to fifteen contestants. So, in a way, space is limited, but you have plenty of time to sign-up in between now and February 8th, our cutoff date. Good luck, and happy hunting...er, uh, happy signing-up? I don't know, it's difficult being comedic... Then again, it's also difficult being so handsome...

/\ Would you look at that handsome mug? It's a face only a mother could love... That is if your mother was composed of plant matter and ate human flesh for breakfast...much like my own mother... Anywho...

In the true fashion of SYWTBAI, here is our time-honored, cherished and beloved questionnaire, one in which has been passed down from one generation of Roman emperors to the next. I'm dead serious, ask Julius Caesar. Although, all of them are dead. So... Anyways... To enter for a slot in Season 14, please answer the following three questions accordingly.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A) Your Username and What it Represents:

B) Your Favorite Non-Disney Attraction:

C) Your Favorite Armchair Imagineering Project, Past or Present:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The deadline to sign-up is February 8th by 8:00 PM, Pacific Time. Fill out the three questions above by said date, and we will have a cast list announced shortly thereafter. Good luck! I'm sure Tiki will have additional thoughts to share following this post.

I'd like to offer a special thanks to all those who have displayed an interest in Season Fourteen thus far. I would tag all of you, but there are just too many of you! Haha.

We look forward to enjoying what will certainly the best season of SYWTBAI yet with you all. Now then...

- MANEATINGWREATH & Tiki, Game Masters of Season 14

New Sign-Up Date: Friday, January 27th, 2017

New Cutoff Date: Wednesday, February 8th, 8:00 PM Pacific Time

New Start Date: Thursday, February 9th, 2017

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Well, folks. You did it. You actually did it.

Due to your popular demand, raging fan mail, friendly letters, rabid emails, and curious bits of adult-flavored fanfiction, we here at the Fifty Shades of... Wait, wrong thread. Yeesh. Wrong website entirely. Ignore this.

*Clears Throat*

Due to popular demand, @TheOriginalTiki and I have decided to bump the original sign-up date of Monday, February 20th to tonight, Friday, January 27th. Additionally, we have made the conjoint decision to kick off Season 14 on a new date: Thursday, February 9th, 2017. That's right, my friends. SYWTBAI will be coming your way waaaaay sooner than previously anticipated!!

Applaud away, Australian chap. Applaud away. Trust me, we're just as excited as you are.

Why did we make this decision? Because of you guys! Seriously, we are touched and overwhelmed with the fantastic response we have received over the past few hours. We are on track to creating something truly special here, and it's all thanks to you, the community. As a collective team, we can turn the world of armchair Imagineering into something truly special. Season 14 promises to be the best season yet, and it's all thanks to you.

As mentioned earlier, we are looking to fill the seats of twelve to fifteen contestants. So, in a way, space is limited, but you have plenty of time to sign-up in between now and February 8th, our cutoff date. Good luck, and happy hunting...er, uh, happy signing-up? I don't know, it's difficult being comedic... Then again, it's also difficult being so handsome...

/\ Would you look at that handsome mug? It's a face only a mother could love... That is if your mother was composed of plant matter and ate human flesh for breakfast...much like my own mother... Anywho...

In the true fashion of SYWTBAI, here is our time-honored, cherished and beloved questionnaire, one in which has been passed down from one generation of Roman emperors to the next. I'm dead serious, ask Julius Caesar. Although, all of them are dead. So... Anyways... To enter for a slot in Season 14, please answer the following three questions accordingly.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A) Your Username and What it Represents:

B) Your Favorite Non-Disney Attraction:

C) Your Favorite Armchair Imagineering Project, Past or Present:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The deadline to sign-up is February 8th by 8:00 PM, Pacific Time. Fill out the three questions above by said date, and we will have a cast list announced shortly thereafter. Good luck! I'm sure Tiki will have additional thoughts to share following this post.

I'd like to offer a special thanks to all those who have displayed an interest in Season Fourteen thus far. I would tag all of you, but there are just too many of you! Haha.

We look forward to enjoying what will certainly the best season of SYWTBAI yet with you all. Now then...

- MANEATINGWREATH & Tiki, Game Masters of Season 14

New Sign-Up Date: Friday, January 27th, 2017

New Cutoff Date: Wednesday, February 8th, 8:00 PM Pacific Time

New Start Date: Thursday, February 9th, 2017

Woohoo!​

 

[Pi on my Cake]

My username is pionmycake. There was a "Nerd Night" in my youth group back when I was like 15. They made cupcakes and put random numbers and math symbols on them. One had the symbol for pi on it. There was pi on my cake. Considering my love of math, bad puns, and tasty desserts, it stuck as a good username.

My favorite non-Disney attraction would probably be Spider-Man in Islands of Adventure. Just all around fantastic. It doesn't have the jarring transitions like Harry Potter does. It doesn't feel like a highlight reel like Harry Potter does. And it has just enough practical effects to elevate it above Transformers. Dont get me wrong, Transformers and Harry Potter are fantastic, but in my opinion Spider-Man is one of the few genuinely perfect attractions.

My favorite Armchair Imagineering project of my own would have to be a replacement for Voyage to the Crystal Grotto I did for the One Sentence Comp. It's just the basics (due to the nature of the competition), but I really enjoyed working through this idea in my head and want to expand on it as a part of Disneyland Kansas.
My favorite prompt from someone else would probably be @FigmentPigments submission to another One Sentence Comp prompt about a ride themed to books and stories. It was the submission that won the first round I participated in and I instantly fell in love with the idea (Maybe because I love that old movie the pagemaster so much lol)

Le gardien de l'histoire​

The Story Keeper​

Replacing the bland and uninspiring Autopia in Discoveryland, comes the new E - ticket attraction, The Story Keeper; a journey into the oft neglected world of literature, which like the rest of Discoveryland, will focus on European authors and thinkers.

Guests will enter into an unassuming, old bookstore, where it looks like no one has been there for a while, but just through the "employees only" door, guests will meet the Story Keeper, (who at first appears as an eccentric bookseller, but who transforms into several other people as he guides guests through each different genre in a quest to discover great literature).

The Story Keeper will give a short exposition on his love of stories, while books seem to slide out of shelves to fly into his hands (this will give guests an idea of the stories they will experience) as he explains, "Just one drop of ink on a page, and discover the power of that words can yield."

After boarding their vehicles, guests will through the great stories if Moby D'ick (where a giant whaling vessel that towers over guests is attacked by an enormous white whale before being besieged by the pirates from Treasure Island) and then it's into the smoke filled streets of London to visit Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes, and finally into the the fantasy world of Gulliver's Travels before disembarking.

The gift shop, Bookmarks, will not only sell the many different books experienced on the ride, but also the Kingdom Keepers series as well as writing books and prompts to inspire guests to put their own ink to paper and discover their own love of a good story.

As a seasonal overlay, a fourth scene will become available and will be situated on a turn table to allow the the scene to change from Halloween to Christmas more easily.

For Halloween journey into the horror of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as the slow decay of Dorian Gray, but for Chritmas, guests will be treated to scenes from Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol.

The Princess's Story​

-In the preshow, the Royal Storyteller floats up near the crowd (the royal storyteller is a magical talking boat that looks like the boat from Wind Waker with a more human face carved on the front) and uses a simplified version Turtle Talk technology to ask a few kids what they dream of being when they grow up as well as tell everyone that he is going to tell the tale how Princess Tarina (An original princess to please Shanghai and their desire to have everything unique) found her story.
View attachment 174621

-Guests board the Royal Storyteller boat (not the AA one used in the preshow theater, but a regular high capacity boat version) for a journey down the river past scenes of classic princesses to hear how their stories help inspire Tarina’s in her quest to understand what her story will be.
-Tarina wonders if her story will be one of bravery like Princess Merida’s, one of love like Sleeping Beauty’s, one of curiosity like Princess Ariel’s, one of kindness like Snow White’s, or one of honor like Mulan’s but after hearing how Cinderella came from nothing and became one of the greatest princesses of all time, Tarina realizes that her story can be whatever she wants it to be!
View attachment 174624

-An original song about the nature of stories, dreams, and destiny plays as the boats enter into the caves under the castle where visuals of people who made their dreams come true are projected on the walls (the projections are all based on what the kids in the pre-show say they dream of being when they grow up).
-The last scene involves the boat passing through the royal chamber of Princess Tarina who is now an adult and assures us that “she wrote her own story and now she lives happily ever after” before our boats go back outside to return to the dock.

-For the holiday season, the queue will skip the pre-show theater and go right to the ride through a hallway where storybooks set up the plot to get to the dock.
-The pre-show theater is then opened up as a small theater where the royal storyteller can interact with kids and tell them holiday stories (for whatever holidays they want to set this up for).

 

[mickeyfan5534]

A) Your Username and What it Represents:

mickeyfan5534 and I made this account so long ago that I don't remember at all aside from the obvious

B) Your Favorite Non-Disney Attraction:

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Spider-Man are the highlights of Universal for me and I have very fond memories of everything at Six Flags Over Texas

C) Your Favorite Armchair Imagineering Project, Past or Present:
I will always have very fond memories of every winning Hufflepuff entry in the House Cup for all the effort put into them. Fantasyland was one of the most clever things and Impressions de Temps was the most in depth and complete redos that's been on the forums, changing the entirety of Discoveryland into the domain of Time.

 

[IAmNotAHufflepuff]

A) I am @IAmNotAHufflepuff, and I'm not entirely too sure what it means. Maybe that I'm not a Hufflepuff.

B) A close tie between Forbidden Journey and Spider-Man. Both are phenomenal in their storytelling, effects, and pure fun.

C) I think it's either whatever @Imagineerland does on his blog, or MEW's ongoing/finished dream resort. Both are amazing!

 

[Brer Oswald]

In case you weren't able to watch our podcast, here's what you missed...





SO, YOU WANT TO BE AN IMAGINEER

- SEASON FOURTEEN -

After our initial delay from January of 2017 to January of 2018, @TheOriginalTiki and yours truly, MANEATINGWREATH (MEW), bring a sudden and surprise revival of the anticipated SYWTBAI Season Fourteen: Greatest Hits. We will be going back to the basics here. No strategy, no drama, no twists - just good old-fashioned fun for the community. Such features include:

1. Public Brainstorming: Back in the day, SYWTBAI teams would brainstorm in public work threads rather than private messages. With Season 14, we're going back in time. All of your work will be done out in the open, a la open brainstorming. In @spacemt354 's words from above, "Yes -- it encourages the other team to step it up if they are falling behind. It also adds variation to the projects, and also allows everyone to see the "brainstorming" publicly that is typically kept private."

2. Classic Projects: Say goodbye to projects that strictly revolve around one truly difficult IP or concept. Instead, we will be revisiting twelve of our favorite projects from SYWTBAI as it appeared on Visions Fantastic. Out of the season's twelve planned projects, we have already announced five of them...

A) An Alternate Toontown where cartoons from the likes of Disney, Warner Bros., Fleischer, Hanna-Barbera, and more are given free reign over the land and its attractions... Think Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

B) A New Theatrical Adaptation of a Disney Film... Of course, it has to be a film that has yet to make the translation from screen to stage.

C) The Great Broadway Ride, a musical theatre extravaganza, cut from the same cloth as the Great Movie Ride.

D) An original, mythology-themed E-Ticket for any pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase, based upon the legendary "Legend of the Lost Army" from Season One of SYWTBAI.

E) An E-Ticket based on an AWFUL film... Like, a truly, truly awful film. Think The Room, Troll 2, The Fox and the Hound 2, Norm of the North, The Animated Titanic, Food Fight, The Smurfs, Santa Claus the Movie, Santa Claus Conquers the Martian, Santa vs the Snowman, Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause... Boy, the list goes on and on... Especially with films starring Santa Claus.

All in all, we want to create a fun, safe and welcoming environment for you, the community to enjoy. Too often we lose sight of the original point of armchair Imagineering, that point being having a good time, expressing yourself creatively, and making friends. This is an escape for so many people, myself included, and I can only hope that it means the same to you.

Now, for some dates to remember...

Monday, February 20th, 2017: Sign-ups will begin! We are seeking a cast of twelve to fifteen contestants. If you are interested, please, do not hesitate to sign-up at the end of next month! If you are unsure, you have plenty of time to think about it. We would love to have any of you join us.

Friday, March 3rd, 2017: Let the games begin. Season 14 will officially kick-off on Friday, March 3rd with Project One. We hope to have the season completed by the end of May, 2017. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Until then, stay tuned for more updates, podcasts, discussions, and more. We are only getting started.

Wait...the room? An e Ticket based on the room? That needs to happen. Btw, hi mark!

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Do you even know what that word means?

It's a fantastic ride, but they focus on just putting all the highlights of Harry Potter in even if they don't make sense in the same timeline or feel like they connect much. With the exception of the Great Hall and Voldermort, every single most famous aspect of Harry Potter is there between the queue and the ride. As a big Potter fan, I love that, but I prefer the more focused Spider-Man ride. Potter is easily my second favorite nonDisney ride though (and Popeye rapids is the third lol)

 

[Daveeeeed]

A) Once Upon a time, there was a teen who loved Disney. He couldn't think of anything and so 2319 was added to his name from Monsters Inc. It happened to pop up in my brain when I was trying to play by ear Monsters Inc.'s theme.



B) Well, I never got to ride Hulk because it broke down when we were riding it on the last ride of the day (I guarantee it wouldn't be #1 anyway), but from pretty much everything else at Universal, SeaWorld etc. I have to say Forbidden Journey as the experience from the moment you enter the land (much like Tot) through the queue, to the ride's technology and the ride itself.

Spider-Man comes in as a very close second for me mainly because the line follows the tacky feel of Comic-Books of the land, and while it sounds great on paper, everything looks fake because it isn't 'real'. That's kind of why non-animated lands work best because they can relate to us.

But both rides are easily as good as Disney's top rides, and they also contain the most important part: the adventure which you go on. That sometimes gets lost in Book-Report rides, and that's why Maelstrom feels longer than Frozen even if it isn't (at least to me). FJ & SM both show how a movie should translate into a ride -- a journey which you go on with the characters.


C) I really really loved the House Cup! It was so much fun and just an all around splendid time.
I've been so busy recently, but thankfully starting next week I can finally just sit back and do more for comps. And while not really a comp, I follow Inagineerland's blog and it is phenomenal!

Must I mention...oh but I must. Can I request you add a conversion for the time to South African Time.

 

[kmbmw777]

A) Your Username and What it Represents:

Well. kmb are my initials Kevin Michael B--- ; mw stands for Marching Warriors (even though now we are just a marching band rather than THE Marching warriors; long story - maybe I'll elaborate someday. 777 stands for my freshman year show in marching band - entitled "Seven." Obviously, it had a pretty big impact on me.


B) Your Favorite Non-Disney Attraction:
My favorite non-Disney attraction is definitely Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. It's just perfect.

C) Your Favorite Armchair Imagineering Project, Past or Present:
I love Imagineerland's Library of London, and Artificial Artist's Rebuilding EPCOT (which I was just exposed to) is pretty sick!

 

[CraniumCommand89]

A) CraniumCommand89 is in honor of my favorite Epcot attraction, Cranium Command. 89 is because 1989 is when Wonders of Life opened.

B) The Incredible Hulk in IoA. Best coaster I have been on.

C) I'm new but I would say just from browsing the Princess and the Frog dark ride done as a book by Team Baby Groot. That was cool.

 

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Allow me to be the first to welcome our first six applicants! Seriously, February 9th can't get here soon enough! Keep 'em coming, folks!

 

[Brer Oswald]

A) Brer for Brer Rabbit because I'm a die hard Splash fan. Oswald because I'm also a diehard Oswald fan and fan of B&W cartoons.

B) Probably Spider-Man. I'm not a huge Universal fan, but I've always loved spider man. When Super Nintendo World opens, my answer will probably change.

C) I'm new here. Can somebody help me out with this one?

 

[spacemt354]

C) I'm new here. Can somebody help me out with this one?

Don't be modest -- just pick one of your own projects
http://creatorgames2.weebly.com/

 

[Brer Oswald]

Don't be modest -- just pick one of your own projects
http://creatorgames2.weebly.com/

Oh that counts ? That's a hard toss up between glacier bay and our River Country project. I think glacier bay is almost better, but I had more fun with River Country revival because of the art and overall effort everyone put in !

 

[spacemt354]

Oh that counts ? That's a hard toss up between glacier bay and our River Country project. I think glacier bay is almost better, but I had more fun with River Country revival because of the art and overall effort everyone put in !

I think Glacier Bay was the better overall project, but the River Country one, more than half the active team had other obligations and you, @Poe Dameron , and @C. E. Myatt stepped up as the leaders holding the team together...which that might have been my favorite moment to see in the games, so it holds a special in me heart

Most times when that happens people just pack it in haha

 

[Brer Oswald]

I think Glacier Bay was the better overall project, but the River Country one, more than half the active team had other obligations and you, @Poe Dameron , and @C. E. Myatt stepped up as the leaders holding the team together...which that might have been my favorite moment to see in the games, so it holds a special in me heart

Most times when that happens people just pack it in haha

Yes I couldn't agree more. You put my rambling thoughts into words !

 

[Suchomimus]

It's a fantastic ride, but they focus on just putting all the highlights of Harry Potter in even if they don't make sense in the same timeline or feel like they connect much. With the exception of the Great Hall and Voldermort, every single most famous aspect of Harry Potter is there between the queue and the ride. As a big Potter fan, I love that, but I prefer the more focused Spider-Man ride. Potter is easily my second favorite nonDisney ride though (and Popeye rapids is the third lol)

Oh, that clears up things. I thought you meant highlight reel as in the urban definition of highlight reel.