So, You Want to be an Imagineer Season 17: The International Edition

[FireMountain]

Just over a half hour to go. Let's get the hype train rolling!

 

[Suchomimus]

 

[AceAstro]

Just over a half hour to go. Let's get the hype train rolling!

In case you missed it, here are the final scores!

Spoiler: Final Scores and Winner!

In 3rd place, we have @FireMountain with a score of 69/80

In 2nd place, we have @Basketbuddy101 with a score of 79/80

And in first place, the winner of SYWTBAI 17, @spacemt354 with a score of 84/80!!

Congrats to Space for winning and thank you, everyone, for a great season!

 

[Basketbuddy101]

 

[Basketbuddy101]

Space is another beast, man. Congratulations and well earned.

 

[FireMountain]

It was a true honor to be competing this time around. And for my first major competition, I'd say I did a good job. I was amazing to be competing against armchair imaginnering legends. @Basketbuddy101 and @spacemt354 deserve to be ahead of me. And I believe that this is Space's final competition, if so, he went out strong and I wish him luck on wherever his future takes him.

All in all, this was an incredible season and I had a lot of fun, I will see you all next time.

 

[spacemt354]

Major props and respect to @FireMountain and @Basketbuddy101 -- for Fire going from someone early on during the Team China challenges who was a bit shy, and now has grown into a finalist and a staple of the forum. And to Basketbuddy, the undisputed king of SYWTBAI, (most wins in history, most finals appearances, etc), I knew I had to up my game to be competitive.

And a special thanks to @TheOriginalTiki and @AceAstro for a very memorable season and to everyone who participated!

Gotta say, it does feel good, I wanted this one.

I know Tiki likes narratives over the seasons so I have to say it's a bit poetic that I went from getting knocked out in 7th place in Season 13 at the end of August 2016, which drove me to keep competing in SYWTBAI to try and win one, and then ultimately prevailing on the 7th challenge in Season 17 at the end of August 2018. A 2 year and 5 Season arc (just like Breaking Bad)

Yeah it's just a game, but that's kinda cool

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Space is another beast, man. Congratulations and well earned.

Can't help but be reminded of another legendary bout...you vs. KingMickey in Season Four. Good times!

 

[Snoopy]

*pops head in* Hey, uh... sorry for falling off the face of the earth there. Just had a big thing happen that kind of took up my attention for the month. My belated congratulations to @spacemt354 for winning the season, to @Basketbuddy101 and @FireMountain for making it into the finals, and to everyone else for a job well done.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

I'm very pleased to announce that @Pionmycake will be making his grand return to the podcast for a season 17 wrap up mostly focused on going beat-by-beat through Space's game-winning project. Look out for that some time over the weekend. In the meantime, check out this monstrosity which I liken to the Nara Dreamland version of Summit Plummet/Crush N' Gusher

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Speaking of Nara Dreamland style imagery

 

[Pi on my Cake]

I'm very pleased to announce that @Pionmycake will be making his grand return to the podcast for a season 17 wrap up mostly focused on going beat-by-beat through Space's game-winning project. Look out for that some time over the weekend. In the meantime, check out this monstrosity which I liken to the Nara Dreamland version of Summit Plummet/Crush N' Gusher

Happy to be back!

 

[spacemt354]

Hey just wondering did the season recap podcast ever happen?

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Hey just wondering did the season recap podcast ever happen?

Not yet. Schedules have been kind of difficult to make work between me and Tiki

 

[spacemt354]

Not yet. Schedules have been kind of difficult to make work between me and Tiki

It's all good - take ya time.

 

[spacemt354]

This video was just posted the other day - reminded me of this finale project!

 

[tkdcmpedude]

Season One Historical Retrospective

Before season one even existed, there was another Disney fan site that has since fallen into obscurity much like VisionsFantastic itself. That site was MouseTimes.com. MouseTimes was the actual birthplace of the Armchair Imagineering competition, at least as far back as I can trace it. Future season six and seven contestant OSU Phantom (known as Stitch at the time) helped bring to reality the idea I'd had for a while now for combining The Apprentice with creative writing assignments in the Imagineering field. I was a young teenager obsessed with Survivor, Big Brother, and even American Idol at the time. I longed for a game with the legacy and history of one like Survivor, with different twists, eras, memorable heroes and villains, and stand-out champions. I think it's safe to say after everything that's happened with the eventual game I've reached said goal, but were jumping ahead.

"The Imagineer" was the name of the game Stitch and I created for MouseTimes, and it was a very straight-forward challenge of creative writing skills. While the game even made its way on to the site's main page with featured prizes...something that has never existed in So, You Want to be an Imagineer...the game never really took off in a big way and each season featured roughly 6 players each. Time comittment has always been a challenge running the game but with the concept in its infancy the MouseTimes days were an especially trying time.

It was around the time the third season of "The Imagineer" was wrapping up that I got a private message from someone named DisneyFan who represented the VisionsFantastic Imagineering forums. VF is a site I was familiar with through their then thriving multimedia coverage of the Disneyland Resort, but a site that I never ventured into on a social level. DisneyFan was offering me a judging position on a new Armchair Imagineering competition he was starting up on VF's boards..."So, You Want to be an Imagineer". That's right, though I do take credit for creating the original game that inspired SYWTBAI and obviously I've taken the reigns on the game as the main host and producer for the vast majority of its lifespan, I cannot take credit for its original creation. Big thanks to DisneyFan, as it's a damn catchy name and a calling card that was the perfect branding to elevate this game above "The Imagineer" competition that came before.

Entering season one of "So, You Want to be an Imagineer", I had no idea what to expect and I vividly remember a sense of this being a temporary stop along the way, not grasping the importance this particular game would have. Season one definitely played out as its own version of Survivor: Borneo. Eight players would take to the task this time around, a number that would echoed in seasons two, three, and five each with their various ups and downs. The first few rounds were rather generic prompts from what I remember, with people like Rachel and Maul2 very quickly fading into obscurity and the latter being the game's Sonja Christopher as the first elimination.

The final five of season one though, REMARKABLY holds up on future inspection and serves as a Rushmore of different player archetypes. Elisokool became the first player with the "Wild Card" title in the game as someone who was a bit sketchy when it came to being actively present but always knocked it out of the park when he did turn something in. It was the final four that really cemmented the game as something above the foundation laid out by "The Imagineer". This is perhaps THE most iconic moment in the history of game and set the "anyone can win" precedent going forward. Up until that point, legendary player and eventual two-time winner @Basketbuddy101 had been in a dominant position cracking out by far the most impressive projects prompt after prompt. A little thing called realism bit Basketbuddy in the butt in the final four round, leading to another iconic player in CostaFreak making the final three with a less detailed but more feasible proposal for a California Adventure E-Ticket. Basketbuddy's concept featured a flying roller coaster in Condor Flats. Having visited DCA on an annual basis and also knowing a Condor Flats CM from my early days on Disney fan sites, the big problem with this concept was space...especially with the classy Grand Californian literally leaning right up against the land. Basketbuddy wasn't happy with his elimination, but it set the stage for him to become the most celebrated player in the game's history.

Speaking of celebrated, DisneyFreak's "Legend of the Lost Army" is of course the most iconic project of season one, the one everyone points to as the first big stand-out idea in the game, and even the project that topped my "Top Ten Projects" list I did on the blog after season seven. Legend of the Lost Army was an E-Ticket thrill ride in Epcot's China pavilion with a historical twist, using the legend of the stone Teracotta soldiers coming to life as the basis for something that blended Indiana Jones style thrills with a sense of culture only an Epcot ride could truly provide. It to this day remains among the most iconic E-Ticket attractions ever created for the game. @spacemt354 if you could find this I'd love to showcase it in its full glory here!

Eventually CostaFreak got eliminated in 3rd place leading to a battle between DisneyFreak and Armchair Imagineering veteran @mharrington, an amazing final two considering Harrington's long lasting legacy within this community. DisneyFreak ultimately ran away with the title of the game's first winner and to this day pops in from time to time to act as an ambassador for the game's earliest days. DisneyFreak is a perfect first winner and her only playing once only cements her legacy.

Oh my goodness I have not talked about this for years. My screen name at MouseTimes.com was tkdcompdude. I don’t recall exactly which season I competed in this but I do recall winning this and still have the books the site gifted me as a winner.

 

[tkdcmpedude]

Oh my goodness I have not talked about this for years. My screen name at MouseTimes.com was tkdcompdude. I don’t recall exactly which season I competed in this but I do recall winning this and still have the books the site gifted me as a winner.

I have been trying to press my memory on this all day to see what I could recall. Upon my reflection I came to the timeframe I competed in this at MouseTimes.com was in 2006. Having to work on my writing skills was the primary goal I had in joining at the time.

Some of my ideas involved refurbishments and new rides for Disneys California Adventure because I was felt there was something more that could be done for the park. Did have a few ideas for WDW but with only having been there once before competing I didn’t feel as confident on making them a part of my submission.

When I think back to ones that were in the competition with me I think of people like TheOrginalTiki which I think his screen name was SantaCruzGiant at the time. Another one was SirDonald which I actually remain in contact with to this day. Stitch was another competitor as I can recall. There was another gentlemen that was in California to which I cannot recall his screen name at this time. There was as someone from near Chicago as well but screename I don’t recall either.

As for the others I competed with I don’t really recall since that summer I was also in summer school. I do recall is in the final round I can recall this being given a few weeks given it was a larger challenge compared to others. Finally we revealed the winner over Skype. Two of the main site contributors were the ones who hosted the call.

Anyways all this to say, I haven’t really gone down this memory path in many years so this all brought back positive memories. I hope you all enjoyed this game.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

I have been trying to press my memory on this all day to see what I could recall. Upon my reflection I came to the timeframe I competed in this at MouseTimes.com was in 2006. Having to work on my writing skills was the primary goal I had in joining at the time.

Some of my ideas involved refurbishments and new rides for Disneys California Adventure because I was felt there was something more that could be done for the park. Did have a few ideas for WDW but with only having been there once before competing I didn’t feel as confident on making them a part of my submission.

When I think back to ones that were in the competition with me I think of people like TheOrginalTiki which I think his screen name was SantaCruzGiant at the time. Another one was SirDonald which I actually remain in contact with to this day. Stitch was another competitor as I can recall. There was another gentlemen that was in California to which I cannot recall his screen name at this time. There was as someone from near Chicago as well but screename I don’t recall either.

As for the others I competed with I don’t really recall since that summer I was also in summer school. I do recall is in the final round I can recall this being given a few weeks given it was a larger challenge compared to others. Finally we revealed the winner over Skype. Two of the main site contributors were the ones who hosted the call.

Anyways all this to say, I haven’t really gone down this memory path in many years so this all brought back positive memories. I hope you all enjoyed this game.

Hey that's great that you were able to find this and share your previous experiences on here! Perhaps you can try some new Imagineering projects...it's a great community!

 

[spacemt354]

I have been trying to press my memory on this all day to see what I could recall. Upon my reflection I came to the timeframe I competed in this at MouseTimes.com was in 2006. Having to work on my writing skills was the primary goal I had in joining at the time.

Some of my ideas involved refurbishments and new rides for Disneys California Adventure because I was felt there was something more that could be done for the park. Did have a few ideas for WDW but with only having been there once before competing I didn’t feel as confident on making them a part of my submission.

When I think back to ones that were in the competition with me I think of people like TheOrginalTiki which I think his screen name was SantaCruzGiant at the time. Another one was SirDonald which I actually remain in contact with to this day. Stitch was another competitor as I can recall. There was another gentlemen that was in California to which I cannot recall his screen name at this time. There was as someone from near Chicago as well but screename I don’t recall either.

As for the others I competed with I don’t really recall since that summer I was also in summer school. I do recall is in the final round I can recall this being given a few weeks given it was a larger challenge compared to others. Finally we revealed the winner over Skype. Two of the main site contributors were the ones who hosted the call.

Anyways all this to say, I haven’t really gone down this memory path in many years so this all brought back positive memories. I hope you all enjoyed this game.

Thanks for sharing and welcome! @TheOriginalTiki should see this!