The 2019 WDWMagical Mystical Tour!

[Voxel]

So for those who don't know me yet, I'm the resident old-timer, Sam. I've been here for around 7 years now and I have watched this forum grow and change so much. I vaguely remember how I came across this forum; I'd been directed to different rumor threads here from InsidetheMagic (before they became absolute shills for the WDC), while reading the rumor forums I found my way onto the Imagineering subforum. I remember being gobsmacked there were other people who created Disney park plans like myself and so that's what convinced me to join. Back in those long-gone days of 2012, when Mitt Romney was a Fascist and Obama a Communist, this sub-forum wasn't too active. There were maybe three or four folks that consistently posted--nothing like the huge community that exists now.

I participated in my first contest that Fall along with a member that would at times become a foe; jdmdisney. I didn't win but that next spring (Spring 2013) another long-gone member hosted the only long-form contest on this forum I've ever actually won. I believe that's around the time Sorcerers Apprentice launched its first season and this forum was off to the races. Legends like Monorailred, Voxel, Englanddg, etc. were really active then and over the next few years, we held awesome contests and really built this forum into something amazing. There were fights between myself and jdm (no point in rehashing them), but even those taught me great lessons.

I grew up on this forum. Because of the technical skills required by these contests I learned video-editing, graphic design, and improved my writing; skills that have helped me so much in college and my career. I made great friends and have even greater memories. I believe there are two realities; the tertiary reality and the digital reality. The tertiary reality is what you and I physical experience; your family, school, job, etc. The digital reality is obviously things like these forums and social media. In my opinion, what makes social media awful is that it is too closely tied to your tertiary experience/world. What makes places like this shine is that you are free from any tertiary limitations; race, creed, sex, whatever. You can create and share what you make without having to associate it with whoever you are offline. You have anonymity. When it comes to artistic creation, I find that to be a tremendous gift. That is why I treasure this subforum. I can create and be another side of myself that because of my work I can't always express (I work in politics).

This forum helped shape me into the person I am today and every time I come back, there are always old and new faces here to welcome me. I could go on for a few more paragraphs, talking about the old days, but there are more questions to answer! With that said, my favorite project this year was perhaps my Babylon Berlin project for OLS 2. Outbound gave me the space to create something totally off the walls and it was a challenge! It also allowed me to pay a bit of homage to my college thesis work (Nazi architecture/aesthetics [how they were used to corrupt and add legitimacy to something wicked] and American Urban Planning [how it sucks, but used to be good]). That project was a bunch of fun.

A project I've been working on for a very long time is my Alternate History project. I still need to finish up work on it. We'll see if I can do more in 2020.

So many memories came rushing back. I remember my first competition, I was working with JDM on a project that I'm still proud of this day (Maybe I'll revisit it with the knowledge I have now and make it really come to life). This was also my introduction to Sam because if I'm not mistaken he was leading the competition. Those were really stressful times and imagineering was really an escape for me. From there I went on and did a few of the Major competitions and small ones where ever I had time. I had to say though I believe that SA Season 2 might be the most memorable for me.
I know I'm not around as much anymore but I truly think everything I have done here has helped out some how. I'm in the middle of making a video game and working with my gf to write a Children's Book. Alot of the skills I used in competitions are showing there selves in the real world.

 

[spacemt354]

DAY TWO: GETTIN' THINGS DONE
Onwards to Day Two! Today is all about appreciating some of the larger projects of this year - and learning from them! Of all the days, I think this is the one I could learn the most from (procrastination, yayy!).

How do you get through "The Grind"? Any tips? Any great examples (favorite personal projects)?​

I think I can relate to a lot of folks here who have said that things they've done here have actually impacted their life in a positive way. I'd say this category is the one that sticks the most for me. Starting off med school last year (hence my sort of decline in activity here over the last 16 months) was something that is jump in discipline that is hard to describe unless you're in it. The demands and workload multiply from college and nothing can really prepare you for how much effort and time management skills you need for it. The same for most other high demand careers out there.

In my "heyday" here so to speak 2016-2018ish, during team brainstorming projects I enjoyed leading projects and guiding them towards the completion. While it took a while to get the hang of things, learning those essential time management skills was really crucial moving forward. And especially, learning how to work in a team. There were times where I'd get frustrated at the lack of progress and just decide I'm gonna finish this. But as the competitions and brainstorming threads went on, I learned how to truly balance between when to turn on the jets so to speak, and when to let other players flourish with their own talents. And that realization moment was actually the genesis of starting Sorcerer's Apprentice Season 4 up again, because something clicked that made me realize -- what if we had a competition where the emphasis was on teams that included players with special skills all on the same teams, where they could learn from each other rather than have one person just do the whole project or something unproductive like that.

With that, learning how to work in a group is how you get things done, and it really helped in my first medical simulation. In medicine you work in teams in order to accomplish your goal, same as an imagineer team, just your goal in this instance is a bit more high stakes in someone's life rather than pleasing hardcore disney fans. However that same essential skill of working in a team, both as a leader, and as a utility player, payed dividends.

So the grind --

The best way to tackle this is to have a central focus. A sentence or two - what do you hope to accomplish? You can build around and adapt the concept, but it's easier to push through the grind if you can see the light at the end of the tunnel from the beginning.

That way you're not just staring into the abyss. The task is less daunting if you know where it ends.

Next is to assess your surroundings. If this is a team project, what are everyone's strengths/weaknesses? What are the activity levels? What are people's schedules? If all of this can be worked out (at least roughly) in the first day or so of a project, that narrows the focus and puts everyone on the same page

* if this is a solo round, then you're just asking these questions to yourself (perhaps not out-loud in a public place though)

Once you have those components down -- filling out the project becomes more fun and innovative. You don't have to worry about coming up with a theme -- you have the theme and now you're building around it.

While this may be an imperfect example considering there are always wrenches thrown into a project, it's the most tired and true method I have for getting over the 'grind' phase of procrastination in the beginning.

There's some more I have to say on if the grind happens in the middle of a project -- but I'll save that for tonight with some examples and curious if others feel the same way!

 

[Brer Panther]

How do you do it? Do you have a schedule, or do you write whenever? And what's your favorite part of working through "the grind"?

To answer your questions...

It's not easy - I often find myself looking to the work of @MANEATINGWREATH and @DisneyManOne for inspiration. I don't really have a schedule, though I don't like to go too long without updating the thread. I think my favorite part of working through "the grind" is when I get feedback from fellow Armchair Imagineers.

 

[NateD1226]

I'm most on top of things when there is someone else involved. They don't even have to do anything, just their presence is usually enough for me to realize I need to get a plan.

With that said, now I want to talk about...

@MANEATINGWREATH
@DisneyManOne
@Brer Panther
​

These guys are masters at getting stuff done - all by themselves. They've each had truly massive visions and over several months have put forth consistent effort to get it done. They are Mirror Disneyland - An Alternate History, Walt Disney World: New Horizons, and Disney Down Under, Take 2: My Second Attempt at a Dream Disney Resort.

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First off, I want to congratulate you guys on a spectacular year. You've demonstrated consistent imagineering skills in your personal projects. Second, I have to ask: How do you do it? Do you have a schedule, or do you write whenever? And what's your favorite part of working through "the grind"?

And everyone else, feel free to share your opinions on either their works or another great project I've forgotten!

Some of the best work on the forums! These projects truly amaze me and how much they get done! All these projects have amazing amount of detail and really bring imagination to life. I love reading these on a nice relaxing day and let the detail and imagination take flight in my mind.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

DAY TWO: GETTIN' THINGS DONE
Onwards to Day Two! Today is all about appreciating some of the larger projects of this year - and learning from them! Of all the days, I think this is the one I could learn the most from (procrastination, yayy!).

How do you get through "The Grind"? Any tips? Any great examples (favorite personal projects)?

Biggest note is "Focus!!"

Having some kind of a focus or a mission statement makes such a huge difference! Solo comp, team comp, personal project, whatever it is! It makes it go smoothly and results in a better end project.

In the last Sorcerer's Apprentice Season there was a round where we had to redo their shopping district. There were a tone of great ideas and concepts and aspects in the project, but none of them came together at all. I loved a lot of it (@PerGronStudio did an amazing aquarium write up!), but no part of the project really tied into any other. The brainstorming was rough and and we never found a solid mission statement or focus. It made the project really unfun to work on and it hurt the end project.

In contrast, the #HippoSplatterWall project was amazing and a ton of fun to work on! Partly because the team found a solid mission statement/focus to rally around. Even for people who weren't as into the "poop themed restroom" concept, we helped each other find aspects of the project they could be passionate about. I remember @Outbound not being as into the idea, but then focusing on a fun, crazy presentation that really elevated the whole project! There's always something to find in a project that you can be passionate about, and finding that passion makes tough rounds easier.

Bottom line: Find a focus, and find your passion!

 

[Outbound]

DAY THREE: TEAMWORK IS DREAMWORK
As we finish up our discussion on the personal projects of 2019, let's move the focus to the many teams we saw, both in and out of the competitions. Although one's mind might quickly wander to these "official teams", many of us formed bonds with other Imagineers and worked with them on other things. There's too many of those to name... but for the "official teams" this year we saw:

THE PRINCES OF PRESENTATION
THE WARRIORS OF WRITING
THE SHORT-LIVED SUPERS
TEAM HEROES
TEAM VILLIANS
TEAM WALT
ROY'S BOIS
---
TEAM GREEN
TEAM RED

Today, let's look back at what worked on these teams, and how we can improve in the future! Feel free to leave any tips or tricks you picked up when working with fellow imagineers, particularly managing a large group!

The most OP team ever:

 

[Outbound]

I really loved playing on both Team Warriors and Team Princes in SA5, namely because they felt very different. I think it was Pi staying on Princes throughout and James staying on Warriors throughout. It caused Princes to always be on their feet with a new concept, and Warriors to always give a large and emotionally touching project. The balance of having two distinct yet on par teams was perfect - there were few rounds that felt like you "had this one in the bag" when all was posted - and those cases were all caused by unforeseen irl complications.

In terms of playing on these teams, I've found it's good to have a "Project Manager" running the show. Even when a judge doesn't assign one. Someone who steps up to tell everyone what to do, and creates a plan by the week to accomplish it. A fantastic example of organization and leadership was @James G. in Stanza V... where everyone went up against the judges:

I'm going to be out for a few hours and still need to hear from a few Heroes, but as of right now here are the teams for their respective parks:
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk- NateD1226, TwilightZone
HersheyPark- spacemt354, PerGronStudio, OutboundFlight
Holiday World Evilgidgit, James G. , Brer Oswald
Silver Dollar City Pi on my Cake, Disney Dad 3000

If your name isn't on this list I haven't heard from you, talk to me, Heroes!

With so many people, he managed to keep things together. This upped the scale to multiple parks, so it was really easy to lose track of things. To organize everything we had to make four additional threads, and things could have easily gotten out of hand. If you ask me Stanza V was really just about testing our organization, everyone knew we could complete such a task with so many. Well, James knocked it out of the park with first a google form and then repeated check-ins to keep all accountable.

Another fantastic example is this from OLS 2 -

@tcool123 came up with this model and it was used by Team Green for the rest of the game. I love it. Green represnts a complete project, yellow a project in progress, and red a projgess unclaimed. They started this early, and each day added to it before turning all green. And it doesn't have to be that one "leader" copying things over, anyone can take charge and do a solid for the team.

 

[tcool123]

Ooop a lil late on this, but none the less I made it here

A YEAR'S RECAP
2019 has seen...
THREE Forum-Wide Competitions!
EIGHT Long-Term Personal Projects!
TWO Active Daily Prompt Threads!
EIGHT New Members Introduce Themselves!

So let’s begin our year's tour with a question I think all of us can answer.

DAY ONE: ALL YOU NEED IS A SPARK
Why are you interested in the Imagineering Forum? What is your favorite part, or what are you most interested in learning? And for those forum veterans, what was your favorite Imagineering Project of 2019?

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Ight so where do I begin? Back in 2014 I began my offical wdwmagic unofficial armchair imagineering career under the username @tcool from the beginning I had a flair for the creativity even if I had more misses than hits the more experienced imagineers would guide me in my process and with time with their feedback I progressively improved throughout my five years of being here. However my favorite part has always been the idea segment, and just coming up with the projects. Now getting these ideas off the ground well...

Honestly I feel like choosing a favorite project of 2019 is impossible for me as I love all my projects equally. With that said I’d say one of my weaker entries this year was my Bahrain pavilion in One Little Spark, and even then I made sure to include things such as festival booths, up charge events, and things such as speciality drinks.

And next year I'm gonna be at UCF (I'm sure you all will appreciate how close that is to Disney than most of my friends will)

!!! Been living it up at UCF (well really Rosen) these last couple of months and I can’t tell you how many times Ive been to the parks. For some perspective if I were to walk outside I can see the dirt being moved at Epic Universe. It’s amazing for a theme park stan, and even better for someone who is literally taking classes on theme parks for his major (Hospitality).

DAY TWO: GETTIN' THINGS DONE
Onwards to Day Two! Today is all about appreciating some of the larger projects of this year - and learning from them! Of all the days, I think this is the one I could learn the most from (procrastination, yayy!).

How do you get through "The Grind"? Any tips? Any great examples (favorite personal projects)?

Working music is everything, no matter what it is. If its armchair imagineering, papers, finals, or typing this post I will be blasting music. For me always high energy songs and artists like Lizzo, Bad Bunny, Walk the Moon, or heck even film soundtracks they push me through and help me focus on what im doing.

Sometimes my music may even influence a project, during OLS the Light District featured a Hispanic club. I of course had to study parties so I went to a few parties to listen to “study”, and from there I made this playlist:



That playlist influenced that club, and was always playing in the background during that challenge.

Alternatively another way to manage the grind is too just set internal deadlines which allowed me to glide through projects.

Or even working with something your familiar with again I’m familiar with Miami’s look and culture and whenever I can use that in a project I just glide through it, just look at the Lights District so much of that deep down reflected what I’m accustomed to in my everyday life from the crazy fun parties to the aesthetics to even the music. This tied into real life surprisingly this past semester when I took a course on The Events Industry (HFT2750, in case on of y’all wanna take it) where I had to make an event that for all intensive purposes could take place tomorrow. For it I stuck to hosting the event in my home town of Miami, and it got to the point where I had call the venue and they aided me in getting my project ready with tips from actual professionals.

Today, let's look back at what worked on these teams, and how we can improve in the future! Feel free to leave any tips or tricks you picked up when working with fellow imagineers, par

Sometimes in a group project you may have an individual or individuals who you don’t see eye to eye with, and your opinions differ on the project. Or your ideas just in general clash. I found that sometimes it’s best to meet halfway and try to satisfy both sides, after all this is all for fun and sometimes by agreeing to meet in the middle the project works so much better than if if it was missing that part.

Also be prepared for the worse, if you have a gut feeling someone may not pull their weight have a Plan B , C, D, etc. I can’t begin to even express the amount of extra unseen content I have made and kept lying around in case of a worse case scenario. It’s just good crisis management, and at the end could help your team win. This of course can apply to real life with group projects as well by the way not just here on the forums

@tcool123 came up with this model and it was used by Team Green for the rest of the game. I love it. Green represnts a complete project, yellow a project in progress, and red a projgess unclaimed. They started this early, and each day added to it before turning all green. And it doesn't have to be that one "leader" copying things over, anyone can take charge and do a solid for the team.

As much as I wish I could take credit for this organization scheme I cant

It was something I picked up from The Sorcerers Apprentice 2 in my days of Team Sea with the likes of @Voxel , @ englanddg , @MonorailRed , @Sam4D23 and many more talented imagineers I cant recall right now . I don’t know who implemented but I know it was an amazing call. It keeps things organized, a checklist on everything to do, and a key to follow when making maps.

Also what even was that project, Im still amazed at how much effort I put into everything. Also sorry judges for all the essays on the website I wrote

 

[PerGron]

TEAM ROY

I think you mean Roy’s Bois.

But in all seriousness, my time on Team Princes and Roy’s Bois throughout the SAV competition was amazing.

I stayed on Princes throughout their entire existence and doing so allowed me to not only get to work with some amazing talents like @Pi on my Cake for the entirety of the competition, but also allowed me to work with so many other amazing imagineers that bounced around a bit more.

Team Princes had some rough spots, such as the previously mentioned Stanza III where we lacked a mission statement and for that reason we’re completely unable to create a coherent project. However, that project, I believe, allowed for all of us to learn a lesson about teamwork that just made us stronger as a whole.

Some of my favorite Team Princes projects included Novus Harbor, which we likewise did not have consensus on a thesis statement, but ended up pulling out an amazing, if not familiar, land, with a lot of great ideas and an amazing Presentation (made by @Disney Dad 3000 if I’m not mistaken).

I also thoroughly enjoyed LEGO World Chase which had me on art instead of writing. I’m not much of an artist, so making a poster and LEGO-fying the character sketches that were done was a great challenge.

Of course, a shoutout to #HippoSplatterWall, that continues to be my favorite project I’ve ever worked on.

Finally though, I wanted to talk about my brief stint on Roy’s Bois. We did Port Disney for the final group stanza before the semi-finals and, honestly, this became my most stressful project. I was project manager and had won both rounds I had been PM for beforehand. With this one, unfortunately but understandably, the team was very busy and I spent much of the last day putting together a sloppy version of what we had and filling in all the missing parts, including artwork. While the judges congratulated me and my hard work putting it together, I did feel bad that I got a lot of the credit while Most of the rest of the team was popping in and out.

If I were to give advice based on that experience, I’d say make sure that if your team is incapacitated, if you’re able to, step up. Whether you’re PM or just a teammate, if you see something slipping, step up and do it. Don’t be afraid to try new things. You’re not being judged on the quality of your artwork, you’re being judged that it’s there. You never know when even a small thing you do ends up making or breaking the round.

We did lose the round, but I was still very proud of the work we all put into the project and I did really enjoy working on it.

 

[spacemt354]

And next year I'm gonna be at UCF (I'm sure you all will appreciate how close that is to Disney than most of my friends will) So anyway, expect to see me around a bit more, maybe I'll join a competition if I have some extra time

Congrats Flippin' !! Why does it feel like yesterday you were just going to high school

 

[Sam Magic]

DAY TWO: GETTIN' THINGS DONE
Onwards to Day Two! Today is all about appreciating some of the larger projects of this year - and learning from them! Of all the days, I think this is the one I could learn the most from (procrastination, yay!).

How do you get through "The Grind"? Any tips? Any great examples (favorite personal projects)? ​

​

Documentaries/Podcasts/Research. So I get really inspired looking at Disney history and seeing projects/ideas that never came into fruition. Another element to this involves looking at other theme park developments (I.E. Non-Disney ones). This always provides a source of creative inspiration for me. The Original EPCOT Film, Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (fan documentary), and the Jim Hill Disney Dish Podcast are always great sparks for me. I have a playlist on YouTube with tons of Urban Planning/Old City Documentaries/Olympic Bid videos that also are a constant source of inspiration/motivation. Reading and researching things I just find interesting often leads to new ideas and projects.

If I could give any tips I'd suggest to follow your creative impulse. I have found it much more rewarding creatively and professionally to give yourself room to explore ideas and concepts--don't limit yourself or overthink things. Some projects will work, others won't, but you didn't waste time if you enjoyed how you spent it.

Creative work really involves a lot of passion and free-flowing thought. So focus on things that interest you and constantly read/expand your knowledge. Doing those two things will maintain your passion for what you're working on and increase your sources of inspiration which in turn leads to more ideas and projects.

Do what inspires you and expand your palette of what could inspire you in the future.

 

[Sam Magic]

As much as I wish I could take credit for this organization scheme I cant

It was something I picked up from The Sorcerers Apprentice 2 in my days of Team Sea with the likes of @Voxel , @ englanddg , @MonorailRed , @Sam4D23 and many more talented imagineers I cant recall right now . I don’t know who implemented but I know it was an amazing call. It keeps things organized, a checklist on everything to do, and a key to follow when making maps.

I still use a similar system for work and school. At work, I have a team of interns under me and I give them a similar daily task list that they mark in green when they've completed something. It REALLY helps in keeping things moving and everyone productive. I highly recommend this system, even for yourself. Help's keep me on task.

Sometimes in a group project you may have an individual or individuals who you don’t see eye to eye with, and your opinions differ on the project. Or your ideas just in general clash. I found that sometimes it’s best to meet halfway and try to satisfy both sides, after all this is all for fun and sometimes by agreeing to meet in the middle the project works so much better than if if it was missing that part.

Also be prepared for the worse, if you have a gut feeling someone may not pull their weight have a Plan B , C, D, etc. I can’t begin to even express the amount of extra unseen content I have made and kept lying around in case of a worse case scenario. It’s just good crisis management, and at the end could help your team win. This of course can apply to real life with group projects as well by the way not just here on the forums

So I'll build off of @tcool123 for my answers today. The brain is fried from work and Finals.

Working to find common ground is essential for any project to move forward. This field, or any creative field for that matter, is inherently subjective. There will be creative disagreements and personality clashes. So a diplomatic presence is always needed; be ready to compromise on the direction of an idea. The only thing to NEVER compromise on is the quality of what you make, especially on a team. Even if you're not a fan of an idea the team has decided to go with, give it everything you've got. The game's objective is to win and the team can't win if people are not pulling their weight. So approach your team with diplomacy and give every project the most you can give.

The second half of this answer is definitely to prepare ahead of time. One thing I've started doing is making a base map at the beginning of each challenge, this way I'm not rushing to make an entire map after we've settled on the design of the project. Doing little things like that can help reduce stress and ensure your group ends up with a better-finished project. In Landscape Architecture this definitely comes in handy, especially when you're working on multiple projects at one time. Another thing I'd add here is to SAVE EVERYTHING. Save every draft you make, just everything. One, if something goes wrong you've got a backup. Two, you gain a library of work that can serve as an inspiration and a way to visualize how your skills improve over time...also helps when creating a portfolio.

 

[Imagineer Brandon]

i think an important part of working on group projects is knowing when to let people be independent. for one little spark we delegated tasks to team members that were suited to their interests and talents, so when we regrouped to compile our writings, we had a really fresh and original project. that's what you get when you have people working on the same idea from a bunch of different angles. don't micromanage! you don't have to work on every detail together.

 

[Miru]

I'm most on top of things when there is someone else involved. They don't even have to do anything, just their presence is usually enough for me to realize I need to get a plan.

With that said, now I want to talk about...

@MANEATINGWREATH
@DisneyManOne
@Brer Panther
​

These guys are masters at getting stuff done - all by themselves. They've each had truly massive visions and over several months have put forth consistent effort to get it done. They are Mirror Disneyland - An Alternate History, Walt Disney World: New Horizons, and Disney Down Under, Take 2: My Second Attempt at a Dream Disney Resort.

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First off, I want to congratulate you guys on a spectacular year. You've demonstrated consistent imagineering skills in your personal projects. Second, I have to ask: How do you do it? Do you have a schedule, or do you write whenever? And what's your favorite part of working through "the grind"?

And everyone else, feel free to share your opinions on either their works or another great project I've forgotten!

Their work inspired my own Pretoria Disneyland, but I admit it so far pales in comparison to those in terms of extreme detail.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

DAY THREE: TEAMWORK IS DREAMWORK
As we finish up our discussion on the personal projects of 2019, let's move the focus to the many teams we saw, both in and out of the competitions. Although one's mind might quickly wander to these "official teams", many of us formed bonds with other Imagineers and worked with them on other things. There's too many of those to name... but for the "official teams" this year we saw:

THE PRINCES OF PRESENTATION
THE WARRIORS OF WRITING
THE SHORT-LIVED SUPERS
TEAM HEROES
TEAM VILLIANS
TEAM WALT
TEAM ROY
---
TEAM GREEN
TEAM RED

Today, let's look back at what worked on these teams, and how we can improve in the future! Feel free to leave any tips or tricks you picked up when working with fellow imagineers, particularly managing a large group!

The most OP team ever:

Part of what makes a great team work well together is when the team is ready to have FUN together! Some of my favorite memories from both SA4 and SA5 were the rounds where we just got really goofy with it and joked around a lot. #VBB #BloodyWatermelonWall and #HippoSplatterWall were all incredibly fun rounds! Team Princes and Team Brava were full of a lot of people who were creative, talented, and goofy as heck haha. But that sense of fun made the tough rounds easier and the fun rounds better! It helps the game to always feel like, well, a game!

Beyond just having fun, the best teams are the ones that know their limits. A lot of people have heard of the 84 Page Fantasyland project by Team Castle in Sorcerer's Apprentice Season 4...

Stanza 1: Pines of Paris
A Team Castle Production

As part of this extensive and grand update of Fantasyland, the expansion will be released in three phases, much like Walt Disney Studios

Phase 1: Fantasmic, the Woods, Dark Ride updates, and Fantasyland Placemaking - 2021
Phase 2: Mary Poppins' Jolly Holiday, Les Contes des Feés de Belle, Cinderella, and Fantasyport placemaking - 2022
Phase 3: Fantasyport completion - 2024

This massive, fun project was so cool to work on! BUT we also ran into some serious issues! As a team, we overcommitted on what we could do and stretched ourselves too thin. There were many aspects of the project that no one felt comfortable taking on or were passionate about, meaning no one volunteered to do them. But, as a team, we didn't want to cut them. Also, some people had committed to aspects of the project that, as the week went on, they didn't have enough time to write! Luckily, I had the last day of the project where something cancelled and I had the entire day free to do nothing but work on it. So, the parts of the project no one claimed and parts that weren't able to be finished by the people who had claimed them were all claimed by me because I got lucky and had the time. WE had a team of seven very active players, yet roughly 36 of the 84 pages were fully or partially done by me. If I hadn't have had that lucky day off, a quarter of our project would have just been unfinished! So, as an individual and as a team, be realistic of what you can take on! Overcommitting can easily lead to projects not being finished. Communicate with each other and don't overpromise. IT will just make things more stressful and less fun for everyone.

Bringing this back to 2019 teams, that was probably the best strength Team Princes had! We were all great about communicating what time we did or didn't have. We did a great job keeping the scope of projects the right size for how active we knew we could be. It made SA5 go really smoothly and it was a ton of fun!

Bottom Line: Have fun, communicate, and don't make promises you can't keep!

 

[spacemt354]

One of the most challenging things in a group project to add to everything mentioned above is the fine balance between constructive criticism and turning a teammate(s) off to feedback.

Your ultimate goal as a team is to create the best project possible, so say you divide and conquer in a large group, but one person either isn't pulling their weight or submits something that you think could be improved on, what do you do in that situation? It really depends on the person and situation at hand. You don't want to sound overzealous and request a bunch of changes to someone's project, but at the same time you don't want to throw around "good job" to everything and anything because then when someone actually does a good job it won't carry the same weight. That is something I noticed with myself is that I'm more of a self-critic than one to tell a teammate who contributed something that it needs to be improved. I'm usually one to throw around the good jobs like hotcakes, however - as time goes on I feel like if you approach criticism not to criticize, but to help the player improve their work, it can go much further and be beneficial to everyone

Because if you go in trying to help the person get better, rather than take over their contribution or diminish their work, I've found that not only might they be more proactive in completing the edits, but also feel a sense of pride in that clearly someone sees something in me, so maybe I can do this.

I think a good recent example of this would be @TwilightZone in general. In previous competitions and in the beginning of SA5, she was one of the players who would contribute a small portion of the project and consider the job done. Nothing wrong with that approach, but if you keep taking a small piece of the pie and allow others to do the rest, then I feel you're not getting the most out of the experience of working in a team. That being said as the competition went on, voluntarily and with a bit of encouragement, she kept taking on more and more roles, branching out into artwork, storytelling, and more to eventually become one of the best players in the game (and now even a Hall of Fame nominee!)

 

[Outbound]

Thanks for all the feedback! Just reading through, there's so many helpful hints and tips. Should definitely be noted for some future comp.

@spacemt354 you make a really good point with throwing "good job" around. In most cases, I do think the person in question has done a "good" job... just maybe you were expecting something else, perhaps more detail or a different take. The latter can be a real problem with project unity. For instance, something as small as in Rainier Ridge, where I made a ride that clearly shows Bigfoot despite a Bigfoot dark ride focused heavily on preserving the "mystery" of whether Bigfoot was real or fake. These two rides contradicted each other, and one of us should have noted and fixed it.

I think you mean Roy’s Bois.

Fixed.

 

[Outbound]

DAY FOUR: THE ART OF IMAGINEERING
Today is all about the fantastic pieces of artwork this year! This includes traditional art, but also includes videos, songs, even original modes of presentation! This doesn't have to be the "nicest" art either - there's also something to be said for getting something done efficiently if art's not your thing, so you can move to whatever else might be your strength. Efficiency and quality is something you'll want to always balance.

What's your favorite artwork or media of 2019? What tips do you have regarding makin' art?

 

[Outbound]

I'll be back later today with a more detailed list of advice. But one artwork I want to shout out is @Disney Dad 3000 's art of Barnacle Junction:

Really captures the essence of the area. Art's all about helping break through that wall of text, but this basically renders the text obselete: just from this piece, we can gather it's a small play area with a realistic yet still pleasent theme, that intentionally looks like its falling apart. The name comes from the barnacles growing everywhere. You can even catch the general "vibe" of what this area would probably feel like if you were really there.

I also really like his Wonderland art for Dark Kingdom, which similarly, sets the tone and overall feel of this smaller indoor land:

 

[PerGron]

DAY FOUR: THE ART OF IMAGINEERING
Today is all about the fantastic pieces of artwork this year! This includes traditional art, but also includes videos, songs, even original modes of presentation! This doesn't have to be the "nicest" art either - there's also something to be said for getting something done efficiently if art's not your thing, so you can move to whatever else might be your strength. Efficiency and quality is something you'll want to always balance.

What's your favorite artwork or media of 2019? What tips do you have regarding makin' art?

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Absolutely it has to be @D Hindley’s amazing artwork done for SA V. From the comics to the logos, it was stunning and really helped to set the mood for each round