WED Enterprises

04/04/2024

The first episode of "We Call It Imagineering" has premiered!

Come along as we take you on an inside look at Walt Disney Imagineering. Inspired by how Walt took us along during the development of Disneyland, this new se...

03/03/2022

Meet rock star Imagineer Fred Joerger.

There were few rocks or boulders found on the land Walt Disney bought for Disneyland. 12,000 orange trees, more or less, but few rocks large...

07/17/2021

WED Enterprises is leaving Glendale, California after 60 years, it seems. Walt Disney Imagineering will move to a new campus in the planned community of Lake Nona, Florida by the end of 2022. To many, it appears to be an expensive cost-saving move. Imagineers have benefitted from proximity to the movie business, not to mention the Disney studio. California is home to the original Disney resort, and slightly nearer to the company's three Asian parks. Although the theme parks have their own design staffs, having a distinct design subsidiary has served the company well over the decades.

Lake Nona is southeast of the Orlando Airport, with a hotel planned to open later this year. The seventeen square-mile, 65,000-person community aims to be high-tech, with self-driving shuttles connecting office buildings and the Golf and Country Club with shopping at Lake Nona Village Place. The development includes parks, schools, trails, medical facilities, fine restaurants--checking every box someone could think of.

The news came in a letter to employees from Josh D'Amaro, the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, announcing the purchase of land at Lake Nona. The relocation of about 2,000 employees, as well as the construction of the new campus, will occur over the next eighteen months. The Disney Signature Experiences team is already in Orlando.

"Initially, our new campus will be home to more than 2,000 Cast, Imagineers and employees," D'Amaro wrote. "Driving further collaboration and creativity and allowing us to better integrate our business and functional teams." Only employees that are "fully dedicated to the Disneyland Resort or, in some cases, the international parks business" will be left behind.

"We are delighted to welcome one of the world's most recognized brands to Lake Nona," said Nick Beucher, president of Tavistock Development Company.

Dusty Sage wrote in MiceChat that it is "quite a bit cheaper to buy land, operate a large campus, and pay wages in Florida than it is in California." Dirk Libbey, writing in CinemaBlend, said "Between the layoffs last year and the job losses that will almost certainly occur when some people choose to leave WDI rather than move, there's going to be a significant brain drain."

05/22/2021

Imagineer Tom Gilleon is set to auction his first NFT, a 35-second digital artwork created on PIXoils Digital Canvas. The auction, on the Open Sea marketplace, will end on June 2. "NFTipi-001" is a collaboration with Imagineer Marshall Monroe. (An NFT is a unique digital asset.) For more information, see https://www.tomgilleon.art or the auction at https://tinyurl.com/NFTipi001

04/21/2021

Imagineer Van Romans retires after 18 years transforming the Fort Worth Museum of Science and Industry. Before moving to Texas, Van spent 25 years at WED Enterprises, as the editorial board of the Fort Worth Business Press explains. https://fortworthbusiness.com/opinion/editorial-van-romans-turned-a-relic-into-a-masterpiece/

03/27/2021

Changes to WED's top management: Bob Weis is now President of Creative and New Experiences, while Barbara Bouza is President of Business Management, Design, and Development. Bouza has only been with Disney for a year. We've written before about how perfectly suited Bob is to imagining new concepts and being creative, and we assume Barbara's experience with design firm Gensler LA will help her control costs and generally manage new initiatives.

Walt Disney Imagineering is reorganizing their Executive Leadership Team again and moving executives Bob Weis and Barbara Bouza into new roles.

02/08/2021

Diversity at Walt Disney Imagineering is the subject of an article by Ken Storey for the Orlando Weekly, featuring imagineers Carmen Smith and Charita Carter. Carmen, left, is in charge of Creative Development and Inclusion Strategies, and Charita is a Senior Creative Producer/Manager. https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2021/02/07/disney-has-promised-greater-diversity-these-imagineers-are-charged-with-making-sure-that-happens

12/17/2020

Happy birthday to WED (incorporated December 16, 1952). The building in the photo Scott Trowbridge shared on LinkedIn became WED in 1960. Prior to that WED operated at the Disney studio, then called Walt Disney Productions.

11/20/2020

WED Imagineer Bob Weis has won the Buzz Price lifetime achievement award from the Themed Entertainment Association, writes Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. The honor is well-deserved for the man who has risen to become President and CEO of Walt Disney Imagineering.

I met Bob when we were working on Tokyo Disneyland in 1982--Thanksgiving in Tokyo, actually. I remember talking all night with him about new ideas and key fundamentals of the business. He was a good listener, but brimming with ideas of his own that were inspiring and energizing. He has since realized a lot of those dreams, and who knows what's on his desk today? https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/202011/7870/ (Photo by Walt Disney Imagineering)

11/12/2020

Retired Imagineer Tony Baxter will be inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame at the 2020 virtual meeting November 16-18. Walt Disney World VP Greg Hale and Mats Wedin of Swedish park Liseberg are also being so honored. Baxter was Senior Vice President of Creative Development at Walt Disney Imagineering and was named a Disney Legend in August 2013.

Three people are being added to the IAAPA Hall of Fame, including Walt Disney World VP Greg Hale and Imagineer Tony Baxter.

10/14/2020

Walt Disney Family Museum presents a virtual talk about the legacy of Imagineer X Atencio Saturday, October 24 at 1pm PDT, $10. X's daughter, Tori Atencio McCullough, and granddaughter Kelsey McCullough, themselves Imagineers, will discuss X's role in creating attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Adventure Thru Inner Space, and the Haunted Mansion. https://www.waltdisney.org/education/talks/pillaging-pirates-and-grim-grinning-ghosts-legacy-x-atencio

09/19/2020

Retired Imagineer Tom Morris interviewed by Vanessa Ferguson of NPR Illinois. It's hard to see in the photo below, but that's Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, the Disneyland Paris castle, for which Tom Morris was largely responsible.

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