Themed Design and Engineering: Disney Imaginations Design Competition A Major Qualifying Project Submitted to the Faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree in Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering By Megan Mueller Advisor: Pradeep Radhakrishnan Date: December 11th, 2018 This report represents work of WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its web site without editorial or peer review. For more information about the projects program at WPI, see http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Projects ​ Copyright Information The work presented here is copyrighted by Megan Mueller and Professor Pradeep Radhakrishnan. 1 Abstract Themed entertainment is a innovative way to apply design engineering to projects and experiences that are for the purpose of entertaining people. Theme parks, roller coasters, interactive experiences are just a few examples of themed entertainment projects. This project looks into the design process that a team of students went through to design a project for the Disney Imaginations Competition. Following the prompt for the competition, the team chose to revitalize the 2008 Beijing Olympics venue but encouraging guests to “Relive, Unite, and be Inspired” by attractions and experiences that are located at the project site. Among other attractions, the Relive section allows guests to watch virtual reality videos of the opening ceremonies, the Unite section provides a boat ride from guests to travel along the Dragon River, and the Inspire section has space for guests to participate in healthy activities for the environment and for themselves. The paper goes through the steps taken to complete the project and has a deeper dive into a Boat Ride design and details. Details was given to show buoyancy of the boat and track design for the braking system. Finally, future work and ​ recommendations for future participations is presented in the paper. 2 Table of Contents 2.1 Disney Competition 10 2.1.1 Judging process 10 2.1.2 Submission Requirements 12 2.1.3 Past Competition Submissions 14 2.2 History of Themed entertainment 15 2.3 Components of themed entertainment 17 2.3.1 Lighting 17 2.4 The Beijing Olympics 18 2.4.1 Mascots 18 2.4.2 Locations 18 2.4.2.1 Bird’s Nest Stadium 18 2.4.2.2 Dragon River 19 2.4.2.3 Olympic Forest Park 20 2.4.3 Beijing Air quality 20 4.1 Location for the project 25 4.2 Areas for project- Bird’s Nest Stadium, Dragon River, Forest Park 30 4.2.1 Birds Nest Stadium 32 4.2.2 Dragon River 34 4.2.3 Olympic Forest Park 36 4.3 Motto for the Project- Relive, Unite, Inspire 36 4.4 Story for the project- Fuwa 38 4.5 Attractions for each area 41 4.5.1 Driving factors for the design of the attractions 41 4.5.2 Relive 43 4.5.3 Unite 47 4.5.4 Inspire 53 5.1 Boat Details 56 5.2 Brake System 59 5.3 Boat Design Specifications 62 6.1 Project Submission Modifications 66 6.1.1 Slide Modifications: Video 68 3 6.1.2 Slide Modifications: Current Condition 71 6.2 Future Research 72 6.2.1 Advice for Future Competition Project Teams 72 6.2.1.1 Gathering a Team 72 6.2.1.2 Determining Deadlines 73 6.2.1.3 Story! 75 6.2.2 Continued Technical Component Research 76 6.2.2.1 Boat Track/Braking System 76 6.3 Conclusion 77 Figures 79 References 81 Appendix A: Final project submission 83 Appendix B: Table of Fuwa 91 4 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Pradeep Radhakrishnan for his support, and guidance on this project. I would also like to thank Casper Cox and Mitchell Stevens for being great competition team members and the IGMD faculty. I would like to acknowledge Worcester Polytechnic Institute for providing us the opportunity to pursue this project. 5 Chapter 1 Introduction Themed entertainment is a field of study that focuses on using engineering and creativity together to create attractions for guests to enjoy. Creativity in design is an important aspect as ​ ideas are rarely repeated in the field of entertainment. Still, the fundamental engineering principles and techniques have to be applied, such that conformance to performance and safety can be ensured. Engineers in the field of themed entertainment try and stretch what has been ​ done and break outside the norm- examples of this include building massive dragons that can fold out of a cliff, transporting guests undersea in an omnimover ride, or using fire and water together to create a magnificent show that runs twice a day every day of the year. These are difficult engineering feats because they have never been done before and push engineers outside of their normal box to try and make something stable, sturdy, while also look good and operate the way it should. 6 The Disney Imaginations Competition is a challenge given to students to design a project in the field of themed entertainment. A prompt is released each year that encourages students 7 to use their field of study to create some type of experience within the prompt guidelines. This year the prompt is as follows: “Choose an actual abandoned or “ghost town” from anywhere in the world and re-vitalize it! It might be as a working town, a historical landmark, a living museum, a themed experience, or whatever else you can dream up. Consider historical value and respect for the traditions and communities of the original and surrounding areas. You can integrate the entire town, or carefully selected sections that best serve your idea and the location. Be mindful of any environmental impact that your proposal may have. What technological advancements will be necessary to not only develop your idea, but to engage guests to your new creation both in person, and before, during and after a visit? How will your idea appeal to families? In what ways will it be accessible to as diverse an audience as possible? Is there a social service component to your creation that will be of value to the local community or beyond? Please do not use Disney IP (Intellectual Property) in any part of your proposal.” This project delves into the history of themed entertainment and the methodology taken to create a project submission to the 2018 Disney Imaginations competition. The paper discusses the process that I , as well as my competition team members, went through to design and put together a final submission to the competition. Chapter three discusses the location chosen for this project. The location was the Beijing Olympic Stadium. This project revitalizes the Olympic Stadium, river, and forest adjacent to the stadium. The chapter also discusses many attractions that are involved in the design including an interactive activity in the Bird’s Nest Stadium, a boat ride along the river, and a recycled forest for guests to add recycled paper flowers to. Along with the attractions, the motto of Relive, Unite, and Inspire was given to each section of the project area. The Fuwa, or Olympic Mascots, are the driving characters for the story behind the design. Chapter six explains the driving factors that influenced decisions during the project creation. There are many factors such as the motto and story that was used during the whole 8 project and evident throughout the whole experience. The first section includes the background research conducted to create the project, followed by how decisions were made and in what order. The next section is the ducission of the final project and how I would change some things and what advice I would give future participants. 9 Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Disney Competition The Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) Imaginations competition (a) is an opportunity for students from a wide range of disciplines to showcase their creativity and innovation in a design competition based on a prompt provided by WDI. Each year a prompt is released that will challenge the students to create an experience for a specified audience to enjoy. In the past, prompts have asked students to create an outdoor environment that fits their university or a travelling experience that brings Disney to towns across the country. This year, the prompt is to revitalize an abandoned or “ghost town” for anywhere around the world. While each year the prompt is different, the applicants are always encouraged and judged on many topics including creating a story, being innovative, and showing mastery of skill and talents. Once the applicants have submitted and had their designs reviewed, six of the top teams will be flown out to WDI headquarters in California where they will present their ideas to a panel of Imagineer judges. The series of events that happens with the competition include the following deadlines: Team Registration: Opens 9/15/2017, closes 10/29/2017 Project Submission deadline: 11/27/2017 2.1.1 Judging process The official prompt posted on the Disney Imaginations Competition website states: “Choose an actual abandoned or “ghost town” from anywhere in the world and re-vitalize it! 10 It might be as a working town, a historical landmark, a living museum, a themed experience, or whatever else you can dream up. Consider historical value and respect for the traditions and communities of the original and surrounding areas. You can integrate the entire town, or carefully selected sections that best serve your idea and the location. Be mindful of any environmental impact that your proposal may have. What technological advancements will be necessary to not only develop your idea, but to engage guests to your new creation both in person, and before, during and after a visit? How will