Subscriber Exclusive: Bonus Q&A with Imagineer Kevin Rafferty
Imagineer Keven Rafferty lives a magical life. You’d expect that being a Disney Imagineer would be a great job, but Rafferty’s seems just a bit more fantastic.
In his new book, “Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career”, he takes you through his career, from almost becoming a priest, all the way through to his work on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction, which is opening next year.
But it’s the things that just happen to him along the way that makes his stories “fantastical,” like the time he ended up in first class with the Rolling Stones, or when he stayed in a haunted hotel during a travel trip. You can read all about all that and more in his book.
We also have a full Q&A with him in our Fall 2019 issue. But we had more than we could fit in print, so here are some bonus questions for our Club and VIP subscribers:
Of all the attractions you’ve worked on that have gone away, which would you bring back if you could?
As my long-time boss, Marty Sklar, used to say, “The Disney Parks aren’t museums.” In other words, change is good and necessary and sometimes it’s necessary to replace previous attractions with those that offer an even better experience for our guests.
For example, when I worked on a new attraction concept to replace Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, there was an outcry from the fans of that attraction. But when we opened its replacement, the colorful and musical The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh featuring the lovable Pooh characters and a fun new ride system, we did what we should do in such a circumstance, and that is to replace an existing attraction with something even better! When a show or attraction I’ve worked on goes away – and I’ve been around long enough for that to happen – I understand the reasons why and I am fully supportive and totally fine with that.
A perfect example is the replacement of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror with Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! at Disney California Adventure. Guests love Mission: Breakout! and changing the experience with a new story and theme served as the perfect step forward given the intent to create even more Super Hero-themed experiences in that area of the park.
Do you prefer the classic Mickey Mouse look or his look in the new cartoons and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway?
Mickey Mouse has appeared in many different styles throughout many different eras. I loved him as Steamboat Willie, I loved him as the early walk-around character in the first days of Disneyland, I loved his “classic” look in the Mickey cartoons of the ‘40s and ‘50s and I love him the stylized way he is depicted in the new series of Mickey shorts on the Disney Channel.
The point is, Mickey has been presented in many different ways, shapes, and forms through the ‘ears, but whatever his look and style, he’s still the same beloved Mickey!
What advice would you give to aspiring Imagineers?
At their request, I have met with hundreds and hundreds of good and talented people over the years that aspire to become an Imagineer. They come to me seeking advice and insight and want to know the story of how I became an Imagineer and they seem fascinated by my experience, which included a lot of “dues paying” and hard work. That, by the way, is one of the reasons I wrote my book! Some simply say they want to become an Imagineer as a vague, general statement. But there’s so much more to it than that.
We have many different roles and disciplines at Imagineering that complement most college majors and real-world careers. Therefore, I ask them to explore their own personal interests and talents. What kind of Imagineer would they like to become and in what particular role? What do they like to do? What are their interests and hobbies? As a child, my interests and hobbies included oil painting, songwriting, model building, cars, and car design, TV, movies, animation/cartoons, and theater. I ultimately became an art major in college. All of these loves served as a solid foundation upon which I was able to become a contributing Imagineer. And as an Imagineer, I really got do and be all of these things!
I advise students to choose the right major in college, one in which they are passionate about because most majors would be appropriate and useful in an Imagineering role. We have over 140 disciplines at Imagineering that include all kinds of things like architecture, project management, mechanical engineering, audio engineering, lighting design, interior design, finance, the list goes on.
If an aspiring Imagineer is interested in mechanical engineering, for example, that’s great! But they have to start there. They have to develop their core interest/competency first so it can be brought to the Imagineering table. And I always tell them that at Imagineering, the work is hard, the challenges are often impossible, the hours and long and there can be a lot of travel required, but they will love every minute of it!
You can read our full interview with Rafferty now via the digital version or print version of our latest issue.
