We turned our class into a Disney ride and it was AWESOME!

"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started by a mouse."

- Walt Disney

During our vacation to Disneyland last summer I was riding through Alice in Wonderland and thinking about how much I loved seeing stories brought to life. As I enjoyed watching the created scenes and listening to the familiar songs I had an idea. Why not see if my students could create their own smaller version of a Disney ride with a novel we read as a class? Surely it could be done. If Disney could do it, why not us?

Good news! We built a ride, shared it with about 280 guests and it was AMAZING! Not only did the young ones learn a ton about communication, creative and critical thinking, and personal and social responsibility, but they also loved every moment of it! If you are interested in seeing how we pulled this off, the rest of this post is for you. 

The Launch

There is a bit of prep that went into this. Since we were going to be "official" Disney Imagineers we would need folders, name tags, official papers, hidden Mickeys, decorations in Disney colours, flavoured water and a well-planned process. Students at our school wear uniforms each day so I asked permission for us to be able to wear Disney accessories while we planned. On launch day a few of my students helped set up the class at lunch. They moved desks into a format to allow for discussion, taped hidden Mickey's around the class, and handed out portfolios and name tags while I made the flavoured water.

All of the students were waiting outside with ears on, ready and excited to see what was inside! Students from other classes were also curious and sticking their heads in our room trying to find out what we were up to. Apparently they thought we were having a Stargirl party.

We have had flavoured water for a couple of occasions this year and they love it! They lined up very orderly and came back for seconds and thirds. 

I ordered lanyards with plastic cases so that I could make them each a name tag! Almost every student loved wearing their lanyard when we were working on this project. Each student also had a yellow folder with the papers that they would need for each part of our design process. 

This was our desk set up. I wanted to have it as similar to a horse-shoe as possible so that students could see each other and discuss ideas easily. 

The launch went really well. The young ones were excited and engaged and wanted to work on this project every day! 

The Process

This was my first attempt at leading a class as they built a ride. As far as I could tell, this wasn't a thing that teachers do regularly and post about online, so I created a process that I thought would work. I made note gathering pages for my students to use along the way so that they could keep track of their thinking and refer back to it. The internet is amazing - I even found a Disney font to use!

Task #1 - Learn about Imagineers

We watched a short video about Imagineers. The young ones took notes and we discussed the different types of imagineer roles together.  

Here is the link we used: https://disneyimaginations.com/about-imaginations/about-imagineering/ 

If we had more time I would have shown them a few of Disney's The Science of Imagineering DVDs. This is something I will keep in mind for next year. 

Task #2 - Choose a Theme

The novel we read as a class was called Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Students worked together in small groups to decide which theme was the most important for our guests to experience. Once each group had decided on a theme they wrote it on a post it note and stuck it to the white board. We then decided as a class on the one theme we would use in our ride design.

Here is a link to a brief summary of the novel. It has very relevant themes for a grade seven class. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22232.Stargirl?from_search=true

Task #3 - Watch Ride Videos

Not all of my students have been to Disneyland so we needed a way for each of them to experience the magical story telling of the rides. We watched a lot of YouTube videos. The young ones took notes on everything from the parts of plot to decor and even how people were transported through the rides. I previewed and chose videos that I thought would be helpful for them. In the end we watched Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Radiator Springs Racers, Ariel's Undersea Adventure, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. They noticed so many details and we had very productive discussions! 

Task #4 - Plan the Parts of Plot

This was challenging. Students worked in groups of four to create a giant plot diagram on chart paper that included the most important information from the story. They needed to choose the setting, characters, conflict, four examples of rising action, climax, and a resolution that did not give away the actual ending of the book. We had seven possible plot diagrams when all groups were finished. We hung them up and students walked around with white boards reading and taking notes on which parts of plot they thought were most important. Once we had a chance to look at all of the ideas we came back together and finalized our one plot. 

Task #5 - Create Imagineer Teams

Most people like to have some say in what they have to do, so I gave students the chance to list the parts of plot that they were most interested in designing so that they had some say in the team they were assigned to. That day after school I spent time reading through their ratings and creating teams that would be revealed the next day. This was a bit time consuming but necessary. I needed to make sure that each team had a mix of skills. 

Task #6 - Design a Ride Blueprint

Their first task as a team of Imagineers was to look at some sample Disney blueprints and design a route that a rolling chair could travel through our class. We came up with a giant list of supplies we could use to separate the class into sections and they were encouraged to use all available space. There are pictures of their designs below. 

Each group came up to explain their layout and then we took ideas from each group to create our finalized blueprint. 

Task #7 - Plan, Design, and Build

This part was chaotic and messy. Our classroom is usually a clean and orderly space, but it could not be during this month of creating. Every group was working on different creations and using different materials. They LOVED these blocks of developing their section of the ride. I created a process package for them to work through to help them develop and design their area. They needed to figure out props for their set, locate or build them, figure out how many characters they would need, what music they could use that would add to the experience, etc. I'm so thankful that my colleagues were gracious as we adventured around the school making a mess, creating amazing things, and then putting everything back together again. 

Task #8 - Apply for Jobs

I created a mini-unit on how to create a cover letter and resume. The young ones worked through the lessons, watched some videos, and then applied for jobs to run our ride! They were very excited about this part of the process. Their cover letters and resumes were so cute!

To make this as authentic of an experience as possible, I created job postings with job descriptions and the desired skills/experience of a candidate. As soon as they saw these on the back wall they were all reading the options and grabbing applications to fill in. The jobs we would have for our ride included characters, drivers, hosts, security, maintenance, and a ride manager. 

Task #9 - Invite Guests

We had a few students design fast passes and formal invitations for parents, teachers, and other school staff. I worked with teachers to figure out which classes could come through. The fast pass lane was only for adults and the students had to wait in standby. Our guests were very excited to come and experience the story. 

Task #10 - Mock Set Up

We did a few of these and it was a lot of work! We emptied our class of all our desks and used rolling white boards and bulletin boards to create our ride track. We set up as much as we could and figured out what else needed to be made so that the areas were even better. Then we would take it down and put most of the materials away. 

   

A Ride Through Stargirl

Our ride took place on Tuesday, March 5th and it was a huge success! The young ones came to school in costume and brought any props they needed from home. The room was transformed in an hour and a half and looked incredible! Characters were practicing their lines, drivers were discussing the best techniques for rolling the chairs and backing away from scenes so that guests could still be watching and looking at all the decorations, and our manager, maintenance, and security were testing out their walkie-talkies. The hosts decided who would be placed in which positions and went over the instructions they would give to guests before entering the ride. All of the young ones worked together to make this the success that it was. 

There are a few pictures of our ride below. I did make a video, but I need to figure out how to blur all of the student faces before I can share it. Enjoy!

This was the entrance to the ride. The main track was laminated black paper covered in porcupine neckties.

The story takes place in Mica, Arizona. 

One student attempted to make tumbleweeds out of hemp, glue, and balloons. 

These students learned the Bunny Hop and danced almost the entire morning. 

Hopefully you feel inspired to try something new with your students! This was definitely a challenging project to take on, but worth all of the effort! A couple of days ago a mom from my class sent me a message from Disneyland. She said that her daughter was comparing every ride and experience to our Ride Through Stargirl. That warmed my teacher heart! 

Thanks for reading and happy teaching!