Paperman's Flight

Project

Create a new theme park attraction
Include a track ground plan with scene timing
Include individual ride scenes with timing
Design a new ride vehicle
Offer a proposed site and explore client goals and how they are met by the attraction
Include a full guest experience
This was a three week project

Ride Concept

Climb aboard Paperman's Flight, a fast paced thrill ride that lets guests swoop and soar through 1940s New York City along to an enchanting score. Weave your way through the city skyline, flying atop a paper airplane in pursuit of an elusive chance at love!

This family friendly coaster transports guests to a time of simple beauty and optimistic romance. It has a unique feeling of flight with swinging cars on an excitingly curved track that takes guests all through New York.

Like the Disney short film the ride is inspired by, Paperman's Flight is entirely in grayscale with a few small pops of bright red. The ride will employ lighting effects to give this grayscale colouring to guests, slowly increasing throughout the queue until becoming fully greyscale as guests board their ride vehicles.

Ride Vehicle

Ride vehicles are designed as paper airplanes that are suspended by an axel, allowing them to swing slightly side to side with the motion of the ride. The roller coaster style ride track features curves and bunny hills, plus two larger drops, giving guests the soaring sensation of flight, augmented by the gentle swinging motion and slight wind effects. Each ride vehicle seats four guests with a safety bar and travels in trains of two. Vehicles feature in-seat speakers and wind effects to enhance the ride experience.

Cast Costumes

Cast member costumes are inspired by 1940s and 50s fashion and keep with the colour scheme of the short and the ride. The costumes are in grayscale with a small pop of red inspired by Meg's lipstick in the short and the dress and shirt fabric feature a custom paper airplane print.

The print incorporates the ride logo in a subtle greyscale pattern. The print is small and delicate so as not to be distracting, however the detail up close ties the cast members, whose role is other people on the train platform, back into the ride and makes the experience more cohesive.

Graphics

Ride logo design for signage and entrance gate concept for potential ride marquee. The marquee is inspired by gates in New York's Central Park and features paper airplane iconography in the ironwork.

Site and Story Chart

Conceptual show building placement within the proposed site in Toon Studios within Walt Disney Studios park. The ride will be placed in the unused area beyond the Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy courtyard. This area is part of the announced Walt Disney Studios expansion. For the purposes of the project, I came up with client goals at the start of the project and used them to guide my design choices. The story chart shows the basics of the ride concept at a glance and helps anchor the development throughout the design process.

Ride Layout

The ride track layout was based on the track layout of Seven Dwarves Mine Train in Magic Kingdom but was augmented and modified to fit the increased length and speed of the ride. After deciding the track layout, I drafted the ground plan in AutoCAD and placed the scenic elements around the track. I then brought the plan into SketchUp and created a basic 3D model of the ride with the show scenes included. The model includes downtown buildings and iconic New York City landmarks.

Queue Design

The queue slowly immerses guests into the grayscale 1940s New York City setting of the short while highlighting its unique art style, fitting in with the studios park and placement within Toon Studios.

Each of the six rooms in the queue features a different art style that demonstrates the development of the short. The art becomes more finished with each room and the short is played on loop in the room's development stage. Because it is a lesser known IP, this allows guests to familiarize themselves with the short while going through the queue. Paperman also has a unique animation style with the development of the Meander software, making the development of the short particularly fascinating. Grayscale light effects also slowly increase with each successive queue room until becoming fully grayscale at the load.

Ride Scenes

Paperman's Flight is an abstract experiential ride utilizing some story elements from the short among the scenic New York landmarks and featuring the enchanting score by Christophe Beck. Scenes are entirely in grayscale with the lighting effects begun in the queue keeping guests to the same grayscale as well. The vehicle's in-seat speakers enhance the auditory experience of guests as they swoop through the scenery and witness the love story of George and Meg unfold.

Full Presentation

Merchandise

To promote the ride and increase awareness of the IP, I designed Paperman Minnie Mouse ears to be introduced at the parks. The ride has potential for other merchandise such as clothing with the airplane logo print, stationary, jewelry, and more.

Guest Experience and Appendix

Process

I was initially inspired by the score to Paperman. While listening to the music, I realized it would make a wonderful soaring ride and had the idea for a paper airplane ride vehicle which I sketched.	I refined the ride vehicle concept and painted it in Photoshop.
I then used the painted concept to make a 3D model in SketchUp, scaled for guests.	I used the model to make a VRay scene rendering of how the load area might look.
The other initial inspiration was for costumes, I wanted something subtle but that would be highly themed and detailed so I drew a paper airplane icon and used it to create a simple print.	I then designed and painted costumes inspired by 1940s fashion which I patterned with the airplane print.
I next brought the icon into a logo design inspired by the poster for the short, keeping with the simple abstract aesthetic I imagined the ride having.	I came up with some client goals and figured out how to shape my ride to meet them
These goals led to my decision to place the ride within Toon Studios at Walt Disney Studios Park and I used Photoshop to add the "ride building" into the current park map.	I began working on concept art based on the animation style of the short, drawing the outlines of a New York City Street with the track curving between buildings.
I added colour and detailing to the buildings.	Then added cars and people on the street and refined the track.
I brought my 3D model of the vehicle in for a more realistic rendering of the concept.	Lastly, I painted over the 3D model to make the style consistent.
With the aesthetics set, I began sketching the ride track and scenes, modifying the track layout of an existing ride, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, due to the similar swooping feeling of the ride. I incorporated New York City landmarks as well as some basic story elements, but kept the overall ride more experiential.	I used this sketch to draft the ground plan in AutoCAD.
Then brought the CAD file into SketchUp to create a dimensional model of the ride.	I took inspiration from the wrought iron gates in Central Park to sketch the ride's entrance marquee.
I used Photoshop to begin incorporating the iconography into an existing photo of a Central Park Gate and added the ride logo at the top.

Themed Entertainment Design | Environment Design