Do you want to be a Disney Imagineer? In this video, I talk about my job as a Theme Park Designer, what it is like to be a concept artist/ illustrator, and why I ultimately left my DREAM JOB in the Themed Entertainment Industry. The Great Resignation is here!!!

Interested in art classes from a Theme Park Designer?
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0:00 Intro
0:33 What is Themed Entertainment?
0:47 My job as a Theme Park Designer
1:33 Freelancing vs Full Time Jobs
1:58 What is the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA)?
2:42 Where did I go to school/ college?
3:17 Why did I quit my job?
4:05 Good and Bad parts about the industry
4:19 What about Disney Imagineers?
4:32 How much do Theme Park Designers make?
6:01 Metaverse and the Future of the Industry
6:29 Bob Iger and the Disney Metaverse!
6:51 The Evolution of Located Based Entertainment
7:07 Theme Parks and Online Education
7:41 Career Tips & Software
8:15 Conclusion

Hi, I'm Chris Chien. I have many theme park videos on my channel. My goal in this video is to give you a balanced and objective point of view, but to also share my personal experience.

✳️ What is Themed Entertainment? -
Themed entertainment is not just theme parks. I have worked on projects such as retail stores, cruise ships, hotels, casinos, aquariums, zoos and many more you get the point!

✳️ What did I do as a theme park designer?
There are many roles in industry. My role was an illustrator. Often I would create sketches to show the art director and explore different concepts for attraction ideas. I would often flush them out into what we call a POV. That stands for point of view. These types of illustrations would show what it would be like when we build the project. And finally I would often do what are called the bird's eye illustrations. These are when you create a drawing of the entire themed entertainment space.

Other roles in the industry may include engineer, architect, show set designer, graphic designer, and many more.

✳️ What was it like working as a theme park designer?
In the industry I was a freelancer. Many jobs in the industry are project-based. Often I would work only weeks or months on a single project. While work was unstable, this would allow me to work on a large number of different projects and brands. Even though it gives you a lot of freedom and excitement, it is less stable.

Sometimes I would work as an in-house designer. This means you are employed by the company and you may spend a longer time on a project. You may work on fewer projects, but it will offer you more stability.

✳️ What were some of my favorite parts about working in the industry?
My favorite part about working in the industry was meeting a lot of people and making a lot of friends. A lot of people are very passionate about their jobs. I was part of something called the TEA - the themed entertainment association. I actually served on the Western division board for two terms as the official photographer! That's why I have all of these pictures.

As part of the TEA, I got to go to a lot of behind the scenes theme park events where I got to meet a lot of theme park executives and designers. I got to see how they built a lot of the theme park attractions. I had so much fun going to all these different events and visiting all these different places. It was such a great experience.

✳️ How did I get into the industry?
In my college years I studied industrial design and concept art. I studied at places like Art Center College of Design, Carnegie Mellon, and Concept Design Academy.

When I was at Carnegie Mellon, I did not find the course work very interesting, so in my spare time I helped build carnival booths. Here are some of the projects that I helped work on. I loved being able to come up with concepts, and build it in real life and seeing people's reactions! It was very fun working as part of a team.

From there I started looking into exhibit design, and that's when I learned about the themed entertainment industry.

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