Faculty Advisor
Joe Garlington
Prior to leaving Imagineering in 2014 Joe served as Vice President/Executive Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering’s Interactive Studio. Joe Garlington was creative lead for interactive projects at WDI. Joe was responsible for development of interactive attractions for all Disney theme parks. Joe also led long-term visioning for Disney’s Epcot theme park and partnered with WDI R&D in the development of new concepts and technologies.
Most recently Joe’s teams:
Installed versions of Stitch Encounter at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland, Shanghai
Refurbished Test Track at Epcot, converting it to an interactive experience.
Developed interactive Kid’s Clubs and digital interactive dinner theater shows for the cruise ships Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.
Installed Turtle Talk with Crush, a digital character/audience participation show at Tokyo DisneySea and in 4 other locations around the world.
Built The Sum of All Thrills - design then ride your own rollercoaster using an industrial robot as simulator (a loop in your coaster? you will go upside down).
Developed and installed the interactive story-based character meet-and-greet Enchanted Tales with Bell.
Gave Mickey Mouse a voice as he walks through the parks. Joe joined Walt Disney Imagineering in1980 working on Epcot, including Spaceship Earth and an “arcade of the future.” He left a to start Art & Technology, Inc., designing interactive attractions for museums, zoos and theme parks.
Clients included: New Mexico Museum of Natural History, San Diego Zoo, New York Zoological Society, Philadelphia Zoo, Bush Gardens, Six Flags, Universal Studios, Disney, Harrah’s Automobile Museum, Camden Aquarium and many other science & technology centers. He returned to WDI in 1990.
Since then, Joe has overseen creation and development of such attractions as DisneyQuest, an indoor interactive theme park; WDI’s “Living Character” initiative to develop fully interactive digital characters for park experiences including Turtle Talk with Crush, Stitch Encounter, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor; the interactive elements for Toy Story Midway Mania, Disney’s largest interactive ride; worked up park-wide games, queue line entertainment, post shows for numerous attractions and “edu-tainment” experiences that are part of sponsored shows. He has worked on projects for virtually all Disney theme parks and many resorts and other businesses.