5. Don’t give up on a good idea

Imagineers have great respect for their history, and want to utilize every good idea that their predecessors weren’t able to place. A prime example is the Museum of the Weird, a proposed add-on to the Haunted Mansion designed by legendary Imagineer Rolly Crump. After Walt Disney passed, plans to construct the Museum were put on an indefinite hold. The Museum of the Weird never came to be as it was originally envisioned, but elements of it were later ingrained into the Haunted Mansion itself, including chairs with faces, a ghostly organist, a seance chamber, busts and portraits that followed you, and paintings that changed right before your eyes. Rolly's design for the enchanted gypsy wagon was even altered to become Madame Leota's Cart.

Still, not satisfied with just that implementation, the Imagineers also coordinated a comic book series about the Museum and its inhabitants called Seekers of the Weird. Learn more about that here.

6. Fulfill specific needs

Imagineers like to have a problem to solve, believing that nothing stirs their creative juices better than a blank document. A lot of the best Imagineering ideas have come out of specific problems that need fixing. The Soarin’ Over California attraction, which debuted in 2001 at California Adventure, is a perfect example of that. The Imagineers wanted to give guests the sense of flight, but didn’t know how to load people into a vehicle efficiently and make sure everyone has a good view. Eventually an Imagineer found an Erector set in his attic, inspiring the design of a ride that simulates the experience of hang gliding.

7. "Blue sky" speculation

Image: Disney

Imagineers firmly believe in coming up with ideas without considering their limitations, at least at first. They always start with something called an “eyewash” — the craziest, biggest, best idea they can come up with that they would explain to fellow Imagineers in extreme detail. The Imagineers are experts at taking dreams and making them tangible largely because they don’t worry about the budgetary or physical restrictions when brainstorming. 

8. Keep plussing

Imagineers are all perfectionists and constantly want to make things that are already good better. Walt called the act of trying to perfect something “plussing.” In his mind, as well as the Imagineers’, Disneyland will never be completed. It and the other Disney parks are ongoing endeavors, and will keep growing and changing as long as there is imagination left in the world. We all know the parks never stay idle for long, but it’s good to know how important that constant shift in the status quo is down to the man behind the Mouse himself.