Joe Rohde and Virgin Galactic announced today that the former Walt Disney Imagineering creative force is joining a new team.
Rohde worked for Walt Disney Imagineering for 40 years in various roles but his most prominent was lead Imagineer on construction of Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. He also headed projects like Pandora – The World of Avatar, and Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission Breakout. Now he will join the Virgin Galactic team as an Experience Architect.
Former Disney parks executive Michael Colglazier is the CEO of Virgin Galactic. Here is what he had to say about Joe Rohde joining Virgin Galactic:
“As soon as I joined Virgin Galactic, I knew there was one person we just had to work with to help shape the incredible experience we are developing – and that person was Joe Rohde. Joe has a methodology that is unique, inspired, and truly effective. His track record for keeping authenticity central to the design and creating deeply transformative experiences aligns perfectly with our mission. I couldn’t be more pleased to see Joe choose Virgin Galactic for his first encore!’’
And Joe had this to say about his new adventure:
“I spent 40 years with Walt Disney Imagineering and that word, ‘Imagineering,’ refers to the fusion of imagination and engineering. This means I’ve come from a tradition where if you are imagining something, you are imagining that thing is going to be made real. That’s also been going on here at Virgin Galactic, and I’m delighted to be joining at this incredible moment in time when it is about to blossom into public awareness.”
“This is one of the most profound things that can happen to you. To go beyond the reaches of the earth, to space, and look back down at it. It’s a spectacularly unique opportunity with huge potential for transformational change in a person…What Virgin Galactic is doing, in democratizing space travel, has reached a moment where it is about to enter history. It’s happening right here in New Mexico, and it’s very rare to be a person who gets to be in the place, at the time, that history begins.’’
We certainly wish Joe Rohde the best of luck in his future with Virgin Galactic.
Press Release from Virgin Galactic
Joe is not alone in jumping from Disney theme park experiences to space travel. Amy Jupiter, another former Walt Disney Imagineer is also joining the team at Virgin Galactic.
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