UH team’s wild ride
By Gregg K. Kakesako
design a winner
Star-BulletinFour University of Hawaii architectural students got into what they described as "the fun side" of their business -- designing theme park rides -- and each ended up winning a $2,000 prize from the country's premiere developer.
In a contest sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering, Johnny Wu, Neal Kido, Darren Lee and Lindsay Nishii beat out competitors from Hampton University, California State University, the University of Texas and five other organizations.
Walt Disney Imagineering is responsible for all of Disney's resorts, theme parks and attractions from "blue sky" conceptualization to final construction.
Kido, a 1996 Hawaii Baptist Academy alumnus, and Lee, who graduated from Castle High School in 1994, are in their fourth year in UH's five-year architecture program. Nishii, a 1995 Aiea High School grad, will get his degree next year.
Another team from the university's theater department took third in the same competition.
Wu, who graduated from the school of architecture in May, said he believes it was his team's complete package -- it included not only a theme park ride, a story line and merchandising items, but also a resort -- that made the difference.
The package revolved around a story involving a bat called Benny and a ride through his world. The package also involved selling plush Benny dolls, Wu said.
Wu, who has been hired by a local architectural firm, said he wouldn't mind working for Disney.
"It's really challenging. It's the fun side of architecture -- designing theme parks and rides. You are doing what you want to do and having fun doing it."
However, he doesn't think Disney is doing much hiring at this point, having just completed Tokyo DisneySea in Japan and California Adventure near Disneyland in Anaheim.
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