Imagineer Joe Rohde Uncovers a Simple Detail of the Flight of Passage Queue 

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Just a short time ago, Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde unveiled a simple secret about a small element of the “Lab Space” in the Flight of Passage queue. While Rohde has been instrumental in the entire development of Animal Kingdom, this project seems to be one that he has been increasingly invested in. From the design of the attractions to bringing in all kinds of unique add ons for the lands overall look and feel, he has played an instrumental role in the development of this larger that life expansion. For years I have been thrilled by his work and this project is certainly no different.  

(Photo: Link


Today, Joe took to social media to unveil a simple secret that many guests will simply walk right past. Of course, as you know from reading our articles, we love this type of information. These unique aspects of attractions and lands really set Disney apart in the world of immersion for guests. So, without spoiling any more of it for you, here’s a look at what Rohde shared on his personal Instagram. Be sure to look for this “hidden detail” as you venture into Pandora  -The World of Avatar in the coming months.    

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Detail you might walk past without knowing what you were seeing. When you’re doing a biological population survey, you don’t necessarily need to see animals in order to know that they are there. You need to see incontrovertible evidence that the animal is there. That includes scratch marks, scat and spray, fur, feathers, scales, and, of course, tracks. What you were looking at here is a “track trap,” exactly like the ones we used on the Mission Himalayas #RAP survey expedition to Nepal and China. You can make one of these at home. Either put out bait, or find a pathway where you know small animals are likely to pass… They tend to like to move along edges of things, like your garden hedge, or the wall of your house. You make a kind of crowd- Control funnel leading to something like a sponge or a cloth that is soaked in black oil paint, or printers ink or stamp pad ink. These dry very slowly so they will stay wet enough all night long. Beyond the ink pad you place a piece of white paper. Everything that walks over the ink pad will leave footprints on the white paper. And you can identify the different species by checking their tracks against reference. You should put an ink pad on either side of the paper because animals go both ways. So see? You probably thought this was just Squigley junk on a piece of paper. But noooooooo! Why do that when you could create content? In the lab space for the Flight of Passage. #atdisneysanimalkingdom #animalkingdomdisney #pandora #flightofpassage #science #research #tracks #tracking #biology #wdw
A post shared by Joe Rohde (@joerohde) on May 18, 2017 at 9:46pm PDT