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Joe Rohde Shares Fascinating Takeaways from a Legends Dinner Featuring the Creative Minds Behind Epic Universe
Disney Legend Joe Rohde just dropped a treasure trove of creative insight recently on Instagram, and theme park fans from both sides of I-4 are eating it up like Butterbeer at breakfast. Rohde was invited to the annual Legends Dinner hosted by Bob Rogers, and while he arrived right on time, most of the evening’s honorees were still tied up greeting fans after a record-breaking two-hour receiving line. The honorees? None other than the creative executives behind Universal’s colossal new Epic Universe.
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Although Rohde hasn’t yet visited the park himself, he sat in on a deep-dive presentation where Eric Parr, Jody Keller, Katy Pacitti, and Steve Blum walked the audience through the philosophy and management approach that shaped Universal’s newest blockbuster expansion. And in true Joe Rohde fashion, he shared a set of raw, thought-provoking notes that feel like must-read inspiration for anyone passionate about themed design.
Among his biggest takeaways was the intentional decision by Universal Creative to rethink traditional theme park design rules. Instead of following established canon, they embraced bold departures, like designing each land as its own cul-de-sac to encourage exploration over crowd flow efficiency. Rohde also highlighted a principle he once championed at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: a theme park should feel like a park first, not a chaotic highway of guests sprinting from one high-octane attraction to the next.
The team emphasized the importance of small, intimate experiences instead of relying solely on massive anchor attractions. In their view, the richest moments aren’t always measurable by traditional metrics. World-building also surfaced as a critical theme, with a reminder that fully realized environments need multiple layers of detail. And of course, the perfect quote to sum that up: “If you have a land about dragons, there better be dragons,” which is likely a sly nod to the Beastly Kingdom that was part of the plans for Animal Kingdom but never came to fruition.
Value engineering came up too, with refreshingly honest observations about how decisions are made. The group argued that the power to determine value should rest with the design team itself instead of being driven solely by budget reductions. They also discussed the challenge of breaking through corporate silos, noting that talent is rarely limited to one box, and that teams thrive when people are acknowledged as multidimensional instead of “generic.”
Related: Celestial Park Unwraps Its First Holiday Season at Epic Universe
Perhaps the most resonant philosophy of the night was a mantra for any creative leader: an executive’s job is not to say no, but to ask how.
Rohde noted that the room was packed with young aspiring creatives, soaking up guidance from some of the most influential minds in themed entertainment. And if Rhode’s Instagram post advice is any indication, the future of immersive storytelling is in very good hands.
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