The newest episode of We Call It Imagineering explores how architecture helps tell stories throughout Disney Parks—and offers behind-the-scenes looks at several projects currently under construction.

When you step inside a Disney theme park, the storytelling begins long before you board an attraction. It can be found in the size of a doorway, the curve of a street, the materials beneath your feet, and even the carefully framed view waiting around the next corner.

That approach is the focus of the newest episode of We Call It Imagineering. Titled “Disney Parkitecture,” the episode explores how Walt Disney Imagineering uses architecture to create environments that feel believable, whether guests are entering a real-world destination, an animated city, or an entirely fictional planet.

The nearly 25-minute episode also provides behind-the-scenes glimpses at several projects taking shape around Walt Disney World, including Piston Peak National Park, Villains Land, Monstropolis, Tropical Americas, Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge, and the reimagined Animation Courtyard.

What Is Disney Parkitecture?

The term “parkitecture” is traditionally associated with buildings found throughout America’s National Parks. Rather than overpowering their surroundings, these structures are designed to complement the natural landscape through their materials, scale, colors, and placement.

Imagineers apply a similar idea throughout Disney destinations, but take the concept beyond the natural environment. Architecture is used to respond to a location’s story, culture, history, and characters, helping each space feel like it belongs exactly where it was built.

“The story isn’t just waiting for you at the end of the queue,” Walt Disney Imagineering President Bruce Vaughn explains in the episode. Instead, guests experience that story through details they may never consciously notice but can still feel as they move through a space.

Imagineers Conduct Balloon Tests for Piston Peak and Villains Land

One of the episode’s most interesting behind-the-scenes segments follows Imagineers as they conduct a balloon test at Magic Kingdom. These tests allow project teams to study how the height and placement of future structures could affect sightlines throughout the park.

For this particular test, balloons were raised above the construction areas for Piston Peak National Park and the upcoming Disney Villains land. Imagineers then observed them from different locations to determine what guests may eventually see (and what needs to remain hidden) from elsewhere in Magic Kingdom.

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Sightlines are a major part of Disney’s architectural storytelling. A structure that works within one land could interrupt the story of another if it appears in the wrong place. Balloon tests give Imagineers a way to evaluate those potential intrusions before the permanent structures are built.

The process is particularly important for Piston Peak, which will become part of Frontierland. Inspired by the Rocky Mountains and America’s National Parks, the new Cars-themed area is being designed to transition naturally from the existing land while using trees, waterways, rugged peaks, and other landscape elements to separate its attractions from nearby areas.

Building Monstropolis From the Movies

The episode also visits the work underway on Monstropolis, the new Monsters, Inc.-themed land coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Rather than simply creating buildings that resemble those seen in the films, Imagineers are examining how the animated city functions as a complete environment. Architectural details are being pulled directly from the Monsters, Inc. movies and translated into full-scale spaces guests will eventually be able to explore.

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That process requires Imagineers to consider elements the films may never fully show, including how the buildings connect, what materials would exist within the monster world, and how large everything should feel when experienced by a human guest.

Monstropolis will include Disney’s first suspended roller coaster and is currently being constructed in the former Muppets Courtyard area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Creating Tropical Americas With a Sample Yard

At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Imagineers are using a sample yard to test architectural finishes for the upcoming Tropical Americas land.

A sample yard allows the project team to view potential colors, textures, materials, aging techniques, and construction details under real outdoor conditions. Something that looks convincing in a drawing or studio may appear very different beneath the Florida sun, so these full-scale tests help Imagineers refine the environment before it is installed throughout the land.

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Tropical Americas will replace DinoLand U.S.A. and feature an Encanto attraction, a new Indiana Jones adventure, the El Carrusel de los Animalitos carousel, and other experiences inspired by locations across the northern regions of South America, Central America, and parts of Mexico.

The episode also explores how Imagineers are using forced perspective to shape the land. By carefully manipulating scale, buildings and scenic elements can appear taller, farther away, or more expansive than they actually are.

Architecture at Disney Lakeshore Lodge and Animation Courtyard

“Disney Parkitecture” also takes viewers inside the creative process for Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge, the new Disney Vacation Club resort opening on the shores of Bay Lake on July 1, 2027.

The resort is inspired by Walt Disney’s appreciation for nature and will incorporate references to films including Bambi, Brother Bear, The Fox and the Hound, and Pocahontas. Imagineers are using architecture and innovative construction techniques to connect the lodge to its waterfront setting while maintaining the nature-inspired story throughout its public spaces and accommodations.

Photo Courtesy of Disney

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Imagineers discuss layered storytelling as part of the transformation of Animation Courtyard into The Walt Disney Studios. Layered details help a space communicate more than one idea at once, creating an environment that can feel authentic to both the history of Disney animation and the stories guests will encounter there.

The episode also revisits some of Imagineering’s best-known architectural techniques, including the forced perspective used throughout the parks, the visual illusions that make Pandora – The World of Avatar feel enormous, and the carefully selected “go away colors” that help backstage buildings and other necessary infrastructure fade from view.

Ultimately, “Disney Parkitecture” shows that Disney’s attractions are only one part of the theme park experience. Every path, building, landscape, and sightline plays a role in guiding guests through the story—even when they never realize it is happening.

The full episode of We Call It Imagineering: Disney Parkitecture is available now on the Walt Disney Imagineering YouTube channel. It is also scheduled to arrive on Disney+ later in September.