Dreamline
Designing a brand new way to traverse the Disney theme parks.
2025
Overview
Dreamline is a compact self-driving electric car that we designed to enhance the park experience within the Disney parks. Utilizing amenities such as climate control, an interactive table, and personalization options helps enhance the Disney experience and create a ride that not only benefits visitors but also offers an experience in itself.
Awards
My Role
Product Designer & Lead Animator
Team
Alana Watts
Andrea Da Silva
Kara Rivenbark
Nikki Hahn
Timeline
10 Weeks
A sneak peek at our solution.
Research
Theme Parks are Exhausting
Large theme parks such as the Disney or Universal parks can take a toll on people.
Millions of people from around the world travel to Florida to experience some of the most immersive and unique experiences in the world. But because of the heat, crowds, and amount of steps, many people end up focusing on the negatives instead of the magical experiences offered by these parks.
Visitor Comments
@121uy
At Reddit
Both my wife’s parents don’t walk well and refused to get an ECV. Walking around the park took forever and the kids were kids and kept whinnying. By the end of the day they were all in PAIN.
@Mouseketeer
at DISboards
Any tips on how to cope with Disney walking and not die while trying?
@_disney_adult_
At Reddit
Even for perfectly healthy people with no mobility issues Disney parks are A TON of walking.
@Mouseketeer
at DISboards
Any tips on how to cope with Disney walking and not die while trying?
Sending out surveys, and getting results.
We surveyed 129 recent Disney visitors, focusing on families with young children and those with mobility challenges. We deliberately chose to focus on this core customer base, as we felt those would be the most likely to run into issues with moving throughout the park.
65%
Of visitors claimed feeling extremely tired often or all the time.
43%
38%
57%
Are unable to find shade.
40%
Have had difficulty navigating the parks.
Interviewing our core users.
We interviewed eight people, separating each into three categories. We interviewed elders, parents, and children to be able to understand their unique struggles and challenges while navigating throughout the Disney parks.
Getting insights from the park.
Using our interview questions that we had formulated previously we made our way into the largest Disney park, Animal Kingdom. During our time here we conducted rapid interviews to gather insights on-site with people resting or in line for rides.
Interview Insights
Validation & Ideation
Frameworks, frameworks, frameworks?
Validating our solution.
Before jumping into ideation we wanted to get further validation on our idea, to ensure that our initial proposal was still resonating with visitors.
74%
Of visitors stated that they would be interested in using the vehicle.
50%
Of visitors stated they would find this vehicle helpful.
Identifying problem areas.
As we wrapped up research we affinitized our insights and our data points, and landed on five major problem areas that visitors are currently are facing within Disney parks.
Our north star.
Based off of our secondary and primary research our team landed on creating the Dreamline, a family sized, self-driving electric vehicle that allows guests a new way to get around the Disney parks. But we had to decide what to focus on during our design phase.
Making safety a priority.
Our research also revealed concerns about safety, so we knew we needed to create a plan to soften worries from visitors. To combat this the Dreamline would dampen some of these concerns with dedicated lanes, a limited fleet, and utilization and development of cutting edge safety technology.
Design - Interactive Table
Interactive table? Never done that before.
Jumping into paper prototyping.
To explore how some of the widgets on the interactive table would work we created some paper prototypes to play with and organize. We also experimented with interactions such as rotation, orientation switches, and scaling.
How would users interact with widgets?
One of the challenges that our team solved was how users would interact with our UI. We had to solve for swiping, expanding and scaling, roation, as well as how users might pass a widget across the table. Our solution involved intuitive gestures involving best practices on a touchscreen, similar to using a tablet.
Beginning the first round of design.
Utilizing some of the great ideas that emerged through brainstorming with paper, we also referenced existing products as inspiration and to inform our understanding of best practices regarding navigation and interaction. We did this to make things feel familiar and easy to navigate for users.
Things got rough quick though.
As we began to design initial screens, we realized that we were a bit misaligned on what we wanted as a style. So, the team came together and began discussing the misalignment we were experiencing. During our session, we were able to unblock ourselves by diving deeper into a widget-style UI, confirming what our overall direction and style was moving foward.
Quickly unblocking ourselves.
Using a moodboard we created, we compiled some examples that we wanted to follow. Using these examples we collectively created a framework for our UI styling to follow, and the reasoning behind each styling decision. This was a huge moment for the project, and allowed us to begin designing quicker and without blockers.
Frameworks lead to evolution.
We rapidly elevated our UI to a high standard. The progression shown below highlights each stage of iteration, reflecting the impact of strong communication and clear alignment within our team.
Designing screens rapidly.
We quickly advanced our UI from Mid-Fi to High-Fi, refining the design with each iteration. Once we gained clarity on our goals, the process accelerated significantly, allowing us to align faster, make smarter decisions, and reach a polished outcome in less time.
The interactive table.
From our quick iteration we were able to craft up the final prototype of our interactive table. This prototype included widgets, task flows, and rough prototypes for the gesture interactions.
Testing, testing, testing.
As we finalized our flows and prototypes, we conducted user testing with six participants. This also included testing with a projector, allowing users to interact with the interface as if it was a real interactive table. The feedback we recieved indicated only slight adjustments were needed, such as increasing touch targets and enlarging text sizes, which helped refine the overall usability of the interface.
Logo and branding creation.
Instead of utilizing an existing logo from the Disney lore or parks, we decided to craft our own for a more unique brand identity.
Dreamline, Magic Between the Moments.
Our final logo features a winding path through a cloud, and a "second star to the right," a homage to Neverland's legendary entry point.
Design - Vehicle
Vehicle design, also a first.
A little side adventure.
During our trip to Disney, we visited a nearby community called The Villages, where we found golf carts to be a fairly common method transportation. We drew inspiration from the variety of styles and models we observed, using their scale and seating arrangements as a foundation for shaping our own vehicle design.
Early design iterations.
Our early car iterations drew heavily from futuristic concept designs, but we realized the need to balance that style with the Disney experience. While the sleek, self-driving concepts were interesting, we aimed for something that also felt natural in a Disney park. Through continued ideation, we blended both approaches, creating concepts that were modern and futuristic while still capturing the magic of Disney.
Final car designs.
We carefully crafted the exterior and interior of the Dreamline. The exterior representing the characters we know and love from Disney. Our exterior providing something that stands out but fits within the magic of the Disney parks. While the inside focused around comfort, accessibility, and engagement. Our interior has removable seats for accessibility, panoramic windows for sweeping views of the park, as well as under seat storage for safe keeping of items.
Business Integration
Designers should bridge business needs and user needs.
Disney explored autonomous vehicles.
Disney has shown interest in exploring autonomous vehicles in the past. In 2017 Disney partnered with both Navya and Local Motors to test self driving shuttles. Though, the partnerships were later dissolved due to poor driving test runs.
LA Times
1yr
Navya faced major setbacks.
Shuttles had poor maneuverability and limited sensors, causing abrupt stops and minor collisions, poor for crowded environments.
RCR Wireless News
1yr
Local Motors struggling.
The company lacked long-term funding, leading to its shutdown, and faced legal disputes that further stalled development.
Times change.
As self driving technology has gotten better and Disney begins to overhaul their parks, the Dreamline perfectly fits with Disney's current long term strategy for their parks, as seen below.
The Hollywood Reporter
1yr
Disney can build for our product.
With company investment and key infrastructure updates, such as dedicated lanes, charging stations, and parking zones, Disney could provide the foundation needed for the Dreamline to succeed and scale within the parks.
Dreamline can scale too.
While the Dreamline was designed specifically for Disney parks in mind, this concept could be expanded to other parks such as Universal, Six Flags, and other large theme parks.
Reflections
Designing new and fun experiences!
New challenges help you grow.
Thinking about UI outside of the traditional mobile or website mold that we are used to is a bit difficult. You encounter unique challenges and problems that you end up having to solve. Though I feel I learned a lot from this and leveled up my foundations of UI design.
Designing unique interactions is fun.
Designing how users would begin to interact with the widgets was an interesting challenge to overcome. It taught me a lot about how to think about best practices when it comes to touchscreen interaction, especially on a larger screen.
Well planned research helps a lot.
From the start of the project, we had a clear idea of our target audience. As we conducted research and focused on this user base, we found valuable insights and feedback that not only validated some of our assumptions but also guided us to important decisions throughout the project.
Austin de Nijs
Say hi!