I first met Bob Weis in 2005 or 2006 when he was running his own company in Orlando, Bob Weis Design Island. They were finishing Top of the Rock, a permanent exhibition at Rockefeller Center in New York City about the building's history, tied to the reopening of the observation decks. I wrote a detailed feature about the project for Exhibit Builder magazine. The story also ran in the 2007 Themed Entertainment Association Annual & Directory, and can be found here: (Top of the Rock PDF download, via InPark).
Prior to Design Island, Bob had already done significant work as part of Walt Disney Imagineering, including the original Tower of Terror, which of course is the classic attraction based on an elevator journey. Top of the Rock included a unique media feature in its elevator (historical rather than harrowing) and I used the tie-in to do another story, "Elevator Man," that ran in Attractions Management.
After rejoining Disney executive leadership in 2008, Bob Weis, master of experience design, led creative teams to produce some very distinguished, groundbreaking, even monumental international theme park projects including new attractions and features for Disney California Adventure Park (such as World of Color) and of course Shanghai Disney Resort. He'd become a familiar face at the TEA Thea Awards and TEA Summit and was honored in 2020 with the Buzz Price Thea Award Recognizing a Lifetime of Distinguished Achievements.
Bob mentioned Top of the Rock as a favorite non-Disney project when I interviewed him recently to discuss his latest move: transitioning from Walt Disney Imagineering President to that of Global Ambassador, a role originated by the late, great Marty Sklar. Bob's successor as President of Imagineering is Barbara Bouza.
In our conversation, Bob talks about people, projects, storytelling and technology, team culture, the themed entertainment industry, museums, mentoring the next generation of experience designers, Disney movies, Disney Plus, the future of Imagineering, his goals as Imagineering Global Ambassador, and more.
The interview is available in two forms:
- InPark Tracks podcast (Episode 10, One-on-one with Imagineering's Bob Weis, 30-minute listen)
- Article: Bob Weis of Walt Disney Imagineering takes Global Ambassador role
