Port Pharos

Disney Imaginations Design Competition

Imaginations is a design competition created and sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering with the purpose of seeking out and nurturing the next generation of diverse Imagineers. The competition is an opportunity for students to showcase their skills and talents to Imagineering through a project that is applicable to the work done in the themed entertainment industry. Provided with a project challenge, students and recent graduates work in teams to deliver a concept in a similar way to how Imagineers develop their blue sky projects. In a matter of weeks, teams must collaborate to leverage their various artistic, technical, and communication skills to prepare a submission that will appeal to judges whose backgrounds include a wide array of creative and technical disciplines.

For the 2019 competition, teams were challenged to create an experience that explores one of the world’s Natural or Ancient World Wonders. Our team chose to work with the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt, an ancient wonder of the world.

Out of over 280 team entries, our project was awarded as the Second Place Winner.

Read the official press release from the competition!

Welcome to Port Pharos!

Port Pharos is an explorative and heuristic resort formed by fleets of ancient ships traversing waters surrounding a new interpretation of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, now created by Ra, the Egyptian God of the Sun, with the purpose of celebrating the rich life, cultures, and growth to the coast of Alexandria, just like the first lighthouse did.

No matter which culture one looks at, light represents the same things. Light represents hope, life, inspiration, and unity. For the Ancient Egyptians, light was SO important that they worshipped it. Namely, they believed in the legend of Ra, the God of the Sun, as the creator of all life, and a symbol of prosperity, by bringing light to the world.

Around 250 BC, the Egyptian people constructed the Lighthouse of Alexandria. This towering structure was the first of its kind, and was built with the intent of using light to safely guide sailors into shore. For years, the lighthouse has brought together sailors from all over, bringing new stories, cultures and ideas to the city of Alexandria, until it fell to ruins. But in short, the lighthouse brought a new life to the city, just like Ra, the sun god, had done before.

The Lighthouse

Master Plan & Entry

Everything at Port Pharos is designed to inspire new life and cultures at this exciting Egyptian destination. Port Pharos’ master plan layout is based on the shape of a papyrus plant. The resort is located at the heart of Alexandria’s Eastern Harbor, not far from where the ruins of the original Lighthouse of Alexandria remain. This placement instantly connects the Port Pharos Lighthouse with the original Lighthouse of Alexandria, and establishes the resort as a hub from which life and activity emerges.

The front gate of Port Pharos is designed to blend in with the architectural style of the city. Guests entering the resort drive past a series of statues of Ra holding the core components of the resort, as if he has built Port Pharos himself; a place that brings light to the world, inspires new life, cultural intersections, and nautical developments just like Ra himself.

The lighthouse is located at the heart of the resort to help guests reorient themselves every time they feel lost. The structure is 330 feet tall. Although shorter than the original lighthouse, the new lighthouse is designed to blend in with the architecture of the city. The exterior, however, has tiny glass panels to create a sparkling effect in the sunlight, effectively replacing electronic strobe lights.

The hotel features a restaurant, a spa, a ballroom, smaller guest rooms, and family suites. In total, the Lighthouse will feature 350 guest rooms.

Guests staying in rooms inside the lighthouse will be immersed in Egyptian cultures and stories, while also be able to enjoy all of the amenities one has come to expect in a high-end resort.

At the top of the lighthouse, guests ca visit the Lantern Lounge. The centerpiece of this lounge is inspired by the light that illuminates the lighthouse each night. It also provides breathtaking views of the city of Alexandria or of the expansive Mediterranean Sea.

Seaview Vessels

Guests also have the option to stay the night in luxurious ships, which surround the lighthouse. The Seaview Vessels offer an upscale hotel experience on the sea. There are a total of 400 rooms across 19 unique ships.

Taking cues from Egyptian architecture and maritime construction, these rooms offer large portholes for unique views of the bay. Although appear to be floating on water, these ships are actually built as partially submerged buildings that give the illusion of a floating ship to prevent seasickness. Handicapped guests may access the ships through a system of ramp. Our illustration also shows the ramp system built with a 5'x5' landing for every 30 feet of ramp for safety access.

Explorer Feluccas

Feluccas are small Egyptian boats traditionally used to travel along the coasts. Guests hoping to get a scenic and educational tour of the coast will enjoy setting sail on the resort’s Explorer Feluccas. Explorer Feluccas will take Guests to the Nile River, where they will learn all about cultural intersections that the original lighthouse has inspired or see the nautical developments at the Suez Canal that sailors who came upon the lighthouse have built.

Each felucca is unique, both in appearance and in overall experience because of the use of live performers. A guide will lead and engage with the group. Each of these fictional characters has his or her own unique personality and backstory. Throughout the journey, guests will learn through these guides why they have journeyed to and fell in love with the Lighthouse of Alexandria. With tour sizes of around 20 guests, the experience will be intimate and unforgettable.

Temple Scavenger Hunt

Families can also embark on an interactive scavenger hunt in a dark temple that is embedded into the island. The scavenger hunt is a crossover between an escape room, and a walkthrough attraction. The experience allows guests to gain a deeper understanding of legends of Ra and his duty of bringing light to Egypt everyday. The darkness of the temple creates an impactful contrast with the bright lighting special effects we envision for this experience.

Sharara Nighttime Spectacular

The show then spreads out into the water. Fountains dance and ships light up with projected imagery, showing how the lighthouse created cultural intersections and inspired nautical and environmental developments in the bay of Alexandria and beyond.

Finally, the show reaches its peak when 300 drones themed to look like lanterns take to the sky and form shapes, representing Ra as the embodiment of light in Egyptian culture. The show incorporates drones as a more eco-friendly and cost-efficient substitute for pyrotechnics. The drones are reusable and leave no environmental harm to the local surroundings.

At the conclusion of the show, Guests will walk away feeling empathetic to the history of the Lighthouse, understand its impact, and be inspired to share their light with the world.

And that is really what we hope to achieve with the resort as a whole. Through a focus on immersing guests in the environment of the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the stories embedded in Egypt’s history, we hope they walk away from their visit with a deeper appreciation of Egyptian culture. Like light, a visit to Port Pharos will inspire hope, life, and unity.

Skills and contributions:

• Ideation, story, and concept development of a themed environment and story

• Collaboration with peers to create a cohesive concept that respects the culture and history of one of the wonders of the world

• Illustration, logo design, and poster design with Adobe Illustrator

• Texturing and conceptual rendering with Adobe Photoshop

• Presentation layout and brochure layout with Adobe InDesign

This project was conceived by an interdisciplinary team with students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, University of Southern California, University of Florida, and Savannah College of Art and Design, and was created for the 2019 Walt Disney Imagineering’s Imaginations Design Competition. This project is the sole property of Walt Disney Imagineering and all rights to use these ideas are exclusive to Walt Disney Imagineering. The competition is a way for students and recent graduates to showcase their talents and for Walt Disney Imagineering to identify new talent.