{"id":2307,"date":"2025-01-23T14:02:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/?page_id=2307"},"modified":"2025-07-17T10:10:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T14:10:43","slug":"themed-experience-2024","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/themed-experience-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"2023-24 &#8211; Themed Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t\t<div class=\"jumbotron text-center bg-secondary mb-0 p-0\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"426\" class=\"img-fluid aligncenter wp-image-2748 size-full\" style=\"max-height: 500px\" src=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/10\/2024-header-themedexperience-2-e1729710218160.jpg\" alt=\"Instructor Chaz Moneypenny stands in theme park\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/10\/2024-header-themedexperience-2-e1729710218160.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/10\/2024-header-themedexperience-2-e1729710218160-300x80.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/10\/2024-header-themedexperience-2-e1729710218160-1024x273.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/10\/2024-header-themedexperience-2-e1729710218160-768x204.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/10\/2024-header-themedexperience-2-e1729710218160-1536x409.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"jumbotron jumbotron-fluid bg-primary mb-0 pb-4\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tstyle=\"padding-top: 2.25rem!important; background: url('https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2023\/09\/bg-hex-tile-yellow.png') repeat fixed;\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<a class=\"btn btn-sm btn-outline-secondary mb-4 mr-3\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/themed-experience\"\t\t\t\t\t\ttarget=\"_blank\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\tProgram website\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t Peter&nbsp;Weishar,&nbsp;director<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h4 text-transform-none\">Active Students <span class=\"h6 font-weight-normal\">(as of Fall 2023)*<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Graduate students: 24<br \/>\n<small>*All active students with declared CAH programs are included in the enrollment counts.<\/small><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"jumbotron jumbotron-fluid bg-secondary mb-0 pt-5 pb-4\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\nUCF\u2019s Themed Experience graduate programs remain the largest and most selective academic degrees in themed experience and attractions. With approximately 80 enrolled candidates in our Master of Science degree and Themed Experience track in the theatre MFA program, Themed Experience has become one of the largest graduate programs in the College of Arts and Humanities.<\/p>\n<p>Themed Experience enjoys a \u201cvery selective\u201d acceptance rate and over 90% placement in long-term internships or full-time employment in the industry, with 66% of our students and graduates working for Universal Creative or Walt Disney Imagineering.\u00a0Although the Themed Experience program is relatively young, our students and graduates have already significantly impacted the industry with graduates obtaining positions such as creative director, art director, show set designer and production manager.<\/p>\n<p>Themed Experience continues its successful collaboration with Universal Creative and has offered a second year of the UCF\/Universal Creative Lab, where students learn from top creatives at Universal and go behind the scenes at Universal Destinations and Experiences. We have also continued our collaboration with the avant garde artists collective, Meow Wolf. In the Meow Wolf workshop, students presented to senior creatives, and a select group traveled to Santa Fe to Meow Wolf headquarters for a private tour of the exhibition and production facilities. Our collaborations expanded with a themed experience for Nemours Children\u2019s Hospital and a themed event for the high-end car racing venue, P1 Motor Club.<\/p>\n<p>The expansion of the depth and breadth of our course offerings has enabled Themed Experience to add an outstanding new faculty member. Chaz Moneypenny has had a dynamic career leading teams at the world\u2019s greatest entertainment companies. He began his career at Walt Disney Imagineering, where he contributed as a show writer to globally recognized attractions such as Star Tours, The Iron Man Experience, and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. His talents flourished under the mentorship of the legendary Stan Lee, serving as assistant writer and ghostwriter, mastering storytelling directly from one of the industry\u2019s top icons of all time. At Universal Studios Japan as a creative director, he worked on over 20 seasonal and permanent attractions, collaborating with Japan\u2019s top animation houses and enhancing the legacies of Japan\u2019s most celebrated IPs.<\/p>\n<p>We are thrilled with the advances the program has made in the past year and excited about upcoming \u00a0opportunities for our students and alumni.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n<hr \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"jumbotron jumbotron-fluid bg-secondary mb-0 pt-4 pb-5\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n<h2 class=\"display-4 letter-spacing-4 text-uppercase text-center mb-5\">Highlights<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n<p><!-- - Card # - --><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-wrapper mb-4 col-6 col-md-4\">\n<div class=\"card card-primary border-0 h-100\">\n<div><a class=\"stretched-link text-secondary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inparkmagazine.com\/the-ucf-universal-creative-lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"card-img-top\" src=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/08\/2023-card-Themed-Experience-Industry-and-academia-collaborate-to-empower-themed-experience-students.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of students taking a tour of the thrill ride Hagrid's Magical Motorbike Adventure\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-block d-flex flex-column justify-content-between p-0\"><a class=\"card-title h5 mb-1 text-secondary p-3 h-100\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inparkmagazine.com\/the-ucf-universal-creative-lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Industry and Academia Collaborate to Empower Themed Experience Students<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- - Card # - --><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-wrapper mb-4 col-6 col-md-4\">\n<div class=\"card card-primary border-0 h-100\">\n<div><a class=\"stretched-link text-secondary\" href=\"https:\/\/news.cah.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-professors-recreate-communities-of-the-past-with-virtual-reality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"card-img-top\" src=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/08\/2023-card-Themed-Experience-the-art-of-attractions.jpg\" alt=\"Abstract illustration of themed expierences\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-block d-flex flex-column justify-content-between p-0\"><a class=\"card-title h5 mb-1 p-3 h-100\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/the-art-of-attractions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Art of Attractions<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- - Card # - --><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-wrapper mb-4 col-6 col-md-4\">\n<div class=\"card card-primary border-0 h-100\">\n<div><a class=\"stretched-link text-secondary\" href=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/news\/themed-experience-students-create-concepts-for-alterfaces-the-wander\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"card-img-top\" src=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/spotlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/08\/2023-card-Themed-Experience-Themed-experience-students-create-concepts-for-Alterfaces.jpg\" alt=\"Concept Illustration of families using interactive technology at the zoo\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-block d-flex flex-column justify-content-between p-0\"><a class=\"card-title h5 mb-1 p-3 h-100\" href=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/news\/themed-experience-students-create-concepts-for-alterfaces-the-wander\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Themed Experience Students Create Concepts for Alterfaces The Wander<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":2752,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-fullscreen.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2307","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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