Joseph Rohde is an American themed entertainment designer and artist, serving as the Experience Architect for

Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate, which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and opera ...

. Rohde was previously a veteran executive at

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...

, the division of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

that designs and builds Disney's theme parks and resort hotels. Rohde's formal title was Executive Designer and Vice President, Creative. Rohde was born in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and raised in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. He graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory, Canoga Park, Calif., in 1973, where he starred in student dramatic productions and was Class Salutatorian. Rohde received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Fine Arts from Occidental College in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Rohde's trademark is a large collection of earrings he wears in his left ear, all of which are souvenirs from decades of travel to remote corners of the world. This tradition began when he stuck his 5-year anniversary pin into his ear.

Career at Walt Disney Imagineering

Rohde was the lead designer of Disney's Animal Kingdom, one of four theme parks at

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and the principal creative force behind the park's Expedition Everest thrill ride, which debuted in 2006. He was one of the lead designers behind the Disney Vacation Club property Aulani in Oʻahu,

. He was chosen for the role because of his experience with the island and its native people, having grown up in Hawaii. Rohde joined Disney Imagineering in 1980 during the development of Epcot as a model designer and scenic painter for the theme park's

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

pavilion. He later worked as a designer on the refurbishment of Fantasyland at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

, the '' Captain EO''

3-D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of Stereoscopy#3D viewers, special glasses worn by viewers. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in Amer ...

attraction starring singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, the

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

pavilion at Epcot, and the Adventurers Club, a 1930s-themed bar and lounge that opened in 1989 within the Pleasure Island entertainment district at Walt Disney World Resort. Rohde was featured in an April 2006

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

documentary titled ''Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands''. The program was produced by Discovery Networks during expeditions to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

in 2005 called ''Mission Himalayas.'' The treks were sponsored by Discovery, Disney, and Conservation International to promote the Expedition Everest theme park attraction and conduct scientific and cultural research in remote areas of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. Rohde served as the model for Harrison Hightower, the owner of the fictional "Hightower Hotel" which houses the Tower of Terror attraction at Tokyo DisneySea outside

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. After designing Aulani in Hawaii, Rohde was tasked with creating Pandora – The World of ''Avatar'' at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The project took six years to complete and opened in May 2017. Most recently, Rohde led the team that transformed the former Tower of Terror at

Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The park is themed after Disney's interpretation of California ...

into ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' – Mission: Breakout!. The attraction opened in May 2017. This new project is part of the expansion of his role as global creative leader of the

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

property. In February 2020, Rohde served as the lead developer on Disney's second private island, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. On November 23, 2020, Rohde announced his retirement from

effective January 4, 2021. On February 22, 2021,

announced Joe Rohde had been hired as their Experience Architect.

References

External links

Interview with Joe Rohde about Expedition Everest from CoasterRadio.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohde, Joe Disney imagineers Living people Occidental College alumni Businesspeople from Sacramento, California 1955 births Chaminade College Preparatory School (California) alumni Disney Legends