The title of Imagineer isn’t one the Walt Disney Company hands out to just anyone. The artists, engineers, and designers that make up Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney’s most exclusive branding think tank, are culled from the best and brightest minds in the industry.

As a Visual Communication Specialist for this inner sanctum, Full Sail Computer Animation graduate Kristen Wheeler is well aware she’s landed in the role of a lifetime. An integral part of the Imagineering team since 2004, Kristen still finds it surreal to be putting her own unique stamp on the company she grew up with.

“It’s so bizarre when I give out my business card to people and it says ‘Walt Disney Imagineer,’” she says laughing. “I look at it and almost can’t believe I’m here, even after two years! Whenever I go back home to Michigan people say to me, ‘You always said when you were little you were going to work for Disney, and now you are!’ It’s like it was meant to be!”

A spot working for the most popular name in family entertainment takes more than just fate though. A quick flip through Kristen’s portfolio is enough to make you understand why this Full Sail grad has made such an impression at Disney. Kristen brings to her current role, the same drive and passion for photography and layout design that she had during her in Full Sail days. Now every day on the job is another day that Kristen translates her ideas into a stunning collection of photographs for Disney’s print media.

“I do a lot of photo documenting for the company,” she explains. Kristen photographs all the elements of Disney attractions for the company’s archives, which are often used in promotional material. “I really just love the excitement of it all! I mean, who else can say that they get to walk around in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and go right up to the figures and photograph them? Nobody else gets to see the rides the same way I do!”

With such unrestricted access to Disney’s theme parks, Kristen makes every day on the job an adventure, as she delves behind the scenes of their most popular rides and attractions.

Kristen clearly recalls her first and favorite adventure as an Imagineer. “I got to go out on the safari at Animal Kingdom early one morning, and take pictures of all the animals as they were just waking up. I was crawling through the jungle taking shots of the elephants and tigers yawning and eating their food-- trying to get as close as I could! I just couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be next to those beautiful animals. Then on top of it, they used the photos I took on billboards throughout the park. Those are the kinds of things that keep me so excited about this job!”

It’s certainly not a regular office job. And as exciting and truly adventurous as her photo shoots can be, the caliber of people Kristen works with in the Imagineering department are yet another highpoint. She constantly has to pinch herself into reality as she collaborates with some of the top creatives that help define Disney’s iconic symbols.

“I get to work with a lot of Disney legends, who are the people you want to work with,” she enthuses. Kristen also garners inspiration from working around people who knew the original legend, Walt Disney himself. “There’s actually this one lady, who comes in every Friday, who painted all the dolls for the original It’s a Small World ride! And I’ll never forget one day she came up to me and said ‘You know, Walt really would have liked you!’ It almost made me want to cry because it’s so amazing for someone who was close to him say something like that to you. You can’t compare it to anything.”

Through her time as a Disney Imagineer, Kristen has developed a magic distinctive to her, and she is happy to share it with one of the most successful entertainment empires in the world.

”What does it for me every time, is when guests come up and ask what I do, and then they get so excited when I tell them,” she shares. “They want your autograph…it’s just incredible to see how much they appreciate everything that you do.…I consider myself extremely lucky to be here!”