Welcome to Virtual Magic! This site has one goal—to make a 3D replica of Disneyland available to anyone interested. I've spent months developing this model in my computer, and I intend to continue working on it until I lose interest and/or die.
For now, the best way to explore this project is probably the Construction page. I'll be regularly updating that page with renders of the model as it progresses from simple cubes to semi-finished buildings. The Virtual Tours page is currently vacant, but it will soon boast renders of more or less complete areas of the model. You're also welcome to check out my How I Work page, which gives a brief overview of how I make these models.
So who am I? My name is Joe Cardello, a student and avid fan of Disneyland since my early days. But why build a 3D model of Disneyland? The answer is difficult to put into words. The Imagineers responsible for Disneyland's existence have put an extraordinary amount of work into creating what is essentially a gigantic magic trick. When you step into this magic trick, you are temporarily immersed in a different world, kept blissfully unaware of the dull green ride buildings, asphalt, and industrial machinery that make it work. This doesn't bother most people. But then there are those of us who'd like to stand a few yards from both a haunted graveyard and a rabbit's Laughing Place, or climb the huge stairwell on the back of the Indiana Jones show building, or stand above the Blue Bayou's midnight sky, or take a peek at the back of Splash Mountain while swinging from the Haunted Mansion's weathervane. Short of being hired as a cast member, there's no way for us to do these things.
That's where the world of 3D modeling enters the picture. Aerial photography and the few photos and anecdotes that have leaked online make it possible to decypher the mystery of Disneyland's design and create three-dimensional replicas that lend enormous insight into what the park is really like. On and off for at least a year, I've been doing just that with the open source software Blender. Not only does this project allow me to explore the unseen areas of the park, but it also constitutes an endless series of puzzles. Figuring out how to model new objects and trying to understand the geometry of the place are big parts of the attraction. Anyway, this website is a place for me to share this bizarre yet delightful hobby, and hopefully shed some light on what makes Disneyland tick so...magically.
By the way, I have legal rights to no part of Disneyland, so I can't insist that you don't redistribute these images. In fact, feel free to redistribute them as much as you'd like. I've come by this knowledge through entirely free and entirely legal means, and I'd like to spread it around. Just do me a favor and link back to this site, please.