The Disneyland Resort Design and Engineering team brought the Maleficent dragon from the popular nighttime spectacular “Fantasmic!” to life by creating a 10-foot character overnight from 5,250 canned goods at the 10thanniversary of CANstruction Orange County.

Since the program’s inception, the Disneyland Resort team has joined local architectural and design firms to build creative structures made entirely of canned and packaged foods. Each of the Resort’s designs features a Disney theme.

This dedicated group of Disneyland Resort VoluntEARS designs and plans each build over a period of six months.

“It takes a lot of teamwork to design, coordinate, test-build and then do the final build for our structures,” said Giuliana Haro, Architecture and Facilities engineer, about the five-person team’s involvement. “There are many in our community who are not as fortunate as we are and it is important to get involved, volunteer and help those in need. We participate in CANstruction because it serves a great cause in providing food for our local community ¾ and we get to have fun while doing so!”

The Disneyland Resort team has left a lasting impact in its continued dedication to this annual event. Over the last decade, Disney CANstructures have helped to feed the equivalent of three meals a day for 10 years for a family of three.

“Disney cast members have helped educate people about the issue of hunger in a creative and compelling manner through magical and visually stunning structures that have entertained people,” said Mark Lowry, director of the OC Food Bank. “But most importantly, they have provided additional food to expand the capacity of the OC Food Bank to combat hunger.”

Through CANstruction and food drives, the Disneyland Resort has provided the OC Food Bank more than 65,000 meals for the local community over the last 10 years. Disney VoluntEARS regularly assist in food packing, and in 2016, volunteered more than 1,800 hours at the food bank.

To join in CANstruction OC’s mission to feed the world “one can” at a time, visit the CANstructures on display from September 2-24 at South Coast Plaza, John Wayne Airport and the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) to cast your vote. Vote for your favorite and help raise funds; $1 equals one vote.

Disneyland Resort Design and Engineering Team CANstruction Timeline:
2017: Don’t Let Hunger Drag on! – 5,250 cans (“Fantasmic!” Dragon)
2016: Together We CAN Turn Hunger Inside Out! – 6,425 cans (“Inside Out” – Sadness)
2015: If Elephants Can Fly, We CAN End Hunger! – 4,200 cans (“Dumbo”) | Award for Best Use of Labels
2014: Melt Away Hunger… (because some things are worth melting for) – 4,932 cans (“Frozen” – Olaf) | Honorable Mention
2013: Scare Up Some MONSTROUS Eats – 4,084 cans (“Monsters Inc.”)
2012: TOW Away Hunger – 5,700 cans (“Cars” – Tow Mater) | Award for Juror’s Favorite
2011: Sea the Difference a CAN Makes… – 5,400 cans
(“The Little Mermaid” – Flounder and Sebastian) | Award for Best Use of Labels
2010: Make a Wave in Your Community – 12,000 cans (“Finding Nemo” – Crush)
2009: CANnecting to Environmentality – 10,000 cans (Mickey Ears)
2008: We CAN Make a Difference – 3,800 cans (“Wall-E”)
Total cans donated: 61,791 cans