If you’re unfamiliar with Magic Passport, it’s my decade-long side project which I started at Pacific Helm.
What was initially a simple app to keep track of everything you’ve done at a Disney park, Magic Passport has now grown significantly in both scope and assets. There were once only 24 or so custom icons in the app, but now there are over 500. That’s for another post.
Today, I want to show you some of the app icons I’ve made and remade, starting with the default, based on the very colorful “it’s a small world” façade here in Tokyo.

In contrast to other app icons I’ve made which highlight a single focal point, the app icon for Magic Passport instead evokes a familiar aesthetic for park guests, taking cues from the best Imagineering duo, Mary Blair and Rolly Crump.

When I started Magic Passport about 10 years ago, the data was stored as JSON files which was fine at the time, but I have since been working in a database, which is better than a JSON file but much more complicated than anyone expects it to be. There are many variables that make it tricky to organize well.
Managing a database like this directly—or in a web UI—is unpleasant and prone to errors. I’ve tried. So I designed a database app that reads from and writes to the database, which is really only for me. That doesn’t mean I’m going to skimp on the chance to make a fun app icon though.

The icon for the MAPO app was designed to be what lives under Magic Passport. Inspired by a very real circuitboard from Disneyland, I drew circuit paths mirroring the Magic Passport icon, a battery (powered by Imagination from EPCOT), and references to each Disney theme park around the world, in their own resort sections, including a large “Florida Project” with Reedy Creek Improvement District at its hub.

You’ll notice MAPO has an alternate app icon (why?), but of course Magic Passport has them too. Here are variations for California, Paris, and Hong Kong.

Each one reflects the unique coloration of “it’s a small world” at those respective parks.

I had already made an alternate app icon with holiday lights, which also resembles the Main Street Electrical Parade. But now with the addition of dark mode app icons in iOS 18, it’ll probably be the dark mode icon for any of the alternates, because it’s too fun not to. I even made a “lights out” version of the app icon to sit underneath the lights.


I thought I was done. I really did. But you see, Magic Passport has a couple dozen visual themes in the app, with different color schemes hinting at different areas, attractions, and characters.
Seeing the app next to the app icon led me to a thought with unthinkable repercussions: What if every theme had its own app icon? Each app icon would not only borrow coloration from its respective theme, but employ texture unique to the inspiration it borrows from.
So here’s one of them, for the Vulcania theme, mimicking the aesthetic of Mysterious Island at Tokyo DisneySea, complete with rusted green metal, chunky bolts, and gold accents.
“it’s a small world” meets 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, because why not? Right? Right.


I’m determined to create a free app that people love to use at Disney parks, so it feels worth the time spent, but if you want to support this endeavor because you believe in it, there are some Magic Passport t-shirts for sale (scroll down about halfway), or you can also send a donation.
In any case, I hope to one day put this app into your hands. In the meantime, I’ll make some more app icons.

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