Figment ride seems to be universally panned. Figment stuff seems to be hot. Why?

[aboveH20]

I think popcorn bucket popularity is driven by perceived rarity and influencers.

That said, I did really want both vampire Stitch and scary Teddy buckets at Halloween, so I guess I’m the sucker these things are aimed at.

I had to look up who Teddy is. Now I'm curious how popular popcorn bucket collecting is. (Yipes, two sentences ending with is.) On the one hand I wouldn't want to carry a popcorn bucket around all day AND use up valuable stomach space with popcorn , on the other hand it's a relatively "cheap" souvenir. (Disney cheap anyway)

I will never forget the original Journey Into Imagination. I went with my college roommate and some friends. Everyone was some kind of engineer student except me. They were amazed at all the moving parts. One piece of set going one way, another going a different way and still more moving at the same time. They helped me appreciate more than just the scenery.

I have one of the Figment popcorn buckets. We got it because my son was getting paid by views on social media at the time and it was the beginning of the festival.

My family loves Figment. Just not too thrilled about the character m&g because we prefer the asthetics of the old costume. (Where the Dream Finder carried the puppet.) And Figment looked like Figment in the attraction. We enjoy the ride too.

I don't remember the original. I know I saw it and preferred it to the replacement, but otherwise I can't remember it

Both of my sons got Figment hats back in the day.

I never experienced the original but the current version of attraction is …bad. Be gentle with me. I still think Figment is cute.

Yes, of course Figment is cute. I have an embroidery baby Figment applique that I'm (not so patiently anymore) waiting to add to a grandchild's quilt.

Figment: cute + extra points for being purple
Song: adorable
Original ride: fun
Current ride: heinous--and they really had to go out of their way to find something that Eric Idle could ruin

But no matter how bad the ride is, they cannot stop Figment from being cute + purple, so I think he will always be popular.

Good to know purple gets bonus points

 

[aboveH20]

I've been going to Disney for almost 50 years and I can't answer your question but my very unpopular opinion is I don't like Figment and I could care less if they replaced the ride and character with anything else LOL

No nostalgia for me LOL

There I said it. It feels good to get that out LOL

Don't like Figment?

Two things I've learned about Disboarders over the years, there's a wide range of incomes and a wide range of opinions. Glad you were able to get off your chest your non-appreciation of Figment.

You were right it extends through the early Millennials. Any that would have been old enough to see the original show. I forgot the dates of that generation. My daughter (Gen X) told me that Gen X is now thought of as the Nothing Generation. So how much nostalgia they have is probable overridden by apathy. And since a whole pile of the Boomer Gen. is dying off at what I see as an alarming rate and Gen. X lacking in any form of nostalgia then it must be the Millennials that are carrying it at this point.

For the life of me I can't remember the alphabet Gens, not even sure which my sons are, but at least I know I'm a boomer!

There are a few other characters that are popular who don’t even have an attraction or current movie to back them up. The first one that comes to mind is Orange Bird. He was popular when WDW first opened, even though he was nothing but a marketing symbol, and then disappeared for decades. Then, boom, he’s popular again and basically the mascot for the F&G festival with nothing in particular driving the popularity. I wouldn’t even say it’s nostalgia in his case. I don’t think it takes a great attraction or film to make a character popular if the character itself is appealing enough. I think the same could be said of Figment. I feel most of us would agree that he is popular in spite of the current attraction and would probably continue to be so if the attraction went away (although I hope for an improvement of the attraction, not a destruction of it).

YES!!! What's up with that bird!!!

 

[fla4fun]

YES!!! What's up with that bird!!!

I don’t know how or why he came back to such fandom, but I have to admit he’s one of my favorite characters. I don’t remember him from his initial run at WDW so it’s definitely not nostalgia for me in his case like it is for Figment.

 

[goofyernmost]

For the life of me I can't remember the alphabet Gens, not even sure which my sons are, but at least I know I'm a boomer!

I always have to look it up myself because it really doesn't make a lot of sense if you are talking pure generations. I am a boomer. My children being the next generation after me which is Gen X. (P.S. they had their kids at approximately the same age as I did.) Then it goes off the rails my children's children jump right over Millennials and go straight to Gen Z. It's like there is a generation between my children and my grandchildren. How does that make any sense. However, I guess it is what it is and there are worse things, but it does seem to make it awful confusing.

• Millennials: Born 1980–1994.... a child born in 1980 would have needed to have a child at the latest at 14
• Generation Z: Born 1995–2012....Born in 1995 had at most a 17 year gap to reproduce.
• Generation Alpha: Born 2013–2025.... This group got a break, if born in 2013 had a relaxing 22 years to get it on.
• Generation Beta: Born 2025–2039.... born in 2025 are only allotted 14 years again.

How can any of this make sense if counting generations. The oldest of those generations were just barely able to procreate and most of them were not old enough to physically be able to do so. Shouldn't it be figured on the average age of parenting to determine what the next generations should be?

 

[gharter]

Journey into Imagination is one of the few rides where the original was very good, and each update made it worse. Loved the ride and the interaction of Dream finder and Figment. For some of us, the popularity of Figment is nostalgia, but I think the bigger draw is he's a cute character.

 

[BrianL]

Journey into Imagination is one of the few rides where the original was very good, and each update made it worse. Loved the ride and the interaction of Dream finder and Figment. For some of us, the popularity of Figment is nostalgia, but I think the bigger draw is he's a cute character.

I agree that the original is best, but from what I have seen, the first overhaul was much worse than the curent one, which they created to fix the previous one. Honestly, it's not that bad of a ride, but when the original one existed....

 

[steve_rob]

While I am a (late) Gen-X er, I have no nostalgia for the original Figment, because I didn't start going to WDW until the early 2000's. I'm pretty sure I saw the second Figment-less version once on my first visit, but then have seen the current version every time since then and I do quite enjoy it, but it's not a ride that I'd queue up more than 10 minutes for.

Because my DW had been going to Florida long before I knew her (her first visit was while Epcot was still being built) one day she dug out some old home movies and on there was footage from the original Figment ride. I was excited to see it after all the fans of it on here and... lets just say I was underwhelmed. It was fine. Nothing special. Better than the second version, about on par with the current one.

Maybe if I'd seen it for the first time as a wonder-eyed 10 year old kid rather than a more cynical mid-30's guy (as I was then; a lot older now!) I might have super fond memories, but along with certain other things on that videotape (like Kitchen Kabaret), it just looked a bit dated and was basically being carried by the (admittedly good) song.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be!

 

[NickC]

I think part of the nostalgia is that it's a character associated with WDW and not just Disney. You can find Woody and Darth Vader and Mickie and Avatar and Winnie the Pooh, etc merchandise outside of the park. But Duffy and Figment are more 'exclusive' to the parks and just have that feeling of being in WDW.

 

[aboveH20]

While I am a (late) Gen-X er, I have no nostalgia for the original Figment, because I didn't start going to WDW until the early 2000's. I'm pretty sure I saw the second Figment-less version once on my first visit, but then have seen the current version every time since then and I do quite enjoy it, but it's not a ride that I'd queue up more than 10 minutes for.

Because my DW had been going to Florida long before I knew her (her first visit was while Epcot was still being built) one day she dug out some old home movies and on there was footage from the original Figment ride. I was excited to see it after all the fans of it on here and... lets just say I was underwhelmed. It was fine. Nothing special. Better than the second version, about on par with the current one.

Maybe if I'd seen it for the first time as a wonder-eyed 10 year old kid rather than a more cynical mid-30's guy (as I was then; a lot older now!) I might have super fond memories, but along with certain other things on that videotape (like Kitchen Kabaret), it just looked a bit dated and was basically being carried by the (admittedly good) song.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be!

Ah, Kitchen Kabaret . . .I have to get out some of the old (commercially made) VHS tapes from the basement* and take a walk down memory lane.

How do people without basements manage?

I think part of the nostalgia is that it's a character associated with WDW and not just Disney. You can find Woody and Darth Vader and Mickie and Avatar and Winnie the Pooh, etc merchandise outside of the park. But Duffy and Figment are more 'exclusive' to the parks and just have that feeling of being in WDW.

Good point

 

[RexFromEndor]

Nostalgia sells, but it better not be "outdated" (like Splash Mountain) or else it'll get the shaft. Hey! What about bringing back updated versions because nostalgia sells? Nah, that's for merch only, we're more concerned with shoving IP into places it doesn't belong.

 

[goofyernmost]

While I am a (late) Gen-X er, I have no nostalgia for the original Figment, because I didn't start going to WDW until the early 2000's. I'm pretty sure I saw the second Figment-less version once on my first visit, but then have seen the current version every time since then and I do quite enjoy it, but it's not a ride that I'd queue up more than 10 minutes for.

Because my DW had been going to Florida long before I knew her (her first visit was while Epcot was still being built) one day she dug out some old home movies and on there was footage from the original Figment ride. I was excited to see it after all the fans of it on here and... lets just say I was underwhelmed. It was fine. Nothing special. Better than the second version, about on par with the current one.

Maybe if I'd seen it for the first time as a wonder-eyed 10 year old kid rather than a more cynical mid-30's guy (as I was then; a lot older now!) I might have super fond memories, but along with certain other things on that videotape (like Kitchen Kabaret), it just looked a bit dated and was basically being carried by the (admittedly good) song.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be!

You'll have to trust me here but home movies, especially in the 1980, where not a real indication of what anything was like. In order to actually appreciate it, one had to see it up close in all its three dimensional glory. The beginning turntable part of it left me with my mouth open with amazement and I was about 37 when I saw it for the first time. The mechanics and creativity of that ride was something that no child would possibly be able to really fully appreciate. And grainy 8mm movies are certainly not going to be overwhelmingly spectacular either. Between that one, World of Motion, Spaceship Earth and Horizons it was a spectacular adventure. The rest were good too, but those four were the best of the best at the time.

 

[aboveH20]

You'll have to trust me here but home movies, especially in the 1980, where not a real indication of what anything was like. In order to actually appreciate it, one had to see it up close in all its three dimensional glory. The beginning turntable part of it left me with my mouth open with amazement and I was about 37 when I saw it for the first time. The mechanics and creativity of that ride was something that no child would possibly be able to really fully appreciate. And grainy 8mm movies are certainly not going to be overwhelmingly spectacular either. Between that one, World of Motion, Spaceship Earth and Horizons it was a spectacular adventure. The rest were good too, but those four were the best of the best at the time.

!. I'm not old, but to quote someone it feels weird to be the same age as old people.

2. I vaguely remember World of Motion, Carousel of Progress, and Small World from the New York World's Fair. We rode in a big ole Ford convertible and I thought that was the best thing ever.

3. Please review #1

 

[DodgerGirl]

For some reason Figment has become so popular in Disney merchandising that due to the Journey To Imagination ride being a hit with people that love Disney nostalgia and now the kids that rode Journey To Imagination as young children are now grown with their own children and they want to share that same nostalgia with their own children. I collect dragon plushies and when I saw Figment's plushie being rereleased I had to get one because I thought Figment would go perfectly with my dragon plushies and when I saw clips of Figment on Youtube I can understand why he is regaining popularity. I think what Disney plans to do with Figment is give him his own movie or Disney+ cartoon series. And when Epcot brought back the Figment meet and greet last year you can see why people waited in long lines to meet Figment because he is a character from childhood and they wanted to introduce him to a new generation of fans for a piece of childhood nostalgia

 

[MrBarraclough]

I never experienced the original but the current version of attraction is …bad. Be gentle with me. I still think Figment is cute.

No one is going to fault you for telling the truth. The best thing about the current version is that it is markedly less awful that the prior revamp.

The RetroWDW channel on YouTube has a wonderful video recreation of the original, pretty seemlessly stitched together from archival footage and home videos. It shows an extended version of the ride (basically the full loop for every scene, longer than what a rider would usually experience on any one ride) as well as the original ImageWorks that was upstairs. It's worth a watch.

 

[aboveH20]

No one is going to fault you for telling the truth. The best thing about the current version is that it is markedly less awful that the prior revamp.

The RetroWDW channel on YouTube has a wonderful video recreation of the original, pretty seemlessly stitched together from archival footage and home videos. It shows an extended version of the ride (basically the full loop for every scene, longer than what a rider would usually experience on any one ride) as well as the original ImageWorks that was upstairs. It's worth a watch.

I didn't know about RetroWDW. I'll check it out, thanks.

 

[aboveH20]

Just came across this photo I took March 2022.

Beautiful bus!

Long live Figment.