Save Figment and bring back original

[kbelle8995]

Okay I am fearful of this rumor.

I hope that they are returning to the original. I really do not want to bring Phineas and Ferb in there. (I enjoy Phineas and Ferb but no) I am trying not to panic until we get actual information.

I'm hoping that they are bringing Dreamfinder back and giving us a nice update of the original attraction because it was really great. The other incarnations not so much

If they take Figment out completely, I will be chaining myself to the building with Kathy.

Again trying not to panic until more info comes down the line. I can't see Disney kicking Figment to the curb completely.

 

[Cherinva]

Okay I am fearful of this rumor.

I hope that they are returning to the original. I really do not want to bring Phineas and Ferb in there. (I enjoy Phineas and Ferb but no) I am trying not to panic until we get actual information.

I'm hoping that they are bringing Dreamfinder back and giving us a nice update of the original attraction because it was really great. The other incarnations not so much

If they take Figment out completely, I will be chaining myself to the building with Kathy.

Again trying not to panic until more info comes down the line. I can't see Disney kicking Figment to the curb completely.

I'm right there with you....I love Figment (and I do like the original better), but going to EPCOT without seeing Figment is not a happy thought.

 

[FireDancer]

What rumor is this?

I would like to see a re-do of the entire Imagination pavilion. The ride I think needs an update and I'd hope the update includes both Figment and Dreamfinder, they need a new 3D movie, and ImageWorks needs to be modernized.

I'm not really a fan of bringing characters into Future World but I think it worked with Living Seas and Nemo. If they want to include Phineas and Ferb in the pavilion I think it would be better in a new 3D movie and not the dark ride.

I also think it is atrocious that in a country with run-away childhood obesity that the Wonders of Life pavilion is not a health and body focused pavilion but that is a totally different thread. I could see Phineas and Ferb being a better fit as part of an attraction in there.

 

[DisneyKevin]

I also think it is atrocious that in a country with run-away childhood obesity that the Wonders of Life pavilion is not a health and body focused pavilion but that is a totally different thread.

Atrocious?

Really?

Is it a theme park's job to address childhood obesity?

Should the Land Pavilion address government subsidized farming or the pros and cons of genetically altered crops?

Should the Imagination Pavilion address rampant drug use and offer a rehab facility?

And if they did......would anybody want to spend their leisure hours participating in this?

Wasn't the Wonders of Life Pavilion originally focused on healthy and body?

I can understand the discussion of Figment's fate, but to suggest burdening a theme park with a taking on a subject like this seems silly.

 

[o0quirkygirl0o]

I always loved Figment as a child. Imagination was by far my favorite part of Epcot growing up. I would spend hours there. I remember a commercial promoting the rainbow tunnel and being so excited to actually go there.

Ten years later, it was 2008 and I was totally stoked to go to my favorite pavilion as an "adult". I insisted we ride the Figment ride. I was so excited to see it again... NOBODY WARNED ME. I was heartbroken. Back then I wasn't a Disney planner and had no idea that my beloved pavilion and ride had changed so drastically. Nothing was the same. It held none of the magic it once had.

I think something needs to be done in the Imagination pavilion. I don't want to lose Figment and Dreamfinder; I want something worthy of them in this space. I want the rainbow tunnel back... but with more amazing lighting as today's technology can deliver. I don't want it to turn into an empty building either. Epcot's future world is quickly turning into a ghost town. I just want something that I can love and be proud of in this area.

I want to love it again, like I did as a child.

 

[FireDancer]

Atrocious?

Really?

Is it a theme park's job to address childhood obesity?

Should the Land Pavilion address government subsidized farming or the pros and cons of genetically altered crops?

Should the Imagination Pavilion address rampant drug use and offer a rehab facility?

And if they did......would anybody want to spend their leisure hours participating in this?

Wasn't the Wonders of Life Pavilion originally focused on healthy and body?

I can understand the discussion of Figment's fate, but to suggest burdening a theme park with a taking on a subject like this seems silly.

I'm talking about the Wonders of Life pavilion. I used to love that pavilion and think it served an important purpose. It taught about health and diet and I think that is a good thing to have a pavilion dedicated to. Disney can be very good at teaching lessons while entertaining when they want to be.

Over the past few years Disney has added healthy kid's menu options and stopped certain types of unhealthy advertising on their channel or from using their brands. It seems to me that opening back up that pavilion and dedicating it to the same message would be consistent with those other steps. I give them credit for Habit Heroes but I thought Wonders of Life was much better.

Disney does address social issues in the Land Pavilion using the Circle of Life movie.

 

[1Grumpy9]

I for one will be very sad if they completely get rid of Figment. I always loved the ride when I was younger. On my next trip that is one of the places I will be going. One last ride before it is closed for the year.

 

[HubbDave]

Soarin' should be about airline safety

Rock n Roller Coaster should promote the dangers of loud music

 

[Greenfield1984]

I always loved Figment as a child. Imagination was by far my favorite part of Epcot growing up. I would spend hours there. I remember a commercial promoting the rainbow tunnel and being so excited to actually go there.

Ten years later, it was 2008 and I was totally stoked to go to my favorite pavilion as an "adult". I insisted we ride the Figment ride. I was so excited to see it again... NOBODY WARNED ME. I was heartbroken. Back then I wasn't a Disney planner and had no idea that my beloved pavilion and ride had changed so drastically. Nothing was the same. It held none of the magic it once had.

I think something needs to be done in the Imagination pavilion. I don't want to lose Figment and Dreamfinder; I want something worthy of them in this space. I want the rainbow tunnel back... but with more amazing lighting as today's technology can deliver. I don't want it to turn into an empty building either. Epcot's future world is quickly turning into a ghost town. I just want something that I can love and be proud of in this area.

I want to love it again, like I did as a child.

I went to Disney for the first time when I was 7. It was exactly the old image works and figment attraction that first sparked my obsession with Disney.

When I returned years later I was incredibly disappointed and wondered if I simply remembered things from a young childs eyes that weren't as good as I remembered.

Then when youtube and the boards came out I realized that nope! I did remember correctly, it was awesome, this iteration is a poor substitute and it could be oh so much better.

So heres to hopefully either a return to the original or, better yet, a new incarnation that is superior to the original.

In the meantime check this interesting video out of the image works then and now. The old infrastructure upstairs is still there! Including the rainbow room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udddtDRxS_Q

 

[JimmyV]

I don't know. To my family, the original Journey Into Imagination was 7 minutes of W*T*F? A company that made its brand on imagination seemed to have thrown together a mish-mash of discombobulated scenes that did nothing to spark the imagination other than to leave one wondering what the imagineers were thinking. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think that the JII 2.0 was any great fix. I just think that the concept itself is unfixable. It wouldn't bother me to see them start from scratch.

This is not unlike the Tiki Room dilemma. The original was playing to crickets, so they brought on Under New Management, and the die-hards went nuts. "Bring back the original" they shouted. And so they did. And now the theater is playing to crickets again. Nostalgia is one thing. But clinging hopelessly to an attraction that can gain no traction is not a very wise business move. In an entertainment world where the envelope is being pushed every day, hanging on to 1982 themes and technology isn't a particulary wise move especially when foot traffic tells the story of an attraction that finds little love.

Should Dreamfinder and Figment find their way into something new? Sure. They were the original "faces" of Epcot and deserve better than forced retirement. But saving the man and his dragon does not equate to keeping the Imagination pavilion in perpetual stagnation. Let's move forward and give Dreamfinder and Figment something to be proud of.

 

[kbelle8995]

The early version of Imagination was quite popular as I remember it. There was always a long line.

Off topic but while the original tiki room may not have huge crowds, as I recalled Under new Management didn't draw them in droths either. There are fans of both version.

I just would hate to see Figment completely disappear and replaced by Phineas and Ferb. (I like Phineas and Ferb but we don't have to kick all the old characters and attractions to the side) Take a good hard look at the orignal and make up something that is more magical like the original

 

[JimmyV]

The early version of Imagination was quite popular as I remember it. There was always a long line.

Only in the early years. It was one of the "signature" attractions when Epcot cut its ribbon and was home to the characters that graced the cover of the guide gooks and pamphlets, so everyone wanted to see it. By 1998 when they converted it to the short-lived Journey into Your Imagination, it was not very popular at all.

 

[DCTooTall]

I don't know. To my family, the original Journey Into Imagination was 7 minutes of W*T*F? A company that made its brand on imagination seemed to have thrown together a mish-mash of discombobulated scenes that did nothing to spark the imagination other than to leave one wondering what the imagineers were thinking. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think that the JII 2.0 was any great fix. I just think that the concept itself is unfixable. It wouldn't bother me to see them start from scratch.
.

In all honesty... I think the original idea and concept behind the original incarnation of the Imagination ride was genius in it's simplicity.

Think about it.... How do you really define Imagination? How do you showcase it? Describe it? It's a very hard thing to represent physically. It's almost an abstract idea. You can see the impact of the imagination, from stories, to movies, to ride ideas, to technical problem resultion, inventions, etc. But how do you describe the actual process?

The idea which the original imagineers came up with was brilliant. And it was so brilliantly demonstrated in the opening of the attraction. "Gather. Store. Re-combine."

First we Gather the resources. the core ideas. Experiences. Ideas. stories. Images. etc. This is something that happens all day, every day of our life.... and in the attraction, Happened as the Dreamfinder went flying in his blimp when we first meet him and the ideas are gathered in the Dreamcatcher.

Store. All those ideas, images, stories, and experiences we gather each day? We store them in our memories, or sometimes in other external means. Remember the Gauge on the DreamCatcher showing how full the storage bag was? and the trip back to the Dream-Fort to unload...

Re-combine. Once we have gathered and stored all these pieces... our imagination recombines them into new and unique ideas. The creation of Figment (A Figment of Imagination!) was an example of this. Taking different ideas and aspects to create something new and unique.


which then brought us to the Dream Fort, where we saw different areas full of ideas and concepts in which imagination is useful.



IMHO.... The biggest issue with the current attraction is it really feel more like a tour of the senses than something that really showcases the imagination and how it can be used to create new things.

 

[JimmyV]

Think about it.... How do you really define Imagination? How do you showcase it? Describe it? It's a very hard thing to represent physically. It's almost an abstract idea. You can see the impact of the imagination, from stories, to movies, to ride ideas, to technical problem resultion, inventions, etc. But how do you describe the actual process?

I agree with everything you said in this paragraph. It is all but impossible to build a tangible representation of the imagination process. And the imagineers may have done as best they could with the hand they were dealt. But that, in and of itself, does not rescue the attraction. I just don't think that this topic is one that can be easily addressed through the use of a ride-through attraction. Pure opinion here (of my entire family, not just me), but we all thought that the attraction was a "fail".

IMHO.... The biggest issue with the current attraction is it really feel more like a tour of the senses than something that really showcases the imagination and how it can be used to create new things.

Again, I agree 100%. A train whistle and the smell of a skunk do not an imagination make.

In the end, it has to be conceded that tackling an abstract concept like imagination is not as simple as tackling transportation, space, the seas, the land, and to some extent, energy. Perhaps the realm of imagination is better left for Innoventions and bitten off in smaller, "hands on" pieces, and the Imagination pavilion should be repurposed. Certainly there can be no argument that Captain IO and Honey I Shrunk The Audience were poor attemps at capturing the concept of "imagination". I think that the underlying problem was that the pavilion was sponsored by Kodak, and Kodak rightfully had a say in the direction of the entertainment presented. But really, what does Kodak have to do with Imagination? I don't think the fit was every very good and the product suffered because of it. With Kodak out of the picture (pun intended), perhaps a free hand can better capture the concept. Who knows? But I'd like to see what they can come up with. Has to be better than 1982 technology and an 82 year-old looking Eric Idle.

 

[HubbDave]

They just need to put Kathy Werling in charge


All will be well

 

[mjaclyn]

Personally, I don't think we should get too worked up over anything until Disney comes out and says something themselves. There are rumors going around all the time and most of them never happen. That being said...


SAVE FIGMENT!!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

exactly yo should never believe a disney rumor until concrete is being poured even then plans can change.

 

[kbelle8995]

Just worried a little. Not going to run out my house screaming until they close the doors or make an annoucement. And if they do Kathy just let me know where to bring my chain.

SAVE FIGMENT!

 

[WDW Crawl]

Atrocious?

Really?

Is it a theme park's job to address childhood obesity?

Should the Land Pavilion address government subsidized farming or the pros and cons of genetically altered crops?

Should the Imagination Pavilion address rampant drug use and offer a rehab facility?

And if they did......would anybody want to spend their leisure hours participating in this?

Wasn't the Wonders of Life Pavilion originally focused on healthy and body?

I can understand the discussion of Figment's fate, but to suggest burdening a theme park with a taking on a subject like this seems silly.

I gotta be honest here Kevin.

I thought the Imagination ride was like one of those church Hell houses in showing us what drug overdosing and tripping was like and how there is a better way

 

[WDW in Pearls]

I also think it is atrocious that in a country with run-away childhood obesity that the Wonders of Life pavilion is not a health and body focused pavilion but that is a totally different thread. I could see Phineas and Ferb being a better fit as part of an attraction in there.

Silly me, here I thought parents were supposed to take responsibility for the habits they teach their children. Kids don't cook or buy their own food.