What were the imagineers smoking when...

[TheRustyScupper]

The same stuff they were smoking when they re-designed Alien Encounter.

 

[iwish81792]

I remember there was a whole top floor to the area, with "color in figment" and all of the music stuff (with your arms, you know what I'm talking about), and a HUGE table of nails or something, I'm not quite sure what they were. But people would go under it and stick their hand up and you could see the imprint.

 

[pixiedust23]

I remember there was a whole top floor to the area, with "color in figment" and all of the music stuff (with your arms, you know what I'm talking about), and a HUGE table of nails or something, I'm not quite sure what they were. But people would go under it and stick their hand up and you could see the imprint.

THAT was awesome! I loved painting Figment. And they had that huge light-up rainbow arch. ANd you could dance on the floor that light up squares in different colors. You also used to be able to help the dreamfinder in a movie. They would line up the kids on a black line with a green screen behind them. I think there was a space one and a wild west one.

 

[Skroops]

I HAD to put in my opinion on this too!

 

[GinaGrumpyDwarf]

omg..i've never seen either!!!!! It's a RIDE and I missed it?? OHHH Someone has to tell me what it is and i guess it's in EPCOT???

 

[lauran cameron]

Here's a cute little site about Figment:

http://www.figmentsimagination.com/

words con not describe how much I adore that site

last week when I was in the world I bought a little plastic figment holding SE I love him

 

[HappyMommy2]

I remember loving the original Imagination during childhood, but I also enjoy the new version! (Never saw the Figment-less one so I can't comment on that). Imagination is an absolute must-do for us at Epcot. My kids love it too. The song is stuck in my head right now as I am typing--love it!
Maybe I just don't remember the original well enough to do a comparison.

I will agree that the post-ride area is kind of lame. (My kids do like the area where you step on lighted pictures of various things that make noise, though!).

 

[minnie61650]

Just be glad you didn't see the debaucle they made of it when it was first redone... this is a vast improvement.

I do miss the original, though... I always loved it. And this can't hold a candle to it.

Imiss the original also. At least this one has Figment in it a lot more than the first redo. When Kodak sponsored the original Figment Disney signed a contract that the ride would be redone before the year 2000. For those of you never got to experience the original Figment or if you would like to relive it this is a great website.

http://figmentsimagination.com/

Linda

 

[BonnieA]

I loved the original, I was heartbroken when it left. But I do have the original on DVD. I also have some other extinct attractions like World of Motion and Horizons. If you are interested in having your own copy, PM me and I will send you the website where I bought them.

 

[lauran cameron]

I was just watching the re-do version that lasted from 1999-2001 and it wasn't all that horrible really...EXCEPT for the fact that figment was more of an inuendo than a character in the show. I really don't think it would have been received so badly if only it had figment in it. I'm not saying its better than the original...oh god no I am no saying that at all...but I just think it really wouldn't of been that bad if they just included figment.

 

[homer424]

I agree with the others above-I LOVED the original. I have a pic of me from 1989 in my Figment hat somewhere. When we went back on one of the trips-I believe the one in 2000-and for some reason I did not realize that they had changed the attraction. When we went on it, I kept saying to my grandmother "Where's Figment? What happened to Figment??!" And when it ended, I actually went to a CM and asked what happened to Figment-LOL I am normally not a complainer or rabble rouser but I was really disappointed. Thank Goodness when we went back in 2002, we heard Figment would be back later that year (our trip was the end of April)

The new one, although not the original, is cute in it's own way and we do enjoy it. And at least there is Figment!

 

[graygables]

I remember there was a whole top floor to the area, with "color in figment" and all of the music stuff (with your arms, you know what I'm talking about), and a HUGE table of nails or something, I'm not quite sure what they were. But people would go under it and stick their hand up and you could see the imprint.

I just went on the Undiscovered Future World tour in May and they took us up there! Talk about flashbacks! My brother and I went for my 19th birthday and spent HOURS in that pavilion, going through the rainbow tunnel, using the paintbrush "guns" with the squooching sound to paint the images on the walls, "conducting" music with our hands, walking on the sound rugs, and playing with the pin tables (they actually let us play with those on the tour!) I asked if they ever would admit they were wrong and change it back, but the guide said they wouldn't "move backwards, only forwards" They use the upper area now for testing out shop layouts and other traffic patterns. There was masking tape all over the floor where display cases might be. It was really quite sad and just about everyone on the tour remembered the "old" way and agreed that is was a shame. BTW, last November when we were there, we were literally the only ones on the ride and in the main pavilion. I felt so sorry for the CMs outside whose only job was to point everyone toward Mission Space.

 

[Me&Mic]

Okay, so my last couple trips have been work related so I have not been into this pavillion for a few years, so please can you catch me up?

So, figment is still there, but "just one spark" is no longer played???? How can they do that? I had figment and that song at my wedding!!! I'm heart broken!

And you are also saying that the play land is no longer available? I was so looking forward to dancing on the light spots with my 4 year old son in December.

Oooohhhhh. I'm so sad.

What is in imagination pavillion now other than HISTA?

 

[graygables]

Figment is still involved, but the ride is nothing like it was with Dreamfinder. It's OK and my DDs insist on it (but they never saw the old one). The rest of the pavilion is a "joke" as my DH calls it. It's basically one huge Kodak ad. There are still a few things (music and carpet sounds), but nothing at all like it used to be, where you truly used your imagination! You can send an email with your photo or have photo things made up to purchase (and purchase and purchase). It's basically just a Kodak gift shop now and we just walk through. I rarely even stop at the Figment stuff anymore. There is one thing they have that I do buy (I've even gone in the shop door and skipped the rest) that is a purple squishy ball w/ Figment on it...it turns inside out to a spikey (but still squishy) and my DDs love them (and they're fairly cheap!) If I'm solo, that's all I do...I can't handle the stupidity of the ride unless I'm with happy children!

 

[lauran cameron]

What I've kind of noticed as to what they did was make Figment mischevious and as if he was trying to work against the "Imagination Institute" kind of like he was being a "bad guy." But in the end Figment overcomes and wins...and it almost seems as if the ride symbolises the slow demise of the JIYI aw:

 

[WeluvDisney2]

I totally agree. The original Imagination with Figment was a bazillion times better than the "new" one! Why does Disney mess with perfection and leave so many other so-so rides as is?? I say we all write to Disney and request that they bring back the original Figment ride!

 

[Micca]

The original was so charming.

 

[jann1033]

agree with all the others. we must not have gone our second to last trip cause i just remember the original but we were kind of bored at this new one. just not nearly as cute, to cartoonish or something like it looked like a cheap knock off of the original you'd see some place other than disney( same thing as i said about the dining on another thread ...why mess with something that's good????)

 

[SueM in MN]

Just be glad you didn't see the debaucle they made of it when it was first redone... this is a vast improvement.

I do miss the original, though... I always loved it. And this can't hold a candle to it.

The first redo was horrible. The new one isn't anywhere near the original. But, it's a 1,000 times better than the 1st redo.

 

[minnie61650]

This excerpt is from this site:

http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id37.htm
The chances of Figment making a full return looked bleak. Disney sold part of the ride props on eBay and used one of Dreamfinder's flying machines as a prop in the Mouse Gear store. Then the ride closed in the winter of 2002 for renovation and reopened in June of 2002 as Journey Into Imagination with Figment. While Eric Idle and the Imagination Institute are still featured, Figment has been added to every scene and a new version of One Little Spark is sung. Dreamfinder is still MIA but one of the lab office doors is now labeled as belonging to "Dean Finder".
Linda