EPCOT Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment

[FigmentJedi]

Can't they just use the trackless ride system? Then you could do what all the other trackless dark rides do and have the ride vehicles just park in front of the Dreamcatcher instead of having a turntable.

Trackless requires flat floors, which the Imagination building doesn't currently have.

 

[CHOX]

Can anyone give me a rundown of what remnants are left of the original and not in use? Like I know the hollow floor you walk over on the queue is part of the old track (I think?). Going back in about a month with a whole lot more knowledge about Epcot than on my first trip.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

Gut the building and start fresh. I don’t want trackless either but is it even worth salvaging the current ride system?

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Can anyone give me a rundown of what remnants are left of the original and not in use? Like I know the hollow floor you walk over on the queue is part of the old track (I think?). Going back in about a month with a whole lot more knowledge about Epcot than on my first trip.

Sure, here’s a track layout comparison. most of the track is all still there, just under floor boards. Even the turntable is still there but disabled, parts of it can still be seen in the ceiling.

 

[Brer Oswald]

It’s not super feasible, but my ideal ride system would be a modified version of the ET Adventure ride system, but you’d be riding in Dreamcatchers rather than large bikes.

 

[Mickeynerd17]

Right, just remove the floor boards from the top of and restore the original track.

I thought they outright ripped it out? I know you can still feel the supports for the unload track but I'm pretty sure they tore most of it out.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

While not ideal, if the turntable is highly complicated still (as it very well may be) - I wonder if a different idea would be moving Dreamfinder to a preshow - ala Tower or TT. You could have two or three theaters, with a Dreammobile animatronic overhead. Figment can then pop down (instead of up). You then exit the pre-show into the DreamPort (load station) - giving you a great look at all the sight gags in that part of the original attraction. It's a way to follow the original plot of the attraction without having that maintenance issue restored.

 

[Mickeynerd17]

Can anyone give me a rundown of what remnants are left of the original and not in use? Like I know the hollow floor you walk over on the queue is part of the old track (I think?). Going back in about a month with a whole lot more knowledge about Epcot than on my first trip.

Towards the end of this video is a visual rundown of structural remnants in the removed sections. It's really good for visualizing how it all fit together.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

It’s not super feasible, but my ideal ride system would be a modified version of the ET Adventure ride system, but you’d be riding in Dreamcatchers rather than large bikes.

Or, updated Peter Pan's flight tech...

 

[FigmentFan82]

Would love a smooth not too fast track system if they gutted and started fresh. Basically traditional omnimover but maybe with a little more pinash - not as intense as Cosmic Rewind, but maybe almost like a baby brother to it.

Call me crazy

 

[Mickeynerd17]

Would love a smooth not too fast track system if they gutted and started fresh. Basically traditional omnimover but maybe with a little more pinash - not as intense as Cosmic Rewind, but maybe almost like a baby brother to it.

Call me crazy

If they completely demolished the entire structure, then yea.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Bocabear]

the whole problematic turntable would most likely be extremely feasible in this day and age... The system was all done in 1981-2...technology has come incredibly far in the last 41 years...

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

the whole problematic turntable would most likely be extremely feasible in this day and age... The system was all done in 1981-2...technology has come incredibly far in the last 41 years...

Yep and again, you could even implement some of those roller coaster type drops and such too in it now if you wanted too. Not to mention some of the more elaborate special effects that were supposed to be in it before they were cut due to budget & tech limitations. ‘All’ the issues it had back in the 80s could be ‘immediately’ be resolved at this point.

 

[matt9112]

Yep and again, you could even implement some of those roller coaster type drops and such too in it now if you wanted too. Not to mention some of the more elaborate special effects that were supposed to be in it before they were cut due to budget & tech limitations. ‘All’ the issues it had back in the 80s could be ‘immediately’ be resolved at this point.

I think a solid effort to redo the original but with modern everything would be great. As you mention could add a little thrill even. Return that husk of a pavilion into something great. But we all know disney has no issues with pavilions rotting away.

 

[aladdin2007]

the whole problematic turntable would most likely be extremely feasible in this day and age... The system was all done in 1981-2...technology has come incredibly far in the last 41 years...

sure has, they sure could implement what use to be with updated tech, but seems like anymore everything is taking two steps backwards. The amazing things they use to create and design we cant seem to have today, tech has come so far yet now everything is too complicated too expensive. Look at all the things at Disney that use to be that is no more. Imagination, lights of winter, the projections on the ws pavilions during illuminations 25, etc, the massive surprise in the skies characters in front of each country during the show, the list goes on. Instead we get a bombastic mess on the lagoon with so much hardware you could probably rebuild Horizons with it.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Just saw this Clip of the Figment AA from the finale segment and I have to say how impressive his fluid movement is in this compared to where he stands now at the touch and taste labs dock..


Same AA but choppier movement..

 

[Rodj]

Just saw this Clip of the Figment AA from the finale segment and I have to say how impressive his fluid movement is in this compared to where he stands now at the touch and taste labs dock..

The stiff movements now are due to maintenance reasons, this video from 2003 shows it when it used to be more fluid:

I am still unsure on if they are the same animatronic though, some people have provided proof that that they are new animatronics using the same molds(i.e. the space Figment animatronic), and suggested that the others are new as well.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

The stiff movements now are due to maintenance reasons, this video from 2003 shows it when it used to be more fluid:

I am still unsure on if they are the same animatronic though, some people have provided proof that that they are new animatronics using the same molds(i.e. the space Figment animatronic), and suggested that the others are new as well.

Wouldn’t surprise me if they simply made ‘some’ new AAs because they were either sold off or cannibalized some for parts for other AAs. Happens all the time. But clearly some are the same figures judging by the movements & sculpts. Like the Sound Lab Figment being the old Artist Figment with a pot of rainbow mist, retrofitted onto one of the original dreamcatching machine mechs to make him pop up & down, rotate, etc.

 

[SpectreJordan]

CR is definitely a better coaster than RnRC. But aside from it being a fun coaster, there isn’t much to it. The story is ridiculously bad and there’s little to no set pieces to marvel at. It’s no masterpiece.

Hagrid’s on the other hand is quite great beyond it’s coaster track.

Does Hagrid really have a good story though? "Oops, Hagrid's bad at magic. Now you're flying all over the place!"
100% agreed on the set pieces though. What an amazing looking ride that's all physical, at least as far I remember lol

That’s nice for fans, but borderline insulting right? Play the music and hopefully the fanboys will forget that the ride has been rotting for longer than the original has ever existed with no apparent plans for an update.

I have to imagine that EPCOT's management wants to update Journey. It's just that the higher ups don't care about it.

 

[Dragonman]

Wouldn’t surprise me if they simply made ‘some’ new AAs because they were either sold off or cannibalized some for parts for other AAs. Happens all the time. But clearly some are the same figures judging by the movements & sculpts. Like the Sound Lab Figment being the old Artist Figment with a pot of rainbow mist, retrofitted onto one of the original dreamcatching machine mechs to make him pop up & down, rotate, etc.

The only ones that I know were sold off were the puppets used on the screens in the finale. The others were either reused, sold to collectors (including Tony Baxter) or are just sitting around in the archives/storage and occasionally get brought out for events.

All the Dreamfinder AAs however were very likely scrapped for parts as I haven’t seen any surviving examples.