Rumor WDW Rumor Tracker - Revenge of the Fifth (Balls in their (Animation) Court(yard) Update)

[Nickm2022]

Zootopia.

Anything else being considered past or present besides Simpsons and Zootopia?

 

[Moth]

Anything else being considered past or present besides Simpsons and Zootopia?

Nothing I'm aware of.

Did some housework in adding new stuff. Nothing crazy y'all don't know about but still.

 

[Moth]

Wow, I just realized it's been a year since I started this thread! Where does the time go? It's been an honor to work on this for y'all and I hope that I AM THE ONE WHO TAKES IMAGINATION 4 OFF THE TRACKER!

Yes, I plan to hold onto this thread until they give me the sweet release of it. But nonetheless. Y'all have been awesome, patient, and quite frankly awesome.

Remind me to whip up a custom banner for this thread to add on some spice. I have some silly ideas in my sketchbook.

 

[ParadoxPortals]

OK, so if the new Imagination rumours are to be believed, it seems the Figment shortform content will go in the Magic Eye theatre, alongside an Imagination 4.0 ride, even if the ride opens later than the theatre's new show. If this is true, what is to come of Inside Out and the original rumours for them to occupy the Magic Eye space. Surely they should be getting a Parks presence SOMEWHERE, based on the sequel's massive financial and critical success?

I don't wanna be too hopeful, but could this mean a Wonders of Life 2.0 with Inside Out and Big Hero Six at last? With all the renovation work on the structure, surely Disney will eventually want to use it for SOMETHING, and based on Figment's massive fanbase, it makes sense to reserve all of the Imagination building (ride + Magic Eye) just for him?

Also can we finally evict the DVC loungers who are hogging the upstairs lol? I want my post-show back!

 

[Streetway Again]

 

[Jayspency]

OK, so if the new Imagination rumours are to be believed, it seems the Figment shortform content will go in the Magic Eye theatre, alongside an Imagination 4.0 ride, even if the ride opens later than the theatre's new show. If this is true, what is to come of Inside Out and the original rumours for them to occupy the Magic Eye space. Surely they should be getting a Parks presence SOMEWHERE, based on the sequel's massive financial and critical success?

I don't wanna be too hopeful, but could this mean a Wonders of Life 2.0 with Inside Out and Big Hero Six at last? With all the renovation work on the structure, surely Disney will eventually want to use it for SOMETHING, and based on Figment's massive fanbase, it makes sense to reserve all of the Imagination building (ride + Magic Eye) just for him?

Also can we finally evict the DVC loungers who are hogging the upstairs lol? I want my post-show back!

Where did this come from???

 

[ParadoxPortals]

Where did this come from???

Which part of my comment?

Bob Iger mentioned possible Figment short form content in a financial report last week.

If you mean the Inside Out Magic Eye rumours, they've been logged on this rumour tracker for some months now. No rumours yet for reclaiming the DVC lounge, that's just me being hopeful.

Wonders of Life with Inside Out and Big Hero Six has no rumours attached to it, it's just a thing fans want to see happen, that most agree would be both cool and a way to naturally incorporate popular IP into EPCOT.

 

[Moth]

The recent photos of Wonders has be discouraged on thinking that building will have anything in it again

 

[WaluigiTime]

The recent photos of Wonders has be discouraged on thinking that building will have anything in it again

Why? They could build something new in there if they wanted. It is just an empty space right now but it doesn't have major structural damage.

 

[UNCgolf]

The recent photos of Wonders has be discouraged on thinking that building will have anything in it again

At this point I'd be okay if they just made it a permanent festival/event center so that they could tear down the World Showcase Pavilion building and either put another country there (probably not going to happen) or build a major attraction for the UK. They could actually probably put one in that footprint for both Canada and the UK if they wanted.

 

[Andrew25]

At this point I'd be okay if they just made it a permanent festival/event center so that they could tear down the World Showcase Pavilion building and either put another country there (probably not going to happen) or build a major attraction for the UK. They could actually probably put one in that footprint for both Canada and the UK if they wanted.

This would be my ideal scenario. If they can at least keep it for events, why not and give the park "back" a pavilion expansion space.

 

[SageOfTime]

The recent photos of Wonders has be discouraged on thinking that building will have anything in it again

I think if the space hasn't been marked for something by D23 2026, it's going to be demolished. It's embarrassing to have a pavilion so noticeably abandoned so visible from the park's most popular attraction.

 

[Jayspency]

Which part of my comment?

Bob Iger mentioned possible Figment short form content in a financial report last week.

If you mean the Inside Out Magic Eye rumours, they've been logged on this rumour tracker for some months now. No rumours yet for reclaiming the DVC lounge, that's just me being hopeful.

Wonders of Life with Inside Out and Big Hero Six has no rumours attached to it, it's just a thing fans want to see happen, that most agree would be both cool and a way to naturally incorporate popular IP into EPCOT.

I know about the rumors of inside out going in magic eye and WOL having some sort of Inside Out and/or BH6 representation, but I've never heard of figment going into magic eye. Or JII 4.0 happening alongside that (Would absolutely love to have that happen though!) When Iger made that short form content statement I figured that meant just having figment be in some tik tok videos or something along the lines of that.

 

[MisterPenguin]

According to established insiders over the decade, a lot of blue sky, whiteboard ideas involving Figment, Magic Eye, and Inside Out have been going back and forth with every permutation on the table.

So, the rumors we hear about all this are true, but not attached to any green light or allocated budget.

The closest we got to change -- any change -- was seeing Figment with Rainbow as part of the Reimagining EPCOT display. Only, there was no news about Figment because... it was obviously cut at the last minute.

Same with Coco going to Mexico Pavilion; Visually represented as part of the Reimagining, but never mentioned.

So, with that particular Figment plan halted... it's back to the whiteboards.

 

[Moth]

I do feel we're closer to Imagination 4 than ever before. But on the other hand, we're closer to extinction by asteroid than ever before so, who's counting.

At this point every theme park fan should bet if Imagination 4 happens first or the Lost Continent replacement happens first.

 

[Jayspency]

I do feel we're closer to Imagination 4 than ever before. But on the other hand, we're closer to extinction by asteroid than ever before so, who's counting.

Well if we do get hit by an asteroid (Thanks or no thanks to Dr Seeker), We'll all be riding with Dreamfinder and figment in the theme park afterlife in the sky.

Or Mr Toad depending on which way we go.

 

[DisneyDean97]

At this point I'd be okay if they just made it a permanent festival/event center so that they could tear down the World Showcase Pavilion building and either put another country there (probably not going to happen) or build a major attraction for the UK. They could actually probably put one in that footprint for both Canada and the UK if they wanted.

I'm 100% tearing down the World Showcase pavilion and would love to see a new country added to World Showcase in my lifetime lol. I would love to see Greece or Egypt!

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

Epcot Entrance & World Celebration, Discovery, & Nature​

Epcot in General

Epcot Update: Epcot is getting a major update that will have several phases that will run from 2017 to 2021+ [official]

• with delays: started in 2019 and will likely run until 2023-2025
• scope is more than $2 billion over more than 3 years [here]
• There is a push to include more IPs (Intellectual Properties) into Epcot [here].
• Bob Chapek on Epcot update: to stay true to Epcot’s original vision while making it “more timeless, more relevant, more family, and more Disney"
• Epcot is likely to get a 'new name'... but not much different... probably going with all caps and maybe some sort of prefix or suffix, e.g., Disney EPCOT, or EPCOT Center.
  • New font for Epcot has appeared with a mostly all-caps look. Website still uses "Epcot."
• A stage is being built that'll have an Encanto stage show
• All done!

World Celebration (spine/hub/festivals) The center spine and hub is now called World Celebration. The major overhaul there will NOT finish in Spring 2024, likely a 2025 completion. It was supposed to contain these elements below which are now either cut, delayed, or altered due to the pandemic

Hub

• Festival Center
  • Most of this got cancelled. Epcot facelift is mostly done
• SW Building: demolished right before the pandemic. CommuniCore Hall was built here.
• NW Building & Journey of Water:
  • All in a finished/mostly finished state.
• Hub Wishing Tree: Status unknown
• Hub Fountain: Still coming, timeline unknown
• Hub entertainment/outdoor plaza: Status unknown (artist concept shows 'flying' acrobats and a Alice themed tea party)
• Fountain Stage: already moved to a 'temporary' location at World Showcase Plaza
• All done!
• EPCOT's Transformation is officially  DONE
• EPCOT HUB LIGHTS have been a state of disarray since they've been implemented, but they're looking to be fixed! [here]

Imagination Pavilion

• In summary: Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but nothing is happening with the Figment ride for the next few years. It was not announced with the Epcot refresh, and thus it is very likely several years away if happening at all. Please stop asking if something's happening with Figment: It isn't. When someone knows, they'll post about it. Until then, the answer is and will be the same... 'nothing.'
  • New Thread Update: There's a film in development, if it happens is one thing but, Disney is actively attempting to use the character more and could lead to Imagination 4 happening.
• Timeline:
  • Nothing has begun to be done on this Pavilion as of 2024..
• Figzilla returned! He sports a brand new-look and is meeting where Vanellope met before.
• Something is going around with Figment and.... Walt Disney Studios? Who knows what is coming from this and the effect it'll have on the current ride. [here]
• Keep an eye of the Figment film. [here]
• The dead speak! The Imagination rumor mill returns! Current plan is to keep current track layout and... like, replace Eric Idle with Dreamfinder? Some set changes? Yeah, uhhh, sorry. [here]
• New story, new effects, new sets, and a new neighbor are apart of the plans. What's been discussed is an outright improvement. [here]
  • Ride layout reportedly not changing.
• Creeping up...
• SSE coming before it.
• Maybe not.
• Mister Iger you're such a tease! Bob Iger says he will "talk to various departments to consider making short form content with Figment". [here]
• "Soooo.... You heard anything about Imagination getting fast tracked?" [here]

Spaceship Earth

• Big Refurb/Retheme
  • SSE was going to close on May 26, 2020 for major updates including shifting the story from historical modes of communication to the history of story-telling. Some of the dioramas would have been changed, while others remain mostly intact with updates (likely mostly from projectors). The pandemic indefinitely delayed this refurb. [the update] [the delay] [here]
  • It will need a refurbishment soon, but unsure whether this will change the ride experience [here]
  • Spaceship Earth refurb will likely happen once Test Track comes back. [here]
  • More proof to it coming after Test Track. All new idea, ditching the 'story-light' idea. [here]
  • Imagination might beat it in line... Creeping along...
  • Oh cool, the old lounge is becoming a bar. Neat.
  • Reported there's a plan behind it which will start after TT3.
  • Not being changed in 2026.

World Discovery (East side)


Wonders of Life: PLAY!

• CANCELLED!
  • All trace of it has been wiped from the WDW press releases and only exists in concept art on the official WDW blog. It's dead. It might be early to say it's dead, but until a trustworthy leaker says otherwise, it's dead.

R.I.P Horizons

• The real story of why Horizons went away (and not because of sink holes) [here]

Test Track

• Test Track is getting another overhaul to bring it closer to World of Motion [official]
  • Closing in June. [here]
  • Rumored budget is $100 million with a two year closure.
  • Budget will be going into "a de-Tronified World of Motion redux" with implications of more intricate sets akin to World of Motion [here]
  • Canopy has been removed, queue will reportedly detail the 'history of transportation'.
  • Cars are now testing the track on the new Test Track which may or may not be about testing on a track like a test track would be like in real life.

World Nature (West side)

Land Pavilion

• Soarin' Around the World got it's updated film to accommodate for the new, rebuilt, EPCOT entrance hub.

Living Seas Pavilion

• As of September 2024, The Seas has made plans to transfer it's dolphins to another facility and has no future plans to get new ones.
• Dolphins are gone, but there's a lot of manatees now.

Journey of Water: Finished.

Inside Out: Should eventually find a presence at EPCOT. [here]

• It and Figment will co-exist and have a bigger presence at WDW as a whole.
• Keep an EYE on this.

On the topic of Test Track- not sure if it’s worth noting but at the big press release last week with the new Buzz Lightyear changes, they also showed press actual footage and photos of the new Test Track, specifically the forest scene from the concept art. According to the NT reps who were there it was surprisingly very accurate to the concept art and lined up very closely. Not an exciting note (oh wow, trees!) but it’s still confirmation of something. There were other news outlets there (Alicia was there!) so they can likely back up my claim here too. Hopefully we learn more about the ride soon, I want to know what exactly about it is based on World of Motion given a forest doesn’t really have anything to do with that lol

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

OK, so if the new Imagination rumours are to be believed, it seems the Figment shortform content will go in the Magic Eye theatre, alongside an Imagination 4.0 ride, even if the ride opens later than the theatre's new show. If this is true, what is to come of Inside Out and the original rumours for them to occupy the Magic Eye space. Surely they should be getting a Parks presence SOMEWHERE, based on the sequel's massive financial and critical success?

I don't wanna be too hopeful, but could this mean a Wonders of Life 2.0 with Inside Out and Big Hero Six at last? With all the renovation work on the structure, surely Disney will eventually want to use it for SOMETHING, and based on Figment's massive fanbase, it makes sense to reserve all of the Imagination building (ride + Magic Eye) just for him?

Also can we finally evict the DVC loungers who are hogging the upstairs lol? I want my post-show back!

No way DVC gives up space, they’ll only grow (see: Canada), but the rest of this I see as plausible. Personally I wish the upstairs would be revived too, that rainbow tunnel is too iconic to not bring back. At the very least replace that stupid WIR Internet tube with the rainbow tunnel.

 

[Moth]

No way DVC gives up space, they’ll only grow (see: Canada), but the rest of this I see as plausible. Personally I wish the upstairs would be revived too, that rainbow tunnel is too iconic to not bring back. At the very least replace that stupid WIR Internet tube with the rainbow tunnel.

I only expect the DVC to give up their lounge if they get moved to the (better imo) lounge in The Seas.

Which is possible when Imagination goes down.