News Journey Into Imagination With Figment at EPCOT to be closed on October 10, 2023

pdude81

Well-Known Member
I had gone to WDW 3 times as a.kid in the late 80s / early 90s. JII was among my favorite rides as a kid. After 1992, I didn't go again until 2004 as an adult. At the time of our 2004 trip, I wasn't plugged into Disney news like I am now. I saw that Imagination was still there, and was excited to ride it again.

Imagine my horror when I actually rode it. I think I rode it that trip and maybe one other time since when we were trying to do an all attractions 1 day challenge, but that's it.
I had a similar experience having missed it from 97 or so until 2011. I wrote a lengthy email about how disappointed I was with the ride changes. However, I still like Figment and think it's a cute ride. It's just light years away from the quality of the original.

So now I still ride it most trips and hope they eventually give it a real refurb budget. But I can understand people not wanting to be there.
 

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
Worse than Journey Into YOUR Imagination?
Yes, the current version is worse than the short-lived 2.0 version, IMO (though I’m personally not sure I would necessarily say it’s Disney’s worst ever, it’s definitely on that list).

As one of the seemingly few people who actually experienced all three versions of the attraction, I often find myself in defense of JIYI in comparison to the current iteration. Yes, it was done on the cheap. Yes, they significantly reduced the ride length. Yes, they removed the popular characters and creative effects (including the incredibly impressive turntable).

But as a standalone experience separate from the original attraction, it worked. It tied in well with the Imagination Institute concept originated by the still-reasonably-popular Honey, I Shrunk the Audience running next door. It tapped in to the edgy industrial zeitgeist of the era (which in hindsight, I was probably just the right age to appreciate at the time; older audiences were turned off by the tone). Its storyline was clearly presented and nicely bookended by the imagination scanners (which weren’t nearly as insulting as people have suggested). And although the number of effects and surprises were greatly reduced from the original, they were staged in ways that made them engaging and relatively impressive.

Contrast that with the current version, which is a mess all around. To make sense of the story, you need to already understand the long-extinct original version with Figment, the Imagination Institute that’s been thrown to the wayside without HISTA, and remember the scanners from the short-lived JIYI; there are simply too many concepts for most riders to understand and an overly-chatty presentation. The (still too few) effects are staged in ways that undermine their utility: the train illusion is destroyed by campy lighting to not scare small children; the caged butterfly is in a new location that removes any wonder of “how’d they do that;” the upside-down home (and garage, especially) are painted fluorescent colors that remove any sense of reality upon which the original scene relied; and the finale both makes no sense (why did the room explode?) and simply doesn’t look good, with the bright yellow room making it easy to see the walls move, removing the impression of depth from the original, and cheap figures-on-strings just generally looking lackluster. And that doesn’t event mention the effects that were removed entirely during the redo, like the random color light wall toward the beginning and neat constellations toward the end, making an already-sparse attraction feel even more empty.

No, version 2.0 wasn’t perfect. But it had a clear vision for what it was (which, admittedly, wasn’t for everybody), and it executed its modest scope well, with a clear story and scenes staged in a way the clearly directed your attention to what was important. The current version is a mess that has no idea who the audience is, how to convey a story in a ride-through attraction, or where to the focus of a scene should be.

2.0 gets a lot of understandable hate for having removed 1.0 and everything that represented. It was one of the first big attractions that used the modern design philosophy (which continues today) of having only one or two key elements to look at in each scene, rather than the busy cocktail-party approach full of multiple vignettes to grab riders attention (think FEA vs. POTC), and I think that made the comparisons to why’d previous version especially unfavorable.

But JIYI knew was it was, and delivered on its promise. No, it wasn’t as good as the original, nor was that approach everybody’s taste, nor would it likely be on anybody’s list of Disney’s best attractions. But it had a clear vision and raison d'etre, unlike the design-by-committee approach that’s trying to appeal to too many audiences in the current version that just ends up leaving everybody feel left out.
 

Br0ckford

Well-Known Member
Even if they managed to restore the original, people would still complain, as the original wasn't perfect, and terrifying at times. It's prior reputation is better than what it was, it was no Horizons. The current version isn't that bad and doesn't deserve all the negativity.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 Good one. You almost had me there.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
The current version isn't that bad and doesn't deserve all the negativity.
I agree. A quick update replacing Dr. Nigel with Dreamfinder would do wonders for the attraction. Pretty sure they still have the flying machine somewhere… bring that back and replace one of the scenes with it and most people would be happy.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Oh goodness, no... A 'quick' update would be a disgrace. The interior needs to be gutted and re-built from the ground up.
Idk. Do you want rise of figment? Or figments runaway imagination?

There is something nostalgic about the current version - but we need to lose Nigel and get dreamfinder back. Ideally some of the rooms could be rebuilt as well but a total gut and rebuild? Idk.
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Idk. Do you want rise of figment? Or figments runaway imagination?
Disney is capable of making a decent new Figment attraction. I refuse to settle for anything less.
There is something nostalgic about the current version -
To hardly anybody
but we need to lose Nigel and get dreamfinder back.
Yep.
Ideally some of the rooms could be rebuilt as well but a total gut and rebuild? Idk.
If they could gut the original attraction to make this mess, then yes. They are capable. Raise your standards.
 

NelsonRD

Well-Known Member
Disney is capable of making a decent new Figment attraction. I refuse to settle for anything less.

To hardly anybody

Yep.

If they could gut the original attraction to make this mess, then yes. They are capable. Raise your standards.
And yet, you have been on it "Thousands of times".

The worst attraction in Orland is Fast and Furious Supercharged, so interestingly, I have only been on it once, with no plans on ever going on it again, even on a hot day with no line.
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
And yet, you have been on it "Thousands of times".

The worst attraction in Orland is Fast and Furious Supercharged, so interestingly, I have only been on it once, with no plans on ever going on it again, even on a hot day with no line.
Agreed. F&F is the worst attraction in Orlando... I've been on it every single trip. That's just how we do our trips.
 

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
Idk. Do you want rise of figment? Or figments runaway imagination?

There is something nostalgic about the current version - but we need to lose Nigel and get dreamfinder back. Ideally some of the rooms could be rebuilt as well but a total gut and rebuild? Idk.
What's nostalgic about computer labs and eye doctor offices?
Bring on Figment's Quest for the Golden Idol.
 

Zummi Gummi

Pioneering the Universe Within!
Have you ever experienced it? Or are you basing it on YouTube videos and riding the anti-Journey Into Imagination flow of this forum?
I’m old enough to have experienced all three versions. The original remains the best, without question, but I will grant you that the current version is not nearly as awful as the hideous second iteration of the attraction.
 

Rodj

Well-Known Member
The work done during the closure was exactly what I thought would be done, which is work being done on the AA's. One day is too short for any ride system modifications.

I'm still waiting on a decent video to be made to show the improvements, though the sound lab's AA is where I have noticed the most improvement; The motion is much more smoother now, though it still doesn't have full motion/still wonky. On the first few days, Figment's head kept twisting in odd directions, such as this:
1697309311327.png

During 3rd shift on either the 12th or 13th, they made the head motion more dampened, but it made it look more limited now.
The work that was done on the loading dock Figment AA at the Touch & Taste labs entrance is with the arms. Both arms move flawlessly now, but everything else is still a mess, especially with the upper torso.

Lets hope more 3rd shift work will make both AA's better again soon.
 


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