Bob Iger "I don't think Figment is going anywhere any time soon, I promise"

[71jason]

So boys ... a version with whimsical animatronics is off the table then?

ETA: The dirty little secret of EPCOT Center is that Future World needs a DCA-like make-over even more than DHS. There's no saving most of what's left. Turn WS into an adult entertainment district that stays open late, and rebuild FW from the ground up.

Spoken by the 12-year-old kid who thought 1983 EPCOT was the coolest place on earth--not just in WDW, on the whole planet.

 

[tl77]

Thanks to Jeff Lange for video

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

Watching the original ride movie totally jogged my memory. What a great ride it truly was.....

 

[Admiral01]

We're going to disagree on Tron Track.

That's ok. While I prefer the new one to the original, neither can touch World of Motion.

My point was that TT 2.0 seems to have been done with high quality. I don't get the high quality feeling from the current Imagination or The Seas. I do now with TT 2.0, regardless of theme.

 

[mahnamahna101]

Once again, TDO wants to close an entire pavillion without a replacement. I hope EPCOT plummets to below 8 million guests so that Iger, Staggs and all of them get the message that "You gotta provide quality product to keep people coming back"

 

[tongaloosh]

Of course he's not going anywhere, he'll be on t-shirts as long as anyone who rode the original is still alive.

What a happy coincidence, I'm wearing my Imagination t-shirt (with both Figment and Dreamfinder on it) while reading this.

 

[aladdin2007]

Once again, TDO wants to close an entire pavillion without a replacement. I hope EPCOT plummets to below 8 million guests so that Iger, Staggs and all of them get the message that "You gotta provide quality product to keep people coming back"

If its true its very sad, they have no vision anymore whatsoever except for nextgen crap etc. After reading the posts here Im getting a horrible Spectromagic feeling. They will tell us its going down for refurb, but we know how that goes, means never to return, and the building will just be used as storage. A meetngreet would open inside the entrance area with a big wall with the boarded up ride space behind it.

And or.... theres a lot of talk about the new star wars 3d movie replacing EO in Disneyland, that could very well happen as our EO replacement here. But then what comes of Imagination? I fear a giant star wars store in Imaginations space. I dont know I hope most of that is wrong but it sure isnt sounding too promising. TDO is turning Epcot into Boozecot and conventioncot! And thats all they care about. They have lost all direction and everything I dont know its really bumming me out.

Anything can happen before January, the news will probably change ten times or so before then, knowing Disney.

 

[tl77]

Watching these videos of the Imagineering presentation and the Legends ceremony, I'm getting the impression that Tony Baxter is using his time in the spotlight at D23 to rally the crowd for the original Journey into Imagination, not so much for his own glory but to try and show Iger and Staggs how much the public enjoyed the thing.

 

[PhotoDave219]

That's ok. While I prefer the new one to the original, neither can touch World of Motion.

My point was that TT 2.0 seems to have been done with high quality. I don't get the high quality feeling from the current Imagination or The Seas. I do now with TT 2.0, regardless of theme.

I tend to disagree with the quality. Black light and bad projection screens and circa 1999 computer graphics.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Once again, TDO wants to close an entire pavillion without a replacement. I hope EPCOT plummets to below 8 million guests so that Iger, Staggs and all of them get the message that "You gotta provide quality product to keep people coming back"

Not gonna happen as long as Disney keeps funneling DDP people into Food and Beverage Showcase.

 

[FrankLapidus]

Watching these videos of the Imagineering presentation and the Legends ceremony, I'm getting the impression that Tony Baxter is using his time in the spotlight at D23 to rally the crowd for the original Journey into Imagination, not so much for his own glory but to try and show Iger and Staggs how much the public enjoyed the thing.

I got the same impression and I'm glad he did, the company wrecked something Tony created and is clearly very proud of. As he should be too. There are things about Disney, tradition and heritage, that Iger and Staggs have shown little understanding of, spending millions on dollars on the theme park rights of outside properties is all well and good but there is a reason why attractions like Imagination! are timeless and still get a standing ovation at the mere mention of the name of the attractions or it's characters.

 

[Captain Neo]

Thanks to Jeff Lange for video

Man how can Iger not see that Baxter is one of Disney's greatest assets? There is no way he can't realize that. Baxter should be designing the rides of Tomorrow not Vaughn's team and Fitzgerald

 

[ChrisFL]

I think OLC should "hire" if that's the word, Tony for bringing an Imagination pavilion to Tokyo. I think the original version built over there would be VERY popular.

 

[aladdin2007]

I think OLC should "hire" if that's the word, Tony for bringing an Imagination pavilion to Tokyo. I think the original version built over there would be VERY popular.

Figments Imagination with Duffy, lol

 

[tl77]

I got the same impression and I'm glad he did, the company wrecked something Tony created and is clearly very proud of. As he should be too. There are things about Disney, tradition and heritage, that Iger and Staggs have shown little understanding of, spending millions on dollars on the theme park rights of outside properties is all well and good but there is a reason why attractions like Imagination! are timeless and still get a standing ovation at the mere mention of the name of the attractions or it's characters.

Yeah I though his speech was rather selfless... because he's being honored for all the things he's accomplished in nearly 50 years with the company, but his speech was about 2 things he did that are no longer there, and what they meant to him personally, the child like enthusiasm of Figment and the original Star Tours pilot, and how fleeting that child like enthusiasm is.

It's like he's saying "I didn't stay here for 50 years to get a trophy and my name on a window on main street, it's all about the joy of doing it, and the joy that people get from it" that's exactly the kind of things Walt Disney always used to say

 

[matt9112]

That's not grammar, that's proper spelling.

And if I was being a nazi I would simply offer you a shower & then toss you in the oven.

i laughed very hard.

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

i laughed very hard.

Genocide...not so funny IMO. Can we get back to Figment?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Genocide...not so funny IMO. Can we get back to Figment?

To be fair, genocide is a pretty apt and relevant subject regarding how they converted the original Imagination ride into the second and third versions of the ride. In fact, it's relevant to what happened to EPCOT as a whole.

 

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Not to get off on a rant, but... bringing JII into the 21st Century would be the "Potter swatter" that Disney desperately needs now, especially in a "futuristic" park that reeks of 20th Century Staleness™.

Just, uh, imagine the original JII with modern day ride technology like Hunny Hunt or Mystic Manor. Or better still, IoA's Forbidden Journey. You're not just traveling in the same dimensional plane as Dreamfinder and Figment... you're flying above, below, and all around the Dream Catcher. Physical sets are seamlessly married with 30 ft 3-D projections a la Spider-Man. And those pesky Magic Bands sitting on your wrist? They're your interactive conduit. You get to play Dreamfinder and help him choose which elements to collect, instead of slowly gliding by passive sets that barely change.

This is a no-brainer. Disney needs to step up their game, and this attraction would be the easiest way to do it. The basic story is already written. It just needs a leading edge treatment to make our jaws drop. Imagineering wrote the book on this kind of theme park experience. I really want to see them find their way again.

 

[CDavid]

neither can touch World of Motion.

Thank You.