CONFIRMED: Kodak Leaving Imagination

[CaptainWinter]

What I'm having trouble understanding, and never understood in regard to WoL, is that in no other Disney park is something just shuttered due to no sponsorship. I don't think there's very much sponsorship in MK or AK that I can recall with a few exceptions (Small World, Space Mtn, and I think GE used to sponsor CoP). Yet everything there pretty much remains open. Why not do without sponsorship altogether?

My guess is that Disney simply doesn't want to open the floodgates of paying for all those pavilions themselves. I was personally surprised when they assumed Living Seas. They could drop all their sponsors, sure, but it's less profit for them -- perhaps a lot less.

Saying that, I'm totally against Apple having any presence in the parks. I'm not a fan of their products, after a bad expereience with an ipod mini (my 1st and only Apple product), and the overtaking of the parks to the mighty I-things is something that gives me the chills.

No such apprehension here. (I've owned some clunky Kodak cameras, but the original Imagination was a treat. I think the relationship between a company's products and its Epcot presence is not very direct.) Mostly what the sponsors provide is financial support, and that's a role Apple can fill very very well. Plus Apple, as image-conscious as it is, would never want their name on a substandard attraction.

 

[BrerFrog]

"Traditions" is the first class that CM's go through. It's an 8-hour class and the first half of the day is an abriviated history lesson about the company. But the class moves very quickly as they also have to fit in Guest Service, the Disney Look, Safe D and many other things work-related items that CM's need to know before being sent off to their location.

Isn't it much less than 8 hours nowadays? I know that when I took it it lasted about four hours and most of it was spent with Safe D and other work-related items. There was just a short time when they talked about the parks and the company.

 

[WEDwaydatamover]

Now I'm comparing apples to oranges here but when The Florida Citrus Growers ended their Tropical Serenade sponsorship, with them went the Florida Orange Bird which was also Disney created and owned.

On second thought the Country Bears used to pimp Pepsi and Frito Lay so who knows?

If Figment stays I hope that management doesn't try to make him gender neutral again by feminizing him like they did when they brought him back years ago. That was a little weird.

 

[Bravo 229]

We need some "Over the wall pics". Get someone to jump 4 feet and you'll be good to go.

I could almost reach the top of the walls, so I thought about it, but my camera has a delay so I would've had to be suspended mid air for a few seconds.

 

[fosse76]

I've seen a few questions about the creation / ownership of the Figment and Dreamfinder characters. I posted this back in June in a thread entitled "KODAK wanting out of Imagination" or something to that effect:

"After a cursory, quick search of official records, it appears that the Dreamfinder and Figment characters are owned by Buena Vista Distribution Company & Walt Disney Productions. (Though I guess that there could be some licensing agreement that gave Kodak some special rights or interest in the characters ....)"

I never did any follow-up or more in-depth search, but I'm still of the impression that those characters are available to Disney even with Kodak out of Imagination.

Of course they are. It's Disney's attraction. They designed, built, owned and operated it. Kodak was a sponsor, and while it may have had creative input, the only contribution worth anything was their money. Sponsorships aren't ownership. It's Disney's way of passing off the costs of something to another company.

 

[Mouse Man]

See here's the thing though, WAY back when EPCOT Center was bright shiny and new Figment and Dreamfinder were brand new characters created specifically for the attraction and the public had no clue who they were before taking in the attraction. It didn't take long for both characters to become not only synonymous with the JII...but with EPCOT as a whole and they became as popular I'd dare say as many other Disney characters. Which is why people want them back so much to begin with. That's a testiment to the characters themselves as they transcend the attraction.

My point being. While there are those who may not remember Figment and Dreamfinder as they were...I seriously doubt it would take long for the new generation to find their appeal as well.

This is so true. How can you not love Figment and Dreamfinder. I remember seeing them for the first time and just fell in love with the idea and characters. I never met a child that didn't love figment during that time when the ride was opened. Then for some strange reason they murdered one of my favarite rides of all time.

 

[devoy1701]

Well if you want Future World West promenade area to rot due to lack of groundskeeping, cleaning, repair and painting then so be it. :lol:

well if the queue was rerouted to the Imagination Pavilion, there would be no need for the queue building to still be attached to the Land, so the access road would be able to be re-routed between Soarin' and the Land.

Even though I Understand the argument that Soarin' does not really tie into "the Land". I think relocating it would be a bit ridiculous!

 

[raven]

well if the queue was rerouted to the Imagination Pavilion, there would be no need for the queue building to still be attached to the Land, so the access road would be able to be re-routed between Soarin' and the Land.

But why spend that money to tear down and rebuild "just because?"

Removal of the Kodak name should start this weekend.

 

[devoy1701]

But why spend that money to tear down and rebuild "just because?"

Removal of the Kodak name should start this weekend.

I was just speaking logistically. The queue could be relocated to the Imagination Pavilion and the road rerouted to where the queue currently is if it was necessary.

I don't think there is an issue with Soarin' being in the land pavilion. I think it could use a name change to "Soarin' over the Land" or something of the sort, But even in it's current form the attraction focuses much more on the diversity of the land than it does on "flying".

EDIT: haha...apparently I am conflicting with myself because in my earlier post I said that I agree that Soarin' doesn't belong in the Land Pavilion...I guess I wasn't quite awake yet then!

 

[Vernonpush]

But why spend that money to tear down and rebuild "just because?"

Removal of the Kodak name should start this weekend.

Work permit has been filed:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=3777691&postcount=8

 

[JEANYLASER]

Thanks for the info! I hope that Apple be the sponsor! what about Captain EO! Disney makes another new 3D Movie attraction?

 

[hoke2007]

Thanks for the info! I hope that Apple be the sponsor!

Is there any truth to this rumor that Apple could be the new sponsor?

 

[BrerFrog]

well if the queue was rerouted to the Imagination Pavilion, there would be no need for the queue building to still be attached to the Land, so the access road would be able to be re-routed between Soarin' and the Land.

Even though I Understand the argument that Soarin' does not really tie into "the Land". I think relocating it would be a bit ridiculous!

The Soarin' and The Land combo is a little odd for me as I don't think it is a thematic disaster, but I don't feel it is a perfect fit either.

 

[ChrisFL]

The Soarin' and The Land combo is a little odd for me as I don't think it is a thematic disaster, but I don't feel it is a perfect fit either.

Here's my issue with it, for the amount of money spent ripping out part of the Land and fitting that long queue, they should have made an entirely new Aviation themed pavilion, they could have done a lot with that, an it would have fit just fine between JII and the Land since the Soarin' building is actually next to JII anyway.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The Soarin' and The Land combo is a little odd for me as I don't think it is a thematic disaster, but I don't feel it is a perfect fit either.

Here's my issue with it, for the amount of money spent ripping out part of the Land and fitting that long queue, they should have made an entirely new Aviation themed pavilion, they could have done a lot with that, an it would have fit just fine between JII and the Land since the Soarin' building is actually next to JII anyway.

I think it would have made more sense as an attraction at the entrance of world showcase. The show building could stay in the same location, just have a long queue before you get to Canada. Of course this would have made more sense if and when Soarin' Over the World arrives.

 

[Tom]

But why spend that money to tear down and rebuild "just because?"

Removal of the Kodak name should start this weekend.

Good guess :lookaroun

 

[MichWolv]

I think it would have made more sense as an attraction at the entrance of world showcase. The show building could stay in the same location, just have a long queue before you get to Canada. Of course this would have made more sense if and when Soarin' Over the World arrives.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if this is and were the long-term plan when the attraction was built in Epcot. Soarin' Over the Wonders of the World would be a great next generation of the attraction.

My dream would be that the old Millennium celebration building would be the waiting area. It would be a next gen queue like was tested at RnRC. You'd enter the building and get your boarding group, then spend the "waiting" time looking at exhibits that would be put up in the building about the "Wonder of the World" you'll be seeing in the ride, or, as was done in 2000, about countries not represented in WS. The actual queue structure that would need to be built to connect the existing buildign with the Soarin' show building would seem to need to be about as long as the current one (based on a view in googlemaps, it seems this would be even shorter than a queue from a spot on the promendade near Canada).

 

[RSoxNo1]

Jim Hill speculated that Soarin' over the World could be in the cards after a film made it's way to Japan. As for using the old Millennium Village area. It's a bit further away from the existing Soarin' building, but I suppose the queue is already long enough coming out of the land so that it doesn't really matter.

 

[JEANYLASER]

Thanks!

 

[raven]

Jim Hill speculated that Soarin' over the World could be in the cards after a film made it's way to Japan. As for using the old Millennium Village area. It's a bit further away from the existing Soarin' building, but I suppose the queue is already long enough coming out of the land so that it doesn't really matter.

Disney isn't going to be replacing or repurposing World Showplace (aka Millennium Village) anytime soon. They make way too much money renting it out for special events right now and it's the only place on property to have such a facility to rent out for events inside one of the parks. Directly behind the building (to the left of it in the picture above) is the enormous kitchen and events offices for the catering of events in that building.