Rumor Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment

[Mickeynerd17]

Detrimental, how?? Lol! It’d only do the park & the company good. People loved him all the time he was there, no reason that wouldn’t be the case now. He’s got the exact same charm, creativity, charm and impact as the other Disney characters& attractions of yore. Nothing more.

I'm saying that the average guest with no background context at this point very well would could be confused as to who the heck this character is and would only possibly understand figment since he's been actively in an attraction for the last 20 years.

Detrimental to Iger’s BS/non-withstanding plan with the company & the parks. But certainly not the long-lasting, successful legacy pioneered by Walt & the OG Imagineers.

Like it or not, those days have been over for a while now. Until epcot has a solid overarching direction, dreamfinder could be and oddity in the park suffering the same problem as the other attractions that don't "fit."

Regardless. I hope your right.

 

[Inspired Figment]

I'm saying that the average guest with no background context at this point very well would could be confused as to who the heck this character is and would only possibly understand figment since he's been actively in an attraction for the last 20 years.

the ride itself provided the context. Just as attractions like Tiki Room, Country Bears, Carousel of Progress, It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion always have.. and it sure seems people get Spaceship Earth & Living with the Land perfectly fine. Don’t see the big difference here. Don’t know who Dreamfinder & Figment are, then experience their original ride, meet them out in the park meeting and greeting with other guests, and you’ll find out. Worked then to have people fall in love with the characters & their message, can still work now. If the ride is back to its original form with the tech & spfx enhancements if needed, there’s no problem anymore.

 

[Inspired Figment]

And with the overarching theme being the creative process & the impact imagination has in society.. the very thing that powers all creations. Including everything within Walt Disney World. Don’t see how it’d be much of an oddball. Truth be told.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Regardless. I hope your right.

Past success & history says that I am on this particular matter.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Just because some selfish, power hungry executives internally decided to leverage Honey I Shrunk the Audience, intentionally. changing guest flow, queue ropes, signage, etc. to artificially get higher attendance numbers on Honey compared to Journey to prove to the execs above them that Journey should be changed thematically/entirely, along with the excuse of high maintenance costs that could be evaded by going with their ill-conceived pitch, to strictly benefit their career positions at that time, doesn’t mean that the original Journey Into Imagination pavilion & Dreamfinder and Figment never worked or were never successful. Truth be told. And funny to say, Honey I Shrunk the Kids was only popular strictly by a finanical standpoint due to the Roger Rabbit short, Tummy Trouble placed before it. Every sequel after that made less and less money and made very little impact afterwards. So much so, Honey I Shrunk the Audience’s run & lasting legacy & impact proves this. Know what’s stayed popular, fondly remembered, & a big seller, Figment, Dreamfinder, and anything tied into the original Journey Into Imagination. Not anything from the Honey I Shrunk IP/franchise.

 

[Inspired Figment]

What I also find funny/ironic is the theme that they went for that redo are all the Medfield College connected Sci-Fi Comedy flicks/IPs. (Computer who Wore Tennis Shoes, Absent Minded Professor/Flubber, etc.) (Honey I Shrunk series also fitting into this) as a quote on quote “Imagination” Institute. When this is known to be ‘Walt’’s downfall in regards to the creativity within the company. It became an overused, tired gimmick within their live action movie division that audiences soon grew sick of and they later started losing critical acclaim & profit on, the more it continued on. Long gone were the days of Mary Poppins, Treasure Island, Davy Crockett, etc. Which were successful enough to start & fund endeavors like WED enterprises.. and in their place were cheesy science flicks that used the same tired, dated formula, over and over and over again. The true start to the ‘loss’ of true Imagination, innovation, & creativity within The Walt Disney Company.

 

[Inspired Figment]

While Imagination in & itself, showcased through all the realms/mediums it can be best utilized in, plus an interactive playground where we could experiment it in our own ways in a way only WED/WDI could accomplish it. Ways in which were ‘reminiscent’ but not an exact copy of their past successful works. With two loveable, passionate, and identifiable characters we found in Dreamfinder & Figment Is timeless/eternal. That concept ‘never’ gets dated. Particularly in the way the show scenes were arranged & done. Not to mention the great voice cast, music composition, etc. All that had to have were some of its spfx enhanced & updated slightly, mainly tech wise over time. Especially with the ones that were originally planned but couldn’t be executed at the time due to the fact the budget & tech wasn’t available at the time. Nothing else.

As such, none of us should have to settle for something less than what we got originally. It never should’ve left to begin with. Only tastefully enhanced, period

 

[mysto]

It's a purple dragon, everyone understands it.

On the other hand, the popcorn bucket commands much longer lines than the original attraction, probably due to lower throughput but hey. Some serious hype there. Maybe a special edition cupcake or AP magnet would drum up enough interest among the ambitious company execs to consider a "retro"-fit.

 

[Inspired Figment]

It's a purple dragon, everyone understands it.

On the other hand, the popcorn bucket commands much longer lines than the original attraction, probably due to lower throughput but hey. Some serious hype there. Maybe a special edition cupcake or AP magnet would drum up enough interest among the ambitious company execs to consider a "retro"-fit.

Not the case.. have you seen Martin’s ultimate tribute video of the attraction? Line for the popcorn buckets was almost the same as the original ride yet the ride had the capacity to handle things. Otherwise, Figment is more than just a purple dragon.. if it were simply that he were a purple dragon, then how come the current ride hardly gets any ridership daily?… I thought the fact that he was a purple dragon is what made him popular… oh wait.. yeah, that’s what I thought.. a fundamental misunderstanding on WDI’s part. The true reason why Figment sells is due to his philosophy and his original curious, wide eyed child full of optimism, purity & wonder characterization. Yes he’s cute & appealing from a design perspective, but he’s more than that.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

This is a really bad take.

For one, RnRC is a weak off-the-shelf coaster that bangs your head up while being half the length of Guardians (without the massive projections and incredibly unique ways the vehicle maneuvers). To your other point, Hagrid’s is pretty universally considered to be the best (or amongst the best) themed coasters ever made, so that’s some stiff competition for Figment.

Any other rides that OG Figment is superior over? Indy? Shanghai Pirates? JTTCOTE? DLP’s Pirates? Rise? RSR? FoP? VelociCoaster? Mystic Manor? GMR? Tot? Splash? HM?

I mean, just because something is a classic doesn’t mean things can’t have been made better since then. It was a great ride (that never should have been removed), but if Journey Into Imagination was legitimately the best ride at EPCOT today we’d be in an even worse spot than we are now IMO, and this is coming from a huge fan of it.

Weird hill to die on.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

 

[Inspired Figment]

View attachment 692366

Truth be told, the expectations we hold for dark rides are all simply from the experience and the quality of how how good they truly were. The only folks complaining about how “unrealistic” they are are people who are on the same selfish, blind page as Iger. They don’t want to admit the bar was ‘that’ high back then because quite frankly, they don’t actually care or as passionate as we are, don’t have the actual experience nor knowledge of what was there before & refuse to acknowledge it, ‘or’ they simply don’t want to admit that things are worse now simply due to the fact that if they did say that, it’d hurt the illusion they’ve made up that “everything’s fine. I like it, others that aren’t in the know or as passionate like it, so nobody else’s opinion or history matters”

 

[Inspired Figment]

The truth of the matter is, execs above that actually have the power to do anything are the ones who manipulated guest flow, signage, and intentionally dwindled awareness of the ride itself to support their own selfish goals w the Honey I Shrunk IP. Imagination never actually genuinely lost popularity or love. If it did, how come the IP themed version w little to no Figment or anything from the original attraction in between only lasted ‘2’ years due to how immense the backlash was against the changes…. Mhm, again, that says everything.

 

[Inspired Figment]

the only reason the ill-conceived 02-current version masquerading as a “return” when really it’s a screw you towards the fans w little to no change (hence why Figment is shoehorned as an after thought and is treated like a nuisance that farts in your face & turns everything upside-down in it, to mock the fans that fought against the garbage version without him right before) has lasted as long as it has, despite it’s lack of ridership nor popularity, is neglect, a lack of caring, and intentional blindness/too large of an ego from the execs above to support only themselves and nobody else, period. Anyone with genuine good faith in the company and it’s legacy would look at the sales data, the testimonies/memories people hold for the original ride & characters, etc. and would ‘immediately’ greenlight a proper return of the pavilion & characters we all loved without question. They don’t need to do anymore “tests”. This very same stuff’s been going on for and they have data going back decades now, 20 something years. Just do what should & needs to be done already.

 

[HauntedPirate]

the only reason the ill-conceived 02-current version masquerading as a “return” when really it’s a screw you towards the fans w little to no change (hence why Figment is shoehorned as an after thought and is treated like a nuisance that farts in your face & turns everything upside-down in it, to mock the fans that fought against the garbage version without him right before) has lasted as long as it has, despite it’s lack of ridership nor popularity, is neglect, a lack of caring, and intentional blindness/too large of an ego from the execs above to support only themselves and nobody else, period. Anyone with genuine good faith in the company and it’s legacy would look at the sales data, the testimonies/memories people hold for the original ride & characters, etc. and would ‘immediately’ greenlight a proper return of the pavilion & characters we all loved without question. They don’t need to do anymore “tests”. This very same stuff’s been going on for and they have data going back decades now, 20 something years. Just do what should & needs to be done already.

It was a spiteful refurb. And it's existed longer than the original masterpiece.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Again, I don't think mocking Figment fans was the intent with the current version when the Eric Idle solo version was so hated. You're basically watching Figment beat the crap out of that guy that told guests they were creatively braindead for seven minutes. It's just that topical humor like that ages like milk, especially when you use it as the basis for a quickfix that was never intended to run for 20 years.

 

[FigmentFan82]

Again, I don't think mocking Figment fans was the intent with the current version when the Eric Idle solo version was so hated. You're basically watching Figment beat the crap out of that guy that told guests they were creatively braindead for seven minutes. It's just that topical humor like that ages like milk, especially when you use it as the basis for a quickfix that was never intended to run for 20 years.

Agree, I see it as more an embrace of the crass humor of the time, akin to Tiki Room's new management stint. Heck, bugs bunny himself notoriously stated "Ain't I a stinker?" as many hero cartoon characters we also portrayed as pranksters and such (just like Mickey Mouse many times in his career)

 

[FigmentJedi]

Agree, I see it as more an embrace of the crass humor of the time, akin to Tiki Room's new management stint. Heck, bugs bunny himself notoriously stated "Ain't I a stinker?" as many hero cartoon characters we also portrayed as pranksters and such (just like Mickey Mouse many times in his career)

Exactly. Under New Management was also one big joke about how stupid the premise of injecting cartoon IP into a pre-existing ride was. And we almost had a third example with the whole "Let's retheme Superstar Limo to the Muppets while its still operating and have temporary Muppet construction workers cracking jokes about how godawful the original Superstar Limo was over the course of its installation" proposal. Cries for help from late-Eisner era WDI all of them.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Can’t help but find it “interesting” though how the sign has Figment painted in a similar way to New Management rather than the Channing in this case as it should be however… think of why the roles are changed aswell… as opposed to the new characters screwing with the old.. it’s the old character screwing with the new… hmm.. other things also point to it being a jab at the fans rather than the new stuff. Like the insistence to keep poorly received Dr. Channing & Institute theming (doubling down on their garbage decision) rather than return Dreamfinder and the original theming & have Figment be portrayed the same way he was before rather than the latter. The Tiki Birds were portrayed the same as the originals, so why not Figment? Seems like an intentional choice to me.. it also doesn’t help how the sign outside is quite literally a diagram of the turntable that they disabled/used as an execuse for being too costly to maintain to get that redo off the ground to begin with.. the ride vehicles also feature this same diagram.. hmmm..

 

[Inspired Figment]

And why hire the very guys that did Your Imagination to do With Figment? It’s also known that Kathy Mangum & Tom Fitzgerald, the two heads behind those 2 iterations have constantly had a bone to pick with Tony & his team.. referred to as “foamers” internally that are too close with fans/folks beneath them.. despite Tony & his team being the ones who brought those guys in, in the first place because they saw potential in them.. Yeeah, no joke. Look it up