Homemade Imagineering
Well-Known Member
Van Eaton auction at The Burbank Town Center in the old Bed Bath and Beyond!
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Rumor Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment
- Thread starter Walrus from Paris
- Start date
Gran Fiesta
Well-Known Member
So being that I am fairly young and never got to experience anything other than the current ride, why did they change the original ride? I have watched videos of it and it looks absolutely amazing and vastly superior to what we have now. The grand building seems to warrant an attraction like the original and not the current version. Were there problems with the animatronics or what was the final reason for changing it??
Disgruntled Walt
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I believe it was that the sponsorship agreement with Kodak required the ride to be refreshed every so many years (similar to the Test Track situation, I think). This was just the change they decided to make. I don't think they fully realized the massive misstep it would be.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
Wasn't the rotating table also a big part of it as well due to timing issues?
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
those problems would be easily solved with today's technology...but it was amazing and operated on 1981 tech...vastly superior in every way. They need to go back to the Dreamport and sing about the spark of imagination...
We all need that wonderful attraction back...Massive sets, lots of animated props and those two lovable characters!!
We all need that wonderful attraction back...Massive sets, lots of animated props and those two lovable characters!!
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
You deserve to know the truth. Ignore the “Kodak sponsorship/fork the money to be refreshed every so years” reasoning. It’s totally asinine & makes ‘zero’ sense from a thematic theming standpoint (not to mention a merch sales standpoint), considering they were able to follow the sponsorship agreement & thematic integrity with no issues for years. ImageWorks had been updated overtime with new activities that didn’t go against its core theming, Captain EO had gone in after Magic Journey’s run without changing the ride or guest flow. The true reasoning is inner corporate politics is to blame for changing it. Tony Baxter has said this himself. The culture within the company aswell as WDI had shifted for the worst once Frank Wells passed and folks within the company were ride or die in getting promoted and were in essence, willing to do anything they could to do so. What ultimately happened is in ‘94-98, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience opened in the Magic Eye Theatre space after Captain EO closed. Signage, queue ropes, and monorail spiels were changed to put the focus entirely on and to lead directly into Honey I Shrunk the Audience and that it was the must-see/main attraction as opposed to the Journey Into Imagination ride & ImageWorks as it’d been prior. The moment this change happened, attendance numbers to the Imagination ride & ImageWorks artificially dropped. This, along with projected maintenance costs as a whole, would give Disney’s upper management data that “Journey Into Imagination had lost its popularity” and would push the false/ill conceived idea that it should be changed/rethemed. So what did they change it into along with making it cheap to lower projected maintenance costs? A ‘Honey I Shrunk tie in’ themed Imagination Institute ride called Journey Into Your Imagination. Another point I should add.. Eisner also apparently hated Figment & Dreamfinder for whatever nonsensical reason (despite a deal in talks going on around the same time where Disney was going to possibly buy out Lyric Studios from Richard Leach (the father of Sheryl Leach, who created Barney). According to VeggieTales creator, Phil Vischer, who was dealing with Lyric at the time via a video distribution deal at the time, Katzenberg,Eisner & Richard were trying to reach a deal in which Disney would buy them out & afterwards, “push ‘Barney’ to be “as big as Mickey Mouse” (you sick yet?? Knowing what you probably know about the longtime proven appeal & love for Dreamfinder & Figment at that point and the absolute opposite for Barney & Friends when it came to audiences above the age of 5.). Richard ultimately declined as he didn’t want to “sell out”. Yeeeah, imagine that. Ultimately, in the end though Lyric would sell out & be bought by HiT entertainment.. but anyway, the point I’m making is Disney wanted & saw potential in ‘Barney’ , a character almost universally divisive & panned for being pandering & strictly for the preschool crowd, to “be as big as Mickey”, but not ‘Dreamfinder & Figment’, which was beloved & appealing to all ages. Your look of disgust & bewilderment is about the same as mine… heck, how they didn’t see them as viable competition that went above & beyond is beyond me… but I digress)
Getting back to the ride specifically, what happened shortly after the ill-conceived retheme/rehab opened in 99? Millions of complaints that Dreamfinder & Figment/the original Imagination ride was gone. This version of the ride lasted only 2-3 years (til ‘01) the guest complaints were so immense, on top of it, merchandising hated the fact they’d since lost a ton since Figment was a huge merch seller at the time aswell, afterwards this led way to the lame band-aid fix of a ride we’ve had since 02, Journey Into Imagination : With Figment, still currently operating, with Figment lazily shoehorned into the bad Honey I Shrunk IP themed ride/Journey Into Your Imagination rather than just restore it back to the original Journey Into Imagination ride it was with the tech & spfx enhancements it should’ve gotten all those years ago to possibly add the things it could’ve & should’ve had back in 83 but couldn’t due to tech & budget limitations. But yeah, it’s been in that horrible state for literally 21 years now… despite the still present outcry & nostalgia for the original. Only thing I have to say to that is “pathetic”.
Truly, if Disney ever needed any huge burst of goodwill in a time they need it though. Bringing back the original Journey Into Imagination ride would be just the thing to bring a lot of those hardcore fans back aswell as appeal to newbies and maybe give more faith in the future for WDI.
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FigmentFan82
Well-Known Member
Here's a sad story about the original version vs what is there today.
My first visit to WDW (and I confirmed this with myself from photos that had dates stamped on the back) was when I was 4 years old. It was 1986. It was the 15 year anniversary and I won a light up visor when we exited Magic Kingdom (I loved that visor for many many years until it finally broke) I don't have detailed memories, but I remember loving Figment and his ride and had his plush growing up for many years as well. I can't remember the exact next year we visited, but we returned for sure sometime in the mid early 90s. There was of course no internet really to speak of or any instant way to know the goings on at WDW (I'm from the NE so not local) and would never have thought they would change things. Riding the changed version was like being gaslit before knowing what that term was. The original version felt like some fever dream at that point. Was my memory wrong? Was this what the ride was the whole time and I just imagined (haha) the original version. Obv years later and the advent of the internet and the way we share information nowadays it's all clear on what happened. But I remember being totally gutted and not knowing why one of my favorite rides was not what I thought it would always be. Much of Epcot (one of my favorite parks as a kid) was so foreign to me with all the changes they made. Again, I kept wondering if I had dreamed it all. When I see those retro photos of 1980s Epcot I feel better knowing that I hadn't made it all up. Thinking back I may have first seen the non Figment changed ride before they added him back, which was a real when he was just straight gone. As I've gotten older I am more open to the need and reason for changes to occur (RIP Maelstrom, at least I could be aware of that one in this modern internet age) and I do hope Tiana turns out ok, but the OG Journey will always have a place in my far off distant memory and always be bittersweet when I ride what is there. I hope if/when they do a proper revamp that they do it right!
My first visit to WDW (and I confirmed this with myself from photos that had dates stamped on the back) was when I was 4 years old. It was 1986. It was the 15 year anniversary and I won a light up visor when we exited Magic Kingdom (I loved that visor for many many years until it finally broke) I don't have detailed memories, but I remember loving Figment and his ride and had his plush growing up for many years as well. I can't remember the exact next year we visited, but we returned for sure sometime in the mid early 90s. There was of course no internet really to speak of or any instant way to know the goings on at WDW (I'm from the NE so not local) and would never have thought they would change things. Riding the changed version was like being gaslit before knowing what that term was. The original version felt like some fever dream at that point. Was my memory wrong? Was this what the ride was the whole time and I just imagined (haha) the original version. Obv years later and the advent of the internet and the way we share information nowadays it's all clear on what happened. But I remember being totally gutted and not knowing why one of my favorite rides was not what I thought it would always be. Much of Epcot (one of my favorite parks as a kid) was so foreign to me with all the changes they made. Again, I kept wondering if I had dreamed it all. When I see those retro photos of 1980s Epcot I feel better knowing that I hadn't made it all up. Thinking back I may have first seen the non Figment changed ride before they added him back, which was a real when he was just straight gone. As I've gotten older I am more open to the need and reason for changes to occur (RIP Maelstrom, at least I could be aware of that one in this modern internet age) and I do hope Tiana turns out ok, but the OG Journey will always have a place in my far off distant memory and always be bittersweet when I ride what is there. I hope if/when they do a proper revamp that they do it right!
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Gran Fiesta
Well-Known Member
Wow, I wish I could have experienced the original ride. It is very sad that they changed it before a new generation of fans could enjoy it except through videos.
Yeah I haven't brought myself to watch a video of Journey Into Your Imagination. Is it worse than the ride that we currently have?
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
I myself have never experienced the OG ride in person (I’m 24). However, I’ve become a huge fan starting at the age of 13/14 through watching videos, seeing photos, learning it’s history, collecting memorabilia, etc.
And yeah.. Journey Into Your Imagination… absolutely worse. Imagine Journey Into Imagination With Figment but with only Dr. Channing and the tour through the institute, without Figment & the One Little Spark song “interfering” with it. Figment only has a couple cameos in the queue area overhead videos, a cameo in a star connections room, and at the very very end congratulating you for having such a great imagination after going through that ride. In essence, there ya have it and it’s ‘bad’. ‘Real’ bad.
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Disgruntled Walt
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I hoped you would hop on here and tell us the full story!
Mickeynerd17
Well-Known Member
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
Rewatching Journey Into YOUR Imagination...
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
It was a rope that purposely killed off the Original Attraction masterpiece.
A change was made to the entrance flow to the Pavillon by Ops to direct Guests to the new 'HiSTA' film presentation FIRST and everything else was a afterthought.
Purposely done to show the new film was now 'more popular' with Guests, and falsify ride count numbers.
Not the first time this has been done to force a closure.
A absolute crime.
The Original 'Journey' had been the #2 in Guest attendence right under SSE since it opened.
Guests LOVED it, and that never stopped.
But things happened within the Company, and costs became a major issue after Disneyland Paris opened.
The Original was costly to operate and changing attitudes within the Company shifted focus at targeting expensive-to-operate Attractions.
The mid to late 1990s were not a good time for Disney or theme park fans...we lost three major and much missed Masterpieces of Attractions in a short time frame, and all three were closed through clever trickery - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Horizons, and the Original 'Journey Into Imagination'.
None of these were closed due to low ridership or loss of Guests' interest.
All those said numbers were purposely manipulated to imply this, to satisfy certain parties within the Company and to provide the 'proof' needed to gut them all.
I have talked about this in the past...there is probably already several posts here from me telling the full story.
It is sickening how blatantly this wonderful Attraction was closed under highly dubious means.
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A change was made to the entrance flow to the Pavillon by Ops to direct Guests to the new 'HiSTA' film presentation FIRST and everything else was a afterthought.
Purposely done to show the new film was now 'more popular' with Guests, and falsify ride count numbers.
Not the first time this has been done to force a closure.
A absolute crime.
The Original 'Journey' had been the #2 in Guest attendence right under SSE since it opened.
Guests LOVED it, and that never stopped.
But things happened within the Company, and costs became a major issue after Disneyland Paris opened.
The Original was costly to operate and changing attitudes within the Company shifted focus at targeting expensive-to-operate Attractions.
The mid to late 1990s were not a good time for Disney or theme park fans...we lost three major and much missed Masterpieces of Attractions in a short time frame, and all three were closed through clever trickery - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Horizons, and the Original 'Journey Into Imagination'.
None of these were closed due to low ridership or loss of Guests' interest.
All those said numbers were purposely manipulated to imply this, to satisfy certain parties within the Company and to provide the 'proof' needed to gut them all.
I have talked about this in the past...there is probably already several posts here from me telling the full story.
It is sickening how blatantly this wonderful Attraction was closed under highly dubious means.
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Gran Fiesta
Well-Known Member
Does @marni1971 have any videos like this about Horizons, World of Motion, Universe of Energy or any of the other original Epcot attractions? Sadly I have never seen any of them as my first visit to Epcot was around 2006 and I was a child at the time.
Amazing video by the way, thanks for sharing.
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
YES!!!!!!! Look for them on Youtube. The Horizons video is especially good.... and sad... These attractions were so beautifully researched and developed and Martin seems to be the only one doing a chronicle of what it once was. Bravo Martin!
I think he should create a box DVD set and make some money off of these videos. I would pay for it!
Gran Fiesta
Well-Known Member
I second that statement
He certainly does. Pretty much one for each of the original attractions.
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
and thanks God for that! The only available chronicle of the original vision for the park... Thank you Martin!
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
This company will stoop to all lows to close any of their classic attractions not tied to a recent film. That’s why I can’t see this ride getting the proper revival it needs. At least not anytime soon.