After the 2 other revamps both have gotten intense scrutiny for their cheap, slap-dash fashion they were done? Cmon now... Journey Into Imagination absolutely is another one that needs to live up to what was originally there. Especially when you consider its capacity & popularity back in the day.
I am starting to believe that I am a prophet
Do we know the present location of the Dreamfinder animatronics?
They might have to rebuild them.. but considering the original molds are still present. ( been on display at recent D23 exhibits and videos showing the interior WDI figure sculpting room. It should practically cost nothing to make new molds of those and use the updated AA tech they’re using for Country Bears in him & Figment.). There were 11 figures of Dreamfinder, most only utilizing the same mold repositioned and simple head, mouth, & arm movements (5 on the opening turntable scene, 1 in the Work of Art scene, 1 in the Literature scene, 1 in Performing Arts, 1 in Science, 1 that told Figment’s fortune before making way to the finale scene, and then 1 last figure that took/showed your picture at the end ala the Owl in Splash Mountain.
But isn’t the turntable mech literally there behind wall & floor boards? I’m certain it’s still there and that it wasn’t removed. You can even see the structure still along the walls and floors if you know where to look, It again probably just needs some tlc to get it running again, much like the disabled/covered over by hollow floor boards, parts of the track.
And the mayor of Phantom Canyon! They might have built that animatronic in the 90s, but I’m sure they’ve had to replace the face, so they must still have that mold!
That's my concern with Figment. Since people complain about V3 I wouldn't put it past Disney to throw a bandaid on and say "See isn't this better?".
That’s valid, but I feel that the nature of V3 would hopefully prevent that. V3 was built as a quick fix to V2 by attempting (and failing) to bring back some of the original’s charm. In 2002, people could compare the two, and say V3 was better. However, since V3 brought back figment, people now use the ‘original figment ride’ as their only frame of reference. Because figment is in V3, unlike V2, people compare it to the only other place they saw Figment, which was V1. It’s no longer “We want figment back and we’ll take anything,” it’s “Give us the original figment because this new version’s awful.” Because V1 is now the gold standard frame of reference, hopefully V4 will be compared to V1 rather than V3
And I don't think anyone in 2002 thought V3 would last longer than the other two versions combined!
Yet that seems to be why they’ve been upgrading hydraulic powered AA figures to updated electric motor powered ones for that very reason. Why not simply do the same for whatever system was running the turntable, especially if the infrastructure is still there behind the base boards/temporary hollow walls and floors placed above it?? All the more reason to simply go and update it. On top of upgrading the computers/software used to run the ride itself, To ‘lessen’ the amount of maintenance needed on it back in the day aswell as currently since ‘99/‘02.
It's "intact" the same way the sunken floors in CommuniCore are. Structurally yes, it's there, but modified to the point where it will never be functional again.
Speaking under the assumption that they could theoretically "bring it back" - it wouldn't be what was there before. It's no longer 1998, you could get it working a lot more reliably. It was less the turntable itself causing problems and more the show control system not playing nice with it.
Imagination 4 with the WoM dragon, Horizons robot butler and some of Kitchen Kabaret making guest appearances? Sure. Why not.
