dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
As much as I want this to work, I feel like the AAs have been sitting for years and would be difficult to get them to operating standards. Not dunking on the whole idea, but it may be better to build new in this case.
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Rumor Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment
- Thread starter Walrus from Paris
- Start date
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
Which is why it was hoped the Figment comic would spawn a film adaption.
Tony Baxter talked about this several times I recall, specially mentioning he was looking forward to a possible film.
He felt a succesful film would send a clear message to upper management that a refresh of the Pavillion as a whole was needed.
It would also push forward propositions for an Attraction refresh.
The Figment comic was already getting the attention of some people within the Company at the time of its run, and this was promising.
He felt this was a good sign to help get the message across.
We all know that these characters mean something to people and Disney needs to do more then just slap them on merchandise.
We know of some work happening regarding a film in the future, weather or not it captures the original spirit of the characters or is yet another stupid ‘let’s make an old property hip, yo!’ type of film has yet to be seen.
Let us hope it is something worthwhile.
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Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
Regarding the reuse of AAs used in the Original ‘Journey’….
All of the ones you speak of are either in private collections, the Walt Disney Archives, or in Disney’s storage facility in Kissimmee.
I can’t see the private collectors giving up their figures to be reused…. No way.
I also cannot see the Archives giving up the figure or two they have…
I can however see the possibility of the five I am aware of at the warehouse, but these consist of only one full bodied and three to four ‘seated’ figures.
Not a lot to work with.
The more realistic approach is to clone existing figures already within the current Attraction.
Body shells, ‘skins’, mechanical innards and the like could be replicated and just dressed differently.
The Original figures in private collections should remain as such, in my opinion.
And the figure in the Archive (possibly two) should remain there as well.
They had their time.
They are historical pieces, rightly so.
Rebuild for the future.
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All of the ones you speak of are either in private collections, the Walt Disney Archives, or in Disney’s storage facility in Kissimmee.
I can’t see the private collectors giving up their figures to be reused…. No way.
I also cannot see the Archives giving up the figure or two they have…
I can however see the possibility of the five I am aware of at the warehouse, but these consist of only one full bodied and three to four ‘seated’ figures.
Not a lot to work with.
The more realistic approach is to clone existing figures already within the current Attraction.
Body shells, ‘skins’, mechanical innards and the like could be replicated and just dressed differently.
The Original figures in private collections should remain as such, in my opinion.
And the figure in the Archive (possibly two) should remain there as well.
They had their time.
They are historical pieces, rightly so.
Rebuild for the future.
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dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
What else do they have at the storage facility? Buzzy, the horizons mural, and the world of motion sea serpent?
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
A lot of things….
Some ride vehicles, props, some AAs remnants….old stuff…new stuff….
No Buzzy that I know of…
No ‘Horizons’ mural that I know of…
And definately not the ‘WoM’ serpent.
He ended up being shipped to CA and used as a display piece inside Disney’s California Adventure Park years ago before their refresh.
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dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
But what happened to him after that? Did he get sent to archives?
Wonder where Muppets Mobile Lab is? There really has to be a better way to keep track of stuff
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
The serpent was likely destroyed as he was displayed outside with no weather protection.
The sun likely faded the paint and I’m sure the heat didn’t take kindly to his construction.
A shame really, but who knows for certain……perhaps someone salvaged him and he is still around.
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dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
It is a shame, especially considering how iconic he is. Makes you wonder about the Kitchen Kabert/Food Rocks AAs, Maelstrom AAs, old SSE stuff, all of the show scenes in Horizons, UoE stuff...
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
Some of the ‘Food Rocks’ figures were actually auctioned off many years ago.
It was surprising at the time as Disney typically does not allow items like that to be ‘let go’ and auctioned.
Perhaps they ‘allowed’ it as the figures were basically simple flat cut outs that used to move….
For ‘Horizons’, several small props, film reels, and the entire desert transport ship were salvaged among other things.
The ship was on display outside in the elements at Disneyland Paris for some years, at the Disney Studios Park if I am remembering correctly.
Might still be in existence somewhere….but likely in need of a refurb.
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Question, has their ever been an attempt to get a sponsor for figment?
mysto
Well-Known Member
What's really needed is a poject to refresh the ride. A project with a budget and designers with love in their hearts. They could use new or old figures, the project manager makes it happen.
I guess this thread is about a rumour they might do that, but I'm not that optimistic. Yet.
I guess this thread is about a rumour they might do that, but I'm not that optimistic. Yet.
dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
The last sponsor was Kodak, but that ended in 2010. I don't think they'd be very keen on coming back, especially since the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012 (but has since reorganized/restructured). FWIW - they also used to sponsor Philharmagic.
As to who to even suggest as a sponsor, I don't know. It would be cool to see the IMAX people do it, but it probably isn't feasible.
dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
There are people at TWDC (not just specifically WDI) who love the little lavender lizard. I think *most* of the problem is getting higher-ups to realize that it would be a good investment. It's like when Chapek (or maybe it was Vahle) decided that adding the explosion effect to Big Thunder was not a good ROI because you know, something like that doesn't sell merch.
Higher-ups (like Jeff Vahle) are always concerned about return on investment (ROI). Think about when Universe of Energy became Cosmic Rewind:
1. It replaced something that wasn't aging well
2. Gives Disney an excuse to sell more GOTG merchandise
3. Gives people a reason to buy a 4-day park ticket to visit Epcot specifically for the ride, instead of a 3-day park ticket. don't know how many people/families use CR as a teetering edge when it comes to park tickets. It has been used as a device to get people to buy a park hopper ticket, that's for sure.
4. New attractions generate a lot of buzz (good, bad, and ugly). This kind of matches point 3, but someone may be deciding to book a WDW vacation and happens to be a huge GOTG fan. They see a new GOTG rollercoaster has opened in Epcot and boom. Vacation package booked. I'm sure this is not a huge category of people.
5. This is a later effect (not one that people thought about when the announcement happened), but paid attraction access. They are technically "making money" off of CR via Individual Lightning Lane. It sells out almost every day and is at a minimum - $12 per person. There is no number for how many are sold each day as that is an internal number. But let's assume they sell 500 every day @ 12 bucks a pop. That is $6,000 a day. For sanity's sake, let's assume it stays the same price year-round. Take the $6,000 x 365 and you get 2,190,000. Of course, I feel like 500 ILL sold each day for CR is a very conservative number, but eh. This also does not take into effect the price fluctuation depending on the crowd level. 2 million is a very small chunk of the rumored 450 million CR is rumored to have cost.
6. A lot of APs visit Epcot just to ride GOTG (hi, it's me). While I'm in Epcot to ride just CR, I may decide to stop in Creations and buy some merch. Or, I may stop by Connections and eat some food. OR heck, I may use a VQ to ride once and then buy the ILL again.
7. They use this attraction as a selling point for both Disney After Hours and Deluxe Resort stays. If you tell a disney fan that they can pay $200 and ride CR as much as they want during after hours, a majority of them would say "sign me up!".
8. CR has helped make Epcot the "cool park" because teenagers like a thrill ride. This is the same logic that Eisner used to greenlight Splash back in the day.
of course, this is all speculation and I could be wrong
mysto
Well-Known Member
of course, this is all speculation and I could be wrong
You have your presentation to the board roughed out.
Sometimes they listen to the internet but, not that much.
Homemade Imagineering
Well-Known Member
Getting up close with this guy last year was very surreal for me, got some nice detailed shots of him including what looks like his lock collar wing attachment to the mech. Visited him many times thru the summer till the auction ended, hopefully we get even more AAs with version 4 we can appreciate for even longer!
Bill Cipher
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
When you say audio/video is gone, do you mean the hardware like projectors and speakers were removed, or do you mean all of the original media tapes/files have been destroyed or lost?
Moth
Well-Known Member
I assume column A but I wouldn't be shocked if column B happened.
Homemade Imagineering
Well-Known Member
One silver lining I suppose to the timeline with a JII refurb (if things stay consistent), is the fact that us old school Epcot fans will have staggered things to look forward to. That is of course IF the new TT and SSE live up to their predecessors and are timeless homages to what came before. I could see this as a “save the best for last” type of scenario, slowly feeding us these updates culminating in the one everyone has been asking for all along. Now if the budget for a redo will give us another bandaid as of right now, let’s hope they use the next couple years to put more time & energy into an update, alongside earmarking some significant capital for this attraction
dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
Just want to say: There is no timeline during which Wall-Cot will be acceptable during EPCOT 50.
Also, bet your bottom dollar, I will be there on October 1, 2032.
Homemade Imagineering
Well-Known Member
Yep, they should absolutely aim to have all three of these done by at least 2032, including something new for WoL as well