EPCOT Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment

[Inspired Figment]

Figment is in a weird place.
It would take more money to please fans than something like Enchanted Wish or Country Bears required. But Figment isn’t currently well known enough to justify the big promotional push that comes with a new ride. A new Figment ride won’t convince a family to book their first WDW trip, whereas a new Cars ride might.

I believe that Figment either needs to become more mainstream (film, D+ show, etc) or it’ll need to coincide with a larger marketing push (EPCOT 50 perhaps) in order for Disney to pull the trigger.

Are we honestly sure about that? Think about the grand openings of things like Expedition Everest and Soarin’ and such..

Like, if it’s well marketed, is a genuinely good ride than has good word of mouth from people, and looks appealing enough (which, who ‘wouldn’t’ think those characters, the theme of discovering what imagination & creativity can do, and those colorful detailed show scenes looked genuinely appealing if marketed & shown off right?) it’ll get park ticket sales for sure. If it’s new & it’s Disney and it’s got charm & character, it’ll sell, period. Moreso if it has good worth of mouth & reputation behind it. Dreamfinder, Figment, and the original Journey Into Imagination have ‘all’ of that. Also helps the Sherman Bros. wrote the song, and again, who doesn’t love something that screams “Classic Disney” all over?

 

[Inspired Figment]

that’s the thing even, like, even if you are to make that argument. It’s not something that doesn’t have a sure bet, it indeed has a built in fanbase and all the qualities that make an instantly successful attraction that’s ‘very’ easily marketable if done right, and will indeed get ticket sales to come see it. It ‘is’ a sure bet. Moreso w good worth of mouth, which it already has. Bringing it back will only boost what’s already there. It’s something new & exciting to see for those who haven’t experienced it before, it’s a “long missed, beloved classic returned w newly enchanced magic”, people will absolutely wanna go see that.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

Are we honestly sure about that? Think about the grand openings of things like Expedition Everest and Soarin’ and such..

I mean, I feel like Everest and Soarin are easier to market to modern audiences. Everest is a roller coaster through a mountain and Soarin is a hang gliding simulator.
I just can’t see a tv commercial getting across the idea of Figment & DreamFinder as easily. I think most people would ask “what movie is that dragon thing from?”

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

Patience or smth

 

[Inspired Figment]

I mean, I feel like Everest and Soarin are easier to market to modern audiences. Everest is a roller coaster through a mountain and Soarin is a hang gliding simulator.
I just can’t see a tv commercial getting across the idea of Figment & DreamFinder as easily. I think most people would ask “what movie is that dragon thing from?”

yet Universal has Earl the Squirrel and Jack the Clown for Halloween Horror Nights and everyone gets what/who they are. If they’re specifically marketed as “‘Meeting’ Dreamfinder & Figment as you take a wonderful, whimsical Journey into Imagination’, not so hard to get across. Haunted Mansion ghosts, same thing. Sure, you ‘might’ have some folks ask the question if they’re in anything else, But all it does it spark more curiosity to find out more about and/or ride it. Newfound discovery is a good thing, especially when it’s something great. It’s how we fans became fans ourselves. We never knew who they were or what the ride was like initially, but upon experiencing it for ourselves, we found that we loved them and wanted to visit again & again after. Not sure why that’s such a hard concept for some folks (mostly in management) to grasp.

 

[Brer Panther]

'If you have to rely on fart jokes to make them laugh, you're not a good comedian".

Frozen has at least one fart joke in it ("I don't know if I'm elated or gassy") and everybody loves THAT movie.

I'd honestly take that Inside Out Figment ride where the characters explore imagination with Figment and Dreamfinder, than a ride with no Inside Out where Dreamfinder and Figment were back but it was terribly executed

How would the Emotions even encounter Dreamfinder and Figment? What would they be doing in Riley's mind?

 

[Inspired Figment]

yet Universal has Earl the Squirrel and Jack the Clown for Halloween Horror Nights and everyone gets what/who they are. If they’re specifically marketed as “‘Meeting’ Dreamfinder & Figment as you take a wonderful, whimsical Journey into Imagination’, not so hard to get across. Haunted Mansion ghosts, same thing. Sure, you ‘might’ have some folks ask the question if they’re in anything else, But all it does it spark more curiosity to find out more about and/or ride it. Newfound discovery is a good thing, especially when it’s something great. It’s how we fans became fans ourselves. We never knew who they were or what the ride was like initially, but upon experiencing it for ourselves, we found that we loved them and wanted to visit again & again after. Not sure why that’s such a hard concept for some folks (mostly in management) to grasp.

On another note too.. if everything relied on someone’s prior association w something in order to get ticket sales or profit back. How come places like Knott’s Berry Farm are still extremely popular to this day, with their Ghost Town & residents, and all their themed dark rides not themed to anything pre-existing? That’s what I thought..
sure, you’ve got Camp Snoopy. But do you genuinely think, people are ‘only’ going there to visit Snoopy, Charlie Brown and his friends at Camp Snoopy because they’ve seen them on TV specials & comics elsewhere? Highly doubtful. It’s because the rides themselves look fun & interesting, and that there are plenty of things to do there.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

yet Universal has Earl the Squirrel and Jack the Clown for Halloween Horror Nights and everyone gets what/who they are.

Most people outside of the fandom don’t know Earl or Jack. I’d argue that Figment is WAY more popular than them. Even if they did, Universal isn’t making Earl the Squirrel rides.

I’m just thinking of people like my aunt. She doesn’t know/care what a Figment is, but she does know Lightning McQueen and Olaf. She wouldn’t buy a t-shirt with Earl the Squirrel on it, but would buy merch featuring the Grinch.

Figment’s current audience is APs and theme park fans. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, that may not inspire Disney to allocate the budget needed to redo his ride.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

This ignores the fact that they are 1. Making a movie 2.keep making merchandise and 3. theme an entire building after him 2 months out of the year

All of these are cheaper than fixing the ride and give them a better ROI, so yeah that does not invalidate that they don't care about the ride whatsoever.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Most people outside of the fandom don’t know Earl or Jack. I’d argue that Figment is WAY more popular than them. Even if they did, Universal isn’t making Earl the Squirrel rides.

I’m just thinking of people like my aunt. She doesn’t know/care what a Figment is, but she does know Lightning McQueen and Olaf. She wouldn’t buy a t-shirt with Earl the Squirrel on it, but would buy merch featuring the Grinch.

Figment’s current audience is APs and theme park fans. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, that may not inspire Disney to allocate the budget needed to redo his ride.

Part of the trouble is they’re strictly focused on ‘one’ form of guest, one that’s focused on seeing what they’ve already seen, rather than folks that wanna experience the entire resort and buy based on the experiences they’ve had. There’s room for both and I just think it’s shortsighted and ultimately doesn’t make as much profit to invest in the guest that honestly isn’t going to spend as much, let alone visit more, long term.

 

[Agent H]

All of these are cheaper than fixing the ride and give them a better ROI, so yeah that does not invalidate that they don't care about the ride whatsoever.

I was responding to them not caring about the ip not the ride I don’t believe that all that is greenlit and no one in the company cares about the ip

 

[Agent H]

All of these are cheaper than fixing the ride and give them a better ROI, so yeah that does not invalidate that they don't care about the ride whatsoever.

it has to happen someday right now I’d imagine spaceship earth is a bigger priority and maybe after that they do wonders of life but sooner or later they will have nothing else to do in Epcot to increase attendance

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

I was responding to them not caring about the ip not the ride I don’t believe that all that is greenlit and no one in the company cares about the ip

Nobody with any power "cares" about the IP. They care about what makes money. Figment makes money so they do the least they can with him to make the most profit. This is also why they don't redo the ride, big expense for no benefit other than some fan goodwill which, again, does not bring in the money.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

it has to happen someday right now I’d imagine spaceship earth is a bigger priority and maybe after that they do wonders of life but sooner or later they will have nothing else to do in Epcot to increase attendance

Current rumors have Imagination happening before Wonders but Imagination has also been "five years away" for the last decade or so. Redoing JII isn't something that will really boost attendance, neither is SSE but they don't really have a choice when it's the icon of the park.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

Nobody with any power "cares" about the IP. They care about what makes money. Figment makes money so they do the least they can with him to make the most profit. This is also why they don't redo the ride, big expense for no benefit other than some fan goodwill which, again, does not bring in the money.

The people who care enough to book trips for a new Figment ride already book trips for new EPCOT festival merchandise.

 

[Agent H]

Nobody with any power "cares" about the IP. They care about what makes money. Figment makes money so they do the least they can with him to make the most profit. This is also why they don't redo the ride, big expense for no benefit other than some fan goodwill which, again, does not bring in the money.

Obviously someone with enough power to get a movie greenlit cares

 

[Agent H]

Current rumors have Imagination happening before Wonders but Imagination has also been "five years away" for the last decade or so. Redoing JII isn't something that will really boost attendance, neither is SSE but they don't really have a choice when it's the icon of the park.

it may take 10 it may take 15 years but sooner or later it will happen the problem is that there’s always bigger fish to fry but rest assured at some point some executive will think hey figment plushies sell really well maybe if we make a better ride more of our non pass holder guests will buy them

 

[WorldExplorer]

If Figment sells ridiculous crap tons of merchandise as is why should they bother "fixing" him?

They had a whole "revitalize Epcot" project and didn't touch the darned thing. Not even a queue refresh. Not even a new sign.

They don't care. They care that people are willing to buy merchandise with him on it. They do that already.

If they did redo the ride, the thing is going to coast by on "well, it's not the previous one". It won't be actually good. Fan expectations are rock bottom and have been conditioned to accept "not the worst thing possible" as acceptable (remember when they released that Muppet video and people started saying putting Muppets in the ride was a great idea as if "previously existing thing mocks ride for sucking" is not exactly what we currently have?) and no one nowadays has any clue how to do anything but make surface level references to stuff.

I have absolutely no faith that anyone at Disney understands the heart of what made the original ride work and I have no faith that any of them have the vision to make a new ride celebrating creativity.

All Disney does nowadays is "recognize thing and like it because you recognize it", which is like the polar opposite of imagination. This is the same company that keeps slapping the Horizons robot butler onto things as if it mattered.

"That's not fair, WorldExplorer; the Imagineers are fully capable! They just do the stupid crap because higher ups make them!" Okay. What reason do we have to believe that exact same thing would not get in the way of a Figment redo? Because I don't see one.

And no, I don't expect them to just rebuild Journey, either. I don't think the fanbase for it is as big as people would like to believe (where's the Dreamfinder solo merchandise?) and I don't think Disney REALIZES how creatively bankrupt they are.

 

[Zak and Wheezie]

If Figment sells ridiculous crap tons of merchandise as is why should they bother "fixing" him?

They had a whole "revitalize Epcot" project and didn't touch the darned thing. Not even a queue refresh. Not even a new sign.

They don't care. They care that people are willing to buy merchandise with him on it. They do that already.

If they did redo the ride, the thing is going to coast by on "well, it's not the previous one". It won't be actually good. Fan expectations are rock bottom and have been conditioned to accept "not the worst thing possible" as acceptable (remember when they released that Muppet video and people started saying putting Muppets in the ride was a great idea as if "previously existing thing mocks ride for sucking" is not exactly what we currently have?) and no one nowadays has any clue how to do anything but make surface level references to stuff.

I have absolutely no faith that anyone at Disney understands the heart of what made the original ride work and I have no faith that any of them have the vision to make a new ride celebrating creativity.

All Disney does nowadays is "recognize thing and like it because you recognize it", which is like the polar opposite of imagination. This is the same company that keeps slapping the Horizons robot butler onto things as if it mattered.

"That's not fair, WorldExplorer; the Imagineers are fully capable! They just do the stupid crap because higher ups make them!" Okay. What reason do we have to believe that exact same thing would not get in the way of a Figment redo? Because I don't see one.

And no, I don't expect them to just rebuild Journey, either. I don't think the fanbase for it is as big as people would like to believe (where's the Dreamfinder solo merchandise?) and I don't think Disney REALIZES how creatively bankrupt they are.

My mind is so conflicted on this, but as I think about it more and more, I start thinking that maybe it's a good thing that they're not redoing the 2002 version. If they're never gonna bring the original back, then please maybe just... don't touch Figment right now. Because a refurb now might be so incredibly soulless it makes the current ride look like the original.

 

[Inspired Figment]

fan goodwill which, again, does not bring in the money.

Truthfully, I believe this is a complete lie. If effort/investment was put into marketing it in commercials, etc. and making a point to say it’s something you’ve gotta see as part of your EPCOT experience (just like it used to be), it would. And fan/public goodwill is ‘everything’, it determines how much money will be made and everything. You want that goodwill/good word of mouth, cause ‘that’ is the thing that’s gonna bring more people in, thus more profits.