I apologize for all the replies, I do not mean to annoy, but could you clarify what “established park ip” means? Is it like stuff already in the parks? Or attractions from the 20th century that have become Disney ip in a sense and/or can sell merch (ala HM, Figment, tiki room/jungle cruise/ general Adventureland, bears)?
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EPCOT Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment
- Thread starter Walrus from Paris
- Start date
The Leader of the Club
Well-Known Member
I’ve always thought the Awesome Planet theater would be a great place to put an updated Kitchen Cabaret. There’s definitely enough space in there and it would be an easy way to win back some EPCOT purists.
DreamfinderGuy
Well-Known Member
No.
Entirely depends on your definition of what "works". Lighting and the fiber optics would technically work if they turned it on, but audio/video is long gone. Everything between the virtual classroom and city sets (excluding those two, only the things between them) is still intact. As is the backdrop for the city set, though it's covered up.
Moth
Well-Known Member
Chevrolet enabled the bill to go as high as it is currently. Obviously TWDC is footing some of it. But the reason why Test Track has gotten two redos, and the reason why TT3 is getting a nice check (for a refurb!) is because GM/Chevy continues to have faith in it and invests into it.
The Haunted Mansion sit down resturant was real and floated around for awhile. Sometimes things fall apart for no reason.
Latter. It's why Bears got a refresh versus annihilation, Tiki Room is still standing and got the chance for a rebuild after the fire, why Jungle Cruise didn't get a movie makeover, and why Haunted Mansion keeps getting merch and redos galore on both coasts.
The Haunted Mansion sit down resturant was real and floated around for awhile. Sometimes things fall apart for no reason.
To be honest? I don't know. Company relationships are fickle because both think they're top dogs. Flip a coin and go 50/50 in this case. Would not be shocked if it fell thru.
dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
I wonder how many vehicles they have sold in the post-show.
they 100% would’ve put the rock in JC if that movie was as successful as they hoped. They said they wouldn’t add movie stuff to the ride originally, and we all know what happened in the end.
Moth
Well-Known Member
Okay, one last quick thing before I bolt off for the day, also bc we should go back to talking about our beloved purple pigmented reptile: I remember the Rock on Instagram saying they weren't gonna add movie stuff to the ride and were just gonna update it.
Homemade Imagineering
Well-Known Member
See this is what kills me. They’re either completely clueless to why he’s beloved in the first place, or they’re self aware and could care less whether the attraction sucks if people continue eating up the merch. Maybe it’s a sick game for them to release tons of Figment merch under this terrible attraction & then laugh at the hordes of people who line up to buy popcorn buckets. Regardless it’s gross generalization and huge disservice towards their biggest fans, not that they care how we feel anyways. Almost like they’re threatening us with this exciting redo that keeps getting pushed out, so they mass produce merch to continually prolong a sense of false hope, & as soon as the loudest advocates lose interest, it’ll allow them to bulldoze the thing for another IP. I also worry how much the film’s success will have on Figment, and whether that is the determining factor of whether he stays or not. I know you said he’s a protected species but this company is extremely unpredictable
eddie104
Well-Known Member
Hasn’t he become the de facto park mascot?
dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
He is the de facto mascot.
Like @Homemade Imagineering was saying above: merch is all talk. They will put out plush after plush. Shirt after shirt. Talk is cheap.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
A company with better money management than Disney could probably do a lot with only $40-$50 million if the goal was to replicate the original ride as closely as possible. Obviously attempting to rebuild the old turntable would cost far more, but replicating the rest of the ride would *probably* be possible within that budget. Presumably still solid infrastructure if the building and track are fine, and they likely don't need to spend very much demolishing the existing sets since they're already mostly empty anyway.
Another benefit for replicating the old ride is that it was never particularly AA-heavy to begin with compared to other Future World classics. DF and Figment were the only two beings in the ride, and there were only about 21 AA's of them in total from what I counted. 10 of which were on the turntable scenes for each of the five rotating sections. Without the turntable, you only need a fraction of that number. Though i'd propose replicating one or two of these intro scenes for a standing pre-show before loading the ride at least (still a preferable alternative to either a video preshow or nothing at all IMO).
You definitely don't need A1000's either. Much of DF's face is comprised of thick beard and eyebrows, and his expression is always fixed to a happy cheeful smile. Crazy complex expression isn't really necessary (man is always smiling anyway and can be set to a perpetually happy expression). And he had minimal motion below the waist. Figment also doesn't need super complex movement either. They could reuse the JIIWF AA's.
They also already have a soundtrack and dialog recorded. Just needs to be edited a bit Most of the effort and costs would be to replicate the original sets. Some setpieces may still even exist in the archives somewhere, but there's also ample reference material available regardless. I think the most complex and expensive bit of scenery in the original ride was the laser symphony, and it would cost peanuts to replicate or even upgrade today. The old film reels of the projections might exist somewhere still too. If they kept the ride as a simple replication of the original, and didn't waste money on a bunch on unnecessary expensive tech that jacks the price up, then I think it's possible to get a lot of this replicated within that budget.
The key phrase here though is "another company better at money management". You can't trust Disney to be able to do it at any reasonable cost. They always find a way to take $100-$200 million, and blow it like a bunch of gambling addicts. Even on rethemes.
Another benefit for replicating the old ride is that it was never particularly AA-heavy to begin with compared to other Future World classics. DF and Figment were the only two beings in the ride, and there were only about 21 AA's of them in total from what I counted. 10 of which were on the turntable scenes for each of the five rotating sections. Without the turntable, you only need a fraction of that number. Though i'd propose replicating one or two of these intro scenes for a standing pre-show before loading the ride at least (still a preferable alternative to either a video preshow or nothing at all IMO).
You definitely don't need A1000's either. Much of DF's face is comprised of thick beard and eyebrows, and his expression is always fixed to a happy cheeful smile. Crazy complex expression isn't really necessary (man is always smiling anyway and can be set to a perpetually happy expression). And he had minimal motion below the waist. Figment also doesn't need super complex movement either. They could reuse the JIIWF AA's.
They also already have a soundtrack and dialog recorded. Just needs to be edited a bit Most of the effort and costs would be to replicate the original sets. Some setpieces may still even exist in the archives somewhere, but there's also ample reference material available regardless. I think the most complex and expensive bit of scenery in the original ride was the laser symphony, and it would cost peanuts to replicate or even upgrade today. The old film reels of the projections might exist somewhere still too. If they kept the ride as a simple replication of the original, and didn't waste money on a bunch on unnecessary expensive tech that jacks the price up, then I think it's possible to get a lot of this replicated within that budget.
The key phrase here though is "another company better at money management". You can't trust Disney to be able to do it at any reasonable cost. They always find a way to take $100-$200 million, and blow it like a bunch of gambling addicts. Even on rethemes.
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dreamfinding
Well-Known Member
As much as I would love to have it, I know we can’t get back the length of track they cut when building 2.0.
Maybe do what they did with Country Bears? Keep the guts but upgrade what you can.
I really would love to see an itemized list of everything involving a retheme - electrical, water/sewage, flooring, track, show elements, etc.
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
This is why I think something stylistically like Runaway Railway using the Little Golden Book aesthetic might be best. I don’t think they want to be seen as putting human AAs out there anymore that are less than A-1000s, but I could see them getting over that hump a bit better with a ride designed more like a pop-up book.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
Such a place does not exist.
Homemade Imagineering
Well-Known Member
Yep, & almost every Figment AA from the original has survived. They could always bring in the old ones from the archives, give them new skins from the original molds (if they still have them, & if not 3D scan the originals & make duplicates) and reuse their mechs. Keep the old shells & latex skin in the archives and bam, the original mechs are back in action with the JIIWF AAs tagging along. Some of the originals are with private collectors which I suppose they can’t do much about but there is quite a bit to be salvaged, IF they decide on using their budget responsibly
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.
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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