Imagination! Being Replaced w. Dr. Doof?

[jrogue]

Although I do agree that the Imagination ride should be re-done, I disagree with putting any Disney Channel stuff in its place. I've never seen Phineas and Ferb and although I'm sure it's a sweet show, I would be really upset if they took Figment out of Epcot. I think they should do a refurb of the ride in a Tiki Room style -- that is, bringing back the original show in some shape or form instead of keeping the awkward version that it is now.

 

[doctornick]

I agree with you on number 1 but disagree on number 2. There have been much worse ideas. Keep Figment and refresh that ride and get rid of EO and put a Phineas and Furb 4D experience in that theater.

This is my thought. P&F fit quite well into an Imagination themed attraction and Captain EO is beyond lame/outdated at this point. A well executed P&F 4D experience in the theater would be a welcome change.

But I do want the ride to keep Figment and hopefully improve and go back to something closer to the original.

 

[JEANYLASER]

take out Captain EO! Instead take Phineas And Ferb in Imagination!

 

[tAVROSnITRAM]

nO. tHIS IS A RIDICULOUS IDEA. eVEN THOUGH i love p&f, i COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH THIS.

 

[AllyInWonderland]

I suddenly have the urge to draw a picture of Dreamfinder meeting Dr. Nigel Channing.....

 

[ExtinctJenn]

I suddenly have the urge to draw a picture of Dreamfinder meeting Dr. Nigel Channing.....

Dreamfinder wasn't really a people person... he'd rather talk to figments of his imagination. With good reason too because if you were Dreamfinder would you want to meet Channing?

 

[PurpleDragon]

I have to chime in here. As a person who grew up with the original EPCOT and JII, I do miss the days of old and the Epcot of my youth. The attractions were top notch and they incorporated a vast amount of new technology from that era. As you can see from my avatar I went so far as to get a tattoo of the original Epcot logo to show my love for it. Even my username and sig are tributes to the original ride. Since I grew up with the original JII I was furious when they closed it and I was floored when it reopened with no sign of figment. The second version with figment plastered all over it feels forced and nothing more than a cheap move to shut up the critics, it lacks any sort of creativity and is a sad excuse for an attraction.

Now with all that in mind I have to say that I can't say I dislike the idea of a Phineas and Ferb tie in on the attraction. My 5 year old is a huge fan of P&F and I have to say I enjoy it too, I even catch myself watching it when my son is not around. The show embodies the core concept of imagination, those two come up with some of the most imaginative and creative contraptions, any of which could easily be incorporated into the ride. If they could find a creative way to merge Dreamfinder & Figment with Phineas & Ferb I think it would be a great blending. Hell the ride itself could be a P&F creation to help Dreamfinder collect ideas for the dreamport to free figment or something like that.

While I would hate to see the original characters of the attraction get overshadowed by incorporating new ones, I think the original concepts of inspiring imagination and creativity in children and adults alike could easily be carried on by adding P&F. I think if they did it right, they could find a way to breathe new life into the pavilion and potentially please the critics in the process.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

@PurpleDragon I could not agree more with everything you've said!

 

[AllyInWonderland]

Dreamfinder wasn't really a people person... he'd rather talk to figments of his imagination. With good reason too because if you were Dreamfinder would you want to meet Channing?

Yeah, so I could take Figment back since Dreamfinder did create him after all! I would teach Dr. Channing a lesson about imagination!

 

[DizFiz]

We had a Stitch phase when he was popular and how Disney wanted to plaster him in every attraction... now this with Dr. Doof... Seriously you got to be kidding me.

 

[PurpleDragon]

I think they could replace that trainwreck of a 3D show they call captain EO with a Perry/Doof short film and then tie it into P&F in the main ride.

Also comparing Stitch with P&F is like comparing apples and oranges. Stitch was a ridiculous concept that got a mild amount of attention, so they plastered him all over MK as a gimmick to get a few extra guests thru the turnstiles, nothing more. Placing P&F in JIYI is a much more cohesive concept IMO. Go watch a few episodes of Phineas & Ferb and tell me they aren't pretty imaginative.

I notice several people are against the idea simply because they have no idea who Phineas & Ferb are. That's somewhat shortsighted IMO, why don't you guys do some research first before jumping to conclusions. I love Figment and Dreamfinder as much as the rest of you, but honestly Dreamfinder has been gone for almost 15 years and only Disney fans like us even know who he is anymore. And Figment, well Figment is now known as the immature annoyance on a barely tolerable attraction in Epcot, hes no longer the lovable purple dragon we all grew up with. Integrating new characters into the pavilion would help breath new life into it and possibly help reintroduce our 2 favorite characters to a whole new generation of kids. How is that a bad thing?

 

[WDWYankee15]

I have to chime in here. As a person who grew up with the original EPCOT and JII, I do miss the days of old and the Epcot of my youth. The attractions were top notch and they incorporated a vast amount of new technology from that era. As you can see from my avatar I went so far as to get a tattoo of the original Epcot logo to show my love for it. Even my username and sig are tributes to the original ride. Since I grew up with the original JII I was furious when they closed it and I was floored when it reopened with no sign of figment. The second version with figment plastered all over it feels forced and nothing more than a cheap move to shut up the critics, it lacks any sort of creativity and is a sad excuse for an attraction.

Now with all that in mind I have to say that I can't say I dislike the idea of a Phineas and Ferb tie in on the attraction. My 5 year old is a huge fan of P&F and I have to say I enjoy it too, I even catch myself watching it when my son is not around. The show embodies the core concept of imagination, those two come up with some of the most imaginative and creative contraptions, any of which could easily be incorporated into the ride. If they could find a creative way to merge Dreamfinder & Figment with Phineas & Ferb I think it would be a great blending. Hell the ride itself could be a P&F creation to help Dreamfinder collect ideas for the dreamport to free figment or something like that.

While I would hate to see the original characters of the attraction get overshadowed by incorporating new ones, I think the original concepts of inspiring imagination and creativity in children and adults alike could easily be carried on by adding P&F. I think if they did it right, they could find a way to breathe new life into the pavilion and potentially please the critics in the process.

Agreed with your concept and I too enjoy watching P&F with my kids. It is a great show. However, I am not sure it is timeless and with that being said I hesitant to say I would like them to build an attraction around the two of them, even if it does include Figment.

One of the things I don't enjoy about WDW is the constant "tie-in" of movies/shows when it is unnecessary. My biggest pet peeve with this is when they changed "Countdown to Extintion" to "Dinosaur" at AK. The name was perfect for the attraction and offered some glimpes of excitment in the title along. Then it became a simple word that neither is exciting or descriptive. All this was in the name of tying in to a movie that was not well done, poorly promoted and now years later no one remembers.

So to make a long story short...too late... P&F is a great show but what is it's lasting staying power? We already have the P&F interactive game in World Showcase and there was rumor of a P&F show in DHS to replace mermaid. How much of P&F do we need? I get that TDO is constantly trying to promote product and are also always trying to make EPCOT more family friendly (kid attractive) but I think more P&F might be over kill.

I challenge TDO to be creative... use your IMAGINATION... and come up with something fresh. Don't just throw a couple of popular Disney Channel characters at something and think that will work.

Some have suggested replacing Captain EO with a P&F show. To that I say great. It is something that can be changed easily in a few years again to put the newest latest and greatest crazy in. Filming 3D movies and adding effects these days is easier and easier than it was years ago. Use that space to cycle in and out the latest "popular" Disney products. Rides should be reserved for things with staying power, because we all know whatever they come up with will certainly be there for quite a while whether it is good or bad.

 

[PorterRedkey]

First some facts to let you know where I am coming from.

I am a 41 year old man engaged to be married to the love of my life. We both love Disney. We watch the major animated features mostly because we want to stay current with the Disney characters and the fact that Disney films are good family entertainment. Some are worse than others (Cars 2 I'm looking at you.) I also briefly worked at the Odyssey restaurant as a busboy in 1990/91. As a child I went to WDW first in 1972 and every other year thereafter til 1985, visiting sporadically depending on my finances. My last visit was 12/2011. Basically Disney is part of my make up. I LOVE DISNEY!

I do not however watch any of the Disney TV cartoons (although the few episodes of Kim Possible I saw were quite fun. Phenas and Ferb, from what little I have seen, I am not the target demo for this cartoon. I liked Agent P alright.

I am sure there are many families with children that would appreciate having an attraction based on these characters and I would ride it, but what about the couples like us who aren't Disney freaks would they really be interested in riding a Phenas and Ferb attraction or even know who they are? Isn't this the demo that Universal is increasingly taking away from Disney? Will they take 3 years to build a P&F attraction (seems to be the quickest they can get any large attraction done) and if the show only last 5 more years leaving a major future world pavilion, based on minor Disney characters who no longer have a show, after only being open for a couple of years.

Next, Figment. The imaginative purple dragon we all love. Where is he going to go? I think a lot of fans would freak out in the same way they did when he was removed the first time. Has Disney learned nothing? Would Figment be relegated only to retro Epcot merchandise? I had the impression the Figment merchandise was pretty popular.

IF they must bring this evil Dr. Whatever into the Imagination Pavilion let it be a 3D movie that could be replaced easier and have the inater's lab mentioned earlier to follow the movie as a post-show. Super double bonus if they opened up the top floor to do this (not holding my breath). I think the main JIIw/F should be redone into new ride featuring Figment AND Dreamfinder. Perhaps the Pooh's Hunny Hut tech that has been discussed could be utilized or better yet brand new tech that would wow us.

I really have nothing against P&F. I am looking forward to playing their Agent P WS adventure when I go back. I just hope they don't plaster an original pavilion with these cartoon strangers. I am rooting for Disney to make the right decision. I can only hope.

Sorry for the long post, I know it will probably not even be read, but I just had to get this of my chest. Thanks for having such a great place for people to share their views.

 

[disneyeater]

You go from this:

but what about the couples like us who aren't Disney freaks would they really be interested in riding a Phenas and Ferb attraction or even know who they are?

To this:

Next, Figment. The imaginative purple dragon we all love.

Back to this:

I just hope they don't plaster an original pavilion with these cartoon strangers.

You understand that Figment was a stranger until he was introduced to you in this pavilion, but now you love him. If you gave it a chance, perhaps P&F could endear themselves on the ride as well. Just because you don't watch the show doesn;t mean the ride couldn't be great.


All that said, I would still like to see P&F (who fit perfectly into an imagination pavilion) in the more easily changed out movie theater and a revamp of the ride into something great. If it includes Figment, then bonus.

No matter what the character, as long as the ride is great, people will love it.

 

[RSoxNo1]

They removed Figment from the attraction, and people complained more than they ever had for any Disney World attraction. The put him back in the attraction as a cheaper/cracked out version of his former self and people continued to complain. The only option that will be acceptable for this pavilion is a Figment attraction that returns him to his former personality as a whimsical and curious character, not the annoying know it all he is now.

Phineas and Ferb belong as an anchor to the Animation Courtyard, they dont' belong in the Imagination Pavilion.

 

[disneyeater]

They removed Figment from the attraction, and people complained more than they ever had for any Disney World attraction. The put him back in the attraction as a cheaper/cracked out version of his former self and people continued to complain. The only option that will be acceptable for this pavilion is a Figment attraction that returns him to his former personality as a whimsical and curious character, not the annoying know it all he is now.

Phineas and Ferb belong as an anchor to the Animation Courtyard, they dont' belong in the Imagination Pavilion.

So you would be against P&F replacing Captain EO in some form? I understand people have a thing about characters in Epcot, but they are already here, and I don't think they are leaving. If ever a character fit with the theme of a pavilion, this would be it.

As far as the ride itself, I want it redone to a fantastic, innovative ride featuring Figment. But make no mistake, I want it in that order. I would take a fantastic, innovative ride with any character that fit over an average or below average one featuring Figment.

 

[RSoxNo1]

So you would be against P&F replacing Captain EO in some form? I understand people have a thing about characters in Epcot, but they are already here, and I don't think they are leaving. If ever a character fit with the theme of a pavilion, this would be it.

As far as the ride itself, I want it redone to a fantastic, innovative ride featuring Figment. But make no mistake, I want it in that order. I would take a fantastic, innovative ride with any character that fit over an average or below average one featuring Figment.

I don't think P&F are the best fit for that pavilion, but if it's in addition to a new Figment ride I wouldn't object. I still think they're much better suited with a ride or show in the Animation Courtyard, and that was the rumor for a while (replacing Mermaid).

 

[PorterRedkey]

You understand that Figment was a stranger until he was introduced to you in this pavilion, but now you love him. If you gave it a chance, perhaps P&F could endear themselves on the ride as well. Just because you don't watch the show doesn;t mean the ride couldn't be great.


No matter what the character, as long as the ride is great, people will love it.

Figment was a stranger, a stranger to everyone who rode the ride for a first time. He was not a Disney channel cartoon, he was original to the pavilion. That meant that they needed to tell me the story of who this little dragon was and why I should care about him. They did this by having a mini 2 or 3 minute close-up audio-animatronics show with great effects and music (by the Sherman brothers) that introduced Dreamfinder and Figment. Then you went on to explore with these new characters and by the end you were smiling big and humming One Little Spark one your way UP to the Image Works. Good luck try to even match that, let alone top that introduction.

If they build P&F, will they have enough ride time, space, or even desire to tell all (5 or 6?)of P&F's character's back-story in the ride, when people can just watch the cartoon to find out about P&F? I think it would be a lot harder do since their are more characters in P&F that the 2 they originally had to introduce to us. My bet is they would just show a cartoon in the queue as part of a pre-show to explain who these characters are before being whisked off on an adventure to save their imaginations from Dr Whatever.

I guess if they do it right, and the attraction is E+ ticket awesome, it would be easier to say goodbye to Figment. But if they just do a P&F dark ride like the new Ariel's Undersea Adventures (as much as I like the Ursala AA, it is defiantly not a E ticket attraction), I think Disney fans would freak out about losing Figment again. I think this is the bottom line, if they are going to remove Figment from the pavilion again they better replace it with an E ticket that can help ease the pain. However, I don't think Figment is going anywhere because of the strong merchandise sales and strong connection to Epcot in general.

I have no insider information, but I just can't see Disney doing this to the Imagination ride. If they can't pull the trigger on the Monster's Inc coaster based on a great Pixar movie that has an up coming sequel, I don't see them going all-in on a entire pavilion redo for a TV cartoon, no matter how popular it may be right now. I could see a 3-D movie and I would be okay with that but I really like the idea of P&F going in the Animation Courtyard like RSoxNo1 mentioned.

 

[danlb_2000]

Figment was a stranger, a stranger to everyone who rode the ride for a first time. He was not a Disney channel cartoon, he was original to the pavilion. That meant that they needed to tell me the story of who this little dragon was and why I should care about him. They did this by having a mini 2 or 3 minute close-up audio-animatronics show with great effects and music (by the Sherman brothers) that introduced Dreamfinder and Figment. Then you went on to explore with these new characters and by the end you were smiling big and humming One Little Spark one your way UP to the Image Works. Good luck try to even match that, let alone top that introduction.

If they build P&F, will they have enough ride time, space, or even desire to tell all (5 or 6?)of P&F's character's back-story in the ride, when people can just watch the cartoon to find out about P&F? I think it would be a lot harder do since their are more characters in P&F that the 2 they originally had to introduce to us. My bet is they would just show a cartoon in the queue as part of a pre-show to explain who these characters are before being whisked off on an adventure to save their imaginations from Dr Whatever.

I guess if they do it right, and the attraction is E+ ticket awesome, it would be easier to say goodbye to Figment. But if they just do a P&F dark ride like the new Ariel's Undersea Adventures (as much as I like the Ursala AA, it is defiantly not a E ticket attraction), I think Disney fans would freak out about losing Figment again. I think this is the bottom line, if they are going to remove Figment from the pavilion again they better replace it with an E ticket that can help ease the pain. However, I don't think Figment is going anywhere because of the strong merchandise sales and strong connection to Epcot in general.

I have no insider information, but I just can't see Disney doing this to the Imagination ride. If they can't pull the trigger on the Monster's Inc coaster based on a great Pixar movie that has an up coming sequel, I don't see them going all-in on a entire pavilion redo for a TV cartoon, no matter how popular it may be right now. I could see a 3-D movie and I would be okay with that but I really like the idea of P&F going in the Animation Courtyard like RSoxNo1 mentioned.

Unfortunately, I can.

 

[Mike the birdman]

I am a cast member at Epcot for 21+ yrs. and I have not heard that rumor. They brought back Capt. EO after M.J.'s death which was what, 2 yrs. ago? I really don't think a change is planned in the near future. Though I do feel a change is needed for that ride.