EPCOT Inside Out to Replace Journey into Imagination with Figment?

FigmentsBrightIdeas

FigmentsBrightIdeas

Well-Known Member
ObscurityPoint said:
So I’m sure we’ll have most of our questions answered at D23 in August, but my broad guess is that Inside Out will 100% be integrated into Epcot, yet Figment will remain as a significant mascot of the park, somehow.
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Yeah.. just like what happened in 1999... the rumor was Figment would be implemented to be the “mascot” of Epcot. And they changed the ride to a supposedly “popular” film IP ride (proven by Honey I Shrunk the Audience’s “success”) , a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids/Audience themed ride called Journey into Your Imagination. And they continued to sell Figment merchandise within the park, despite that. But then all the sudden when he disappeared, merchandise sales dropped and people were angry he disappeared from the ride entirely. This is literally a cycle and it shocks me no one else has realized it yet.
 
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FigmentsBrightIdeas

FigmentsBrightIdeas

Well-Known Member
*ahem*

👀
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Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
AVAC Juice said:
Tony Baxter has been incredibly generous with his time, particularly in the podcast realm.
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Even more so when you have the opportunity ( or several ) to meet him in person.

And enjoy a couple of very long dinners with him....
And visit certain locations....
And maybe experience certain Attractions with him....
And....

The mans generosity with his time and insights knows no bounds.
Tony is the key to unlock the hidden worlds of the very highest imaginative creativity.


:)

-
 
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Disnerd2003

Disnerd2003

Well-Known Member
Figments Friend said:
Even more so when you have the opportunity ( or several ) to meet him in person.

And enjoy a couple of very long dinners with him....
And visit certain locations....
And maybe experience certain Attractions with him....
And....

The mans generosity with his time and insights knows no bounds.
Tony is the key to unlock the hidden worlds of the very highest imaginative creativity.


:)

-
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Tony is such a genuinely nice dude. Met him at Disneyland and when I completely fangirled out (as an adult man haha) he invited me to ride a few rides (Indiana Jones was the coolest to experience with him) and it's something I'll never forget. He and Joe Rohde (whom I have also met and walked around Pandora with) are some of the coolest, most chill people ever.
 
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HauntedMansionFLA

HauntedMansionFLA

Well-Known Member
Figments Friend said:
Even more so when you have the opportunity ( or several ) to meet him in person.

And enjoy a couple of very long dinners with him....
And visit certain locations....
And maybe experience certain Attractions with him....
And....

The mans generosity with his time and insights knows no bounds.
Tony is the key to unlock the hidden worlds of the very highest imaginative creativity.


:)

-
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Why did they get rid of him??
 
bcoachable

bcoachable

Well-Known Member
Disnerd2003 said:
Tony is such a genuinely nice dude. Met him at Disneyland and when I completely fangirled out (as an adult man haha) he invited me to ride a few rides (Indiana Jones was the coolest to experience with him) and it's something I'll never forget. He and Joe Rohde (whom I have also met and walked around Pandora with) are some of the coolest, most chill people ever.
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Wow!! Such fantastic luck!! That gave me a fun idea for a new thread: “if you ran into Tony Baxter, what ride would you ask him to ride with you on and why”
How are you with picking lottery ticket numbers, by the way??!!
 
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Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Disnerd2003 said:
Tony is such a genuinely nice dude. Met him at Disneyland and when I completely fangirled out (as an adult man haha) he invited me to ride a few rides (Indiana Jones was the coolest to experience with him) and it's something I'll never forget. He and Joe Rohde (whom I have also met and walked around Pandora with) are some of the coolest, most chill people ever.
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I am very glad that you were able to spend some time with him.
He is a overflowing well of knowledge and insight regarding any aspect of the history of the company, the Parks, and Imagineering.
His perspective on things is second to none....and he is always open to sharing those insights with others when the situation calls for it.

I too have enjoyed spending some time at Disneyland Park with Tony.
Getting to experience some of the best experiences in the Park, as well as just spending time wandering around listening to him tell tales of yore is something I'll never forget....among others adventures I have been very lucky to experience with him and his friends.
:)

-
 
TOCPE82

TOCPE82

Well-Known Member
Inspired Figment said:
Yeah.. just like what happened in 1999... the rumor was Figment would be implemented to be the “mascot” of Epcot. And they changed the ride to a supposedly “popular” film IP ride (proven by Honey I Shrunk the Audience’s “success”) , a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids/Audience themed ride called Journey into Your Imagination. And they continued to sell Figment merchandise within the park, despite that. But then all the sudden when he disappeared, merchandise sales dropped and people were angry he disappeared from the ride entirely. This is literally a cycle and it shocks me no one else has realized it yet.
Click to expand...

So we lose him from the ride and gain a Fig-Zilla meet and greet?
 
FigmentsBrightIdeas

FigmentsBrightIdeas

Well-Known Member
TOCPE82 said:
So we lose him from the ride and gain a Fig-Zilla meet and greet?
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No... you’re not quite catching it. I’m fairly certain WDI’s still trying to pull off another “Your Imagination” situation again in essence (downplaying Figment’s role so he can eventually be gotten rid of again and be discarded to merch until he becomes unrecognizable to other guests thus merch sales numbers dropping “proving” to WDI they should scrap him all together later) but with either an Inside Out or another IP theme in mind rather than the “Honey, I Shrunk”-based ‘Imagination Institute’ theme they used in the past 2 redos, Which IMO, would be an absolute travesty. Not to mention, the large, stand-alone Figment meet n greet (“Figzilla”) wasn’t implemented til shortly after he was carelessly shoehorned in as a constant “upside-down thinking” interference that makes “a big stink” to prove Dr. Channing and his “captured, controlled” thinking wrong- oops I mean.. “brought back”, after they got all the complaints to “Bring Figment Back” (Clearly folks meant the old ride.. but whatever) Regardless, at the end of it, that “Figzilla” meet n greet wasn’t too popular and most people wanted ‘Dreamfinder’ holding the normal sized Figment brought back. Hence (from my understanding) why the stand-alone Figment meet was discontinued shortly after.
 
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SirWillow

SirWillow

Well-Known Member
HauntedMansionFLA said:
Why did they get rid of him??
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if you're referring to the meet and greet, it's because almost no one knew he was there. He was in an out of the way location, hidden behind reflective glass, on the side of the Imagination pavilion, where the Disney credit card meet and greet is (which is also terribly slow) He would actually come outside a lot of times just so that people would have a clue he was there. It was really kind of sad. We met him a few times, and there was never a wait.

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FigmentFan82

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
SirWillow said:
if you're referring to the meet and greet, it's because almost no one knew he was there. He was in an out of the way location, hidden behind reflective glass, on the side of the Imagination pavilion, where the Disney credit card meet and greet is (which is also terribly slow) He would actually come outside a lot of times just so that people would have a clue he was there. It was really kind of sad. We met him a few times, and there was never a wait.

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Even though he's a big boi I wouldn't mind seeing him trotting around again.

More Figment = Always better
 
FigmentsBrightIdeas

FigmentsBrightIdeas

Well-Known Member
FigmentFan82 said:
Even though he's a big boi I wouldn't mind seeing him trotting around again.

More Figment = Always better
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That is, when he’s not intentionally mischaracterized as an obnoxious, know-it-all “interference” with an “upside down” way of thinking rather than the childlike character full of innocence and curiosity we all loved before. 😉

PS: If anyone’s trying to figure out why there are currently competing proposals within WDI regarding an overhaul of the Imagination pavilion, and *why*, despite how popular Figment & Dreamfinder *clearly* are via merch sales and guest surveys, there hasn’t been anything done with the Imagination ride yet. 2 factors, which I’ve mentioned a few times now. 1.) Inner WDI office politics (One group/team is not fond of Tony, his “outdated, old-fashioned” values, nor the original Imagination ride with Dreamfinder & Figment and wants them gone) while the other is very fond of Tony Baxter, respects the traditional values of WDI, and wants to do a proper high budget revamp that respects the legacy of the original attraction with Dreamfinder & Figment. It’s a constant battle between the two groups.

2.)*Then*, on top of that, you’ve also got Bob Chapek & Bob Iger in charge uptop who *greenlight* these proposals. Unfortunately for us, they have a completely “risk-averse”, cheap cost mindset and they’re too narrow-minded with their film franchise IP mandate to see the wide appeal the original Imagination ride (aswell as other park-exclusive IPs) had and still have to this day. So yeah.. it’s a sad and frustrating situation.
 
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HauntedMansionFLA

HauntedMansionFLA

Well-Known Member
SirWillow said:
if you're referring to the meet and greet, it's because almost no one knew he was there. He was in an out of the way location, hidden behind reflective glass, on the side of the Imagination pavilion, where the Disney credit card meet and greet is (which is also terribly slow) He would actually come outside a lot of times just so that people would have a clue he was there. It was really kind of sad. We met him a few times, and there was never a wait.

View attachment 388821

View attachment 388820
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My bad, why did they get rid of Tony Baxter.
 
FigmentsBrightIdeas

FigmentsBrightIdeas

Well-Known Member
HauntedMansionFLA said:
My bad, why did they get rid of Tony Baxter.
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Read my post above. 😉
Inner politics. Technically they didn’t really “get rid of him” per say. But my speculation is Tony dropped his position to become a consultant due to this whole issue of competing WDI groups and upper management not really favoring or valuing the “traditional” values & mindset Tony and his supporting team have anymore.
 
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