Rumor Inside Out to Replace Journey into Imagination with Figment?

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
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.

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.
:)

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danlb_2000

Premium Member
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TOCPE82

Well-Known Member
Yeah.. just like what happened in 1999... the rumor was Figment would be implemented to be the ā€œmascotā€ of Epcot. And they changed the ride to a supposedly ā€œpopularā€ film IP ride (proven by Honey I Shrunk the Audienceā€™s ā€œsuccessā€) , 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.

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

Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
So we lose him from the ride and gain a Fig-Zilla meet and greet?
No... youā€™re not quite catching it. Iā€™m fairly certain WDIā€™s still trying to pull off another ā€œYour Imaginationā€ situation again in essence (downplaying Figmentā€™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 ā€œprovingā€ to WDI they should scrap him all together later) but with either an Inside Out or another IP theme in mind rather than the ā€œHoney, I Shrunkā€-based ā€˜Imagination Instituteā€™ 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 (ā€œFigzillaā€) wasnā€™t implemented til shortly after he was carelessly shoehorned in as a constant ā€œupside-down thinkingā€ interference that makes ā€œa big stinkā€ to prove Dr. Channing and his ā€œcaptured, controlledā€ thinking wrong- oops I mean.. ā€œbrought backā€, after they got all the complaints to ā€œBring Figment Backā€ (Clearly folks meant the old ride.. but whatever) Regardless, at the end of it, that ā€œFigzillaā€ meet n greet wasnā€™t too popular and most people wanted ā€˜Dreamfinderā€™ 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

Well-Known Member
Why did they get rid of him??

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

Well-Known Member
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
 

Inspired Figment

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

More Figment = Always better
That is, when heā€™s not intentionally mischaracterized as an obnoxious, know-it-all ā€œinterferenceā€ with an ā€œupside downā€ way of thinking rather than the childlike character full of innocence and curiosity we all loved before. šŸ˜‰

PS: If anyoneā€™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 hasnā€™t been anything done with the Imagination ride yet. 2 factors, which Iā€™ve mentioned a few times now. 1.) Inner WDI office politics (One group/team is not fond of Tony, his ā€œoutdated, old-fashionedā€ 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. Itā€™s a constant battle between the two groups.

2.)*Then*, on top of that, youā€™ve also got Bob Chapek & Bob Iger in charge uptop who *greenlight* these proposals. Unfortunately for us, they have a completely ā€œrisk-averseā€, cheap cost mindset and theyā€™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.. itā€™s a sad and frustrating situation.
 
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HauntedMansionFLA

Well-Known Member
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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My bad, why did they get rid of Tony Baxter.
 

Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
My bad, why did they get rid of Tony Baxter.
Read my post above. šŸ˜‰
Inner politics. Technically they didnā€™t really ā€œget rid of himā€ 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 ā€œtraditionalā€ values & mindset Tony and his supporting team have anymore.
 
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trainplane3

Well-Known Member
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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As much as I hate Figzilla, I'd take him back just to get the point across that people like Figment and more should be done with the pavilion without kicking him out.
 

Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
Figment once had a male personality. Ron Schneider can tell you that.

Some degenerate at Disney decided to feminize the character, particularly in merchandise- not so much the attraction.
Ehh.. I wouldnā€™t quite say that. Heā€™s a male character through and through. Not sure where youā€™re getting your conclusion from. Infact Iā€™d say the merchandise has done a good job at keeping his original charm and personality intact, including the recent Marvel origin story comic series. Heā€™s supposed to be cute but relatable to all ages regardless of gender. Similar to the charm Pooh & Friends & Pinocchio have. He had the same father-son relationship with Dreamfinder as Pinocchio did with Gepetto for instance. He represents that childlike curiosity, innocence, and creativity within us all. But yeah.. either way, itā€™s a real unfortunate situation the Imagination pavilion is in.
 
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Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
Not to mention, I donā€™t really see where any ā€œfeminine agendaā€ is being pushed in merchandise that you bring up. The characters are appealing, sweet, and innocent regardless of age and gender.

Of course youā€™re going to have merchandise that appeals to both genders... this applies to all the Disney characters. There are menā€™s & womenā€™s clothing featuring them for instance. And some clothing is considered unisex. So I donā€™t really get where your argument comes from. But oh well. I agree with you though that they clearly butchered the ride in itā€™s current incarnation and that itā€™s a shame Disney is so narrow-minded & so against restoring it back to itā€™s original charm and vision for such shortsighted reasons.
 
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Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
Great.

So you were an adult Figment fan visiting Epcot in 2002-2005 and saw nothing completely contradictory about the newww Figment vs well... Figment.
Well the new Figment of course is portrayed as this obnoxious, know-it-all ā€œinterferenceā€ that makes a big stink to make a point to ā€œcaptured and controlledā€ thinking Channing, that his ā€œupside downā€ free-thinking way is the right way. Wouldnā€™t exactly call that ā€œfeminizedā€ though. Itā€™s just a complete reversal of the spirit & personality of the character.
The original Figment had a son to father relationship with Dreamfinder. He was sweet, innocent, and curious about the world around him while learning from Dreamfinder about the various creative mediums they explored together to unlock his true creative potential.

Heā€™s a character that appeals to both genders regardless. Though I agree heā€™s clearly not being utilized properly in the ride these days and that he ought to be used in a larger variety of merchandise. I feel thereā€™s too little these days compared to the golden years of Epcot. There ought to be more variety in hats, shirts, and sweatshirts featuring him for instance. But yeah. Thatā€™s pretty much my conclusion regarding this matter.
 
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