John Lasseter Visits Imagination Pavilion

[Cosmic Commando]

I don't think anyone was "blaming" Ron for the Dreamfinder banishment. What we are saying is that as a character Dreamfinder was an intimate, one park only character, people recognized the voice and the mannerisms that Ron conveyed. Much like, no matter how hard they tried, there is only one Music Man and only one James Bond. Everyone else was just an actor. That put a lot of pressure on Ron, but nothing compared to the problems that it presented for Disney management. So when the opportunity came to make a change, I'd bet that the first thing that came to mind was...get rid of Dreamfinder and, at the time, Figment.

Ron was a victim of the fact that he played the part too well.

I really don't believe that you cannot find actors to take up the character in the way Ron portrayed him... if you can have CM's take on Jack Sparrow and live up to the iconic way Johnny Depp played him, surely people can figure out how to play Dreamfinder?

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I want him to reveal there really was planned a VII-VIII-IX, and two more Indy films.

I claim insider status based on my post from last night, whose covert message was overlooked by all you peasants.

 

[JWG]

I really don't believe that you cannot find actors to take up the character in the way Ron portrayed him... if you can have CM's take on Jack Sparrow and live up to the iconic way Johnny Depp played him, surely people can figure out how to play Dreamfinder?

True.
Feel the same way about every Princess (and prince) in Disney history...
Those are real face characters not hidden behind facial hair or masks who talk. Seriously, if Cinderella can transcend people and time - Dreamfinder easily can.

 

[Atomicmickey]

Consider the fact that I've never heard of this Ron fellow until just now.

I always assumed many people portrayed Dreamfinder, and there are probably
dozens working at WDW now who could.

Is there some sort of sordid tale with this Ron guy?

 

[FigmentJedi]

Consider the fact that I've never heard of this Ron fellow until just now.

I always assumed many people portrayed Dreamfinder, and there are probably
dozens working at WDW now who could.

Is there some sort of sordid tale with this Ron guy?

There were about three or four Dreamfinders throughout the character's 16 year run at Epcot.

Ron was the first live Dreamfinder and he actually voiced Dreamfinder in a few of the ride's scenes when Chuck McCann was unavailable as well as doing some of the videos for ImageWorks.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Consider the fact that I've never heard of this Ron fellow until just now.

I always assumed many people portrayed Dreamfinder, and there are probably
dozens working at WDW now who could.

Is there some sort of sordid tale with this Ron guy?

Nobody had heard of Ron until two years ago, except for some Disney geeks.
Like the Orange Bird, almost overnight a relatively obscure part of Disney history was suddenly propelled into superstardom amongst fans. It's a bit lost on me.

 

[RadioHead]

So whats the latest regarding this?

The imagination pavilion is getting rebooted? Or is it just continue to rot away and have no one ever visit the attraction.

 

[marni1971]

Page 14, the facts.

The pavilion is on life support (sound familiar?)
The attraction is failing to draw guests.
TDO are well aware of this.
There is nothing currently planned to replace EO.
Not two years ago a deal was close to a new sponsor for the pavilion.
At least 3 refurb plans have been proposed over the past five years that I know of. All fell through due to lack of budget.
Budgets are such a joke that an earlier refurb budget was stolen and used to beef up Seas with Nemos installation. Yep, Nemo used all of its AND Imaginations budget.

Sooner or later something will need to be done. TDO are well aware. The worry is what, and to what standard.

 

[ellie-badge]

Page 14, the facts.

The pavilion is on life support (sound familiar?)
The attraction is failing to draw guests.
TDO are well aware of this.
There is nothing currently planned to replace EO.
Not two years ago a deal was close to a new sponsor for the pavilion.
At least 3 refurb plans have been proposed over the past five years that I know of. All fell through due to lack of budget.
Budgets are such a joke that an earlier refurb budget was stolen and used to beef up Seas with Nemos installation. Yep, Nemo used all of its AND Imaginations budget.

Sooner or later something will need to be done. TDO are well aware. The worry is what, and to what standard.

Good to know that they're at least aware of the pavilion's problems.

Would you be able to tell us if any of the proposed refurbishments had Figment still in mind? Totally understandable if you couldn't say.

I find it a bit of a joke that Disney can cough up over five billion dollars on Disney California Adventure AND a little over four billion for Lucasfilm... but they can't even put in a few hundred thousand for a dinky attraction that's in some serious need of help.

Edit: *Few hundred million, probably less. It was like, 4-something in the morning when I wrote this.

 

[Enchantâmes]

Page 14, the facts.

The pavilion is on life support (sound familiar?)
The attraction is failing to draw guests.
TDO are well aware of this.
There is nothing currently planned to replace EO.
Not two years ago a deal was close to a new sponsor for the pavilion.
At least 3 refurb plans have been proposed over the past five years that I know of. All fell through due to lack of budget.
Budgets are such a joke that an earlier refurb budget was stolen and used to beef up Seas with Nemos installation. Yep, Nemo used all of its AND Imaginations budget.

Sooner or later something will need to be done. TDO are well aware. The worry is what, and to what standard.

Any details about these refurb plans? I don't see a problem with talking about them if they were cancelled.

 

[RadioHead]

Page 14, the facts.

The pavilion is on life support (sound familiar?)
The attraction is failing to draw guests.
TDO are well aware of this.
There is nothing currently planned to replace EO.
Not two years ago a deal was close to a new sponsor for the pavilion.
At least 3 refurb plans have been proposed over the past five years that I know of. All fell through due to lack of budget.
Budgets are such a joke that an earlier refurb budget was stolen and used to beef up Seas with Nemos installation. Yep, Nemo used all of its AND Imaginations budget.

Sooner or later something will need to be done. TDO are well aware. The worry is what, and to what standard.

But wait, I'm terribly confused.

The Disney company has been on the up and up lately no? Pixar has performed well, Marvel has performed EXCEEDINGLY well (with the avengers and whatnot), and obviously Disney still has some cash in the piggy bank to acquire Lucas films for nearly 5 billion dollars.

Seemingly, everything is on the up tick no? The parks attendance has been solid, the films have been producing to an extent, there growing as a company more and more.

So why is it so hard to cover the..heck, how much could it cost to reboot that pavillion and put a quality attraction in that spot? 15-30 million?

Can they really not just spot that part of the bill? Or are they truly that cheap and greedy and would prefer the attraction to continue to rot and just collected dust for years to come. SMH.

 

[SirLink]

But wait, I'm terribly confused.

The Disney company has been on the up and up lately no? Pixar has performed well, Marvel has performed EXCEEDINGLY well (with the avengers and whatnot), and obviously Disney still has some cash in the piggy bank to acquire Lucas films for nearly 5 billion dollars.

Seemingly, everything is on the up tick no? The parks attendance has been solid, the films have been producing to an extent, there growing as a company more and more.

So why is it so hard to cover the..heck, how much could it cost to reboot that pavillion and put a quality attraction in that spot? 15-30 million?

Can they really not just spot that part of the bill? Or are they truly that cheap and greedy and would prefer the attraction to continue to rot and just collected dust for years to come. SMH.

What you gotta remember is the Dumbo double spinner cost around $60million - so ... well ...

 

[BrightImagine]

To me, the star of Journey Into Imagination is not Dreamfinder or even Figment - it's One Little Spark. All the greatest attractions of WDW are centered around a great song that stays with you after you exit. JIIF is missing its heart because it's missing that song. (Come to think of it... Future World used to be full of iconic songs and now every single one has been removed.) Bring back the music and you bring back the Imagination feel, even if Dreamfinder and Figment take a back seat to some new imagery. If I were an imagineer I would be pouring time and resources into finding the next Sherman Brothers.

 

[Enchantâmes]

To me, the star of Journey Into Imagination is not Dreamfinder or even Figment - it's One Little Spark. All the greatest attractions of WDW are centered around a great song that stays with you after you exit. JIIF is missing its heart because it's missing that song. (Come to think of it... Future World used to be full of iconic songs and now every single one has been removed.) Bring back the music and you bring back the Imagination feel, even if Dreamfinder and Figment take a back seat to some new imagery. If I were an imagineer I would be pouring time and resources into finding the next Sherman Brothers.

The song is in the ride still... just with new lyrics...

 

[Atomicmickey]

Page 14, the facts.

The pavilion is on life support (sound familiar?)
The attraction is failing to draw guests.
TDO are well aware of this.
There is nothing currently planned to replace EO.
Not two years ago a deal was close to a new sponsor for the pavilion.
At least 3 refurb plans have been proposed over the past five years that I know of. All fell through due to lack of budget.
Budgets are such a joke that an earlier refurb budget was stolen and used to beef up Seas with Nemos installation. Yep, Nemo used all of its AND Imaginations budget.

Sooner or later something will need to be done. TDO are well aware. The worry is what, and to what standard.

Oh. And here I thought it was all Ron's fault.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I think it's clear that the Imagination Pavilion will never be restored. Iger can't be spending money to fix up original attractions when it could be better spent buying up old stuff from baby boomers' childhoods...

 

[Kevin_W]

To me, the star of Journey Into Imagination is not Dreamfinder or even Figment - it's One Little Spark. All the greatest attractions of WDW are centered around a great song that stays with you after you exit. JIIF is missing its heart because it's missing that song. (Come to think of it... Future World used to be full of iconic songs and now every single one has been removed.) Bring back the music and you bring back the Imagination feel, even if Dreamfinder and Figment take a back seat to some new imagery. If I were an imagineer I would be pouring time and resources into finding the next Sherman Brothers.

I think there is something to this. For kicks, I listened to my Epcot - 1983 soundtrack the other night. Imagination, Living with the Land, Energy - all memorable songs. Not to mention the original and far superior version of Golden Wings. (Although I do like the current O Canada more than the original.)

 

[dxwwf3]

Yep, Nemo used all of its AND Imaginations budget.

And that's all we got out of it? Either the budgets were extremely low for both or they wasted a ton of money on Nemo.

 

[michmousefan]

I think it's clear that the Imagination Pavilion will never be restored. Iger can't be spending money to fix up original attractions when it could be better spent buying up old stuff from baby boomers' childhoods...

If the act of spending cash on Imagination yields the result we got from going to the first generation of the ride to the current, then yep, spending money to purchase Lucasfilm is a MUCH better use of Disney's money. Heck, spending money to purchase the rights to Saved By The Bell would be a better use of funds than what they did with JIYIWF.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think it's clear that the Imagination Pavilion will never be restored. Iger can't be spending money to fix up original attractions when it could be better spent buying up old stuff from baby boomers' childhoods...

If you are referring to "Star Wars", I'm afraid you have got the wrong generation there. Perhaps the children of baby boomers, but not the boomers themselves.