YourHighwayInTheSky
New Member
Don't know if it's a similar track system but this has happened to me on the TTA plenty of times. Pretty scary when you're sitting backwards and not expecting it lol
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Journey into imagination incident
- Thread starter THE Monorail Lime
- Start date
GlacierGlacier
Well-Known Member
The Peoplemover is powered through linear induction motors (basically electromagnets), not wheels like JII is.
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
Honestly, the *real* incident that happened was Disney management took a once beautifully detailed, inspiring, timeless ride about the spirit of creativity, inspiration, and imagination and removed absolutely *everything* that made it’s identity, everything that everyone loved about it, and drastically changed it to a short, boring, sparsely themed, uninaginative “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” Institute ride with little thought or care put into it at all. They simply changed it for the sake of change and nothing more. HUGE mistake
How they didnt think that’d be a problem is beyond me. But whatever the case may be. Clearly it caused enough backlash for them to realize that *something* was wrong. However, I believe *that* is where a huge disconnect happened between management and guests.
Let me explain.. while yes, everyone said they “wanted Figment back”. That wasn’t the only thing that formed that ride’s identity, nor was it the only thing guests loved about it. When most families go to Disney and refer to a ride they want to see (particularly one featuring a character they know and love). Do they say, “Let’s go ride Peter Pan’s Flight.” or, “Let’s go ride Peter Pan.”? Realistically, it’s almost always the second one, “Let’s go ride Peter Pan’. So using our imagination for a moment, let’s imagine that management decided to close Peter Pan’s Flight one day and suddenly replace it with something drastically different, a poorly thought out Chicken Little ride, much to the public’s dismay. All the guests start complaining, “Bring Peter Pan back.”. So, let’s think for a moment, what exactly do they mean by that? It’s not that they just wanted Peter Pan, the character, brought back, it’s that they wanted that entire experience they enjoyed brought back. Flying the pirate ship over parts of Neverland and seeing all the familiar characters and locations we remember from the movie. So to alleviate the issue, Disney closes this redo to complaints. A year later, to “fix it”, instead of restoring it back to the “Peter Pan” ride everyone loved and expected, with some slight upgrades and improvements, they instead keep the same poorly received Chicken Little ride, but the only difference with this one being that they shoehorned Peter Pan into the ride and changed the story up a bit. The story now is Peter getting his revenge on Chicken Little, causing various mischief, while trying to prove him wrong about “never growing up”. You see how completely mixed up and unnatural this sounds? Well, let’s go back to Figment’s case.
After being disappointed with the replacement, people complained, “Bring Figment back!”. The response after getting rid of the beloved ride we all enjoyed with Figment & Dreamfinder. Makes perfect sense, right? So eventually, the first redo closed in 2001 (thank goodness) and in 2002, “Journey into Imagination with Figment” opened. Imagine this, guests see the new sign, “Journey into Imagination with Figment”, and think, “Yes, Finally! They brought back the imagination ride with Figment & Dreamfinder that we all loved. I can’t wait to experience it again!”. (Uh oh.. see the issue that’s about to unfold?) Except.. this wasn’t the case, it was the exact opposite of that. What we got instead was the same, poorly received “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” themed ride with Dr. Nigel Channing as the host again, taking us through the same institute tour no one liked before (So again, no Dreamfinder, message of using our creativity, or the colorful realms of imagination from the original.). The only big difference was that Figment, the character, was simply shoehorned in, using a few CG animated scenes on screens, 3 borrowed animatronics from the original ride, a few static Figment figures attached to the ceiling, and a new “in-joke” story that’s basically an argument between Figment and Dr. Channing of whether “imagination” (which isn’t even imagination in this case. It’s the five senses...perception.) should be set free or controlled. So in the end, it came out to be a bare bones, half-hearted, temporary “fix” for a “Figment” comeback. The very thing we least expected from a company like Disney, especially after the truly imaginative, thoroughly detailed, unforgettable, high quality experience we remembered from the original ride.
What Disney Management should learn from this is that Figment, Dreamfinder, and Imagination do NOT need an unrelated Movie IP to remain relevant. They’re perfectly relevant as-is. This has been proven TWICE now. What they need to do is go back to the original ride slightly upgraded like people initially wanted *or* a new Journey into Imagination ride that’s as close to the original spirit as possible. Otherwise, it’s repeating the exact same mistake as before. I can only hope and pray that the new merchandise sales, particularly the new Dreamfinder & Figment Tsum Tsum set, will open someone’s eyes. We shall see... In all honesty though, that original ride is the absolute epitome of being Disney, family friendly, and timeless. Infact, I could even argue that compared to every other original Epcot attraction. That is *the* ride that still works today. The issue with all the other old Epcot attractions was they were constantly focused on the future and innovation.. which obviously will need to be updated within 10-16 years. With Imagination, this isn’t the case. That’s a message that will always remain relevant and have a place within Disney and society as a whole.
How they didnt think that’d be a problem is beyond me. But whatever the case may be. Clearly it caused enough backlash for them to realize that *something* was wrong. However, I believe *that* is where a huge disconnect happened between management and guests.
Let me explain.. while yes, everyone said they “wanted Figment back”. That wasn’t the only thing that formed that ride’s identity, nor was it the only thing guests loved about it. When most families go to Disney and refer to a ride they want to see (particularly one featuring a character they know and love). Do they say, “Let’s go ride Peter Pan’s Flight.” or, “Let’s go ride Peter Pan.”? Realistically, it’s almost always the second one, “Let’s go ride Peter Pan’. So using our imagination for a moment, let’s imagine that management decided to close Peter Pan’s Flight one day and suddenly replace it with something drastically different, a poorly thought out Chicken Little ride, much to the public’s dismay. All the guests start complaining, “Bring Peter Pan back.”. So, let’s think for a moment, what exactly do they mean by that? It’s not that they just wanted Peter Pan, the character, brought back, it’s that they wanted that entire experience they enjoyed brought back. Flying the pirate ship over parts of Neverland and seeing all the familiar characters and locations we remember from the movie. So to alleviate the issue, Disney closes this redo to complaints. A year later, to “fix it”, instead of restoring it back to the “Peter Pan” ride everyone loved and expected, with some slight upgrades and improvements, they instead keep the same poorly received Chicken Little ride, but the only difference with this one being that they shoehorned Peter Pan into the ride and changed the story up a bit. The story now is Peter getting his revenge on Chicken Little, causing various mischief, while trying to prove him wrong about “never growing up”. You see how completely mixed up and unnatural this sounds? Well, let’s go back to Figment’s case.
After being disappointed with the replacement, people complained, “Bring Figment back!”. The response after getting rid of the beloved ride we all enjoyed with Figment & Dreamfinder. Makes perfect sense, right? So eventually, the first redo closed in 2001 (thank goodness) and in 2002, “Journey into Imagination with Figment” opened. Imagine this, guests see the new sign, “Journey into Imagination with Figment”, and think, “Yes, Finally! They brought back the imagination ride with Figment & Dreamfinder that we all loved. I can’t wait to experience it again!”. (Uh oh.. see the issue that’s about to unfold?) Except.. this wasn’t the case, it was the exact opposite of that. What we got instead was the same, poorly received “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” themed ride with Dr. Nigel Channing as the host again, taking us through the same institute tour no one liked before (So again, no Dreamfinder, message of using our creativity, or the colorful realms of imagination from the original.). The only big difference was that Figment, the character, was simply shoehorned in, using a few CG animated scenes on screens, 3 borrowed animatronics from the original ride, a few static Figment figures attached to the ceiling, and a new “in-joke” story that’s basically an argument between Figment and Dr. Channing of whether “imagination” (which isn’t even imagination in this case. It’s the five senses...perception.) should be set free or controlled. So in the end, it came out to be a bare bones, half-hearted, temporary “fix” for a “Figment” comeback. The very thing we least expected from a company like Disney, especially after the truly imaginative, thoroughly detailed, unforgettable, high quality experience we remembered from the original ride.
What Disney Management should learn from this is that Figment, Dreamfinder, and Imagination do NOT need an unrelated Movie IP to remain relevant. They’re perfectly relevant as-is. This has been proven TWICE now. What they need to do is go back to the original ride slightly upgraded like people initially wanted *or* a new Journey into Imagination ride that’s as close to the original spirit as possible. Otherwise, it’s repeating the exact same mistake as before. I can only hope and pray that the new merchandise sales, particularly the new Dreamfinder & Figment Tsum Tsum set, will open someone’s eyes. We shall see... In all honesty though, that original ride is the absolute epitome of being Disney, family friendly, and timeless. Infact, I could even argue that compared to every other original Epcot attraction. That is *the* ride that still works today. The issue with all the other old Epcot attractions was they were constantly focused on the future and innovation.. which obviously will need to be updated within 10-16 years. With Imagination, this isn’t the case. That’s a message that will always remain relevant and have a place within Disney and society as a whole.
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DisneyGentlemanV2.0
Well-Known Member
This is what happens when Imagineering becomes Budgeteering - devolution to the lowest common denominator - a ride based on breaking wind and upside-down toilets.
Found one!
What are the 3 reuse figment AA’s?
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
All 3 Figment animatronics used throughout the current ride. Sound Lab Figment is the original Art Figment by the rainbow pond, The Figment before the Upside-Down House I’m fairly certain is the original Finale Figment, and the Astronaut Figment is the original Astronaut Figment simply repainted from gray and orange to yellow and purple.
discos
Well-Known Member
I don't know if that's the case with the astronaut figure. There's an image circling of a private collector with that figure in their possession. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/figment-is-now-a-fail.910909/page-6#post-7268748
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
Hmm... then if that’s the case. Pretty sure they basically just used the original mold, made a brand new replica and used different paint then.
Thanks, also the Dreamfinder and figment Tsum Tsum are amazing!
P.S Are some of the ride track area still under the floor?
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
Yep
Is any of it filled in? Also are there remaining themeing elements from the original? Like left there? Thank again!
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
Pretty much. Remaining theming elements, Not that I know of. Half of the track layout is the same. But literally the only thing similar about the original and current versions are the fact that Figment and the song “One Little Spark” is featured. Otherwise, the rides are completely different from each other
I love them
montyz81
Well-Known Member
Sorry, that spark went out a long time ago!
WDWTank
Well-Known Member
Dude, this is amazing. You should send this to Disney!