I will admit that even though I now have a recent interest in the Disney Parks and their history (I live in Australia but would love to go), I've always been interested in Epcot or what used to be EPCOT Center from the 80s. The idea of an educational Disney park that was still enjoyable intrigues me. You have the World Showcase, the pavilions and areas to explore and one of those areas being Future World that funny enough, has or mostly had companies sponsoring the rides to help shape their identity and contribute to something much grander in the big scheme of things. Rides like Horizons for showing potential futures, the original Journey Into Imagination that encouraged people of all ages to be creative and use their imaginations and explore infinite possibilities to create new things. There was also Captain EO being a cool sci-fi 3D romp with the late Michael Jackson as well as having a ton of other cool experiences of the time period.
One of my favorite rides I've at least seen online (I was 3 when the original closed in 1998) is the first Journey Into Imagination dark ride. The reasons stated above are a part of why I like it but the characters Dreamfinder and Figment are a part of why it stuck out to me. That and the surreal/trippy visuals. The Dreamfinder had a quirky yet comforting feel when he talked while also having a whimsical touch to his personality. There was certainly an oddness to the dark ride but the characters were endearing and likable, there were a lot of cool easter eggs one might notice when you take a look at what's going on throughout the 12-minute ride and the song "One Little Spark" is truly both catchy, fun and downright inspirational. There's also Figment's cheeky yet curious and innocent personality in the original where he acted like a little kid asking questions to his parent.
There was a sense with a lot of the original rides that there was a consistent theme with the area of Future World and that they were there to make a collective statement: that the future can hold infinite possibilities with the power of imagination & creativity and that anything is possible if we work together and put our minds to it. Back then, it was one of many truly cool parts of what made EPCOT Center special and loved by fans of Disney.
Nowadays, it seems more like a shell of it's former self. Journey Into Imagination got replaced twice. One being more like a spin off of the Honey I Shrunk The Audience than a legit Imagination dark ride where Nigel Channing (played by the talented Eric Idle reading an awful script) insults the guests and forces them to experience lame parlor tricks (the upside down house was kind of creative but still oddly out of place) and Figment barely shows up (voiced by the late great Billy Barty from the original Imagination ride) and his appearance is so brief he might as well had not bothered (still nice to hear Billy voice him one last time) and the other being a take that on the second one but it made Figment annoying (and voiced by the still talented Dave Goelz) and making dated references and horrible jokes while still trying to incorporate the "Institute" premise with still not much to be had in much imaginative moments. However, the one upside is "One Little Spark" is back and there are some cool visuals. However, the 2002 CGI hasn't aged well and like I said before, the references have also aged pretty badly.
As much as I like the original Figment and his comic series, the ride has aged horribly and it doesn't help they haven't touched it since 2002, leaving it to rot and become a sad walk-on ride. Not to mention how they made his ride now feel irrelevant and confused since it started with such a cool duo and creative themes. I would highly suggest Disney do a full-on reboot that respects it's original legacy while still being creative and lovable, not to mention imaginative.
There's also rides like Horizons being torn down and replaced with Mission: Space and from what I've seen of the ride it seems lackluster compared to the inspirational Horizons exploring the many possibilities of our potential future and the positive advancements we can do for the good of mankind. It was really something special. However, I won't deny there's something cool about space travel to me so it's more forgivable.
What's not forgivable is Disney doing nothing with the Wonders of Life pavilion (the Food and Wine Festival doesn't count since it's only an annual thing and not a permanent experience). I don't have an opinion on Test Track as a ride but I like the idea of designing cars and trying them out so that's cool. One thing that ultimately disappointed me was noticing how irrelevant the "Future World" title has become. Most of the rides have no connecting theme holding them together for that "Future" idea anymore so it seems redundant at this point which is pretty sad. I'm hoping Figment gets a proper ride about imagination and is more likable, while Disney focuses on actually utilizing pavilions and giving Future World that "one little spark" needed for a massive comeback.
What do you guys think Disney should do about EPCOT and Future World? I'd love to know and I hope you all have a great day.
One of my favorite rides I've at least seen online (I was 3 when the original closed in 1998) is the first Journey Into Imagination dark ride. The reasons stated above are a part of why I like it but the characters Dreamfinder and Figment are a part of why it stuck out to me. That and the surreal/trippy visuals. The Dreamfinder had a quirky yet comforting feel when he talked while also having a whimsical touch to his personality. There was certainly an oddness to the dark ride but the characters were endearing and likable, there were a lot of cool easter eggs one might notice when you take a look at what's going on throughout the 12-minute ride and the song "One Little Spark" is truly both catchy, fun and downright inspirational. There's also Figment's cheeky yet curious and innocent personality in the original where he acted like a little kid asking questions to his parent.
There was a sense with a lot of the original rides that there was a consistent theme with the area of Future World and that they were there to make a collective statement: that the future can hold infinite possibilities with the power of imagination & creativity and that anything is possible if we work together and put our minds to it. Back then, it was one of many truly cool parts of what made EPCOT Center special and loved by fans of Disney.
Nowadays, it seems more like a shell of it's former self. Journey Into Imagination got replaced twice. One being more like a spin off of the Honey I Shrunk The Audience than a legit Imagination dark ride where Nigel Channing (played by the talented Eric Idle reading an awful script) insults the guests and forces them to experience lame parlor tricks (the upside down house was kind of creative but still oddly out of place) and Figment barely shows up (voiced by the late great Billy Barty from the original Imagination ride) and his appearance is so brief he might as well had not bothered (still nice to hear Billy voice him one last time) and the other being a take that on the second one but it made Figment annoying (and voiced by the still talented Dave Goelz) and making dated references and horrible jokes while still trying to incorporate the "Institute" premise with still not much to be had in much imaginative moments. However, the one upside is "One Little Spark" is back and there are some cool visuals. However, the 2002 CGI hasn't aged well and like I said before, the references have also aged pretty badly.
As much as I like the original Figment and his comic series, the ride has aged horribly and it doesn't help they haven't touched it since 2002, leaving it to rot and become a sad walk-on ride. Not to mention how they made his ride now feel irrelevant and confused since it started with such a cool duo and creative themes. I would highly suggest Disney do a full-on reboot that respects it's original legacy while still being creative and lovable, not to mention imaginative.
There's also rides like Horizons being torn down and replaced with Mission: Space and from what I've seen of the ride it seems lackluster compared to the inspirational Horizons exploring the many possibilities of our potential future and the positive advancements we can do for the good of mankind. It was really something special. However, I won't deny there's something cool about space travel to me so it's more forgivable.
What's not forgivable is Disney doing nothing with the Wonders of Life pavilion (the Food and Wine Festival doesn't count since it's only an annual thing and not a permanent experience). I don't have an opinion on Test Track as a ride but I like the idea of designing cars and trying them out so that's cool. One thing that ultimately disappointed me was noticing how irrelevant the "Future World" title has become. Most of the rides have no connecting theme holding them together for that "Future" idea anymore so it seems redundant at this point which is pretty sad. I'm hoping Figment gets a proper ride about imagination and is more likable, while Disney focuses on actually utilizing pavilions and giving Future World that "one little spark" needed for a massive comeback.
What do you guys think Disney should do about EPCOT and Future World? I'd love to know and I hope you all have a great day.
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