Two Spirited Quickees...Imagination closing

[alphac2005]

View attachment 36878

Just rummaging through some old photos and found this from Imagination when it was still the old ride. A much younger me is in the pic (right).

That could have been me wearing a UCONN shirt in the same tunnel... This all while as I watch UCF vs. UCONN right now as my adopted hometown takes on my former home state.

 

[Radok Block]

It would be very awesome if they could come up with an idea for the ride to incorporate both floors into the ride, perhaps having the vehicles themselves weave up the old spiral staircase that leads to a new Imageworks and have an optional unloading area there.

Co-signed!

 

[englanddg]

 

[Clever Name]

Let's see what Neil DeGrasse Tyson does with Cosmos next spring on Fox.

 

[Voxel]

Thank you for this. This is the first time I have seen this.

 

[Nubs70]

Terrific video.

 

[englanddg]

If you think about it...he's explaining EXACTLY what is wrong with Epoct's FutureWorld today.

 

[Beholder]

If you think about it...he's explaining EXACTLY what is wrong with Epoct's FutureWorld today.

Brilliant. Sad, but oh how insightful. To dream, to pursue, to achieve, all in the name of possibilities. The spirit that he speaks of has been compromised for entertainment. We've traded our desire for knowledge and pursuit of the impossible for reality tv and a society of undrempt of self indulgence. I'm not a scientist or anyone of note, but how one isn't moved in some way by just the thought of the infinite majesty of space and our one time willingness to explore and perhaps conquer at least a bit of its mysteries, well, it's just depressing. Exploration, doing the impossible, leading an entire world by our examples and deeds, it's who we (America) are. It's what we are. Pride in what we could achieve, not how many "real housewives" or honey boo boo's we can create. It's all just so frustrating. I'm ranting and it's late. I see EPCOT as a look at America, just on a smaller scale.

I speak generally of course, and these things are just my opinions and observations. These things do frustrate me and I often wonder how and why did things get to be this way.

 

[marni1971]

You know Imagination was originally supposed to have indoor roller-coaster elements, which is why it has two floors. Maybe the next recreation of it could go back to that original design?

Incorrect.

 

[PeterAlt]

Incorrect.

I can't find it. Searching for Journey into Imagination with Roller Coaster brought up every website that also mentioned Rock N Roll RR.

I read it in one of those Imagineering blogs. Probably the one mentioned here. It was one of the original concepts for the pavilion that was rejected.

 

[unkadug]

I can't find it. Searching for Journey into Imagination with Roller Coaster brought up every website that also mentioned Rock N Roll RR.

I read it in one of those Imagineering blogs. Probably the one mentioned here. It was one of the original concepts for the pavilion that was rejected.

If you can't find it, it's probably because what you read was made up by some fanboi and never based upon fact.

Just because you read it on some irreputable website does not make it fact.

I read it on the internet...it must be true

 

[PeterAlt]

If you can't find it, it's probably because what you read was made up by some fanboi and never based upon fact.

Just because you read it on some irreputable website does not make it fact.

I read it on the internet...it must be true

No, it was on a credible site.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I googled "Journey Into Imagination Coaster" and got a wiki page that claims FujiFilm approached Disney in '97 and proposed they redo the Imagination pavilion as a coaster. I have no idea if that's true, but even that doesn't say it was the original plan from when EPCOT was first built. Imagineers also once wanted to gut and redo Spaceship Earth into a coaster called Time Racers (thank merciful heavens this apparently turned out to be structurally impossible from what i've read).

True or not, I don't want Imagination to turn into a coaster. Give it a good old fashioned 80's EPCOT style dark ride again of some sort, Future World is ironically now lacking in impressive slower paced rides now.

 

[PeterAlt]

Wow. It's a general attitude that he's talking about. Today, they say, "Why build monorail when you have buses." Versus: "Let's be innovative and do things differently because we can." It's "Let's imagine the city of the future and let's be the first to build it!" Versus: "We have all this land.... Let's treat it like any ordinary real estate project in this country..."

I totally get what he's saying. He thinks like Walt Disney did!

 

[PeterAlt]

I googled "Journey Into Imagination Coaster" and got a wiki page that claims FujiFilm approached Disney in '97 and proposed they redo the Imagination pavilion as a coaster. I have no idea if that's true, but even that doesn't say it was the original plan from when EPCOT was first built. Imagineers also once wanted to gut and redo Spaceship Earth into a coaster called Time Racers (thank merciful heavens this apparently turned out to be structurally impossible from what i've read).

True or not, I don't want Imagination to turn into a coaster. Give it a good old fashioned 80's EPCOT style dark ride again of some sort, Future World is ironically now lacking in impressive slower paced rides now.

Yeah, I saw that too. That's not what a I was looking for. As I said it was on one of the popular imagineering blogs. I'll start searching those blogs for it....

EDIT - I found it while researching about the second floor in Communicore being designed for a people mover. So, it was one of those historic Disney blogs.

 

[PeterAlt]

It might have been progresscityusa.com.

 

[marni1971]

There was no plan for the original Imagination to have a coaster part. None. Trust me. I've spent 20 years researching the parks history.

It also helps I'm friends with two of the original WED staff who planned the pavilion.

There were blue sky - again blue sky - proposals in 1979-80 for the original slow moving dark ride to travel into the upper level to unload directly next to the Imageworks, but these were scrapped way before any detailed ride or pavilion design got underway.

 

[PeterAlt]

There was no plan for the original Imagination to have a coaster part. None. Trust me. I've spent 20 years researching the parks history.

It also helps I'm friends with two of the original WED staff who planned the pavilion.

There were blue sky - again blue sky - proposals in 1979-80 for the original slow moving dark ride to travel into the upper level to unload directly next to the Imageworks, but these were scrapped way before any detailed ride or pavilion design got underway.

I'm pretty sure it was a blue sky concept. I'll keep looking for my source. Even if you're right, I want to know why I remember reading this and where I got it from.

 

[marni1971]

I'm pretty sure it was a blue sky concept. I'll keep looking for my source. Even if you're right, I want to know why I remember reading this and where I got it from.

Please do. I'd be interested in reading it. Again, there was no coaster proposal. Indeed, there was no time. Even in early 79 imagination was an empty, unnamed pavilion that had a vague role as transition from Futureworld to showcase. Kodak signed up late since they felt they were missing better exposure and the ride concept was thrown together in a fast tracked brain storm. This is best shown in the fact the pavilion didn't even groundbreak until May 81.

The upper level was going to have an exterior viewing balcony, but that was it. The upper level isn't nearly as big as the ground floor in floor space, onstage or backstage.

 

[marni1971]

I'll also add the building was built in size and shape to specifically accommodate what was built, not to add anything shoehorned into a previously designed area. For a coaster or anything else.