What is the worst ride in Epcot? (Quality-wise)

[Inspired Figment]

Also... if any of you are familiar with Cheshire Figment (aka: Mike Tuchman) (R.I.P.) who was one of the key people involved with the “Friends of Figment” group who helped “bring Figment back” into the attraction thanks to attending shareholders meetings, etc. mentions this on the DIS forums for further context on how the attraction was able to be changed the way it was. :

aswell as this (which is good news for those of us who wish for them to return the original Imagination attraction with new bells & whistles (enhanced technology & special effects):

Tony has also mentioned previously that “there were some politics” in the decisions for the ride’s changes in this interview conducted with him. But he doesn’t elaborate any further than that:

Tony Baxter: A Conversation -- Journey Into Imagination

A fan blog and site with rankings, opinion and analysis of every MacGyver episode.

themacgyverproject.blogspot.com

Anyway.. that’s my hunch on why Journey Into Imagination was able to fall into the sad, deplorable state it’s been in for a good number of years now. What seems to be the case is basically, the only thing stopping Imagination from returning properly sadly, are the inner company politics.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Also.. has anyone noticed?
The sign/logo seen on most signage for the attraction. (Including on the ride cars) Does it look at all familiar?
The “flight to imagination” turntable, still underneath the false floor implemented for the redo.
The Institute logo in the center? That’s the new loading area.:

 

[Inspired Figment]

Oh.. and the ending. Does that Dr. Channing moon seem at all familiar? Ah yeah... the moon from.. Horizons. Wonder why that could’ve been put there, eh? :

 

[marni1971]

I understand why the old Journey into Imagination had to go (broke down too frequently)

Not really.

 

[OSX]

While Journey Into Imagination with Figment is horrible, it’s an improvement from the previous refurbishment. At least this version doesn’t say we have no imagination.

 

[Inspired Figment]

While Journey Into Imagination with Figment is horrible, it’s an improvement from the previous refurbishment. At least this version doesn’t say we have no imagination.

May not say that. But it seems to imply that imagination is “just turning your thinking upside down”. Which isn’t much better.

 

[OSX]

Also.. has anyone noticed?
The sign/logo seen on most signage for the attraction. (Including on the ride cars) Does it look at all familiar?
The “flight to imagination” turntable, still underneath the false floor implemented for the redo.
The Institute logo in the center? That’s the new loading area.:
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Where would the flight to the imagination be today? Standing in the exact place where the turntable was has always fascinated me.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

While Journey Into Imagination with Figment is horrible, it’s an improvement from the previous refurbishment. At least this version doesn’t say we have no imagination.

No, but it does seem to suggest that Disney has no imagination. That they've let the current version of the ride sit for almost 20 years without doing anything to try to improve it really is astounding.

 

[Heppenheimer]

No, but it does seem to suggest that Disney has no imagination. That they've let the current version of the ride sit for almost 20 years without doing anything to try to improve it really is astounding.

Or Disney has other budget priorities.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Or Disney has other budget priorities.

Clearly . . . I was more making a joke that the imagination they do have seems to be going everywhere except the Imagination Pavilion.

If you'd asked me in 2002 if that version of the attraction would still be running in 2019 I would have felt sure that changing it would have become a priority before now.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Changing topics here slightly, because it seems we have some people nostalgic for the old Future World... how would you rank the pavillions of Future World 1.0? I know that even in the early years, there were some changes fairly early on, but lets consider 1.0 to be from park opening in 1982 until the first of the original pavillions closed or was substantially changed (I'm thinking either Horizons or the World of Motion went first). And I'm leaving out the two Communicores because other than Smart One and that show about computers, I really don't remember too much about either pavillion (but feel free to add them to your own list).

My list:

1) Imagination Pavilion- Disney got everything right here. Visually appealing and interesting main ride with a catchy song and loveable characters, Image Works upstairs could keep a kid occupied for hours, and both Magic Journeys and Captain EO were awesome for their time (even though Magic Journeys made every little toddler in the audience cry...).

2) The Land- Maybe its just me and my love of gardens, but I was fascinated by the future of farming presented on Living with the Land. Catchy song, too. Kitchen Cabaret was also great for its time, particularly the Mexican "Veggie Fruit"song. I barely remember the original movie upstairs. Finally, the food served here was always good, even back in the Dark Ages of Disney Food.

3-4) I can't decide between Universe of Energy and the World of Motion. The former simply blew you away the first time when the theater started to move and you went through the dinosaur scenes. Once again, great theme song. The World of Motion had quite a bit of a sillier presentation than than most of the other pavillions. I can still easily hum the whole "It's Fun to Be Free Song".

5) Spaceship Earth- The scenes were well done, but there was/is very little humor, and the overall theme isn't terribly exciting. "Tomorrow's Child" wasn't even a good enough song to make the Epcot souvenir album. Still, it is really cool that a ride even exists inside the icon of the park.

6) Wonders of Life- If I had experienced this more than once, it might be higher on my list, but I simply can't remember it too vividly. I recall really enjoying Cranium Command, Body Wars was an inferior Star Tours clone, and... um, it was a little awkward for a teenage me watching The Making of Me with my parents. I don't remember anything about the other exhibits. If the pavillion had any kind of theme music, I didn't notice it.

7) The Living Seas- I remember being very excited about this pavilion when it finally opened, then finding it a boring letdown. Whatever music was playing at the time left zero impression. If the fish weren't real, this would drop to #8.

8) Horizons- Sorry fans, I found this "meh" even when I was 7. In a park dedicated to various aspects of the tech of the future, it seemed redundant to have a pavilion whose theme was... the tech of the future. Its vision of the future was almost dated by the time it opened, and time would not have been kinder to it without frequent and expensive refurbs. And the theme music was memorable for being kind of annoying.

There's my completely subjective, unscientific ranking.

 

[ChrisFL]

8) Horizons- Sorry fans, I found this a letdown even when I was 7. In a park dedicated to various aspects of the tech of the future, it seemed redundant to have a pavilion whose theme was... the tech of the future. Its vision of the future was almost dated by the time it opened, and time would not have been kinder to it without frequent and expensive refurbs. And the theme music was memorable for being kind of annoying.

There's my completely subjective, unscientific ranking.

Odd, most of the technology and future living in Horizons we're nowhere near achieving. Colonies in space? Reclaiming deserts to use as farms? vast undersea areas for living and exploration? Sorry, nothing was outdated except the hairstyles IMO. Also, 1/2 of the attraction was discussing the past's vision of the future. It's by far #1 on my list.

 

[DisneyAndUniversalFan]

The Imigination ride is awful, I never got to experience any earlier versions but I have no idea why someone would want to buy Figment merchandise after going on that. I do not like being sprayed with skunk smells.

yea it's a shame because the original Imagination ride was probably the best ride in Epcot Center back in the day. It's ashamed the current self today is just sad and lacks everything the original had that made it special.

 

[justintheharris]

Tbh, all of them.

 

[KikoKea]

Poor Figment. The ride is a thin shadow of its former self that is almost painful, if not for the AC on hot days.

 

[danyoung56]

"Tomorrow's Child" wasn't even a good enough song to make the Epcot souvenir album.

Au contraire - I have it on several of the early WDW CDs.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Au contraire - I have it on several of the early WDW CDs.

We had the original souvenir album (pre-CD era), and it wasn't included. I don't think the Horizons song made the cut either.

 

[Chef Mickey]

The Seas with Nemo is far worse than Figment. People just hate the new Figment in comparison to the original.

 

[Chef Mickey]

We had the original souvenir album (pre-CD era), and it wasn't included. I don't think the Horizons song made the cut either.

I have both Horizons and Tomorrow’s child on the same Disney CD from EPCOT.

 

[danyoung56]

The CD I have also has "Space", the theme from the omniscreen section of outer space.