When will they fix imagination?

[cocoabeach]

I keep reading the refurb new attractions schedule and wonder when Journey (or Institute of Imagination or whatever it's called now) will get an overhaul (refurb isn't the right word). Does anyone think it will be soon or will they just stick with what they have?

I'm sure they must notice that the old ride used to be one of the most popular rides and now... I can see tumbleweeds out front.

I didn't ride it when I was a teenager but I LOVED the imagination playground upstairs. The thing they have at the end of the new ride doesn't qualify, sorry.

Any ideas?

 

[SpenceMan01]

I LOVED the whole thing when I was little. I kept saying I wanted to go to the rainbow tunnel and my mom had NO clue what I was talking about! We got to Imagination and walked through it and THEN she figured out what I meant. I used to spend sooo much time upstairs playing and having so much fun. I agree too, the new post-ride area sucks big time.

As far as the ride goes, I had the displeasure of seeing the previous version of the ride (Journey Into Your Imagination) when I was there in 2000. No Figment, nothin. I was so mad that they killed my childhood favorite. When I went back a couple weeks ago, I was able to ride the latest edition (twice) and I have to say that this version far surpasses the previous by leaps and bounds. No, it's not the original, but it's better than it was. I like the nod to Dream Finder (Dean Finder's office), but I certainly liked the original ride much better. Too bad they butchered "One Little Spark".

 

[KevinPage]

Unfortuantely unless hell freezes over, Disney isn't going to spend even more $$$ to fix somethnig again. They admitted their error 1 time, I'd be pleasantly SHOCKED if they did so again.

Stranger things have happened and you never say never, but there is nothing that would lead us to believe it is even in their thought process. :brick: :brick: :brick:

 

[lacrosse nut]

What Upstairs???

What was upstairs previously? I have been going to WDW since 1999 and have observed there were stairs in imageworks by the photo booths but did not know what they were for. :veryconfu


Boardwalk '05

 

[Captain Hank]

The old (and far superior) version of Imageworks used to be located upstairs. There are still a few elements of it left up there, such as several pin tables, but guests are only allowed up there while on the UnDiscovered Future World tour.

 

[cocoabeach]

The former play area is apparently used as a rentable function hall too. Businesses can have a catered meal. So sad...

It used to have the legendary rainbow tunnel (a tunnel made out of lights in the rainbow spectrum where you walk under the arches) with activities inside. You could interact with figment and the dreamfinder in blue screen video adventures (very popular activity) and there were the mentioned pin tables, video and image stations, etc. You can see they tried to resurrect a few of these items in that gift-shop sized play area after the current ride but it just didn't succeed. There is no magic in the little music handwave thing like there used to be (they used to have individual stations where a child would stand up inside of a symphony shell on a pedistle and would wave their arms like a conductor and holographic images of the instruments that you were conducting would appear and multiple kids could play together). Ah well.

I guess my argument for fixing the ride though is, doesn't it cost them more money to keep it running with nobody on the ride then it would to fix it and make it into a whole new draw for kids? And an imagination playground is hours of fun, seriously reducing lines elsewhere.

 

[HauntedPirate]

This will happen about the same time Eisner gives up all of his 21 million exerciseable (within 60 days) stock options. Translation: No chance. The know-it-alls in management are happy with the result of their rehabbing their rehab. Now if only they had some foresight and done it right the first time.... meaning, NOT CHANGED IT in the first place....

 

[WDWFanatic]

Oh how i miss those pin tables Its funny that there were lines of people waiting to play with the touch screen painting and now its like standard on PCs. What did they do with the pin tables? They prob serve food on them now.