Un-imaginative Imagination Pavilion

[dumbo_buddy]

i think i read that EO will be back to wdw in feb?

of course we will be there on sunday and miss it. oh well...

3d 22h 26m!!

[BMan62]

i think i read that EO will be back to wdw in feb?

of course we will be there on sunday and miss it. oh well...

3d 22h 26m!!

Disneyland, not Walt Disney World.

[TikiGoddess]

I would like to see JII turned into an interactive dark ride. Look at the technologies being used in TSMM and Spaceship Earth... why not have a ride where you get to USE your imagination to create a different ride experience every time?

Kathy

[Tekneek]

This is one pavilion that is slowly being starved. It has so much potential, given the theme/subject it is tackling. However, it has been on a downhill slide for more than a decade.

The only reason a pavilion fails at Epcot is through neglect. Whatever the reasons are for that neglect (sponsor withdrawal, sponsor disinterest, Disney budgetary problems, etc), it is very sad to see it in action.

[Tigerinvestigator]

Wow I get to be the first to disagree with everyone else. I loved the original and rode it too many times to count. But I remember how bad the second installment was and compared to that the current version is fantastic. Here is how I feel about it. My three kids have started growing up with the current version. They love it and my DD5 wants to ride it first on every trip (she loves the skunk). I find it very pleasant and relaxing. My fear is that with this much complaining it probably will be replaced with a futuristic attraction like Mission Space, Test Track etc and once again we will lose one of those easy to get on, relaxing to ride dark rides. Seems like they are slowly being picked off one by one. Replace HISTA, I'm all for it! Replace the current Image Works I'm all for it. But don't change the ride. My kids will feel the same way many of you do because they took the original. Lets start building tradition again folks......and be careful what we wish for because the Imagineers would have no problem taking figment and never letting us see him again. We thought that happened last time and next time we may not be as lucky. Just one fathers perspective that doesn't add up to a hill of beans in this crazy world!

[magicalmom]

I just went on youtube, and got my JII "fix" - I really miss it, and my kids weren't old enough when they saw it to remember it, so many thanks for the suggestion!

That being said, as a piece of theater, the original ride admittedly had some problems, but it seems as if Disney threw the baby out with the bathwater -

Instead, I believe they should have re-worked and re-recorded the dialogue (which was dated enough to be quaint, and a lot of people don't care for quaint.) In the ride surround, I would have updated only those areas which seemed originally to be done sort of on the cheap - for instance, the light beams could have been replaced with a computerized animation, as with Nemo at the Seas. That could have created a visual effect that was more in tune with the physical sets.

But those are just tweaks - the sorts of thing that you do during the out-of-town tryout of a very good show in the theater. Instead, Disney managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with JII; I like Eric Idle, but he doesn't make up for replacing all that sensory richness with dark and industrial.

All of which leads me to wonder - does anybody know WHY Disney felt they had to do this??

[Tekneek]

My complaints are not necessarily about the current incarnation of the ride, but about the trend with this pavilion. As time has gone by, there have been issues with broken items in the post-show, and now it would appear that Figment-related merchandise is coming to an end. I enjoy this ride, but there is no denying that this pavilion is less than it was when it opened. Also seems hard to deny that it has been on the decline for quite some time.

Considering Figment does not exist outside of Imagination at Epcot, he is surprisingly popular and beloved. They should do more with that, rather than less.

[PopPhan]

I just went on youtube, and got my JII "fix" - I really miss it, and my kids weren't old enough when they saw it to remember it, so many thanks for the suggestion!

As a relative WDW newbie (first trip in 2003,) I was never able to see the original version of JII, nor was I able to visit the ImageWorks portion of the pavilion. After watching the 3-part Youtube video of this, I think it would really be neat for Disney to reopen the ImageWorks exhibits and revamp the JIYI ride to bring back some, if not all, of the original ride for the WDW 40th!!!

[Stu29573]

All of which leads me to wonder - does anybody know WHY Disney felt they had to do this??

In part, yes. The ride system was always an issue. The beginning turntable was supposed to sink the cars up to the rest of the ride by grabbing and locking them at a pre-set spot. This often did not occur correctly, so the vehicles would be slightly out of position. Therefore, there were many many break downs to reline everything. When it was due for a rehab, they decided that they simply couldn't fix it, so they redid the whole thing. The new ride actually goes around the turntable part (which is now closed off)

I can only imagine that the retheming was an instance of "well, we've gone this far..." All in all it was obviously a mistake. The new ride, while much better than the second version, lacks the charm and whimsy of the original.

[renecat]

They say Captain EO is back July 2 2010 for a limited run at Epcot. I loved this and hope it is still there when we go in Oct.

[Figment104]

All of which leads me to wonder - does anybody know WHY Disney felt they had to do this??

I've often wondered this myself and when we went on the Keys to the Kingdom tour in the Magic Kingdom I did ask why they wouldn't bring Dreamfinder back. I remember the answer had something to do with copyright and split ownership (or something along those lines) with Kodak. So after reading this post I decided to google it and if you check out the wickipedia page for the pavilion it does give some backstory on why the ride was originally changed. Kind of interesting to read about!

I'm with everyone else though that the current ride isn't as good as the old one and the pavilion isn't anywhere near as good. It seems like the current ride has more to do with your sense rather than exploring with your imagination.

Long live Figment and Dreamfinder!

[DisneyLuver91]

Martin's Videos has an incredible video of the original and updates. It is all about the history and shows the whole pavilion! It makes me a little sad to think about what they did to the ride, but at least they didn't get rid of it completely.

[darthmacho]

No argument from me. I actually am sort of embarrassed for Disney that they still have an attraction based on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

That movie is 21 years old and it was corny when it was first released.

Agreed. Also, do you think they could "imagine" something new that isn't tied in to one of their movies? Please?

If they do a refurb, I beg they don't tear down that wonderful structure. It's probably the only decent thing bout the pavilion!

[gollybass]

I have a couple of questions about this, having not been to Epcot since '92 and now being 26! I remember there being jumping fountains outside, are they still there? And also, in JII I remember a tunnel of various coloured lights you walk through, is that there still?

[PopPhan]

I have a couple of questions about this, having not been to Epcot since '92 and now being 26! I remember there being jumping fountains outside, are they still there? And also, in JII I remember a tunnel of various coloured lights you walk through, is that there still?

The dancing fountains are still there, outside the entrance to HISTA. I have heard that the tunnel still exists, but it is on the second floor which is no longer accessible to regular guests.

[gollybass]

thats a bummer, its one of my favorite memories!

[garthbarth1]

They say Captain EO is back July 2 2010 for a limited run at Epcot. I loved this and hope it is still there when we go in Oct.

This would be amazing! I have never seen this and would love too! Im a huge MJ fan..I have a memorial shrine in my living room...can anyone share more info on this Thanks!

[Tekneek]

So the original attraction was drawing more guests than Spaceship Earth? That's the claim being made in the Wikipedia article. I want to believe it, but I cannot be certain of the accuracy. If it is true, it is a major indictment of the changes made. To have gone from being a highlight of the park to a walk-on ride and mostly empty pavilion has to be considered a massive failure.

It is a demonstration of what pure awfulness can be produced when your first priority is saving money. In hindsight, it is almost like the New Coke/Classic Coke (w/ HFCS) story. People were more accepting of a changed "Classic Coke" after first having New Coke pushed at them. Likewise, we are far more accepting of the current ride incarnation because we know how awful the abomination known as Journey into YOUR Imagination really was.

[Altair]

Martin's Videos has an incredible video of the original and updates. It is all about the history and shows the whole pavilion! It makes me a little sad to think about what they did to the ride, but at least they didn't get rid of it completely.

This video is amazing and includes the entire and very creepy "magic Journeys". We need to post a link to this video. It's the one that's 47 minutes long.

[Altair]

This video is amazing and includes the entire and very creepy "magic Journeys". We need to post a link to this video. It's the one that's 47 minutes long.

If you have experienced this ride from it's begining the video will bring back wonderful memories.