Journey into Imagination with Figment is the third and current incarnation of the Journey into Imagination dark ride found at the Imagination! Pavilion in Epcot's Future World (to be renamed World Celebration).
History[]
After the extremely negative response to 1999's Journey into Your Imagination, with complaints ranging from the loss of the attraction's classic characters and music to the insulting tone of its Imagination Scanner, Disney would seek to solve some of these problems through a quick eight month overhaul led by Imagineer David Mumford, beginning on October 9, 2001. Only a handful of scenes from Journey into Your Imagination would be retained, such as the Sound Lab, the caged butterfly, and the Gravity Lab, while new scenes bringing in a "five senses" theme would be brought in and a vast number of Figment animatronics that were kept in storage after the original attraction's closure would be brought back into service. Eric Idle would return as Nigel Channing while Muppet performer Dave Goelz would be cast in the digitally pitched-up voice role of Figment. The "One Little Spark" theme song would also return with new lyrics by Richard Sherman.
The attraction opened on June 2, 2002 to a much more positive reception, though it was generally agreed upon that it still didn't live up to the original. Since 2006, there have been rumors of Imagineering trying to pitch a fourth version of the attraction restoring the Dreamfinder to the attraction, only for the concepts to be shelved in favor of other projects in the park.
Summary[]
The attraction takes place during an Open House Tour of the Imagination Institute's new Sensory Labs. Through these tours, Institute Chairman Dr. Nigel Channing hopes to demonstrate how the senses can help capture and control the Imagination. Channing's "think inside the box" philosophy is challenged by Figment, an impish dragon that Nigel Channing sees as a mischievous pest.
After Nigel's introduction, we enter the Sound Lab, where a simple hearing test is done before Figment interrupts by making a phone call. He tells Nigel not to listen to your ears, but listen with your imagination before the lights dim and the rumbling of a Train of Thought. Passing by the Institute's computer labs, the tour stops in the Sight Lab where Nigel offers a basic eye sight test. Figment begins to jumble up the letters into a sing-along and the tour passes by a caged butterfly that disappears, used to illustrate Figment's argument of how imagination must be set free. Entering the Smell Lab, the tour is faced with the Smellitizer machine, which Figment turns into a slot machine. The slot machine lands on Figment dressed as a skunk, spraying the tour with stink. As we approach the gates to the Touch and Taste Lab, Nigel decides to cancel the tour. Figment offers to take the guests and Nigel into his own Open House, which he turns upside down after getting inspired by Nigel's words. After the quick trip through Figment's colorful upside down house, Nigel begins to come around to Figment's way of thinking. After returning to the Institute, an energized and enthusiastic Nigel declares that Imagination really does work best when set free. Figment proclaims "Imagination is a real blast", causing the Institute computer rooms to explode and give way to a whimsical cloudscape populated by a number of Figments, where Nigel joins in on singing One Little Spark as the face on a moon next to an astronaut Figment. As the attraction unloads, Figment and Nigel invite guests to the ImageWorks to express their own creativity.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Near the beginning of the attraction is an office door for a "Dean Finder", a reference to the Dreamfinder
- A reference to The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes can be found in the computer lab. A "No Tennis Shoes" sign can be seen hanging on the door, while Dexter's shoes and Medfield College letterman's jacket can be seen inside.