" Journey Into Imagination: The Tragic Tale of Disney's Lost Attraction Masterpiece" article

[lockedoutlogic]

Yeah...that was me...

I might not be the only one though

 

[Weev]

I figure I'm not the only one who would enjoy this read...

http://www.****************.com/fea...le-disneys-lost-attraction-masterpiece?page=4

Great article, thanks for posting it.

 

[Disney Von Drake]

Journey Into Imagination was too much of a children's ride. It was very questionable on Disney's part to have a creepy old man (Dreamfinder) consorting with his little Figment. For obvious reasons they had to dump Dreamfinder.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Journey Into Imagination was too much of a children's ride. It was very questionable on Disney's part to have a creepy old man (Dreamfinder) consorting with his little Figment. For obvious reasons they had to dump Dreamfinder.

Wow...that's a skeptical take even for a card carrying skeptic like me...

Imagination was a victim of the poorly planned and even more poorly executed revamp of futureworld that Eisner rolled out in the late 90's...

If you want to finger something...focus on that.

Test track was delayed for years and reportedly cost $300 mil...mission space has not been too successful...innoventions is basically empty...and figment was redone with completley unrealistic expectations...
Eisner reportedly walked off of imagination 2.0 and ordered an immediate redo outside the building... So now we're stuck with 3.0

But as the story goes... The reason they couldn't "go back" is because they demolished much or the ride track to build queue line...that's never been seen.

Morale of the story: when you concentrate on the line more than the ride... You're gonna get stung.

Which brings us back to olaf's happy boatride

And remember that the dream finder was animatronic...I don't think he's capable of violating any decency laws.

 

[Rivermonster]

I agree 100% with lockedoutlogic! Journey Into Imagination is a victim to the Furure World catastrophe. I still love Epcot in its entirety, but I don't find it nearly as captivating as I did as a child. (Both the park and I were born the same year.) I want the magic of my childhood to come back to the park. A return to the original Imagination, almost ironically, would be a start in moving Epcot back to the future track that once made it so innovative. I don't feel like my children are getting the same "magical" experience I did in my youth, though we still enjoy the park immensely. Outside of "Soarin'" (which probably left the biggest impression on me since any other attraction has since the Space Mountain of my childhood), I think Epcot is in want of a major overhaul. I wish it would begin with a return of the original Imagination--even if not to start, but at any point. I miss the original sooooo much!

 

[Rivermonster]

And really, if Disney is to be faulted for a creepy character, then why the heck bring back Micheal Jackson's Captain EO? Just saying

 

[Disney Von Drake]

Wow...that's a skeptical take even for a card carrying skeptic like me...

Imagination was a victim of the poorly planned and even more poorly executed revamp of futureworld that Eisner rolled out in the late 90's...

If you want to finger something...focus on that.

Test track was delayed for years and reportedly cost $300 mil...mission space has not been too successful...innoventions is basically empty...and figment was redone with completley unrealistic expectations...
Eisner reportedly walked off of imagination 2.0 and ordered an immediate redo outside the building... So now we're stuck with 3.0

But as the story goes... The reason they couldn't "go back" is because they demolished much or the ride track to build queue line...that's never been seen.

Morale of the story: when you concentrate on the line more than the ride... You're gonna get stung.

Which brings us back to olaf's happy boatride

And remember that the dream finder was animatronic...I don't think he's capable of violating any decency laws.

Ron is going to be crushed that you didn't remember him!

The original JII was a good draw for a few years but then its popularity sank precipitously.

 

[Rivermonster]

Love this!!!!...thanks for sharing!!!!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Yeap bring back the original attraction.....all of the original attraction including Image works..........and maybe a up date or two.!

AKK

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Ron is going to be crushed that you didn't remember him!
View attachment 90165
The original JII was a good draw for a few years but then its popularity sank precipitously.

Ok...so that was creepy...I was focusing on the ride and blocking Mr. Creeps out subconsciously

What they did was go from bad to worse...and in "classic" new management style...let it sit for 15 years.
That is and has been a monument to the begrudging philosophy of late eisnerian and complete Igerian eras - just not paying to do what makes sense to save cash. There are about a dozen examples that we have pointed to 1000 times..no need to spell them out again.

 

[tlmadden73]

My theory is that the Internet killed epcot

Ya .

When I went to Epcot when it first opened (early 80s) .. it was amazing for my 10-year old self. Educational .. amazing .. each pavilion with its own theme and logo. It was like a living museum! I remember it fondly.

Despite nostalgia, I think Disney made the right call replacing those pavilions with more active attractions like Test Track and Soaring. I think the pavilions wouldn't have been able to keep up with how fast technology has moved since the 80s and lets' face it .. with all the things at the tip of our fingers now in a smart phone .. sitting through an educational "ride" watching animatronic robots tell you stuff you already know from the internet or a tv show or museum is probably pretty boring for modern 10 year olds.

The problem is .. like Hollywood Studios .. as it replaces old rides with new ones, but still keep a "classic" or two .. it has lost its theme. Future World isn't very future anymore .. it's more just "Technology World".

 

[Rivermonster]

Epcot definitely must prove a bit of a conundrum for Disney executives in this day and age. I don't know how I would tackle it in such a position. I'd likely begin by returning the original JII though

 

[jec6613]

Epcot definitely must prove a bit of a conundrum for Disney executives in this day and age. I don't know how I would tackle it in such a position. I'd likely begin by returning the original JII though

I don't think the original JII could stand up today, it needs to be updated and the length returned to full length, though.

As for Disney executives, they didn't know what to do with Epcot when they first built it, so the Imagineers mocked up two different parks and then finally decided that the way forward was to build both of them and physically pushed the models together!

 

[Rivermonster]

I don't think the original JII could stand up today, it needs to be updated and the length returned to full length, though.

As for Disney executives, they didn't know what to do with Epcot when they first built it, so the Imagineers mocked up two different parks and then finally decided that the way forward was to build both of them and physically pushed the models together!

Possibly that's a good point, even if I don't want to admit it Still, I think the original JII would be better than today's incarnation.

 

[Flyerjab]

My theory is that the Internet killed epcot

I posted this exact theory on another site last year. When Epcot was opened, people used those ancient artifacts known as books, or encyclopedias, to acquire knowledge and learn. Knowledge was so much more a commodity that you had to really work for to get that to journey through Epcot was a joy. Now, most of what you want to know is literally in the palm of your hand. Everything is easy now in this regard.

Epcot reminds me of Gladiator. That scene wear Crowe's character kills those other gladiators single-handedly and then shouts at the silent crowd 'are you not entertained?' He literally has to throw his blood-soaked sword at them to get any type of reaction.

I can just see Staggs standing at the fountain in Future World shouting the same lament towards the people meandering through that somewhat dead area. The only difference is in this scenario, aside from Test Track or Soarin', the answer is pretty much a resounding 'NO' from most people.

Epcot needs help beyond Frozen, so hopefully after MK, DTD and DAK get some needed love, the focus will shift to DHS and Epcot.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Agree...

And you also had to go to this tortuous place to see what Doge's Palace or Chichen Itza actually looked like In a book...

It was called the "library"...and it didnt have wifi!!!!

On demand web, on demand TV, a consumer society where everyone has those things even if there is no way they should
Be borrowing/spending money to get it...

EPCOT was but a dream until that Al Gore got his dman dirty hands on it!!!

 

[Planogirl]

Reading about it in books or smart phones still isn't the same thing as experiencing it in person. I could logically just look up WDW and be satisfied with that if that was good enough. Maybe part of the problem is the lack of authenticity in WS. People knew that they were just seeing a glamorized version of a place and if they wanted the real thing then they had to go to said place.

Future World is a whole other creature. That part is incoherent and to me that is its biggest flaw.

 

[bigherofan]

Going in June for the first time in 20 years. JII was a favorite of my children and am a bit sad that the original, or better yet an improved version, is not there to share with my DGD. We know Disney has it in them to make Epcot and HS top notch - look at DisneySea.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Going in June for the first time in 20 years. JII was a favorite of my children and am a bit sad that the original, or better yet an improved version, is not there to share with my DGD. We know Disney has it in them to make Epcot and HS top notch - look at DisneySea.

I envy your memories...

As EPCOT circa 1995 was just a "fantasyland" to me...

The problem is that Disney doesn't pay for disneysea...the oriental land company does...

OLC gets a kick out of building "neat" new stuff like TWDC used to...

Now Disney just provides the artists and OLC pays the bills.

If I had say...100 billion...I'd buy wdw and do the same thing...

We wouldn't have MGM in its current state...

Somebody call the Koch brothers and see if their interested?

 

[soniam]

Really good article. Brought back good memories. DH and DS visited JIYI for the first time in March. Me too really. I had only seen the original. Man, that sucked. DS wants to go back to do the stuff after the ride, but we won't do the ride again. Maybe the comic will take off, and they'll do another version. At least Captain EO is gone now, and I don't have to suffer through that again. DS liked it

As for WS, we have been to some of the countries, including DS, but we still love to hang out there. They are idealized versions, but I can name parts of Germany, France, UK, and Mexico that look pretty similar to the Epcot version.