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| Image copyright Disney |
On this day, in 1983, Journey into Imagination began delighting guests in Future World at Epcot Center.
The Imagination pavilion was not one of the five that opened October 1, 1982 (although the 3D movie
Magic Journeys which played on the side of it did) but, less than
six months later, was the first new pavilion. The whimsical design of
the area highlighted things most guests had never seen before: a
‘waterfall’ that flowed up instead of down, a fountain
that jumped across walkways and a weird purple thing (is it a dragon?
Can’t be, doesn’t breath fire. Then what is it? I dunno.) beckoning them
inside a double pyramid shaped steel and glass building. Once inside,
the journey could begin on one of my most favorite
Disney rides to ever exist.
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| Image copyright Disney |
Journey started with a marvelous Sherman Brothers’ song,
One Little Spark, which not only had a new character,
Dreamfinder, musically describe all the ways that imagination works but
defined just what a Figment is. (So it is a dragon. No, it’s a figment
of your imagination, weren’t you listening? I’m gonna
call it a dragon.) After inspiring riders with rooms based on
everything from movies to books to science experiments, Journey ended by
letting guests out into the best part of the pavilion: the
Imageworks. Filled with pin tables, blue screens, magical
orchestras, musical stepping stones and all sorts of other imagination
sparkers, the second floor of the pavilion could entertain kids for
hours (and with plenty of benches to sit on, parents
didn’t mind the rest stop). All was well in Future World, until dark
clouds rolled in on October 10, 1998, shutting out the light of
Journey into Imagination forever.
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| Image copyright Disney |
Things rarely ever stay the same forever, I know that, including classic attractions. After all,
The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean have
changed over the years (even It’s a Small World gets a holiday makeover
each November in Disneyland). But it’s pretty easy to argue that the
changes in those rides made them even better. The
same cannot be said about what happened to Journey. The Magic Journeys movie next door had been replaced with
Captain EO which in turn was replaced by the popular 4D movie Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.
In an effort to unify the pavilion, the decision was made to change the
theme of the ride to be a tour through the Imagination Institute, an
element of
Audience. Dreamfinder was completely cut out, Figment was
relegated to the barest of cameos and the Imageworks was severely
truncated and moved to the ground floor. The length of the ride was
significantly cut because of budget constraints and, to be
frank, I’m pretty sure I could have done rooms of that ride better with
only cardboard and poster paint at my disposal (the pitiful upside-down
room, anyone?). When the ride re-opened on October 1, 1999, as
Journey into YOUR Imagination (if you have to put one of the
words in the name in all capital letters, that should be a big red flag
for you), it was an instant bomb. Guest reaction was overwhelmingly
negative (Is it just me, or did this ride used to
not suck? Yeah and what happened to that little dragon guy? Don’t start
with that again.) and the new version limped along for two years,
finally gasping its last awkward breath on October 8, 2001.
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| Image copyright Disney |
The current version of the ride
, Journey into Imagination with Figment,
is an improvement over the last one, but still pales in comparison to
what once was, in my opinion. It’s still
a tour through the Imagination Institute (although Honey, I Shrunk the
Audience doesn’t exist anymore, so that reference is no longer valid)
and Figment is in every scene. But the scenes still lack oomph , the
ride is still short and Dreamfinder is still missing.
And, to top it all off, the grand old
Imageworks on the second
floor is still gone (well, at least walled over and gathering dust).
What used to be a must do attraction on every tour of Epcot has become a
ho-hum area that can generally be skipped in
favor of other things. So, if everyone could doff your hats (or raise a
glass or something else imaginatively appropriate) and sing along with
me, in remembrance (and yes, I know a version of this song is still used
but it isn’t the same and you know it):
One little spark… of inspiration… is at the heart… of all creation…
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