Journey Into Imagination

[boingofan33]

This has recently become my favorite "extinct" attraction from WDW. I have never been to WDW but i'm not completely ignorant to it, i've seen plenty of footage/pics, have much audio, and know some history (while not as much as i do of DLR, but i digress.)
Basically i'm asking for its story and some clarification, cuz i haven't found it to my satisfaction on the internet. What's going on with that ride? It still exists in Epcot but in a really crappy form? i have seen ride-thru footage from the first incarnation of the ride only, i haven't tracked down versions 2 and 3 on the internet yet. It sounds like they don't have the DreamFinder in the attraction anymore? that makes me sad... and i'm also curious as to its relation to the Epcot Imagination Institute and the Honey I Shrunk the Audience ride at DLR also with Eric Idle. one of my friends recently went to WDW and said she went to this IBM institute and i was like 'wtf? i thought it was the imagination institute'. yeah. so if some people who know what's up can fill me in, that'd be awesome.

[albino_pygmy]

Original version (best version): I'm guessing you're dreaming or thinking, or quite possibly surrounded by clouds of imagination and you see this flying blimp thingamabobdoohickey with some strange bearded man off in the distance, and then you turn a corner and look like you're about to hit a wall and then you're introduced to Dreamfinder, and he creates Figment right before your eyes as they talk about various ways you can use your imagination. Suddenly, the idea bag is full, so they stop by the Dream port to unload and store all those thoughts and ideas, and you go through various rooms from the origami/potporri room straight to the nightmare room with scary words acting out their meaning, such as AVALANCHE is falling ontop of you. From there, they go into a brief scene about the theatre, and then about science. And then it wraps up with figment imagining himself doing various things, and you see a picture of your car 'imagining' the whole thing.

Second version (lame version): They shortened the track, got rid of Dreamfinder and Figment, and had it themed to the Imagination Institute, what the next door 3D movie is 'from.' You went through various senses labs similar to the current version, but no figment. It was interesting at first, but not worth tearing the classic Imagination ride.

Third version (not so lame but still pretty lame version): They've added Figment in all the scenes, changed a couple to include Figment, and Figment's upsidedown house. Instead of a fun loving childish dragon, he's an annoying pest that you can't get rid of.

[Stitchy]

my daughter adores this ride. It's not so bad. We love Figment. You should ride it at least once. The song will stick with you for days.

[boingofan33]

so the 'next door 3D movie ride' is Honey I Shrunk the Audience? i'm familiar with that suckfest (well, it's actually not so bad) from DL but don't know if its a standalone thing or related to something else. Since it's centered around the "imagination institute" and has those same posters from the queue area (i watched the ridethru on youtube from the current ride) i'm guessing it's the same deal. i'm kinda getting hung up on that for some reason. i like it when things are related within the whole disney parks thing.
what was featured in the science part of the original ride? i've seen pics of that badass rainbow tunnel thing... that sucks if that's gone. it looked so cool!

[sorceress1986]

If you want good Journey into Imagination info, I suggest listening to Lou Mongello's 'WDW Radio Show' episode #29. It has a GREAT discussion and history of our friend Figment and his life in Epcot Center.

Also, there are good audio resources and such at mousebits.com
I got a great almsot documentary on the history of Journey Into Imagination.

I admit, I'm also a WDW newbie (not so much anymore) and have only been to WDW once, in December. But when I was little, my godfather (who I just adore like a father) brought me home a figment doll because he enjoyed Epcot so much (and that's saying a lot. the man doesn't smile!). And when I was researching my trip, I pulled figment back out, so he's become one of those emotional connections between me and my godfather. I sent him a figment from the collector packs and he put it on his computer at work. He even put figment on his wallpaper!

Sorry to digress. Just wanted to share my love for our boy figment (or figgie!)

[Jerren]

Originally Posted by Stitchy

my daughter adores this ride. It's not so bad. We love Figment. You should ride it at least once. The song will stick with you for days.

It's not bad and is enjoyable, just not as good as the original which was absolutely fantastic! We ride it every visit still but it does make me miss the original one every time...

[aimster]

Originally Posted by boingofan33

so the 'next door 3D movie ride' is Honey I Shrunk the Audience?

what was featured in the science part of the original ride? i've seen pics of that badass rainbow tunnel thing... that sucks if that's gone. it looked so cool!

Yes we have "Honey I Put the Audience in a Boredom-Induced Coma" at EPCOT too. I saw it once and was completely underwhelmed. Even Captain EO was better than that tripe.

I can't totally remember what was part of the "science" portion of the original Imagination ride. Science stuff, I guess. LOL! There was like images of what you could see under a microscope or something.

The rainbow tunnel was not in the ride. It's in the area upstairs... the original Image Works. It was a great "playground" where you could do various activities:

Rainbow tunnel in the background


Activities


Dreamfinder's School of Drama


Pin tables


You step on the colors and they made sounds


This area is currently closed, but you can see the escalator and the stairs and elevator (but they're blocked off). From what I've heard, most everything is still up there, just waiting to be used again. I'd give anything to be able to go back up there.

[albino_pygmy]

Great pics aimster, brings back good memories of the place

The science room was pretty much similar to the finale room with figment on different screens above head, except there's Dreamfinder in the center of the room, looks like he's pedalling on something there, and the movie clips were just science stuff, no Figment or Dreamfinder in them.

[flynnibus]

If you really want to go back and experience the different versions of the attraction - I highly suggest getting Jeff Lange DVDs. He has DVDs of most of the EPCOT attractions and they include ride throughs and photos of most of the classics and the JIYI one has several videos of almost all the iterations of the ride I believe.

I bought most of the DVDs for EPCOT - they are great if you want old photos and ridethroughs

[Jerren]

Originally Posted by aimster

This area is currently closed, but you can see the escalator and the stairs and elevator (but they're blocked off). From what I've heard, most everything is still up there, just waiting to be used again. I'd give anything to be able to go back up there.

A few folks got to go there for the Kim Possible adventure trail run a couple years ago... The Sensor tunnel is still there... I liked that as it changed color and tones as you walked though it it was really cool...

I'm hoping if/when they do a major refurb of the Imagination Pavilion again they will reopen the area as well. The big issue keeping it closed right now are the limited elevator access for folks who are physically disabled, and of course because it just gets so freaking hot up there with all those windows! I'm thinking they should add some waterfalls or something similar to naturally cool the area as part of the refurb as it would tie in nicely with the jumping water fountains outside.

[flynnibus]

The elevators worked fine for ages.

The area where all the experiments is was not open to the sun. This part of the pyramid is not see-through glass. Only the atrium which was over the queue area had transparent/lucent through glass.

Maybe the ratio of guests in haul-me-around vehicles has risen too much...

[tasman]

Originally Posted by boingofan33

so the 'next door 3D movie ride' is Honey I Shrunk the Audience? i'm familiar with that suckfest (well, it's actually not so bad) from DL but don't know if its a standalone thing or related to something else. Since it's centered around the "imagination institute" and has those same posters from the queue area (i watched the ridethru on youtube from the current ride) i'm guessing it's the same deal. i'm kinda getting hung up on that for some reason. i like it when things are related within the whole disney parks thing.
what was featured in the science part of the original ride? i've seen pics of that badass rainbow tunnel thing... that sucks if that's gone. it looked so cool!

What do you mean by "science part"? The original 3-D film in the pavilion was the exceptional "Magic Journeys."

You can find the whole of the original JII ride on Youtube (there is an excellent 3-part version, I can find it for you if you like)...I look at it from time to time and lament...what a great and needless loss. My favorite "extinct" Disney attraction of any resort.

[aimster]

Originally Posted by tasman

What do you mean by "science part"? The original 3-D film in the pavilion was the exceptional "Magic Journeys."

They meant the "science" part of the ride.

"What about science?" *echo*

[Snoopy]

I found this a while back:



Here's another one:

[Monkey joe]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

I found this a while back:



Here's another one:

So what is the oringal track now?