Fixing Epcot......Relight the Spark.

The first Pavilion that needs help is the Imagination building. 

This was one of Epcot's major attractions for quite some time.  It had everything; an original dark ride featuring wonderful music played throughout the ride like the long time classics of Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean.  It had a cutting edge 3D movie that wowed everyone (more than once).  It had a technologically advanced playroom that begged for your imagination to play and be used. 

Now...it has a D ticket dark ride (at best), a 3D movie that is long outdated with both concept and technology (and now has an even older one but playing on the recent King of Pop's death to bring in the numbers and give nostalgia to fans back when it was new and fresh.  It has a playroom that is quite boring and you can do on any computer or even cheap laptop.  The gift shop even sells things you can get at your local mall.  Overall if you don't have any nostalgic feelings about what this building once was...then it can easily be skipped and you wont miss anything...especially since this pavilion lacks one thing most of all, Imagination.


How would I fix this?  Glad you asked...

Lets start with the exterior.  Mostly just needs a good cleaning, otherwise the exterior is great.
The ugly signs Epcot started using as a standard (from Test Track to Ellen's Energy Adventure) has to be stopped......

Doesn't scream Imagination to me.  To be fair, the original sign wasn't much better.  It was a steel grid like structure with a transparent tarp that had the Kodak logo on it....it didn't have much imagination either.  It did, however, fit the grid of the building pyramids better.  If I could redesign this building with a new sign it would be something simple for the land based sign that was complimentary to the building.  For the water I would do something with more imagination.  If  you remember in the original attraction (or watch the video of it I will be posting at the end) they did a play on words doing exactly what they said.  There was giant letters in the literature section doing things like Shake, Earthquake etc....and they moved and did what each word said.  I think in the water having the word IMAGINATION jumping out of the pond in front of the upside down waterfall like some fish jumping out of the water.  Sometimes just one letter jumps out in an arch, other times more than one, and every few minutes or so they all jump out in unison.  They might even have fish "wings".  Maybe even out of the waterfall like salmon jumping up stream....  Something like that.  The building is very photogenic and it could possibly create an even cooler video/photo spot to try and catch the "letter fish" jumping at the same time to get the imagination word jumping out of the lake.

Next up, the Magic Eye theatre is desperate for a new film.  I thought about this and wasn't quite sure what to bring to it.  I am not a huge fan of Pixar because I think their films don't have a long shelf life but I think one of them might fit in quite well and be a good tie in to this pavilion.  A new show featuring the Pixar film " The Incredibles ".  With the characters and what they can do I think some great sight gags would work very well (especially with the bendy mom).  Adding the fourth dimension like the Muppet vision attraction at DHS  and adding the live animatronics would also work very well.  One of the characters that needs a spotlight in this film is ....

Edna E Mode.  This is a great character from the movie and was quite funny.  She was a fashion designer for superheroes and used science, technology, and art to create the costumes for her heroes.....all themes from the original attraction.  She would also make a great Pre Show film, as well as have a good hand in the movie.  Why make her a break out star of this attraction?  Because in the new imagination playground how great would it be for people and children to use their imagination to create their own superhero costume? 

I know what your thinking, this will turn the entire pavilion into a pixar The Incredibles attraction.  Nope this would be the only thing in the playground that would be a nod to the film.  The gift shop however would probably get a huge nod to the movie, but not all of it...there is another character or two that would get the larger chunk of that.....

Yup, Figment! 

That makes my segway into the heart of the pavilion.  Journey into Imagination.  The current version needs to be completely scrapped and sold on eBay.  Its a horrible ugly shadow of the once E-ticket attraction it once was.  The newest version of Journey into Imagination turned this lovable figure with childish delight into an obnoxious troublemaker and took away all of his likability.  I want to see this ride return with all of the original glory it once had.  I don't think a complete replica is the answer, but it needs many of the old elements combined with new.  First off Dreamfinder needs to come back and be put back into his rightful home.  He was the perfect compliment to figment and was our guide to help us use our imagination. 




The things in this classic dark ride that need to be restored is the pre-show merry go round section in the original building.  All the words and dialogue should remain intact from the original including Dreamfinders Dream Catching Machine needs to return with no changes.  It was timeless.  Now...maybe the machine itself could use some sort of updating and both Dreamfinder and Figment should be an A100 Animatronic figures in this scene....and Dreamfinder could use a little updating on his look but not much.  The rest of the ride needs some nods to the original but should all be brand new and in the spirit of the original.  The original also had a photo opportunity and I think this needs to take a step further.  I have been thinking awhile on what cool photo thing could be done to make this fun.....and give Disney something to profit (after all bottom line means a lot to any money making machine).....  I thought some sort of take on what Jib Jab is doing with their greeting cards would be awesome!  Just after the intro to figment scene (the carousel part) it could stop to scan your imagination to see how they could use everything they collected and show you a world of imagination (I know, ARGH, it seems like a nod to the current version) but at least that would be it.  Then at the end where figment used to stand singing the finale to the song One Little Spark by Richard Sherman instead of figment on the view screens....its You singing WITH figment.  Granted this needs more fine tuning but what is funny to me is they just started using something similar to this idea I had in the Haunted Mansion Hitchhiking ghosts scene as a part of its refurb (Disney beat me to it again :) )  Each segment in J4 (Journey into Imagination 4th Refurb)  could feature everyone in the car or just solo...whatever the imaganeers think is best...perhaps a combo...

If you have never seen a JibJab greeting card here is the link...they are quite amusing and fun JibJab.

They can then make some money on using your face singing with figment by selling a DVD of your FULL performance with figment with the full One little Spark song next to him on the ride or scenes within.  There could ALSO be something in the imageworks area that lets you make more than just you singing with figment but with classic scenes from other rides from Disney or even with classic movies.  Selling scene by scene...Great little marketing tool...For DVD or sending your your own Email copy instantly!

The other room that most fans of the original attraction that needs to come back is the "white room"  Where everything is made, or made to look like, paper.  With colors roaming around and figment with his paint brush and pot of gold....Just a new version!


That brings me to imageworks...Upstairs

AHH my memories of the Rainbow Tunnel!!!  Loved walking through this.  Was the first thing I would do after getting of the greatest dark ride at Epcot! (although Horizons at one point held that title for me).  Make some new fun things to do upstairs including some of the things I mentioned in the above. 

How about the Queue for the attraction?  One thing I hated about the original was the cattle drive style metal railings.  It made the wait kinda unbearable and very boring until you got near the omni-mover loading area.  The Murals need to come back...or at least new ones in the same spirit.  To me they were a nod to the artwork of Mary Blair, just not as colorful.  The style though seemed to come straight from her work at Disney Theme Parks.  The blue tones were perfect for the mood of the blue cars and the cool feeling of being at ease and comfortable as the Dreamfinder made us all feel....even calming Figment when he was scared of lightning....

 Seeing the building as is I am not sure how to make the queue more interesting without mucking it up with monitors.  Perhaps some nods to the original attraction when you see the Dream Catching Machine fly like the beginning of the original ride.  I don't think they have any room to make a more themed queue other than maybe add walls to it and go with the spirit of the interactive queue like other attractions that have things on the wall for you to touch and or watch instead of metal railings....Now the newer version does have a better themed queue, sadly, and I think the doors are very cute and do have some imagination to the them.  One area that needs to NOT be apart of the queue is the "nook" to the right of the building as you enter the doors.  I remember being young and the queue did enter this area to not clutter the entrance view...but using it as a stroller parking area is MUCH better.  If you don't think stroller parking is an issue at Disney then take a leisurely stroll over to The Living Seas Pavilion...err sorry, The Seas With Nemo and Friends.  That area is a complete stroller nightmare and really gives the entrance sign a trashy atmosphere!

Lastly...it wouldn't be Disney without Meet and Greets.  After all they almost made the Fantasyland Expansion exclusively a meet and greet area....glad they changed their mind.  Figment AND Dreamfinder need to return to their old character meet and greet style...

YES!

NO NO NO!!!

When EPCOT Center first opened Disney Characters were mostly forbidden there.  I think that's quite extreme that it is one of Walt's ideas(well a play on one of his ideas for E.P.C.O.T.) and it DID start with a mouse.  Now, however, the characters are taking too large of a foothold to regain the fact that Epcot isn't just for adults.  They are all over the place and their character dining areas are in places they should not be, period!  Back when EPCOT Center first opened and Mickey and the gang weren't allowed EPCOT Center had its very own characters....Figment and Dreamfinder and they were the unofficial characters of this park!  They need to be restored to that glory...maybe not ahead of the mouse, but at least number two in this original park that has gone to the bland side!

This is my Idea to get Epcot on the right track.  I have copy written nothing and would LOVE it if Disney would use it ...or even use the fact that a fan is wanting them to go back to their roots....Tony Baxter style!

So...that's the first area I would fix....what would you do?

As promised...video of the attraction....

That's part one....Love the "Pre-Show" even though its part of the ride!

Worthy of E-Ticket Disney Dark Ride?  I think so....Just needed to upgrade a few scenes and would have stayed an amazing attraction....



Then the attraction got a Refurb.  I have heard that it was in the contract with Kodak that it would be changed by 2000 if they were still the sponsor...I have also heard that Kodak wanted a cheaper operating version of the show....either way this was such a BAD refurb...see for yourself

Then with this being one of the most complained about attractions at any Disney Park they closed it down fairly quickly as attraction life spans go since the biggest complaint was Figment was missing....and they made this, the most current version of the ride...

The song "One Little Spark" by Mr Sherman came back...with different lyrics and I do like the verse with the eye chart to be honest....would fit with the original song....but the entire version seems like a big ol' reply from Disney saying "You want Figment back?  Then here he is in full force right in your face!"  In a very bad way!  They turned him into an irritant...not a fun loving character he once was....even the ending where they shove a boatload of Figments down your face like thats what the fans wanted....not even close.....Imagination in this incarnation became about the senses...not about imagination...Sad don't you think?