Oh I remember this when i was super little - my parents bought me a Figment stuffed animal and then i lost it in the park and i was devastated because my my parents didn't have the money to buy another one for me - when my parents went back and asked if someone had turned it in by the time we returned home from the trip Disney mailed a care package to me with a new Figment with a letter saying they had found him for me (obviously they just took another off the shelf-but I thought that was a nice touch of the management)
cbudzyn This is what makes Disney different and they even do this sort of thing now. My wife lost her credit card and had to use the room phone to contact the credit card company. When we checked out we mentioned what had happened and they cancelled the phone charges.
+cbudzyn I remember this ride from when I was 5 in 97. it's how I learned about edgar allen poe's "the Raven". my parents also got me a stuffed figment. still have him!
This really was such a unique ride. They really need to bring it back! It’s amazing how much this ride has stuck with me throughout my life. Even now I randomly get this song stuck in my head. I still remember most of the words. I’ll just start humming it at work and no one has any idea where it came from. I never lost that spark. I still make things from scraps and no one has a clue about where my brain gets it’s ideas. I want that for my nieces and nephews too. I want them to have the kind of imagination that allows them to see the potential in things that most people see as trash or worthless. The couch is broken? Let’s dismantle it and see what we can do with the parts. You just got an apartment and you can’t afford furniture? Let’s go to the dollar store and see what we can make. Let’s drive around the expensive neighborhoods and load the car with stuff they’ve abandoned on the curb. Having an unlimited imagination on that level is a survival skill later in life. Too many lack that ability nowadays.
This first original version was the best dark ride of all time and then Disney went and wrecked it when all it's sponsors pulled out at the end of the 80's to save on maintenance costs. Disney, bring back the original version !!!!
So they don’t care about their fans? Only money? Greedy. The current only explains the senses and imagination when the original explains that it can take you above and beyond.
This video gave me the most intense nostalgia rush of all time, I’m almost teary eyed. I remember how much this ride hit me and stuck with me as a little kid. So magical these rides were back then.
The recording helped me understand why organ music and lightening used to scare me so bad (well…. With the accompanying thunder to boot as well) now that I know? Something in my inner child changed. Changed to enjoy it and not be afraid! ❤ but splash mountain will forever hold my trauma.
I miss how long rides used to be at Epcot. This one got you off your feet for 13 minutes. Now Epcot is more concerned with people wandering and buying alcohol.
Thank you so much for posting this version. I went in 89. I loved the dreamfinder and the old non-celebrity professor. My Mother and I went on the ride about 5 times in one day.
Holy cow Dreamfinder's movements are so lifelike. X_X Hard to believe an audioanimatronic at any park in the 80's or 90's could move so well!!! Disney really is kick ass at this kind of thing...
I'd give anything to relive the moment I was at Disney during this time. The animatronics animation was so lifelike and real...it's forever embedded in my core memory...
Just got back from Disney and hadn't been since 1989. I was so bummed by how much Epcot has changed, especially the Imagination pavilion : ( I am so glad you put this up to keep the old school version alive in our memories. I think the new one totally sucks (my kids liked it but they didn't know the difference).
It isn't so much that it sucks, it is more so that you had hopes that were fated to not be lived up to. The current version is simply lacking in the department of actual imagination, which is really bad as the pavilion is based on imagination, but what is there is an attempt to modernize imagination through the use of a laboratory and a scientist who has the wrong idea of what imagination actually is.
And a huge page of signatures of folks willing to donate a dollar per, just to buy out the sponsors that may want to mess up the Imagination pavilion even more. “Inside out” like!??? I watched that, I don’t need a ride! What’ll it be? A road trip, and something between test track (ex world of Motion) and a hockey game narrated by fuzzy brain cells. (Or are they different types of chemicals? Yknow, because Joy =dopamine) I don’t need to dawn fancy but broke 3d glasses for a movie I thought was cute, but that’s it. Might as well do splash mountain until the sensation of falling leaves and gets replaced by a MORE LOGICAL sensation, of simply going down a giant slide with too much forward thrust. Which ….. is what I expect…. Of a WATER SLIDE…..😂
Dude why couldn't they keep this masterpiece as it is? Just give it a little tweaks of modern technology here and there but maintain the same story and concept just like Disneyland is doing with the classic dark rides over in Anaheim... It didn't need a whole makeover...
My whole family loved the smell of that ride and we still talk about it today. We all thought it smelled like Dove Soap. We all started buying Dove Soap to remember the figment ride.
Disney World theme parks always had a pleasant smell throughout. Maybe not so much the ride-through zoo at Animal Kingdom. I forgot. It's been so long.
it's so sad to see what it became. I had found memories of this. Atleast the Dreamfinders ship is still in Epcot in one of the stores. Also Who in the hell dislikes this? It's a classic.
I never went on the old version or the second version. I like the third version, the second version is the worst I guess, and the first version is as good as the first one. But Dreamfinder’s singing sounds like he’s gurgling shower water or like he chainsmoked 5 Cigars before singing the song. Maybe both
I miss this version terribly and the 2 later incarnations pale by comparison. A revision to a "steampunk" genre, resurrecting Dreamfinder, and putting Figment front and center is the way to go.
I really enjoyed this version, Disney got this right the first time. My problem with the later version the way they changed Figment. In the original, he was a wide eyed child discovering his own imagination and what he could do with it. In the later version he is a brat. Come on Disney, you did it for the Enchanted Tiki Room, bring back the original.
It seems like there's so much to see in this ride, I wish more footage of it existed. I'm so glad someone caught it on camera, as it was closed before I was even a year old. Hopefully they'll bring it back someday with updated scenes, effects and animatronics!
Why can't Disney bring back The Dreamfinder? I mean, the children of this generation shouldn't be afraid to use their imagination and I do believe that both figment and The Dreamfinder can help children understand that.
Well dreamfinder is in two easter eggs in the new version! There is a door that says dean finder on it and in the dream lab you can hear chuck mcann's snoring! So I like that they still do care about him
Apparently kids cant imagine anymore all the technology thrust in their face wipes that away I was born after this ride closed and technology was starting its take over but I'm old enough that I didnt have any of this my brother has a tablet and a laptop at 6 and doesn't like to go outside much I was begging to go outside hated when I had to come in was always on some type of wheels and when I was inside I was playing with my dolls or stuffed animals or coloring imagination was what kept me from being board and it still does as I try to write my own stories
Thank you so much for this video. The various remakes do NOT do the original justice. The original is the best. This was the defining ride for Epcot, especially long before Disney characters roamed the parks.
Oh my goodness, what a nostalgia rush! I remember the first time I went to Epcot, that was one of my favorite rides! Thank you so much for uploading this!
Never knew that Chuck McCann was Dreamfinder and Billy Barty was Figment until I looked it up a few months back. Two great talents, and a favorite from back when😎
This brought back so many great memories. I went to the grand opening of Epcot when I was a kid and went back every year through high school. This was my favorite ride and Figment was the best! I loved this old ride. I haven't been back in 20 years and I'm grateful I haven't been forced to see the reincarnations. In my mind Figment is still riding the Imaginator singing his song.
Disney is supposed to be working on a major overhaul of EPCOT that is supposed to be close to it's original concept. I really hope they bring this back. This one they got right the first time.
It needs an overhaul, but going the original route would be a big step backward. I'm not saying I don't want to see the same angle with Dreamfinder and all that, but I think technology's evolved to the degree that going the same route they did in 1983 would be less than spectacular. Perfect world, I'd say they should gut the pavilion, and redo the ride with a trackless system like Mystic Manor in Hong Kong.
They’re doing a major overhaul yes. But, not without IPs. Certain attractions will go away. But, they’re also wanting to bring back something in Wonders of Life, redoing Innoventions, at some point they’ll revamp Mission:Space. But, with Imagination, the head imagineer basically told everyone they’ve been sitting on a cash cow and ignoring it (aka Figment is a crowd pleaser). So, it’s an overhaul but they’re just trying to keep it along the same aspect of the original concept. Educational and experimental. I don’t think epcot will ever go back to the original days. But, I’m glad they’re still trying to keep it educational. I trust Joe Rhode and his ideas. He loved Walt and his dreams, and he will do what’s best for the park. I’m glad that this pavilion will truly go back to being Imagination and not all about the senses.
Personally, the one IP that I wouldn’t mind seeing in EPCOT, is Professor Ludwig von Drake. He would fit in perfectly, and I would love to see him used more.
If you think the current version is bad, you should have seen the one in between this one and now, talk about HORRIBLE. Makes todays seem like a masterpiece. LOL
I think the new version of this ride was really cute when I took my trip to WDW last year, I still think the new version is cute, but after watching this I do agree that this version was a lot better.
I never went to Disney World or Land and as a child most rides scared me so I went on so few and I was never near this ride. However I must say, losing this ride is a loss for our future. Sure, you can argue children with enough imagination do not need some purple suited man with a dragon to awaken that. You'd be surprised, though, at how many children do need this encouragement. They need to be told not even that they are special, but that they need to think and hone their imagination. Math and logical sense is no doubt important, but without imagination and the realization that thinking outside the box can lead to wonderful new creations... we have lost the ability to innovate and truly express what could be wondrous new ideas. I can only imagine that more than a few successful and even unsuccessful artists who attended this ride as children are now adults and hum this to themselves as they are creating and their imaginations are helping to contribute to the advancement and benefit of the world. I hope in the future someone, maybe even just some crazy fanatic with limitless money, recreates the ride down to the smallest detail for future generations. Just watching this poor quality version of the ride combined with some videos and what I've read, it's just too important of a ride to die for good. The message that it conveys to "cultivate your unique imagination" is so important. The way that message is delivered is, in my opinion, so absolutely brilliant that I cannot think of a better way to inspire and teach it to a young child.
This ride is still good since I can still ride in my wheelchair. The Horizon and The World Of Motion where very accessible for wheelchair bound Personal as well. Since they took them away and changed those rides it not accessible any more. I feel in love with EPCOT since it was my first time at a Disney park I could ride rides in my chair. So this one and two more are still left for the accessibility. It ashame they are down grading instead of upgrading.
This was the best attraction when I was little. The song was still stuck in my head. I was pretty bummed after years later it changed. However, Figment will always be in my heart. ;)
Wow, I remember riding this at Epcot, in the summer of 1994, I was 13 years old! Wonderful day that was, including having lunch at the "French" part of Epcot and the Capt. E-O 3D show.
I always used to look forward to the imagination area of Epcot. Wish they would change it to focus heavily on the imagination of things like creating Music (and good music with chord progression and contrast), Art and Animation, Physics-Inventions-Astronomy Sciences, Robotics and Automation, Magic and Illusion, and really making what might seen as fictional into reality which is true imagination and has shaped this modern era. The Tour of a Science Lab with a fart joke and a cartoon dragon being a nuisance is pretty lamo.
My favorite ride when I was there in 1985. When I went back with my 12 year younger brother, 15 years later, I was sad that I couldn't share the ride with him as it was closed.
I think it would be incredible for Dreamfinder and Figment to be characters in Kingdom Hearts 3 (edit 10/28/2020: A future KH game). They already have a ship that can travel along w/ the Gummi Ship (assuming it's found). They could even use Spaceship Earth as a base, acting as the ultimate EPCOT tribute. Hey, if Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn can show up next to all those other characters, anything's possible.
It would've been perfect for Dream Drop Distance, especially as a counterpart to the Fantasia world. But I could see Figment and the Dreamfinder hanging out in a restored Daybreak Town in KH3.
Harness the limitless power of Imagination! The difference between victory and defeat can be decided with just “one little spark”! New “Horizons” await you on the battlefield! “If you can dream it, you can summon it!”
This is one of the, if not the, best versions of the original ride on youtube. Thanks so much for posting this classic ride video, it brought back a lot of great memories! :)
I still have my Figment piggy bank from 1983. This was the best version and I am glad I was able to experience it. While the only things I remember from the ride is the song, Dreamfinder, Figment, and the end where they took our pictures, I had a lot of fun on this ride. You know a ride is good when you can still remember the song over 40 years later. It's ashame what Disney did to it nowadays. Oh and I totally remember that Rainbow Corridor!! 🙂
I know people hate the new figment ride, but I have a soft spot for it. I remember being really little and meeting figment when he walked around the parks alone-this was post Dreamfinder-he offered to ride, but I was too scared. Now he doesn't wander anymore, but the ride I love because of that memory (though i will admit as an attraction this one is much better)
I had a short-term job working on the original Journey Of Imagination when I was like 15. I was one of the people who rode the ride one final time before it shut down and they opened the new one. Me and my coworkers were LITERALLY breaking down in tears. And this year they're going to replace The Great Movie Ride with some Mickey and Minnie bullshit. I get it Disney. You want to stay fresh. But isn't 2 new lands enough? Did you have to completely change the star attraction of the part too!?
Personally, i’d just put the current version out of it’s undead misery, and replace it with the rumored inside out ride, and instead refit a theatre in the imagination Pavillion, for a dreamfinder and figment 4D show.
Sponsors didn't want to fund a complete refurbishment, so they opted to gut the ride and take a bare bones approach instead. Evidently, it didn't work at all.
AdrenalineAddict610 In all honesty, the ride was a bit dated and could have used some technological enhancement; however, the core concept and experience should have stayed the same, so this version is far superior to the current version.
Apparently there was a lot they wanted to do to bring the ride up to date, but Kodak had the final say and wasn't looking to sink any more money into it than they needed to.
I came back from Disney World last week after a 10 year absence and thought that they totally ruined the Figment attraction. It definitely lost it's charm and it looked like it was re-done on the cheap. Thanks for downloading this!
Why, oh why, oh why do they have to keep changing and upgrading something which is classic and timeless as it is? WDW just isn't as fresh and magic as it used to be since now everything is just spoon-fed to you. The old versions of the attractions made you think...yes, dare I say it? .... they made you use your IMAGINATION. R.I.P. to some of the old great ones like Horizons and all the rest.
John Sabp Test Track: Chevrolet Rock N Roller Coaster: Hanes (You read that right. Underwear sponsoring a rollercoaster) Mission Space: HP May I go on? I actually like these rides but c'mon with the sponsors.
Big Al it's based on the sponsors ten year contract. Every ten years if they continue the sponsorship they make another one contract. Epcot's theme is for the future, so that being said, if still under sponsorship the pavilions must be updated to go along with future events. It's stated in the 10 year contract. However the new/ old journey into imagination with figment, since Kodak dropped sponsorship they have to wait to get approval if they want to create another journey into imagination.
Horizons (my favorite pavilion from the old Epcot Center) was replaced by that giant space laundry machine Mission:Space 🤮 Never forgive Disney for that!
mystery brick I'm sorry but Disney is a multi billion dollar corporation!!! The parks all over the world, the clothes, toys, movies ect.. then they also own other companies that make movies like American pie and Disney also owns companies that film PORN!! So they have money up the a$$. The new Toy story park is sponsored by Baby bell cheese and they have it everywhere!! Its redicalous and slowly they are losing the Disney touch and charm.
The version they have now is nice, but this version is much, MUCH better! It also seems to last longer than the current one. Why would Disney change this? Would love to go back to this one.
JK Hanie Hopefully, actually, many old shows are coming back. Captain E.O., the original Enchated Tiki Room (the Florida one got rid of Zazu and Iago and went back to the old one)
***** I loved Captain Eo! I had not seen it until last year. So cool! I love Mission Space too, but I really miss Horizons too! I wish they would reopen this, if not in Epcot, then Magic Kingdom or Disney Land? Hopefully!
Doesn't make sense to me, either. I loved this version more. It was fun, whimsical, a visual treat everywhere you looked, and had two charming guides to show how wonderful and inspiring imagination can be. The current version is cold, sterile, and Eric Idle's talent is just wasted in it.
TheBazinga314 It's the times man, the ride looses popularity and focus and the attraction gets removed or upgraded to fit the times better. It's the same reasons why Jaws and Back to the Future were taken out of Universal, and why Pirates of the Caribbean was changed to have people from the movie in it now. Shitty I know, but what can you do right?
This has always been, and always will be, so much better than the current ride at the Imagination! Pavilion! Unfortunately, I was four years old when this closed, so I never got to ride this in person. I want this to come back to EPCOT!
This would make an amazing movie, if someone cared enough to do it the right way, this could be a great adventure/fantasy movie. I'm actually surprised this idea hasn't been done yet..
This got a comic miniseries adaptation a few years back that was actually pretty damn good (think Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz with a touch of Doctor Who, but more steampunk). The authors have said they're still hoping Disney will consider a film adaptation, but nothing's come of it.
If a movie based on this does happen, that would be great! As long as it has "One Little Spark" on the soundtrack and a cameo by Ron Schneider (who played Dreamfinder as a walk around character), then I would be happy.
The smell was FLOWERS being shoveled into the color machine by Figment... The 'large puffing perfume bottle' gave off no scent, it was labeled 'Morning Mist'.
I'm calling it right now: Dream Finder and Figment as party support characters for KH4! Harness the limitless abilities generated by imagination! The difference between victory and defeat is decided with just "one little spark"!
I thiought they did because we left Florida in 1983 and I remember the rainbow tunnel and all the fun things at the pavillion. I know I rode this ride in 1988, but for some reason, I thought it was there in the beginning.
Oh I remember this when i was super little - my parents bought me a Figment stuffed animal and then i lost it in the park and i was devastated because my my parents didn't have the money to buy another one for me - when my parents went back and asked if someone had turned it in by the time we returned home from the trip Disney mailed a care package to me with a new Figment with a letter saying they had found him for me (obviously they just took another off the shelf-but I thought that was a nice touch of the management)
cbudzyn This is what makes Disney different and they even do this sort of thing now. My wife lost her credit card and had to use the room phone to contact the credit card company. When we checked out we mentioned what had happened and they cancelled the phone charges.
+cbudzyn I remember this ride from when I was 5 in 97. it's how I learned about edgar allen poe's "the Raven". my parents also got me a stuffed figment. still have him!
+j-dizzle time I still have mine too from 1989. Our cat loved it as a kitten back in 2008.
I use to have a figment doll too, he was always my favorite. My child heart was broken when this ride closed
Erin Elle B E L L damn, that's a long time ago. Figment that is something special from my earliest childhood memories. I will never give him away
This really was such a unique ride. They really need to bring it back! It’s amazing how much this ride has stuck with me throughout my life. Even now I randomly get this song stuck in my head. I still remember most of the words. I’ll just start humming it at work and no one has any idea where it came from. I never lost that spark. I still make things from scraps and no one has a clue about where my brain gets it’s ideas. I want that for my nieces and nephews too. I want them to have the kind of imagination that allows them to see the potential in things that most people see as trash or worthless. The couch is broken? Let’s dismantle it and see what we can do with the parts. You just got an apartment and you can’t afford furniture? Let’s go to the dollar store and see what we can make. Let’s drive around the expensive neighborhoods and load the car with stuff they’ve abandoned on the curb. Having an unlimited imagination on that level is a survival skill later in life. Too many lack that ability nowadays.
I do too😂 but sometimes it what I need to help me get through a tough day. ❤
This first original version was the best dark ride of all time and then Disney went and wrecked it when all it's sponsors pulled out at the end of the 80's to save on maintenance costs. Disney, bring back the original version !!!!
I say put the current one out of it’s undead misery, and create a new 4D show with Dreamfinder and Figment
I say if you want to renovate the ride again, bring the original back and not inside out.
So they don’t care about their fans? Only money? Greedy. The current only explains the senses and imagination when the original explains that it can take you above and beyond.
If they ever bring this back it'll be even better than the original (gulp) ...I hope.
This video gave me the most intense nostalgia rush of all time, I’m almost teary eyed. I remember how much this ride hit me and stuck with me as a little kid. So magical these rides were back then.
The recording helped me understand why organ music and lightening used to scare me so bad (well…. With the accompanying thunder to boot as well) now that I know? Something in my inner child changed. Changed to enjoy it and not be afraid! ❤ but splash mountain will forever hold my trauma.
I miss how long rides used to be at Epcot. This one got you off your feet for 13 minutes.
Now Epcot is more concerned with people wandering and buying alcohol.
Now it is 5 minutes ride and two hour long lines.
vaderladyl not THAT long. The waits aren’t actually that bad, coming from someone who goes all the time.
@@Ααασω-μ5η Lol I know. I am exaggerating because they feel like that to me..
Thank you so much for posting this version. I went in 89. I loved the dreamfinder and the old non-celebrity professor. My Mother and I went on the ride about 5 times in one day.
Holy cow Dreamfinder's movements are so lifelike. X_X Hard to believe an audioanimatronic at any park in the 80's or 90's could move so well!!! Disney really is kick ass at this kind of thing...
Sierra Spencer questions was this a movie?
Sierra Spencer yea, then they killed him...... what a shame😑😑😖😖😞😞😞😔😔😔😞😞😢😢😢😢😢
I'd give anything to relive the moment I was at Disney during this time. The animatronics animation was so lifelike and real...it's forever embedded in my core memory...
Just got back from Disney and hadn't been since 1989. I was so bummed by how much Epcot has changed, especially the Imagination pavilion : (
I am so glad you put this up to keep the old school version alive in our memories. I think the new one totally sucks (my kids liked it but they didn't know the difference).
It isn't so much that it sucks, it is more so that you had hopes that were fated to not be lived up to. The current version is simply lacking in the department of actual imagination, which is really bad as the pavilion is based on imagination, but what is there is an attempt to modernize imagination through the use of a laboratory and a scientist who has the wrong idea of what imagination actually is.
I want to gather as much recorded input to make a be program to ride it again. Like REALLY RIDE IT
@@Alpha121198 yeah, I mean…. The five senses? That’s not imaginary, that’s science FACT
We need to bring imagination back to life! All it takes is one little Spark of inspiration!
And a huge page of signatures of folks willing to donate a dollar per, just to buy out the sponsors that may want to mess up the Imagination pavilion even more. “Inside out” like!??? I watched that, I don’t need a ride! What’ll it be? A road trip, and something between test track (ex world of Motion) and a hockey game narrated by fuzzy brain cells. (Or are they different types of chemicals? Yknow, because Joy =dopamine) I don’t need to dawn fancy but broke 3d glasses for a movie I thought was cute, but that’s it. Might as well do splash mountain until the sensation of falling leaves and gets replaced by a MORE LOGICAL sensation, of simply going down a giant slide with too much forward thrust. Which ….. is what I expect…. Of a WATER SLIDE…..😂
I never got to see this in real life. I wish they would bring it back.
It was awesome... I made my folks take me on the ride again.
I still have that figment doll :)
Lucky :-) Just went on the current version the other day... Not really all that fun.
same
Well, they turned the Enchanted Tiki room back to its original format after the Lion King version, so.. nothing's impossible.
Uhfgood maybe at the next d23 you can ask
I’ve never been to Disney World but this video created a love for Figment - thanks for sharing this magical video!
I went there oct 89. I'm 38 now. I remember it like it was yesterday. Great trip down memory lane! ;-)
Dude why couldn't they keep this masterpiece as it is? Just give it a little tweaks of modern technology here and there but maintain the same story and concept just like Disneyland is doing with the classic dark rides over in Anaheim... It didn't need a whole makeover...
Yeah….. I’m never a fan of redecorating 😅. Love Eric Idle, but only as a Python sand otherwise legendary actor and comedian.
My whole family loved the smell of that ride and we still talk about it today. We all thought it smelled like Dove Soap. We all started buying Dove Soap to remember the figment ride.
Omg you smelled it too? I thought I was nuts!!!! I thought ivory soap though…. 😅
Disney World theme parks always had a pleasant smell throughout. Maybe not so much the ride-through zoo at Animal Kingdom. I forgot. It's been so long.
it's so sad to see what it became. I had found memories of this. Atleast the Dreamfinders ship is still in Epcot in one of the stores.
Also Who in the hell dislikes this? It's a classic.
14 people misclicked.
Nolen I upvoted, but they might have down voted because they kept covering their microphone and it muffled the audio.
Nolen I think I just found out it had a show on Disney channel
But the show is completely lost
Maybe one of the dislikers is Michael Eisner!
I never went on the old version or the second version. I like the third version, the second version is the worst I guess, and the first version is as good as the first one. But Dreamfinder’s singing sounds like he’s gurgling shower water or like he chainsmoked 5 Cigars before singing the song. Maybe both
The scent was rose, and it came from the large puffing perfume bottle in the Dreamport sequence. I also remember that smell well.
Love how the picture at the end shows the kid filming lol.
Loved this ride , thank you for the memories.
I miss this version terribly and the 2 later incarnations pale by comparison. A revision to a "steampunk" genre, resurrecting Dreamfinder, and putting Figment front and center is the way to go.
Disney is super out of touch to not cash in on this nostalgia
Such a classic ride. Went to Epcot 2 years ago and the new version was a big disappointment. This one brings back memories. Thank you for this
This was truly one of the greatest rides Disney has ever made! So heartbroken that Disney removed this amazing attraction!
Agreed!
Thanks, you made me cry from remembering this. I did live that dream I dreamed so long ago!
Thanks for the High Quality footage, it's just that i saw the original attraction photo in the 1990 Walt Disney World picture book.
I can't get over the fact that this was to be a show on Disney Channel..
I really enjoyed this version, Disney got this right the first time. My problem with the later version the way they changed Figment. In the original, he was a wide eyed child discovering his own imagination and what he could do with it. In the later version he is a brat. Come on Disney, you did it for the Enchanted Tiki Room, bring back the original.
It seems like there's so much to see in this ride, I wish more footage of it existed. I'm so glad someone caught it on camera, as it was closed before I was even a year old. Hopefully they'll bring it back someday with updated scenes, effects and animatronics!
Why can't Disney bring back The Dreamfinder? I mean, the children of this generation shouldn't be afraid to use their imagination and I do believe that both figment and The Dreamfinder can help children understand that.
Well dreamfinder is in two easter eggs in the new version! There is a door that says dean finder on it and in the dream lab you can hear chuck mcann's snoring! So I like that they still do care about him
Apparently kids cant imagine anymore all the technology thrust in their face wipes that away I was born after this ride closed and technology was starting its take over but I'm old enough that I didnt have any of this my brother has a tablet and a laptop at 6 and doesn't like to go outside much I was begging to go outside hated when I had to come in was always on some type of wheels and when I was inside I was playing with my dolls or stuffed animals or coloring imagination was what kept me from being board and it still does as I try to write my own stories
Because he went back to Gallifrey with The Doctor and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of either since January 5th 1989.
Wow, this brings back memories...That was one of my favorite rides, and I still remember that song. :D Thanks for uploading this!
Thank you so much for this video. The various remakes do NOT do the original justice. The original is the best. This was the defining ride for Epcot, especially long before Disney characters roamed the parks.
If I could visit the late 20th century, I'll be sure to visit this one!
This was as iconic as “ its a small world”. I was in awe the first time I road it. Disney has lost the magic for me.
Thanks for sharing! I remember being captivated by this as an 8-year-old and I still find it charming today. A real shame it's gone.
I remember this with great fondness. I miss it.
Oh my goodness, what a nostalgia rush! I remember the first time I went to Epcot, that was one of my favorite rides! Thank you so much for uploading this!
Never knew that Chuck McCann was Dreamfinder and Billy Barty was Figment until I looked it up a few months back. Two great talents, and a favorite from back when😎
Thanks for uploading this. I distinctly remember going on this in the Spring of 1994. It was quite creative.
This brought back so many great memories. I went to the grand opening of Epcot when I was a kid and went back every year through high school. This was my favorite ride and Figment was the best! I loved this old ride. I haven't been back in 20 years and I'm grateful I haven't been forced to see the reincarnations. In my mind Figment is still riding the Imaginator singing his song.
Loved this ride! Miss it and the late great Billy Barty who voiced our beloved Figment! ❤
Wow this looks so much better than the current one I wish I could have ridden it...
Disney is supposed to be working on a major overhaul of EPCOT that is supposed to be close to it's original concept. I really hope they bring this back. This one they got right the first time.
It needs an overhaul, but going the original route would be a big step backward. I'm not saying I don't want to see the same angle with Dreamfinder and all that, but I think technology's evolved to the degree that going the same route they did in 1983 would be less than spectacular.
Perfect world, I'd say they should gut the pavilion, and redo the ride with a trackless system like Mystic Manor in Hong Kong.
They’re doing a major overhaul yes. But, not without IPs. Certain attractions will go away. But, they’re also wanting to bring back something in Wonders of Life, redoing Innoventions, at some point they’ll revamp Mission:Space. But, with Imagination, the head imagineer basically told everyone they’ve been sitting on a cash cow and ignoring it (aka Figment is a crowd pleaser). So, it’s an overhaul but they’re just trying to keep it along the same aspect of the original concept. Educational and experimental. I don’t think epcot will ever go back to the original days. But, I’m glad they’re still trying to keep it educational. I trust Joe Rhode and his ideas. He loved Walt and his dreams, and he will do what’s best for the park. I’m glad that this pavilion will truly go back to being Imagination and not all about the senses.
Personally, the one IP that I wouldn’t mind seeing in EPCOT, is Professor Ludwig von Drake. He would fit in perfectly, and I would love to see him used more.
I say put the current version out of it’s undead misery, and give figment and dreamfinder their own 4D show
@@A_A610 They could do something different with special effects and still bring back Dreamfinder.
Wow- I’m speechless 😶
It was such a good ride miss it lots..
If you think the current version is bad, you should have seen the one in between this one and now, talk about HORRIBLE. Makes todays seem like a masterpiece. LOL
It’s your opinion man, I grew up with journey into imagination with figment.
Agree
What year? I’d like to look it up and compare.
This kinda broke my heart. :(
This is amazing. So sad what they've done to that park. Thank you for uploading this fantastic video.
what did they do?
they should of just stayed with original.
I think the new version of this ride was really cute when I took my trip to WDW last year, I still think the new version is cute, but after watching this I do agree that this version was a lot better.
I'm 12 again! . . It's just the way I remember it in '77-'78.. nothing seems changed here...nostalgic...beautiful....so retro I luV!
I never went to Disney World or Land and as a child most rides scared me so I went on so few and I was never near this ride. However I must say, losing this ride is a loss for our future. Sure, you can argue children with enough imagination do not need some purple suited man with a dragon to awaken that. You'd be surprised, though, at how many children do need this encouragement. They need to be told not even that they are special, but that they need to think and hone their imagination. Math and logical sense is no doubt important, but without imagination and the realization that thinking outside the box can lead to wonderful new creations... we have lost the ability to innovate and truly express what could be wondrous new ideas.
I can only imagine that more than a few successful and even unsuccessful artists who attended this ride as children are now adults and hum this to themselves as they are creating and their imaginations are helping to contribute to the advancement and benefit of the world.
I hope in the future someone, maybe even just some crazy fanatic with limitless money, recreates the ride down to the smallest detail for future generations. Just watching this poor quality version of the ride combined with some videos and what I've read, it's just too important of a ride to die for good. The message that it conveys to "cultivate your unique imagination" is so important. The way that message is delivered is, in my opinion, so absolutely brilliant that I cannot think of a better way to inspire and teach it to a young child.
Here's a fun fact about Figment that is not known that well, his stuffed animals sold more than Mickey's stuffed animals!
This ride is still good since I can still ride in my wheelchair. The Horizon and The World Of Motion where very accessible for wheelchair bound Personal as well. Since they took them away and changed those rides it not accessible any more. I feel in love with EPCOT since it was my first time at a Disney park I could ride rides in my chair. So this one and two more are still left for the accessibility. It ashame they are down grading instead of upgrading.
This was the best attraction when I was little. The song was still stuck in my head. I was pretty bummed after years later it changed. However, Figment will always be in my heart. ;)
Wow, I remember riding this at Epcot, in the summer of 1994, I was 13 years old! Wonderful day that was, including having lunch at the "French" part of Epcot and the Capt. E-O 3D show.
I always used to look forward to the imagination area of Epcot. Wish they would change it to focus heavily on the imagination of things like creating Music (and good music with chord progression and contrast), Art and Animation, Physics-Inventions-Astronomy Sciences, Robotics and Automation, Magic and Illusion, and really making what might seen as fictional into reality which is true imagination and has shaped this modern era. The Tour of a Science Lab with a fart joke and a cartoon dragon being a nuisance is pretty lamo.
My favorite ride when I was there in 1985. When I went back with my 12 year younger brother, 15 years later, I was sad that I couldn't share the ride with him as it was closed.
Disney please bring back the original!
When I rode this ride I used my imagination to make believe that I was an autobot fighting decepticons. That was when I was eleven.
I think it would be incredible for Dreamfinder and Figment to be characters in Kingdom Hearts 3 (edit 10/28/2020: A future KH game). They already have a ship that can travel along w/ the Gummi Ship (assuming it's found). They could even use Spaceship Earth as a base, acting as the ultimate EPCOT tribute.
Hey, if Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn can show up next to all those other characters, anything's possible.
It would've been perfect for Dream Drop Distance, especially as a counterpart to the Fantasia world. But I could see Figment and the Dreamfinder hanging out in a restored Daybreak Town in KH3.
It seems like the Disney video games and their creators have more respect for Disney's creations than the parks themselves.
SonofMrPeanut That’s an awesome idea! To take it a step further, I would like to see an entire world in the game based on Disney Theme Parks.
Harness the limitless power of Imagination! The difference between victory and defeat can be decided with just “one little spark”! New “Horizons” await you on the battlefield! “If you can dream it, you can summon it!”
This is one of the, if not the, best versions of the original ride on youtube. Thanks so much for posting this classic ride video, it brought back a lot of great memories! :)
Sad that I never saw this figment, I love figment so much and thus ride looks awesome
I still have my Figment piggy bank from 1983. This was the best version and I am glad I was able to experience it. While the only things I remember from the ride is the song, Dreamfinder, Figment, and the end where they took our pictures, I had a lot of fun on this ride. You know a ride is good when you can still remember the song over 40 years later. It's ashame what Disney did to it nowadays. Oh and I totally remember that Rainbow Corridor!! 🙂
How the heck did you film this my childhood just rushed back in such an awesome way
Fabulous! thanks for taking time to do this. It brought back so many good WDW memories.
So much fun to watch!!
I miss this so much.
I went every year from the 80's to 90's.
WOW! This ride has changed....................a lot. This whole pavilion has changed.......a lot!!
I know people hate the new figment ride, but I have a soft spot for it. I remember being really little and meeting figment when he walked around the parks alone-this was post Dreamfinder-he offered to ride, but I was too scared. Now he doesn't wander anymore, but the ride I love because of that memory (though i will admit as an attraction this one is much better)
GingerTyPerior I know right! This one is way better but the original was fun too. (In my opinion)
I had a short-term job working on the original Journey Of Imagination when I was like 15. I was one of the people who rode the ride one final time before it shut down and they opened the new one. Me and my coworkers were LITERALLY breaking down in tears. And this year they're going to replace The Great Movie Ride with some Mickey and Minnie bullshit. I get it Disney. You want to stay fresh. But isn't 2 new lands enough? Did you have to completely change the star attraction of the part too!?
Why can't they just bring the Dreamfinder and the whimsey back? Its so easy!! People loved it then and they'll love it now.
Personally, i’d just put the current version out of it’s undead misery, and replace it with the rumored inside out ride, and instead refit a theatre in the imagination Pavillion, for a dreamfinder and figment 4D show.
Wow, blast from the past. Love it. I didnt think anyone would have a copy of the old video left. LOL. Thanks for the share!
Ah, the only part of EPCOT center I remember actually liking as a kid. Nice footage. :)
Thank's this post, i love Figment. I miss your country.
I just loved this show! I know that it was updated later, but this is the first one that I saw back in 1987.
Why the heck did they change this ride?!? It was so whimsical.
Sponsors didn't want to fund a complete refurbishment, so they opted to gut the ride and take a bare bones approach instead. Evidently, it didn't work at all.
AdrenalineAddict610 In all honesty, the ride was a bit dated and could have used some technological enhancement; however, the core concept and experience should have stayed the same, so this version is far superior to the current version.
Apparently there was a lot they wanted to do to bring the ride up to date, but Kodak had the final say and wasn't looking to sink any more money into it than they needed to.
I came back from Disney World last week after a 10 year absence and thought that they totally ruined the Figment attraction. It definitely lost it's charm and it looked like it was re-done on the cheap. Thanks for downloading this!
I never saw the new one, but this makes me soo sad now. This ride used to bring me joy.
Man I wish this ride was still there. Well, it is but, you know?
Sadie and Emma: Check It Out! You want it , in this way again. I know , I want it that way
Why, oh why, oh why do they have to keep changing and upgrading something which is classic and timeless as it is? WDW just isn't as fresh and magic as it used to be since now everything is just spoon-fed to you. The old versions of the attractions made you think...yes, dare I say it? .... they made you use your IMAGINATION. R.I.P. to some of the old great ones like Horizons and all the rest.
John Sabp Test Track: Chevrolet Rock N Roller Coaster: Hanes (You read that right. Underwear sponsoring a rollercoaster) Mission Space: HP May I go on? I actually like these rides but c'mon with the sponsors.
they are there to help pay for the rides i mean Disney doesn't have infinite money up their sleeves you know
Big Al it's based on the sponsors ten year contract. Every ten years if they continue the sponsorship they make another one contract. Epcot's theme is for the future, so that being said, if still under sponsorship the pavilions must be updated to go along with future events. It's stated in the 10 year contract. However the new/ old journey into imagination with figment, since Kodak dropped sponsorship they have to wait to get approval if they want to create another journey into imagination.
Horizons (my favorite pavilion from the old Epcot Center) was replaced by that giant space laundry machine Mission:Space 🤮 Never forgive Disney for that!
mystery brick I'm sorry but Disney is a multi billion dollar corporation!!! The parks all over the world, the clothes, toys, movies ect.. then they also own other companies that make movies like American pie and Disney also owns companies that film PORN!! So they have money up the a$$. The new Toy story park is sponsored by Baby bell cheese and they have it everywhere!! Its redicalous and slowly they are losing the Disney touch and charm.
The version they have now is nice, but this version is much, MUCH better! It also seems to last longer than the current one. Why would Disney change this? Would love to go back to this one.
I completely agree, Gil. I have heard rumors they may redo it, but nothing more than that. I miss this one!
JK Hanie After they brought back Captain E.O. They might as well do the same with this one
***** I completely agree. Maybe in the future.
JK Hanie Hopefully, actually, many old shows are coming back. Captain E.O., the original Enchated Tiki Room (the Florida one got rid of Zazu and Iago and went back to the old one)
***** I loved Captain Eo! I had not seen it until last year. So cool! I love Mission Space too, but I really miss Horizons too! I wish they would reopen this, if not in Epcot, then Magic Kingdom or Disney Land? Hopefully!
hope it doesn't get replaced with inside out like the rumors suggest
ParanormalState100 yeah if Epcot could put Inside Out anywhere it should be where Cranium Commend used to be
Yeah, the wonders of life pavilion should be used for something. It’s just kind of sad.
It’s used for special seasonal events, including The Food And Wine Festival
Something beyond that I mean.
You can have in inside out attraction. Do not replace it with figment unless you bring the original back!
This version is drastically better than the current one! Why did Disney ever get rid of this in the first place? It makes no sense to me. :(
Doesn't make sense to me, either. I loved this version more. It was fun, whimsical, a visual treat everywhere you looked, and had two charming guides to show how wonderful and inspiring imagination can be. The current version is cold, sterile, and Eric Idle's talent is just wasted in it.
Some of the reason we're due to the ride breaking down a lot and not working properly.
Also Kodak went under but even before that they were losing a ton of money so they had to cut support to the ride taking the rights with them
Matthew Jensen But that doesn't mean totally changing the original story and essence. That's no excuse to degrade such a classic.
TheBazinga314 It's the times man, the ride looses popularity and focus and the attraction gets removed or upgraded to fit the times better. It's the same reasons why Jaws and Back to the Future were taken out of Universal, and why Pirates of the Caribbean was changed to have people from the movie in it now. Shitty I know, but what can you do right?
I soo miss this ride, the current one is utter carp and dispized by everyone. glad to see it again
This is the year that I went to Epcot and saw this ride for the first time! :) I met the Dreamfinder!
Nice! :)
so this is where matt and trey got their inspiration for Imaginationland from :3
Thanks for posting this. We just went to WDW and I hadn’t been there since 1989. It’s very disappointing what they did to this ride.
This has always been, and always will be, so much better than the current ride at the Imagination! Pavilion! Unfortunately, I was four years old when this closed, so I never got to ride this in person. I want this to come back to EPCOT!
this was just a ride to sit and relax on!!!!
They need to remake this ride, with the Mystic Manor tech and ride system, it would be off the charts, and perfect for it.
Who remembers the rainbow tunnel upstairs in the imagine works play lab?!
This would make an amazing movie, if someone cared enough to do it the right way, this could be a great adventure/fantasy movie. I'm actually surprised this idea hasn't been done yet..
This got a comic miniseries adaptation a few years back that was actually pretty damn good (think Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz with a touch of Doctor Who, but more steampunk). The authors have said they're still hoping Disney will consider a film adaptation, but nothing's come of it.
If a movie based on this does happen, that would be great! As long as it has "One Little Spark" on the soundtrack and a cameo by Ron Schneider (who played Dreamfinder as a walk around character), then I would be happy.
the new one has nothing to do with imagination
The smell was FLOWERS being shoveled into the color machine by Figment... The 'large puffing perfume bottle' gave off no scent, it was labeled 'Morning Mist'.
Thanks for the info Ron! I'm hoping to buy your book ASAP and read it. Hope you're doing well!
Man, Journey into Imagination was a Childhood Favorite by Many People Who Were Born in the 20th Century.
Bring back the original
I'm calling it right now:
Dream Finder and Figment as party support characters for KH4! Harness the limitless abilities generated by imagination! The difference between victory and defeat is decided with just "one little spark"!
That would be cool! Also a cover of "One Little Spark" would have to be in the game even if it's instrumental.
@@MaryS2022 Yes! New Horizons await you on the battlefield! “If you can dream it, you can summon it!”
Edit: I really hope people get the reference...
2:46
Even though I never went on this version, I love this part right here because you see the birth of Figment. Where did the Dreamfinder go?
The dream founder is in Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris..
He’s nearly headless nick
Awesome quality btw!! This is pretty good for (idk 1999?) And my mom rode this. And im so sad I could not ride it :(
I thiought they did because we left Florida in 1983 and I remember the rainbow tunnel and all the fun things at the pavillion. I know I rode this ride in 1988, but for some reason, I thought it was there in the beginning.
80's Rocked!
It was called "Morning Mist" and I think it was a variation on a rose scent.
i've been loking for a good video of this with good quailty cause i've never been on the orginal
I'm happy to see the ride they way I remember seeing it as a kid, but why didn't you film the stuff after the ride? THAT WAS THE COOLEST!!!
If only Walt knew what this ride was and what horrors became of it...