Why We Need Journey Into Imagination

In the wake of the massive changes being done around the Disney Parks, it is hard to ignore the massive outcry against these changes.  And in some circles, people welcome them with open arms.  Any die hard Disney fan knows that removing or even refurbishing an attraction is sacrilege, and changing it to fit the mold of a profitable Disney property is even more aggravating.  To the rest of the population who isn't obsessed with Disney Parks, they see it as something new and exciting to experience with their families, so they can keep up the family tradition with that annual trip to Disney World.

Except this.  No one is looking forward to this.

For better or worse, these changes will continue to exist.  Walt said it himself, "Disneyland will never be completed.  It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."  So the core belief of Disney Parks is something we all don't want to see.  It's a contradictory nature, as these attractions are part of our identity, part of our lives, yet in order to believe in the concept of the Disney parks, we have to accept that they will always be changing.  Now we get into a quantity v. quality issue, where there isn't much thought put into decisions in terms of sustainability, but wholly based on profits and figures, so to speak.

Not pictured: Eisner dancing on Disney's grave.

With the closure and refurbishment of many classic attractions in the past 15 years, we catch a glimpse into the way EPCOT works.  It was the awkward but very bright and intelligent theme park that struggled, but impacted all of us on a whole other level.  Having a theme relating to technology is tricky, as technology advances faster than Imagineers can dream up new dreams.  Rides become outdated, the crowds dwindle, and the execs see that something needs to happen to keep the families spending money.  So you jazz it up, and don't look back at anyone who might be alienated by these decisions.  Soarin' has about as much to do with the Land as, well, the The Caballeros has to do with Mexico.

I suppose Mexico is close enough to South America.

At a certain point, Disney decides to take the ride in a new direction, and runs with it, the wrong way.  The need to update certain attractions makes sense: CommuniCore is technologically outdated, The Universe Of Energy & Symbiosis are very dry and heavy-handed (but still totally and utterly AMAZING), and World Of Motion was... I don't know, were there too many omni-mover attractions so they wanted to jazz it up with a fast thrill ride?  Maybe.  All you had was Body Wars and Maelstrom for a thrill, and they weren't even that thrilling.  Just jerky.

I blame this ride for my achy back.

Journey Into Imagination is a curious little attraction.  Delayed opening, yet it gave us Figment as a mascot for the park.  Since they initially tried to shy away from incorporating established characters from the Disney echelon, it was unique to see a separation of Disney characters.  If you wanted Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and the like, you had to go to Magic Kingdom.  If you wanted to drink around the world and hang out with the elderly, you went to EPCOT Center.

Turning World Showcase into a joke, one drink at a time.

Journey Into Imagination transcended all the rides at EPCOT Center, as it presented us with an abstract idea: imagination.  All other rides were based upon research and actual, physical things pertaining to their corresponding theme.  Topics of transportation, energy, communication, agriculture, and the colonization of new frontiers were more or less tangible and concrete ideas; they had a basis in reality.  Journey Into Imagination dealt with a topic that is very abstract, and putting those abstract ideas into a ride was certainly a challenge.

But they did it.  They succeeded.

When you recall the original attraction, it played out very nicely: setting you up with the Dreamfinder touching on several aspects of imagination, and then experiencing them in various sections of the ride.  There was no forced conflict or dilemma; it simply just explored imagination.  Of course, when something works at Disney, it means it needs to go through a change after fifteen years.  And its subsequent incarnations are nothing more than a downward shame spiral.  Instead of feeling inspired, you feel like you're stuck with a stuffy imagination professor and an overbearing purple dragon.  And the latter version does not make you feel inspired.  Just confused.

Why is he such a dick to Figment?

Since most attractions are getting face-lifts, persistent rumors emerge about Journey Into Imagination.  We've all heard them, so I won't venture down that avenue.  But in all our wishful thinking, we want to see a return to the original Journey Into Imagination.  Not only to fulfill and satisfy our own needs and desires of restoring a piece of our childhoods, but for a greater good.
  Journey Into Imagination, simply put, is timeless.  When you revisit it, there's nothing dated or old about it.  The ideas it presents are universal, therefor does not have a time limit on its ideas.  When you look at how rapidly technology and ideas change, imagination does not, and something from 30 years ago still feels as fresh and exciting.

Seeing your picture on the screen is still amazing.

The idea of refurbishing or re-purposing an attraction at Disney is, we all know, very costly and time-consuming.  It's got to be a hit, and they are not taking any chances.  Curiously, the thought of reinstating Journey Into Imagination isn't all too far-fetched in certain circumstances when you analyze certain evidence.  There has been an entire D23 exhibit based on recreating the ride through various forms of media, which looks like there is a consistent interest in the original attraction.  To a lesser extent, there was a campaign to bring back Figment in the second iteration of the ride, but we got a less than equitable compromise: more Figment in a ride that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

Stop teasing us.

"I don't think Figment is going anywhere any time soon, I promise." -Bob Iger

Hearing is not believing, obviously, as was the case with the Phineas & Ferb rumor circulating around, but it is known that the higher-ups at Disney know Figment is popular, and people young and old like him (we hope).  And let's not forget the resurrection of Captain EO and The Enchanted Tiki Room.  Granted, the former was due large in part to the public's overwhelming demand for Michael Jackson after his death, and it didn't take Disney too long (13 years or so) to realize that the latter was utterly awful and should never have been (or due to a fire, depending on who you ask).

Please let Disney not change it by inserting more characters from Aladdin and/or Lion King

So Disney has the capacity and the intentions of bringing back old rides that they deem popular enough to satisfy the masses, they've been hinting at it, and all signs seem to say, "We can bring back Journey Into Imagination," but I won't be holding my breath until then.  So make it snappy.

Wishful Thinking

Much to my surprise (well, not really) I received a wealth of responses to my last entry about a hypothetical situation in which I fantasized about updating several EPCOT attractions, and what I believed would be the best.  And when I mean "a wealth of responses," I really mean two.  And boy were they livid.  In the past I have been critical of many things that the Walt Disney Company has done in regards to their theme parks, such as the FastPass, the look of "new" Tomorrowland, and, of course, the current state of EPCOT.

There is nothing right about any of this.

Spanning the far reaches of the Internet are those who love Disney.  There's a lot of them out there.  On Tumblr you'll see re-post upon re-post of all things Disney, ranging from pictures to inexplicable memes to bizarre GIFs, but it is all for the sake of Disney.  As much flack as it gets as a corporation, people sure do love it.  And that all stems from one simple thing: nostalgia.  We all cherish these things because we grew up with it; it was part of our childhoods, and a part of our upbringing.  Simply put, they made us who we are.  Alan Menken said in an interview for some iteration of a Beauty & The Beast DVD release that high school kids thanked him for teaching them how to sing, from watching the films that he worked for Disney.

We all owe him and his mullet some serious gratitude.

 As we grew up with Disney, we tend to love it.  And some of us love it a lot.  Now when you get past the broad spectrum of Disney, seeping below the animated classic and contemporary animated films, you'll come across another layer of Disney fandom: theme parks.  The culture of Disney Theme Parks is equally as broad as the films, but not as accessible.  Still, Disneyland sort of remains a standout figure in this: it was the first Disney theme park, and obviously cherished by those young and old.  And since it was situated in Anaheim, mere miles from Los Angeles county, everyone flocked to those gates to witness the next evolution in amusement parks.  I see more obsession over Disneyland than Disney World in some instances, mostly because it is regarded as a classic.

Although I thought the castle was always a little too small.

Below the line of theme park obsession among Disney fans is Disney World, as it pains me to say.  I believe both are equally as popular, and I prefer Disney World to Disneyland, despite growing up in California.  But Disneyland is iconic and therefore more people are inclined to favor Disneyland, although Disney World has special meaning to people on the East Coast, as it was the closest Disney Park to them, and instead of driving from Pennsylvania to California to capture some of that Disney magic, you only had to drive to Florida.  Although it could be that since I grew up in Northern California, there was no real buzz for Disney World among those living here, as it was too far.  All the buzz was for Disneyland.  But I'm sure it's a different tale when you talk to someone from New York or surrounding areas.

Now after you have the Walt Disney World fans, then you get to my level, several layers below the surface of Disney love.  There is a small handful of people out there with the undying love and appreciation and obsession of EPCOT Center.  And when I say handful, I mean maybe a couple thousand?  It's hard to pinpoint out there in the world of those who are hopelessly obsessed with EPCOT.  And when I say hopelessly obsessed, I mean watching the YouTube videos of the rides and specials aired about EPCOT Center, you collect the Figment merchandise and the Kitchen Kabaret plush dolls, and any T-Shirt that bears the EPCOT name, only if it was made before 1993.

Ain't got time for this garbage.

And beyond that layer... I guess people who are really into MGM Studios?  I'm not going to go to that level... yet.  But on the whole, I'd wager that there are not too many EPCOT Center obsessed people, in comparison to those who are obsessed with Disneyland.  And if there are, you please let me know because I am always thrilled to find people who share the same level of enthusiasm as I do.

EPCOT Center holds a special place in all of our hearts, mostly due to the fact that:
A. It looked cool, especially the thing that looked like a golf ball.
B. Figment was awesome and so were the jumping fountains.
C. You kinda learned something, but didn't really know it.

Joking aside, EPCOT Center offered us a glimpse into the future, looked back at the past in humorous and/or spectacular ways, and challenged us to be better.  And for a lot of us, the principles and ideas stuck with us, and when you went every year, you grew to love it on a level beyond comprehension.  For those who grew up with it, like growing up with Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty, or in the later generations with The Little Mermaid and Beauty & The Beast, it becomes part of your childhood and, in a sense, "part of your... life."

You thought I was gonna say "part of your world."

The die-hard EPCOT fans know and love EPCOT from their earliest childhood memory of the park, so it makes sense that the majority of us are obsessed with the old EPCOT (1982-1993).  My earliest memory was probably in 1989, with the Universe Of Energy.  We all have similar memories, and we remember the park as it existed 25-30 years ago.  When we see how much it has changed in the past 30 years, some argue for the worst, it obviously incites a little anger in us.  It's like seeing someone demolish that slide you loved so much as a child, and then leave the pieces behind so you have nothing, and then maybe in a few years someone will re-purpose it into something new, but it won't be the same.  That's how we all feel about EPCOT.  It's not the same as we remember it.

As we get caught up in our emotions about how things have changed there, and how it's not the same, we also have to take a step back and examine the situation as a whole.  We fantasize about what we'd like to see done to the park to make it better, we wonder what things would be like if it had never changed, we say "just revert Journey Into Imagination to its original state and reopen the Image Works," but there's more to it than just our wishful thinking.  Obviously the old EPCOT was outdated, and turning it back to its original state is not only expensive and time consuming, but also impractical in terms of guest expectations.

To many, EPCOT is just another theme park you visit on your trip.  The message it extends is sort of lost in the void, and the shift has been to entertain, and maybe you'll get a little information out of it.  Nothing as serious or heavy as the original attractions, but you still get a little something out of it.  But when you recount how many die hard fans there are (maybe a few hundred to a few thousand more than those at the D23 expos?), there simply isn't enough of us to warrant a massive change, as it pains me to say.  Although there was an overwhelming outcry after the second iteration of Journey Into Imagination came into existence in 1999, and they revamped it to include more Figment, it remains doubtful that they would revert it to its original state.

We have had a glimmer of hope in other forms that might suggest that they'd resurrect the old Journey Into Imagination, in the form of bringing back the original Enchanted Tiki Room and bringing back Captain EO, so who knows; anything could happen.  The point I'm driving at is that as much as we want all of our old rides to come back because we miss them, we are but less than a fraction of the visitors to Walt Disney World, and the majority of those who visit the park aren't really interested in something that was popular in the 80s.  As much as I'd love to see kids get excited about SMRT-1 and hum "Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit" over and over, I looks doubtful that these things will make a comeback to today's youth.  Most guests are just there for the experience and fun and adventure, and are complacent about what they experience in the park (speaking VERY broadly, of course).  The average park guest doesn't sit around and study and obsess over Disney World.  If you're shelling out top dollar to do Disney World right, the last thing would be to know about the many different phases of Horizons or who filmed Symbiosis.  They want to just have a family vacation, and not be alienated by taking out rides that their kids were looking forward to and putting in old rides that we love.

Sadly, no one cares enough about any such thing except for a core audience of a few thousand or so, and I'm just estimating.  There could be more, there could be less.  But if EPCOT taught me anything, it's that you have to be optimistic.  And even though we'll never get the EPCOT we grew up with, we might get it in slightly different forms.  And Disney has been hinting at it for some time now.  They haven't forgotten their roots, they're just trying to make it appeal to everyone.  They've dropped little fun things like the old pavilion logos around the park, they hold expos and things for annual pass-holders.  And I believe in the future, we are going to get something that placates us all.  Just as long as they don't turn Wonders Of Life into a character meet & greet!

The Problems With Updating Attractions

For anyone who has visited the Walt Disney Parks in the past few decades, you notice when something changes.  How could you not?  One day you're enjoying Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and the next time you visit, some sort of Winnie The Pooh attraction has taken its place.  For the most part, once a ride closes, it's gone for good.  Horizons, World Of Motion, Kitchen Kabaret, Symbiosis, The Living Seas, Body Wars, Cranium Command, Magic Journeys, CommuniCore, The Plaza Swan Boats...

Remember those?

I'm not done yet: Flight To The Moon, Mission To Mars, Delta Dreamflight, If You Had Wings, America The Beautiful, Magic Carpet 'Round The World, Skyway To Fantasyland, The TimeKeeper, American Journeys, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Mickey Mouse Revue, Mike Fink Keelboats, Davy Crockett's Canoe Boats, and some other attractions from the Disney-MGM Studios... These are the attractions that were taken down and completely re-purposed for the intent of making a new attraction, not a refurb like Journey Into Imagination (where the characters remain but the ride has changed).

And it needs to be changed back.

When Disney ins't demolishing rides to put in some iteration of a Pixar character, they'll simply update the ride, usually with a Pixar character.  Or a semi-relevant comedian.  It is the updates that are the most irritating.  Although there is no sadder sight that the demolishing of a ride, like a volcano, it could leave nutrient-rich material in its wake, resulting in a major transformation of the land.  Of course that metaphor does not apply here because any new attraction Disney has made after demolishing a previous one is usually terrible, with a few exceptions, perhaps.

This was clearly superior than If You Had Wings.

The most heartbreaking thing is the refurbishment of a ride.  I'm not talking about going back and retouching up the animatronics or updating the sound system or whatnot, but rather the change of the feel of the ride by adding some frivolous new effect or, in Spaceship Earth's case, removing effects.

I miss the projected loop of the chariot.

I can concede that some updates make sense, to an extent.  The creation of new computer languages and user-friendly interfaces greatly ties in with the theme of the attraction, and is part of our shared history of communication.

With a Jobs-Wozniak hybrid.

And then there is this monstrosity, which provides more of a cheap, kitschy laugh rather than actually having relevance to the ride as a whole.

Silliest shit I've ever seen.

The addition of sections of rides doesn't mesh well, as you are working with two different eras.  The rides being built in 1981-1982 reflect the style and craftsmanship of that era.  Adding on this "computer era" section is jarring, as it looks too clean and sanitized.  Disney has a track record for making rides look, well, well-ridden.  They purposefully do that, as you might recall hearing it from probably every single cast member who drops that little obvious tidbit on you.

"Did you know that WED stands for Disney's initials?"

Some refurbs simply just replace a previous film, or reuse and re-edit the original film to make it more relevant.  Surprisingly Impressions De France and Spirit Of Norway have remained unchanged since its debut in 1982 and 1988, respectively, but you take a film like O Canada! and Wonders Of China, and you have an attraction that means well, but does not feel right.  Mainly because when you're working with CircleVision, it is hard to match the visual look of its predecessor.  Film stocks have improved over times, film techniques have been refined, so when they add in little screens of footage in the ride, it often does not match how it looked in 1982.  How could it?

I don't want to reflect on China, I want to wonder about China!

The newly inserted footage looks like it was shot on a Hi-8 camera.  It's awful, and it is shocking because Disney prides themselves on breaking new boundaries in the art of film.  They essentially dominated the large-format film production at the time with Magic Journeys and CircleVision and shooting pretty much everything in 70mm, but not no more.  And it's not too long until Maelstrom gets a face-lift to accommodate the many characters from Frozen.  We all know it's coming, and unless the Norwegian government says otherwise (I hope they do) Disney will most likely milk that cow until the end of time.  Picture it now, riding in a boat with "Let It Go" on a constant loop as you ride backwards (after Elsa casts a spell or some stupid shit).  Someone has already thought it up already.

For the love God please do not get rid of this amazing mural.

Updating rides to cash in on Disney popular culture is inherently a bad idea.  It looks cheap, and tacky.  We all saw it in action with The Seas with Nemo.  And while we can't have our favorite rides be resurrected (and we all wish it were so), a new concept needs to be implemented.  EPCOT Center began as a showcase of new ideas and technologies, and cultures from around the world.  We have seen it devolve into cheap tie-ins and an excuse to get obliterated on alcohol and junk food.  As we long for a return for the original, it is not totally abhorrent to consider updating the attractions once more.  Since they have all bottomed out and become totally awful, there is no place to go but up (I hope).  So now, I present a logical update to the current rides at EPCOT, and how they could be changed into something new and better, without completely changing the ride design (because we all know they are not gonna knock down another building and start from the ground up, or would they?) but keeping with the theme of EPCOT, as being a permanent world's fair showcasing the new ideas and industries of America.

SPACESHIP EARTH

If they could, find a replacement for Judi Dench.  It's too peppy; she reads like she's reading Mother Goose to a group of infants.  I like my Spaceship Earth narrations with a very serious tone.  Jeremy Irons did this perfectly.  Alan Rickman can match that.  So can Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellan.

It's a stretch, but he can make it work.

Essentially, a deep,  powerful British voice.  And omit the bastardized version of what Horizons already nailed nearly three decades ago, the choose your own future.  I get it, it's fun and interactive, and you get a cheap laugh at the end.  Instead, give us the closing narration, wrapping up the themes of Spaceship Earth and what the future holds.  Maybe throw in an uplifting song.

INNOVENTIONS

This is an area I couldn't care less about.  I guess just have exhibits that are pertinent to current events, maybe a tie-in with other attractions that touch on topics relevant to us, not just video games or things designed for toddlers.

Dump your hyperactive kids here.

ELLEN'S ENERGY ADVENTURE

If there ever was a need to update an attraction, this one is it.  It is the only ride in Future World that has not been changed since the 90s.  Everything else has gone through a refurb fairly recently, at least in the past 15 years.  Now there was this weird anomaly when Ellen came back in the celebrity spotlight in recent years, so it seems that they're gonna hold onto her for a hot minute.  I remember an Ellen-less time between the Ellen Show on ABC in the 90s and the Ellen talk show on whatever network that airs on.  At one time she was irrelevant, and that would have been a good time to change the ride.  Now as much as I love Bill Nye, he seems to have retired his "Science Guy" persona.  And while we all loved his show on PBS, it is time to breath some life into this attraction.  And this is the man to do it:

The ultimate badass.

Neil deGrasse Tyson has already become this sort of unlikely icon, and he's also brilliant as shit.  You can take out the comedic foils of Ellen DeGeneres and others, and put in a thought-provoking journey into the past, explore the present, and embrace the future of energy.  And his personality suits the ride perfectly.  He makes it entertaining through his amazing articulation and vast knowledge of this "Universe Of Energy."

MISSION: SPACE

This is a ride that you can't really change to much to.  You can add in some information about what it's like in space, like weightlessness and such, maybe omit the danger element of the asteroids that seemed to cluster only a few feet from each other around the orbit of Mars.  It could be more of a training mission than an actual mission, and teach you more about space travel, not just hit a button, fall asleep and have the computer do all the piloting for you.

TEST TRACK

Strangely enough, this ride doesn't need a lot of changing.  They included aspects of what companies look for when developing a car, but I guess they could include more information on efficiency and being more "green," I suppose.

JOURNEY INTO IMAGINATION WITH FIGMENT

It's hard to update this, because it really needs a major overhaul.  There is no saving grace to this ride.  No new innovations, nothing to make me want to ride it again.  But since the ride track layout seems to be fairly similar (similar in that it's an omni-mover), just omit Eric Idle, damn the rights issue and bring back Dreamfinder (whatever the rumor is now).  Since Billy Bartry has passed on, Dave Goelz will have to do.  Or just recycle his voice from the old ride, I don't know, just make it happen.  And make the ride about the wonders and limitlessness of ones imagination.

THE LAND

First off: get Soarin' out of there.  It has no business in there.  You're Soarin' over California, yet you're in Florida.  Why not make it Soarin' Over Florida?  Because that's a terrible idea.  This is what needs to happen: put Soarin' between the UK and Canada, where the Millennium Village used to be, and re-theme it for the World Showcase.  Have it be, Soarin' Around The World.  The cost of something like that wouldn't be as expensive as you think.  Just get the permits to fly to select spots around the world with your large format camera, and that's all there is to it.  Maybe reprogram the ride vehicles' hydraulics to correspond with the new film.

Secondly, The Circle Of Life with the Lion King is painfully outdated.  Talk about an attraction that hasn't been updated since the 90s.  The Lion King is not as relevant as we'd like it to be, so there should be a new film discussing man's impact on nature, in the vein of Symbiosis, but can tackle things like climate change and GMOs and other things that they weren't too worried about in 1982 and then in 1994.  There are so many pertinent things going on in this world regarding "The Land," you'd think they'd say more about it.  And don't have an animated character host it.  Have a real person, or at least a narrator.

Thirdly, Living With The Land needs more things.  More concepts.  Bring back the spinning drum or something.  Make us excited about new ways to grow crops, and not just growing them in the shape of a Disney character!

Hidden Mickeys also need to go.

Fourthly, bring back a nutritional musical revue.  NO song parodies.  At the very least I will tolerate song style parodies.

THE SEAS WITH NEMO

This is a no-brainer.  Take out Nemo.  Get us excited about marine biology and oceanography.  There's a lot we don't know about our oceans.  Let's explore that!  Do whatever repairs you need to, like fixing the tank, and put some more marine life in there.  It's depressing to see the fish and sharks.  I remember when they used to have divers play with dolphins.  It was well documented in a series of ABC shows that just happened to find themselves in Disney World.

And for the world showcase films... well, either re-film them in HD (we have the technology) or restore them to their original state.  It's funny, but when you watch Impressions De France or Wonders Of China, they don't look dated.  The people and the settings look the same as they did in 1982, oddly enough.

Disney Channel Magazine (Premiere Issue)