One Little Spark

Okay, so we all fondly remember the original Journey into the Imagination, with crazy little Figment and possibly crazier Dreamfinder.
...or do we?

This was a quintessential Disney dark ride featuring the only "character" in all of Epcot, long before they decided to include logos of country's flags in the shape of classic Mickey ears, and definitely long before Jasmine decided to hang around Morocco and the Three Caballeros decided to invade Mexico.

Journey into the Imagination was by far one of my favorite rides when I was young. It was this early 90s EPCOT which truly defined Disney for me as a place of both long ago and far ahead. When I was six years old, on a trip to Walt Disney World, we were treated as royalty when my dad, an AT&T employee, just had to flash his work badge, and they would take us into a secret place, give us Coke before having us board Spaceship Earth. I remember my dad pointing out that there was a trap door on top of the "golf ball," and when we were inside (and the invisible Eeyore stamp on my hand began to glow) I thought I could point out which "star" in the sky was actually the hole where you could put your finger through and pull up the trap door.

The amount of Animatronics seemed endless in this Epcot. There were dinosaurs, solar pannels, travelling, fish, invention, communication, etc. etc. etc. All the things that made science cool and limitless (until you got to high school and discovered your own intelligent limits). To this day, I still regret not taking math and science more seriously, asking for more help from teachers and peers and my parents, because maybe I would have had a shot at being an imagineer. Maybe I would have had a shot at keeping the Disney out of Epcot and the science and future in!

One day on this trip in '94, a day we were at Epcot, the rain just started to POUR, as it is known to do in Florida. We ran into a shop to "wait it out," when my dad found these panchos for about $5 a piece with Mickey Mouse on the back. Quite a useful purchase (and yes, we still bring them with us when we go!) for the time and forever. We put on our panchos, and just kept going. My dad carried me on his back from one ride to the next so my shoes wouldn't get wet, and we basically had the park to ourselves. This is why rain + Disney= MAGIC, contrary to popular belief.

Back to Journey into Imagination-- I only remember riding this ride twice, but it's possible I rode it three times total. In my life. I went to Disney just before I turned two, and I have no recollection of this trip whatsoever. Even thinking back to our trip in '94, I am fairly certain I didn't even remember it then. I had known I had been to Disneyland, and what kid doesn't get them confused? Anyway, I do remember riding the attraction in '94. We also rode it again when we went back after my sister was born for our '98 trip. On this trip, I bought a plush Figment, about 10-12 inches tall.

Now, of course, my poor, unfortunate sister remembers a very different Disney World than I do. At some point in the late 90's, Disney, including Epcot, took a more character-y turn, and we have been going down that path ever since. While we are big Monty Python fans, and we were very glad to see Eric Idle featured in an attraction, we sat through the new version of Imagination (Journey into YOUR Imagination) rather solemnly in 2000. No Dreamfinder. While everyone loves Figment, it's amazing how annoying he can be without the calm Dreamfinder at his side. Apparently, the original was extremely expensive to run, yet it was the most popular attraction in Epcot. Now, you can just walk right on. No worries. (I am convinced that this is why the Maelstrom is so popular... that little taste of the old Epcot left which kids don't find "boring" *ehem*Spaceship Earth*ehem*) Okay, I love Spaceship Earth. It IS my favorite attraction at Epcot, and I usually ride it about three times while I'm there.

And while we understand the need to replace rides like World of Motion (a definite improvement) and Horizons (I think Mission:Space is a crock of poop), we will never understand what so forced Disney to do away with a truly spectacular attraction such as this to "update" it to be just plain lame. I have faith that someone with intelligence, someone who understands my generation (after all, we are the next set of WDW parents) will bring back the Dreamfinder and will restore this attraction to its original message with the latest technology.
And now, for your enjoyment:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

IMAGINATION, IMAGINATION!