Sunday, August 7, 2011

A dream can be a dream come true with just that spark in me and you

One of my favorite rides from the past was Journey into Imagination with Figment.  This captured my young heart and had the best play area after the ride was completed.  I think I could have spent my entire Disney vacations in that room and been ecstatic.  Now the ride portion itself, originally, was several vignettes of the Dreamfinder (an animatronic man with a very handsome mustache) and his creation, Figment.  The dialog was mostly the Dreamfinder explaining how imagination works and where inspiration can come from.  It was nice and sweet and amused my young self.

Journey into Imagination has gone through two revolutions in my lifetime:  one in 1999 that kicked out the Dreamfinder and most of Figment's face time to make way for Eric Idle.  Now I do like Eric Idle, but that somewhat soured the ride for me.  Then in 2001, there was another revolution of the ride that added more Figment...but not the good Figment.  This new Figment gets "totally in your face" (to quote some Simpsons) and is flat out annoying.  Think of the first figment like a well-rested, inquisitive 5-year-old; and the new Figment as an annoying, screaming 4-year-old.

I still will be giving this ride a shot when I visit in February, but throughout the ride, I will probably just be tuning out the current show, and playing the original on loop in my head.

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