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4. Something to replace Primeval Whirl

Image: Disney

You won't find too many Disney Parks fans who loved Primeval Whirl – the spinning, carnival-esque family coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Opened in 2002, Primeval Whirl was part of "Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama." An attempt to add more family capacity (and frankly, more rides in general) to the then-four-year-old park, Dino-Rama and its traveling carnival aesthetic has remained a frustration for fans for two decades.

Primeval Whirl, meanwhile, has been the source of its own headaches, not the least of which being its connection to two Cast Member deaths in 2007 and 2011, respectively. (The two Primeval Whirl tracks are 2 of 33 identical clones of the ride by a French coaster manufacturer called Reverchon; another of the 33 was responsible for a rider death in the U.K. 2001.)

Image: Disney

In June 2019, Disney switched the ride to "seasonal" status (a common death knell for attractions). Then, when Walt Disney World's parks re-opened during the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020, Primeval Whirl stayed closed. A month later, Disney representives announced that the ride would never return. For over a year, the vacant coaster sat, looming over a carnival made of a single Dumbo-style spinner and some midway games. In September 2021, demolition finally began.

Today, the plot of land that once housed Primeval Whirl is still empty and surrounded in construction walls. It's believed that an announcement of its future use could be on the roster for D23 this year. As to what that could be?

Image: Disney

A legion of fans have put their money on a copy of Crush's Coaster at Walt Disney Studios Paris. Given the ride's proximity to the "Finding Nemo: The Big Blue & Beyond" stage musical, we guess it's... possible? But why fans would want to replace an off-the-shelf spinning carnival coaster with an indoor off-the-shelf spinning carnival coaster (and in a giant showbuilding at that), we can't be certain... Especially since the incredibly low-capacity Crush's Coaster is plagued by multi-hour waits at the diminuitive Walt Disney Studios, so it's shocking to imagine how long the wait would be at the 6th most-attended theme park on Earth.

Though we did write an in-depth feature on the jaw-dropping and complex backstory of Dinoland (and the controversial "Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama" traveling fair that serves as its most cringey component), it's also true that largely, fans are ready to bury Dinoland and think bigger about how to use this section of Animal Kingdom. It's unlikely that fans' armchair Imagineered visions of an Indiana Jones land replacing Dinoland outright will come to fruition, and certainly not anytime soon. But at least we're likely to get a solution to the Primeval Whirl problem.

5. A new Journey into Imagination

For all the pomp and circumstance around EPCOT's multi-year transformation, there's been one question looming above all others: what about Journey into Imagination?

Image: Disney

In case you're confused, from 1983 to 1998, EPCOT was home to the Lost Legend: Journey into Imagination – an absolutely incredible, 12-minute dark ride that sent guests into the skies alongside the eccentric, red-bearded Dreamfinder and his inventive sidekick Figment. Journey into Imagination was an epic, abstract, artistic, colorful, and musical trip through the realms of Art, Literature, Science, and Perfomance, teaching guests that every new idea begins as "sparks of inspiration" we collect from the world around us.

In 1999 – in preparation for the park's Millennium Celebration – the ride was redesigned entirely, cut down to a 6-minute tour of the "Imagination Institute" without Dreamfinder, Figment, or the iconic "One Little Spark" song. The subject of its own Declassified Disaster: Journey into YOUR Imagination lasted just two years before fans practically beat down the doors of Guest Services with torches and pitchforks.

Image: Disney

A quick-fix saw the ride turned to its current version – Journey into Imagination With Figment – which keeps the "Imagination Institute" setting, but re-adds a version of Figment and "One Little Spark" throughout. It's... fine. Like, it's fine. It's always a walk-on, pleasant enough for kids, has some cute throwbacks, and a lot of bad 2001 CGI. Two things, though, are totally shocking: 

  1. That this quick-fix, Band-aid version of the ride has actually lasted longer than the beloved original had to begin with;
  2. That a real reimagining of Journey into Imagination wasn't the very first thing announced for EPCOT's reimagining in 2019.

At least in defense of the decision not to have a Journey into Imagination redesign in the first round of EPCOT's larger effort, we can say that it seemed like a foregone conclusion. The Imagination pavilion was included in the stylized park model in the EPCOT Experience preview center (again, where only pavilions with planned changes were included), and rumors suggested that a Journey into Imagination redesign was almost announced at the 2019 D23, with executives deciding at the last minute to hold it back to be announced at a later date. 

Image: Disney

Well, that later date has arrived. 2022's D23 Expo will be held just days before EPCOT's 40th Anniversary, and it just feels like if one project needs to come back to the drawing board for EPCOT, it just has to be Journey into Imagination. Granted, some insiders have said that executives really, really, really want Pixar's Inside Out as the "host IP" of the pavilion rather than a return of Dreamfinder and Figment... but with the money Disney makes off of Figment while he's part of a "just okay" ride, imagine what they could sell if he were the mascot of a really, really good ride again.

What do you think... Do you have your breath held for a new Journey into Imagination to be announced at 2022's D23? Or do you think Disney's budget-cut, franchise-focused, Chapek-led era will mean that the current version of the ride continues to limp along while movie-themed rides get the greenlight?

6. Something We Don't Expect

Image: Disney

For all that rumors tend to build in the lead-up to D23 – and for all that fans feel like they have a finger on the pulse of Disney Parks – there's always a project no one sees coming (and sometimes, that no one wants). Somehow, not one word about Pixar Pier had slipped out before the 2017 D23 Expo. A total shocker that left serious "did that just happen?" energy flowing through the room. In 2019, it was EPCOT's "neighborhoods" and Disney Genie.

So what will it be this year? Spin the wheel of mis-matched ideas and find out... Zootopia in Animal Kingdom? Wakanda at California Adventure? An Encanto light show at EPCOT? Main Street Electrical Parade moving to Disneyland Paris? Somehow, more E-Tickets in Disneyland? 

Image: Disney

In any case, D23 Expo has never been more important for Disney Parks fans than it will be in 2022. With COVID, and Chapek, and an Imagineering cut to a fraction of its usual staffing, and currently zero U.S. projects known post-2022, it's anyone's guess what we'll learn this year... One thing we can be sure of? We're going to be surprised... 

 
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