Not-so-Familiar

Just under a year after the closure of its predecessor, on October 1, 1999, Journey into YOUR Imagination opened at Epcot. Aside from the addition of the word “YOUR” to the ride’s marquee outside, very little hints that the ride experience inside is any different. The Imagination pavilion is still made of two towering glass pyramids, with fountains leaping fantastically between planters outside.

Image: ckramer, Flickr (license)

Your first indication that the adventure has changed is in the queue. Now rerouted and dressed as an office and lobby area, the message here is that you’ve entered the Imagination Institute.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Imagination Institute features prominently in the pavilion’s other attraction – “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.” That 1994 3D film is in turn based on the 1989 film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids starring Rick Moranis.

(Actually, the idea here is one that Disney Parks fans generally admire: continuity. Fans of storytelling, Imagineering, and themed entertainment design tend to love when multiple rides and attractions are brought into the same time period and place. A few prominent and well-loved example include Disneyland’s Adventureland [with all the rides, attractions, restaurants, and even shops absorbed into one single time period and place thanks to Indiana Jones Adventure], Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland [back when its overarching story worked Timekeeper, the Peoplemover, Space Mountain, and even another Lost Legend: Alien Encounter, into a single story], and the fan-favorite Society of Explorers and Adventures [S.E.A.] whose cross-continental tale connects multiple Disney restaurants, rides, and even parks into one massive frame story.)

Image: Disney

So while it’s a radical departure from the abstract and fanciful Journey into Imagination (and our first real, gut-wrenching clue that the new ride has practically nothing in common with its predecessor), it’s not inherently offensive to fans’ sensibilities in isolation. Of course, it would’ve helped if the “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” references weren’t already a decade old by time this new dark ride incarnation opened.

The point is, the pun-filled queue line for the Imagination Institute helps us understand that our job today is a simple one: we’ll be testing out the Institute’s new Imagination Scanner, capable of telling us just how creative we are.

Image: opus2008, Flickr (license)

As you arrive at the end of the queue, a familiar chain of Omnimover vehicles pulls into the load area to prepare for your boarding. While they might not have changed much, something has. Don’t expect your grand journey to begin on the iconic engineering marvel of the massive revolving turntable scene. Why? Because you’re standing on it.

Image: Imagineering Disney, all rights reserved.

The first thing to know about Journey into YOUR Imagination is that Kodak’s modest investment couldn’t quite cover Tony Baxter’s original 12-minute epic dark ride. The original track layout (including pink, above) has been altered. Now, the former turntable scene where we first met Dreamfinder serves as the unload and load area. A further 40% of the ride’s track has been physically severed from the circuit. The former 12-minute dark ride is now 5 minutes long. Seriously.

Maybe it’s for the best.

The second thing you should know about Journey into YOUR Imagination is that anything you loved about the original ride is gone. That’s not editorializing. Literally nothing from the original remains, so anything from the original that had left an impression on you is now absent. That includes Dreamfinder (gone), Figment (gone), “One Little Spark” (gone), and the realms of imagination (all gone). 

What does this completely original ride have in store?

Journey into YOUR Imagination

Journey into YOUR Imagination (1999 - 2001). Image: (E82 - The Epcot Archives)

As your vehicle enters the ride, you first hear the disembodied voice of our host – the Imagination Institute’s Dr. Nigel Channing (played by Monty Python’s Eric Idle) – who introduces us to the Imagination Scanner, which will now (you guessed it) “measure your imaginations." The vehicles advance through a dark tunnel with a glowing red grid projected within. “Relax as the scanner sees what’s in your heads.” As the Omnimovers pull up to mirrored walls, a laser grid is projected across your vehicle as the high-pitched whir of a scan takes measurements of your creativity.

The results are pretty stunning. Ahead, you’ll notice that floating above you in the mirror are fuel gauges reading “empty” and VACANCY signs. Feel good?

“As you can see, there’s not much going on upstairs imagination-wise,” Dr. Channing chuckles, “but that’s just perfect for our experiment.”

In order to rectify our sad, empty imaginations, Dr. Channing has a plan: we’ll tour deeper into the Imagination Institute to engage with a few experiments the team has been working on, all in hopes of kick-starting our creativity. For the next four minutes, we’ll be put through the paces with some of Dr. Channing’s favorite imagination-boosters.

“We begin with an exercise in sound. Listen closely and 'See What You Hear'!” The vehicles pull into chamber so dark, you can’t make out a hand in front of your face. The darkness seems to go on forever, and in this unusual echo-free chamber, you could hear a pin drop. Stopped for a moment, a bell whistles in the distance… Then a far-away rumbling… It grows louder and louder until high definition surround-sound audio creates the impression of an oncoming train barreling past.

A door ahead slides open as the vehicles continue past our next experiment: “Through the Looking Glass.” Here, a giant magnifying glass appears to be distorting the Institute hallway beyond. But wait… “Is this looking glass actually magnifying? Or is it your imagination?”

As the vehicles continue, a massive cinder block is hoisted high above a glass table for our next experiment: “Shattering Perceptions.” “Here, one quickly learns that when the laws of physics and common sense are shattered…” the cinder block releases, falling toward the table and plunging through it. The sound of shattering glass echoes, though the items on the table stay put. “…Imagination takes over!”

Next up is the Illusion Lab where a unique visual trick seems to make a massive, swinging butterfly appear from nowhere inside of a bamboo cage. “Looks can be deceiving, can’t they?”

Our next experiment: “The Color Of Sound.” The vehicles come to a stop between two long light screens. As the sound of jungle animals echoes, the screens turn green. A countdown and rocket launch turns them red as the vehicle presses on.

As lights flash, the tour moves into a new chamber with glowing points arranged in precise grids. A none-too-well-disguised cameo of Figment adds a bit of insult to injury. As the wall continues on, the dots begin to deviate from their gridded pattern, eventually becoming random points of light in the distance: stars!

“And now,” Dr. Channing offers, “an exercise all about making connections! Stare at these points long enough and your imagination will take flight! You’ll see!” Lines begin to fade in and out, connecting the stars into fish, monkeys, snakes, cats, and more.

Image: Disney

Now, it’s off to the big finale: the “Up is Down” experiment in the Institute’s Gravity Lab. Indeed, this unique finale sees us pass through a garage, living room, bathroom, and kitchen that appear flipped upside down.

Ahead, the pulsing red grid of a dark tunnel appears, signaling our return to the Imagination Scanner. “Well, our experiments are now complete! Time to run you through the Scanner once again. No telling what we’ll find in your imagination this time!”

Once again, the Omnimover aligns with a mirror as the whir of a machine signals the scanner booting up. “This is absolutely unbelievable!” A blast of air from behind sends the rooms into darkness as the mirrors drop away. Beyond, projected lights, images, and eyeballs show just how alive our imaginations have become. “Look! You’ve tested off the charts!”

Now as the vehicles proceeds through a starfield, you hear a familiar, friendly voice... Could it be... Figment?! “Who could’ve imagined! You’re quite clever, all of you!”

Dr. Channing agrees. “Congratulations! You’re creative geniuses! What a burst of creativity!”

As the vehicle aligns with the unload area (again, a piece of the former grand opening turntable scene), the Institute’s computerized voice announces, “Reality restored.” Indeed it is.

To savor the experience, be sure to watch the full point-of-view video here:

Complaints

Frankly, we don’t have to go on and on about the ride’s shortcomings. You get it. 

Its first and most obvious mistake is that nothing could ever justifiably replace Journey into Imagination in the minds and hearts of Disney Parks fans and those who grew up with or were inspired by Epcot. And even if, in retrospect, we can admit that the original Journey into Imagination did need freshened up for a new millennium, the ride’s core concept – its heart – was timeless. That’s universally agreed upon, so we shouldn’t waste much time contemplating it.

Image: Theme Park Tourist

But what is important to point out here is that, even removed from the shadow of its predecessor and accounting for the circumstances that plagued Disney Parks during the cost-cutting era of the 1990s (see literally any of the Disaster Files entries from the original California Adventure to Rocket Rods), Journey into YOUR Imagination just wasn’t a good ride. Even if Dreamfinder, Figment, and “One Little Spark” had never existed to begin with, the 1999 Journey into YOUR Imagination would’ve seemed distinctly un-Disney.

Journey into YOUR Imagination was guilty of literally all five of our Tell-Tale Signs of a Bad Attraction with its grounded-in-reality "institute" plotline devoid of (ironically) imagination, its casting of guests as "tourists" (a cop-out), and its plot hinging on making fun of just how unimaginative you are.

Some may fault Imagineers for defiling a classic and tearing out its character and personality. Others may sympathize with their position in a tightly budgeted project that might have read well on paper. In any case, it was quickly agreed by all parties that Journey into YOUR Imagination was a disaster. Disney doesn’t close brand new rides unless they have to. And when Journey into YOUR Imagination closed two years and one week after it opened, it was clear that things were bad.

Put simply: Guests hated it. Epcot fans hated it. Kodak was embarassed. Even Michael Eisner – who, by this point, was setting the pretty low bar that led to most of the other entries in our Disaster FIles series from Rocket Rods to Superstar Limo – realized that the ride was abysmal. Something literally had to change if Disney or Kodak were to salvage their names.

They had one more trick up its sleeve. On the last page, we’ll explore what happened to the ride and what we expect the future to hold for the Imagination pavilion.