Originally Posted By MPierce >> I've been told that new Epcot VP Jim MacPhee is 'adament' that the wand is coming down no matter who pays ... I'm also told as soon as he got the job he went on a major push to do something for Epcot's 25th, but just this week was shot down by ... who else? ... the IDIOTS in WDW Marketing. << You have already been quoted over on WDWmagic.
Originally Posted By Skellington88 Leemac please tell Disney to retool the Imagination pavillion. It is horrible and not popular in its current state. Let Tony Baxter redo it into something more like its original version and you'll probably have lines through the park. Just look how popular the submarine voyage is. Imagination can easily be popular if its redone into a more satisfying attraction.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA The big question is, 'Why'd they mess with the 'Imagination' pavilion anyway?' If I were taking a stroll through Future World 10 years ago, 'Journey Into Imagination' would NOT have been one of my priorities as something that needed to be messed with. Let alone, changed in the radical and gross way it was changed.
Originally Posted By bayrr326 Kudos to Jim MacPhee for trying to do get something done for the 25th even at the last minute. Until someone puts Marketing in its place at WDW nothing is going to change. They really missed an opportunity not celebrating the 25th. If you want a catchy slogan they could have celebrated it as a "World Homecoming", done a new parade around World Showcase. I don't know anything would have been cool. Now I guess we will be lucky if we get some merchandise but they may be too stupid to do that.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Well, Kevin Yee is reporting at Miceage that the budget cleared and it's going down.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <The Canada movie should be in place this summer. I believe Marty Short has recorded his dialogue for the narration and it is just being put together. A new movie for American Adventure should be in place this summer too. < excellent ! going in August, will be watching for these
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<The big question is, 'Why'd they mess with the 'Imagination' pavilion anyway?'>> In 1997, Fujifilm, (Kodak's biggest rival at the time) came to Disney with an offer: make Journey into Imagination into a thrill ride that had nothing to do with imagination. Kodak's sponsorship contract was almost up, and Fujifilm knew that when the contract ran out, Disney would need someone to sponsor the building. Kodak, however, wished to stay with Disney and continue the contract. Kodak realized that in order to compete with Fujifilm, they too must come up with a new attraction to go into the building. Their proposal was to make Journey Into Imagination, already an E-Ticket attraction, into something more scientific. The ride would also be shorter and have cheaper special effects. At the time, Journey Into Imagination was the most expensive ride in Epcot to keep running, despite the fact that it got more visitors in a day than Epcot's flagship ride Spaceship Earth. The guests made it all worthwhile for Disney to keep it running, but Disney still wasn't satisfied with it. It was the most technologically advanced dark ride in history. A roller coaster would mean much more money to build and keep running, and they feared it wouldn't be nearly as popular as Journey Into Imagination. Therefore, by the end of 1997, Disney accepted Kodak's idea. Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagination" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I magination</a>!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Is the song from Oh Canada! in the new film?>> If I know Disney, the answer is a NO! And, no, I don't agree with that. But Disney has been taking all of the amazing music out of Epcot since the mid-90s now.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<You have already been quoted over on WDWmagic.>> I'm regularly quoted in much more important places. But I'm glad someone over there is paying attention!
Originally Posted By danyoung I don't know if I agree with this part, Trippy - >At the time, Journey Into Imagination was the most expensive ride in Epcot to keep running, despite the fact that it got more visitors in a day than Epcot's flagship ride Spaceship Earth. The guests made it all worthwhile for Disney to keep it running, but Disney still wasn't satisfied with it. It was the most technologically advanced dark ride in history.< It most definitely didn't have more ridership than SE, And towards the end of its first incarnation was virtually a walk-on at any time of day. Nor was it any more technologically advanced than Horizons or World of Motion, or for that matter Pirates or the HM. I don't know what its operating costs were, but I can't see that they'd be any more than any of the other big AA rides. Wikipedia strikes again!
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Yeah, that 'Journey Into Imagination' piece seems weird -- and inaccurate.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA As I recall, compared with the likes of 'Horizons' and 'World of Motion' -- 'Imagination' had just a smattering of Animatronic figures. Mostly of Dreamfinder and Figment. The opening carousel scene had, what 3 identical sets. So, perhaps a dozen AA figures?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Yeah, Jim, there were far fewer AA's in Imagination. But still more than a dozen. There were loads of Figments ... I'd say the accurate figure would have been closer to 2-3 dozen, but I'd have to check. Nothing like WoM or Horizons though.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror Wiki-whosit? Yeah, that lovely source that anyone can post "information" to... I'd not lean too heavily on it.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I do know that Bruce Broughton has composed the film score to the new Canada film (He told me so himself). He didn't mention if the old song was in or not though.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Among other things for Disney theme parks, Bruce wrote the terrific score for 'Seasons of the Vine.'
