If you’ve been to Disneyworld before, you’ll remember Figment, the little purple dragon that used to have his own ride in the Imagination Pavilion. When Disney imagineers geared up for the Millennial Celebration, they decided that Figment’s ride needed to be redesigned. Which would be fine, except that they completely cut poor little Figment out of the ride. And anything else interesting. Fans from all over the world protested: How could Disney drop Figment? And how could they replace him with a ride so utterly boring and without…um…imagination? So in 2002, Disney imagineers went back to the drawing board and put Figment back into the ride. If you’re ever wondering if your opinion makes a difference, just look at this ride. It’s the only ride in Disneyworld that has been totally revamped twice, and it’s all because of public opinion.
Anyway, Journey Into Imagination with Figment is all about setting your imagination free using your senses. It takes place in the fictitious Imagination Institute. If you’ve seen “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” you’ll remember Dr. Nigel Channing, the head of the Imagination Institute. He takes you on a “tour” of the Institute, through smell, sound and sight rooms. Figment keeps popping in on your tour, upsetting Dr. Nigel’s plans and proving to everyone that imagination shouldn’t be controlled: it should be set free.
Kids especially love this ride. I think my kids related all too well to Figment and all the ways he turned the tour upside down. Although techinically it’s a dark ride, it’s not scary at all. And grown-up kids should like it, too 