A quote from the February Mickey Monitor

[Barb]

And I'm sure kids will be delighted this June with the return of the Imagination! attraction starring a legendary EPCOT favorite-Figment!

Don't know if this was already discussed or not. Sorry if I'm duplicating. Just thought I would share this with you. So it looks like they're talking about the attraction opening back up soon. For some reason, I thought it was going to be down for quite a while yet. Can't wait to see the improvement!

 

[Pete W.]

Of course, a short downtime could be viewed as a negative since it may mean the "improvement" won't be as dramatic as hoped for.

 

[Bob O]

I would agree with Pete W. Such a short closure makes you wonder if its being done on the cheap, rather than a more thought out/expensive fix to the problem. Of course im sure the ride wont be lengthened to its original ride size.

 

[Barb]

That's why I was surprised to read that, I guess. I thought it was down for an intensive rehab. I thought I read where someone saw all the ride vehicles being taken from the building.

 

[iluvdisney]

I'd be happy to see the return of Figment - they should have left that one alone!

 

[Planogirl]

Oh dear! I hope that they don't just basically put Figment figures in the ride and call it done. I'd rather have the old ride back instead of that.

 

[Panthius]

Has anybody else noticed that the Animatronics which sed to be prevalent in all the Disney attractions are almost all gone? I think of Horizons, World of Motion, original JIYI....and these are just in Epcot. Now with the rumor of CoP being closed, and quite possibly for good, I am thinking that eventually, there will be no more Animatronics as we have seen in the past which is a very sad thing. From what I recall, animatronics were Disney's creation, but look at where they are headed to? Too bad the R&D was not done to make them better rather than no R&D being spent just letting them fall into disrepair and then removed entirely.











Just a brief observation which I thought of when reading

I'd rather have the old ride back instead of that.

Panthius

 

[Safari Steve]

There's still Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, MuppetVision, Pirates, Splash, Thunder, Mansion, Country Bears, Jungle Cruise, Tikis, Hall of Presidents, Alien Encounter, Buzz Lightyear, American Adventure, Universe of Energy, The Land, Maelstrom, El Rio Del Tiempo, Small World, Dinosaur, Tough to be a Bug...
Also, I think that the word on the street has been: Relatively short rehab (Late 2001-Summer 2002), no change in ride length, new story line, more figment (not just pictures/figures thrown in randomly), new preshow, new scenes, and (possibly) new ride vehicles (which I really don't see as necessary, but whatever...).

 

[JeffH]

Then there's some nice ones in the Adventurer's Club on Pleasure Island

 

[Panthius]

While I agree that animatronics in some form or another are not extinct or going to be completely absent from all things Disney any time soon, what is becoming extinct are the detailed animatronics which had been so prevalent in Disney. Places such as Horizons, CoP, World of Motion, and the original JiYi contained detailed animatronics where one figure would do many different things from move its arms, to move its head, to move its mouth when talking. In a lot of the previously mentioned rides, they are just figurines attached to some lift causing the figure to move (with a few exceptions such as Country Bears, Pirates, HoP, Amereican Adventure, TTBAB). While I see your point that many of these attractions will most likely never be removed, it seems that the trend as of late has been getting away from these detailed animatronics whether due to fiscal reasons or other reasons.



Panthius

 

[Safari Steve]

Of the 21 attractions that I mentioned as including animatronics figures, 16 contain multiple figures that move their mouths, arms, legs, hands, heads, etc, and six contain 'A-1000' models. (Dinosaur, Energy, Bug, HoP, GMR, Buzz) Buzz includes two such figures with digital fiber-optic rear projection.

As for discussions involving certain attractions using too much plywood, I'd just like to say that the use of plywood is not a negative thing. Most show sets are built with plywood (including those in Pirates, Mansion, GMR, and HoP). This is a common scenic practice in theatre, film, and theme parks. When early critics of Disneyland claimed that the park was made of "cheap movie facades" they were pretty much on-the-money. I am, however disappointed when static figures are used where animated figures would present the story more effectively. (The "Barnstorming" sequence from the yester-attraction 'Delta Dreamflight' is an example of plywood figures working WONDERFULLY, imo.)
It's not the medium (entirely), it's the content.

 

[wdwbill]

Although I enjoy Test Track, I miss the slow relaxing rides such as World of Motion & Horizons. It was 10-15 min of relaxing and being overwelmed with fun theming!

 

[Panthius]

Personally I am not a big fan of Test Track, but I also miss the slow rides where you were given time to enjoy the theme of the whole ride.

As for the lack of, or soon to be absence of, Disney Animatronics, my point is is that I do not believe that Disney is getting the most out of Animatronics as they used to. In the specific cases of Horizons, World of Motion, and Carousel of Progress, these attractions used Animatronics to their fullest while a lot of the newer rides, while using animatronics, are not using them in nearly the same capacity. I also realize that things change, but animatronics are not being used to the scale of which they used to be used is my point.

I was just thinking of what used to be in Space Mountain when you were going up the escalator on your way exiting the attraction. Another former location of extensive use of Animatronics ich is no more. Now, in addition to other things, they have some department store like display of cameras and TV's.

Panthius