Changes
/* Attraction History */
Journey Into Imagination was an attraction located in the Journey Into Imagination pavilion in [[EPCOT Center]]. The attraction was operational from 1983 until 1999. If you are looking for the second and third version of the attraction see: [[Journey Into Imagination With Figment]]. If you are looking for the pavilion in which the attraction is located see: [[Imagination!]]
==Attraction History==
The genesis of the Journey Into Imagination attraction began when Imagineer Tony Baxter was tasked with working on creating a pavilion for Kodak in EPCOT Center. Although the company had agreed to sponsor a pavilion in the developing theme park, a suitable topic had not yet been decided on. When giving Baxter instructions for the pavilion, Kodak's only request was that it be "very imaginative" <ref name= "E82"> http://www.epcotlegacy.com/historical-expositions/2010/6/30/gather-store-re-combine-a-history-of-imagination-part-1.html </ref>. Taking these words to heart, Tony began to work on a pavilion based on Imaginationimagination.
After thinking about the intangible subject, Tony came to conclusion that all imagination, no matter the subject, is happens when you, "gather, store and re-combine" <ref name= "E82"/>. To portray this concept, Tony created The Dreamcatcher (as its unofficially known), which Imagineer (and attraction art director) Steve Kirk described as "a giant vacuum cleaner floating through space" <ref name= "E82"/>. The Dreamcatcher would essentially would collect sparks of imagination and store them. Later, they could be recombined into something new.
When looking to create a host for the new attraction, Tony turned to an old idea that he had developed for the unbuilt Discovery Bay expansion of Disneyland. One of the attraction's attractions for this new land was to be the Gallery of Illusion, hosted by Professor Marvel <ref name= "E82"/>. The older gentleman was somewhat based on the Wizard of Oz <ref name= "Korkis"> http://yourfirstvisit.net/2015/08/21/a-friday-visit-with-jim-korkis-figment-and-dreamfinder/ </ref>, and in one of the scenes he was to show he domesticated dragons, even holding a baby one. As the imagination attraction developed, Professor Marvel was transformed into Dreamfinder, who Baxter described as "A Santa Claus-type who is wise and older and knows all the great things, a great thinker. <ref name= "mouse"> https://www.mouseplanet.com/10073/Tony_Baxter_Figment_and_Imagination </ref>" According to Imagineer Steve Kirk:
[[Image:KirkFigment.jpg|400px|thumb|Steve Kirk's model of Professor Marvel and his dragon. The duo would evolve into Dreamfinder and Figment]]
Kodak liked the idea of Dreamfinder and the imagination concept, but they wanted to know if they got the dragon too <ref name= "allears"/>. This request, led Baxter and his team develop a second character for the attraction- Figment.
The formation of Figment began when Tony Baxter was watching an episode of Magnum P.I. <ref name= "E82"/>. In the episode, Magnum had hidden a goat in Higgins’ yard, and the animal had predictably torn up the vegetation. When Higgins suggested that a goat was ruining his yard, Magnum replied that it was all just a figment of his imagination. Higgins’ response that “Figments don’t eat grass!” gave Baxter the inspiration for his new character, named Figment <ref name= "E82"/>. Tony would later explain that Figment was a character that everyone knows about and , but has never been visualized<ref name= "E82"/>.
Taking some inspiration from the dragon in the Gallery of Illusion attraction, Figment was initially sketched by Steve Kirk, who turned in a rough drawing of the character <ref name= "intercot"> http://www.intercot.com/edc/Imagination/jfacts.html </ref>. Imagineer X Atencio then slightly altered the drawing to, "make the character lovable, in a way that kids could relate to" <ref name= "intercot"/>. With their two main characters designed, Imagineers set about finding voices for the duo. Although finding a voice for Dreamfinder was relatively simple (with actor Chuck McCann filling the role <ref> http://allears.net/ae/issue722.htm </ref>) finding a voice for Figment proved to be much more difficult. Disney had men, women, boys and girls all audition for the role, but no voice was deemed suitable <ref name= "intercot"/>. Eventually, they found Figment's voice in veteran voice actor Billy Barty, who was deemed perfect for the role <ref name= "intercot"/>. When talking about the role of Figment, Tony Baxter said:
{{Quotation| There were two roller coasters segments that never happened because the ride system wouldn't behave. One was down into the monster dungeon, and the second one was into the spiral of film in the finale. And because you were thrilled and excited and screaming, that was where we would take that picture <ref name= "interview"/>}}
This ending was eventually deemed unfeasible, after problems with the attractions ride system<ref name= "interview"/>. Furthermore, Imagineer's Imagineers initially wanted to give guests the options of buying their photograph by using a digital camera to print out the photo right after the ride ended<ref name= "interview"/>. Kodak bristled at the idea of using digital as opposed to chemical photography, and the idea was dropped.
[[Image:JourneyConceptArt.jpg|350px|thumb|Journey Into Imagination concept art. Note the green Figment.]]
Of all the Future World pavilion's Journey Into Imagination was the last to begin construction <ref name= "Martin">https://vimeo.com/3015806 </ref>. Although the pavilion was read ready for EPCOT Center's opening day, technical issues with the attraction's turntable, and loading and unloading mechanisms, caused the attraction to be delayed <ref name= "Martin"/>. Tony Baxter has since asserted that the attraction was up and running, yet Disney executives did not think it would be reliable enough, and they were concerned that a ride breakdown would cause a bad impression, thus the opening was delayed <ref> Koenig, David. Realityland: True-life Adventures at Walt Disney World. Irvine, CA: Bonaventure, 2007. Print. </ref>.
Finally, on March 5, 1993, the Journey Into Imagination attraction opened to the public <ref> https://d23.com/a-to-z/journey-into-imagination/ </ref>. At the attraction's opening, Kodak CEO Colby Chandler stated:
