With the new millennium approaching, it was decided that Journey Into Imagination needed to be updated. While the attraction remained popular, it had seen a recent decline in attendance and was beginning to look dated. Because of this, Kodak's renewal of their sponsorship of the Journey Into Imagination Pavilion necessitated that the attraction be updated before 2000 (when Epcot was planning on having its big millennium celebration). After a series of rejected ideas (including an attraction based on the 1997 movie Flubber, and another attraction that would have guests entering the mind of a celebrity),Walt Disney Imagineering pitched an idea for "must see" attraction that would use special effects, to challenge and confuse guest’s senses. After hearing the pitch, one executive said:
{{Quotation|“If you were in that room hearing the pitch you would have been blown away. You'll be in this dark room and not be able to tell up from down. You will be surrounded by sound and not know the direction. It was all amazing, sounded state of the art and more importantly guaranteed to give the guests a terrific experience. We saw this concept art and they spoke so enthusiastically..."| http://www.epcotlegacy.com}}
The new attraction was eventually given the blessing of both Kodak and Disney, and Journey Into Imagination was closed on October 10, 1998. Taking its inspiration from the [[Honey, I Shrunk the Audience]] attraction, it was decided that the new Journey Into Imagination would become a part of the fiction Imagination Institute (which the entire pavilion would now be themed as). Renamed Journey Into “Your” Imagination, the new attraction took guests on a tour of the Imagination Institute, where they learned the “effects of sound, color, illusion, dimension and gravity on people's ‘imagination generator.’” Dr. Nigel Channing (Eric Idle), who had appeared in Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, was tapped as the host of new attraction. Imagineer Orrin Shively (who had previously produced Test Track) produced Journey Into “Your” Imagination, and gave the show a minimal plot in order to allow guests to explore their own imagination.