Imagination!
Imagination! is a pavilion in Epcot.
Pavilion History
The Imagination! pavilion opened in 1982 as an unnamed pavilion. The pavilion was open on Epcot's opening day, and it was sponsored by Kodak. The theme of the pavilion focused on human's imagination. To give guests a taste of what would be inside, upside-down jumping fountain were placed outside of the pavilion. The pavilion itself was a large, glass, triangular building, which had a very unique architectural design. When it opened it only featured one attraction, Magic Journeys. Magic Journeys was a 3D show, that looked at the world through the eyes of a child. When a new Kodak sponsored attraction, Journey Into Imagination opened in 1983, the pavilion was named the Journey Into Imagination Pavilion. Journey Into Imagination was a dark ride, hosted by the Dreamfinder that explored imagination with his creation, Figment. The attraction proved by extremely popular, often outdrawing the parks icon Spaceship Earth. When Journey Into Imagination opened, a tie-in attraction known as ImageWorks opened with it. ImageWorks was an interactive area located on the second floor of the pavilion. ImageWorks allowed guest to experiment with their Imagination by playing on interactive screens.
The Journey Into Imagination pavilion remained exactly the same until 1986, when Magic Journeys closed. The attraction was moved to Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom, and replaced with a new 3D show, Captain EO. The new show was created in partnership with Lucasfilms, and stared pop icon Michael Jackson as a Captain EO, a space captain who must save the universe. The new show was much more technologically advanced then it's predecessor, using in-theater effects such as laser and smoke. Many consider Captain EO to be one of the first 4D shows ever created. Captain EO ran in the Journey Into Imagination pavilion for eight years, before it was finally replaced with a new show in 1994. The show that replaced Captain EO was called Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. The 3D show was a spin-off of the popular Honey, I Shrunk the Kids film series. The show took place in the fictional Imagination Institute, where professor Wayne Szalinski is receiving the Inventor of the Year award. The show once again used 4D effects, including water are small fans to immerse guests in the film.
In 1998, with Kodak's sponsorship ending shortly, Fujifilm approached Disney with an offer to sponsor the pavilion. Their sponsorship would have included a complete restructuring of the pavilion, including getting rid of the Journey Into Imagination attraction. Althogh the attraction was popular, it coast a lot of money for Disney to maintain. Fujifilm told Disney that they would replace the attraction with an "E-Ticket" thrill ride. Fujifilm said that the new ride would be popular, but also cost less to maintan. Kodak, not wanting to lose their sponsorship of the pavilion (especially not to rival Fujifilm) pitchd their own idea to Disney. They told Disney that they would make Journey Into Imagination more scientific, and use cheaper special effects. Although their proposal may not have seemed as glamourous, Disney was concerend that a thrill ride would not be as popular as Journey Into Imagination, while also coasting more money to maintain. With this in mind, Disney accepted Kodak's proposal and Journer Into Imagination closed for Renovations.
When the pavilion re-opened it's name was changed to Imagination! and it featured a drastically different layout. The jumping fountains located outside of the pavilion were drastically reduced in size, in order to accomidate the addition of a new gift shop. The color scheme and sinage on the exterior of the pavilion also changed dramatically, now reflecting Kodak's colors. ImageWorks, which was located on the second floor of the pavilion was moved to the first floor, and reduced in size. ImageWorks was also renamed "The Kodak What If Labs", although the basic idea of the attraction remained the same. Many guests complained that the new ImageWorks, was simply one big advertisment for Kodak, focusing only on visual imagination. To the surprise of many, when Journey Into Imagination attraction reopened as Journey Into Your Imagination in 1999, the Dreamfinder was no where to be found. The attraction was now themed as a tie-in to Honey, I Shrunk the Audiance, giving guests a tour of the Imagination Institute. Dr. Niegel Channing, who was Imagination Institute chairman in Honey, I Shrunk the Audiance now took guests on a tour of the Imagination Institute, and using them as test subjects for a new invention known as the Imagination Scanner. Figmnet, once considered to be the mascot of Epcot, only made a brief cameo in the new attraction.
The new Journey Into Your Imagination attraction proved to be extremely unpopular with guests. Many decided to boycott the attraction, and Kodak film. This campaign proved be quite sucessful, as guest complaints (along with pressure from Kodak and Michael Eisner) led to the attraction getting another overhaul in 2001. The attraction reopened in 2002 as "Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment" (although the your was dropped in 2003). The new attraction focused on Dr. Nigel Channing explaining how the five sense can trigger your imagination. Figment returned in this version of the attraction, disrupting the doctors tour, and showing guests his imagination. Besides a retheming of the attraction, both the premise and the shorter track essentially remained the same. The Dreamfinder, who was quite popular in the orgianl version of the attraction, was still nowhere to be found. The ImageWorks remained essentialy the same during the second Journey Into Imagination refurbishment, however Figment was added to may of the exhibits.
In 2010, following the death of Michael Jackson, Disney mulled over the idea of bringing Captain EO back as a tribute to the late singer. Sure enough on July 2, 2010, Captain EO returned to the Imagination! pavilion replacing Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. In August of that year, Kodak ended it's 28 year sponsership of the pavilion, and all references to the comapny were removed. Latley, guests have been noticing an abundance of Lego merchandise in the Imagination! pavilion, leading some to speculate that the company may assume sponsorship of the pavilion, although the pavilion is currently sponsorless.
