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Journey
Into Imagination
SPONSORED BY KODAK
Featuring Honey I Shrunk the Audience (a realistic 3D motion picture),
Journey Into Imagination....with Figment, and What If Labs.
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 INTRODUCTION
Journey into Imagination, sponsored by Kodak, has been a part of Epcot
since it opened and it probably has changed more than any other pavilion
in Epcot. The latest changes were a direct result of guest displeasure
with the reworked Journey into Your Imagination Ride. In June 2002, Figment
has reappeared (in more than just a cameo) and folks are enjoying the
attraction once again.
ATTRACTIONS
There are 3 attractions in the Journey into Imagination Pavilion: Honey
I Shrunk the Audience (Not To Be Missed), Journey Into Imagination....with
Figment, and the What If Labs.
Journey into Imagination... with Figment- Re-Opened June 1, 2002!
Andrea McKenna reports: We went to the soft opening yesterday (Friday,
May 31) and rode 4 times. The Imagineers were there tweaking it, so every
ride was slightly different. Today (June 1) we rode it again twice at
the official opening.
Most of the queue is the same, with the addition of a portrait gallery
of Inventor of the Year winners, which includes Dr. Nigel Channing, Dr.
Wayne Szalinski and Dr. Brainard from "Flubber." There are Figment
videos on the screens overhead, and sometimes there was a soundtrack and
other times there was nothing.
The ride loading and unloading areas are unchanged. Inside the ride, you
go through "labs" for studying the senses--Sight, Sound and
Smell. One never gets to Taste and Touch, as Figment has made the rest
of the "Open House" a disaster. Figment then invites everyone
to his own open house, which is the upside down house redone in Figment's
taste and style.
I won't give away any of the surprises in the ride, but there are a couple
of nods to the original ride. One is an office door marked "Dean
Finder" (I thought Dr. Finder would have worked better, personally,)
and the old film of Figment somersaulting is shown on his tv in the upside
down house. "One Little Spark" is prominent throughout the ride,
albeit with new lyrics. Figment's new voice is different enough to be
noticeable, and nowhere near as good as Billy Barty's Figment.
The new ride is light years better than the last incarnation, but nothing
will ever be as good as the original. The newest version is still too
short, and has some timing problems. If you are in the front car, you
barely have time to catch a glimpse of the finale, but if you're in the
last car, you miss the set-up for some of the scenes. Hopefully they'll
be able to work out the kinks soon. Meanwhille, it's still better than
the dreadful Journey Into Your Imagination. At least people weren't getting
off the ride with that puzzled "What the heck was *that??*"
look that was so prevalent with JIYI.
There is plenty of Figment-themed merchandise in the shop, and the limited
edition pins were enjoying brisk sales. When we arrived this morning,
the line for the pins was longer than the line for the ride! The ride
was not mentioned on the Epcot map, so I'm assuming many guests weren't
even aware it was there and open.
Honey I Shrunk the Audience - without a doubt, one of the most creative
3-D movies of the late 1990's. This is a 20 minute misadventure
with the likes Professor Wayne Szalinski. Professor Szalinski
is about to accept the Inventor of the Year Award, however, he had a little
mishap with the remote for his hoverpod and he's flying out of control
around the Institute. As part of the award ceremony, Professor Szalinski
will demonstrate his Dimensional Duplicator and Incredible Shrinking Machine.
You too will be shrunk as part of the misdirected laser beam. There are
some super special effects including feeling the wind from the hoverpod
when the Professor flies into the theatre.
What If Labs - At the conclusion of your journey you enter the Kodak What
If! Labs. (Similar to the Image Works that was on the 2nd floor of the
building.) The What If! Lab experiments were fun. You can still conduct
the orchestra, but this time a la the new millennium. Other interactive
experiments included stepping stones that create sounds and a special
mirror that distorts your body. I played with some of the experiments
and had fun. I noticed lots children enjoying this interactive section.
A couple days later I found several of the experiments closed or roped
off. I don't suppose the child I saw continually jumping as hard as he
could on the stepping stones had anything to do with it? Nah!
Epcot Attractions At A Glance
TOURING TIPS
Honey I Shrunk the Audience is a VERY realistic 3-D motion picture.
If you do not like SNAKES, LIONS, or MICE, then you may not want to see
this movie. Parts of this movie are VERY loud and may scare young
children.
Three-D Safety goggles are worn in the theatre to provide the special
effects.
Sitting your child on your lap will help reduce the special effects they
experience.
Journey into Your Imagination - there are 2 portions of the ride (one
at the beginning and one near the end), where it gets pitch black and
very noisy (from pouring rain to a loud train)! Young children may
be frightened by this. See Guest Comments below.
What If Labs! can be lots of fun, especially if it is not crowded.
Be sure to stop by the Email center and send home a postcard of yourself,
Imagination Styled!
Be sure to check out the fountains outside the pavillion.
KIDS AND CHARACTERS
The What If Labs are a great place for kids to run around, touch things
and get out some energy.
Be sure you read the Touring Tips (above) regarding things that may frighten
children.
Disney Characters are typically not found in Future World Pavilions however
they do make appearances next to MouseGear in Innoventions Plaza.
You will also find Disney Characters in nearby World Showcase. Check your
daily Epcot Guide Map for times and locations.
SHOPPING
The Gift Shop immediately following the What If Labs has computer generated
photos taken with Disney Characters. There is some Figment merchandise
in the form of mugs, T-shirts, key chains etc... as well as new Figment
and Imagination merchandise. Figment fans who also pin trade should check
out the purple pin lanyards sold here. There are a number of Instant Photo
booths by Kodak where, for $5, you can make your own Epcot Passport, Photo-ID
Badge for the Imagination Institute, or picture postcards to send to friends
and family!
Shopping in Walt Disney World
INTERESTING FACTS
Based on two enormously popular Walt Disney Pictures -- "Honey, I
Shrunk The Kids" (1989) and "Honey, I Blew Up The Kid"
(1992) -- the performance "on stage" at the Imagination Institute
Auditorium features the original Szalinski film family -- the invention-happy
professor, his trusting wife, Diane, their sons, Nick and Adam, and their
frisky dog, Quark.
Dr. Nigel Channing is played by Eric Idle from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
"Honey I Shrunk the Audience" brings together all the special
effects of the first 2 Szalinski movies but doing it now in 3D.
"True Colors", in the Honey I Shrunk the Audience PreShow is
sung by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg
The Journey to Imagination Pavilion that opened with Epcot Center provided
a "child's-eye view of imagination". A spectacular 3_D
journey in the Magic Eye Theatre and the creative Image Works area were
part of the original pavilion.
Honey I Shrunk the Audience replaced Captain EO staring Michael Jackson.
Epcot's newly renovated Innoventions pavilions showcase the latest advances
and products in consumer, business and agricultural technology. Split
into two parts (one on either side of Epcot's Spaceship Earth attraction),
Innoventions East features new home, personal and communications technology,
while Innoventions West showcases computer games, audiovisual devices
and the Internet. With the robot Tom Morrow as their guide, guests follow
"The Road to Tomorrow" for each side, with the exhibits being
stops along the road. Each exhibit has a corporate sponsor, whose products
are featured heavily.
Innoventions East:
· Forests for our Future: An interactive display where guests
can find out about the latest techniques in forestry preservation and
play a rousing game of Tree-ivia.
· Innoventions Internet Zone/Web Site Construction Zone:
Disney has two exhibits displaying its own Internet products: The first
is for Disney.com (where you can play an interactive game with Donald
or send video e-mail to your friends), and the second is for the Go Network
(where you can build your own home page on the World Wide Web).
· Communications Dream Forum: Motorola's exhibit spotlights
the latest cell phones, pagers, electronic organizers and other personal
communications devices. It also features a game where you can design your
own James Bond-style spy device.
· Future Cars: General Motors sponsors this exhibit where
you can look inside automobiles that run on electric batteries.
· The House at Innoventions: Sponsored by Panja, The House
features new home technologies including a high-powered microwave which
will heat your food in a matter of seconds; an Internet-accessible refrigerator,
equipped with a bar-code reader that allows you to scan in your purchases,
informs you when you are out of something, puts these items on your grocery
list, and e-mails the list to your local market for delivery; and "Man's
Best Friend" of the future, a robot dog that barks, sleeps, stretches,
and responds to personal interaction. (It does everything but chew up
the furniture!)
Innoventions West: |
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· Networked Living: A holdover from the former incarnation
of Innoventions, IBM's exhibit features Internet stations (carefully contained
so you can go to their Internet sites only); Disney e-mail card stations
where guests can e-mail a friend; and "The Internet of the Future,"
a 3-D look at global wiring.
· Ultimate Home Theater: Explore the past, present and future
of audio, video and lighting equipment in this eight-minute commercial
for Lutron Technologies.
· Beautiful Science: Features scientific exhibits such as
insect engineering, designed to show you advances in food production,
and health maintenance.
· Video Games of Tomorrow: Sponsored by Sega, this holdover
from the last incarnation of Innoventions spotlights Dreamcast, Sega's
newest video game system. Along with the usual games such as "Sonic
the Hedgehog" and "Bass Fishing," you can also preview
some of the new driving games Sega is working on for next year.
· The Broadband Connection: A game show in the style of "Love
Connection," this pairs a cable connection (capable of carrying high-definition
broadband Internet signals) with your home computer, television and telephone.
Which one will the Broadband "connect" with? You'll have to
watch the game and find out.
· Medicine's New Vision: Guests are shown the latest in medical
science testing, including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron
Emission Technology X-rays and Computer Assisted Tomography (CAT) scans.
· The Knowledge Vortex: Presented by Xerox, this exhibit
offers guests a picture of what the future holds for written communication.
It includes Electronic Paper and Document Stamps, which hold a book's
worth of information on a document the size of a postage stamp
Innoventions
Crescent-shaped buildings just beyond Spaceship Earth to the south house
Innoventions, a dazzling new showcase where guests can be among the first
to touch the technologies of today that will shape their lives tomorrow.
The fountain at Epcot Innoventions Plaza can shoot water 150 feet in the
air -- within 30 feet of the top of Spaceship Earth. If all of the shooters
were fired at once, there would be 2,000 gallons of water in the air |
