Disney announced today that Wreck-It-Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz will be appearing inside Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney World's Epcot starting next month, to promote the upcoming release of Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Ralph and Vanellope will meet and greet guests in Hollywood Land starting November 9 at DCA and initially inside Innoventions West at Epcot, starting November 21, which is the same day the movie debuts. But after a run inside Innoventions, the two will move at some point this winter to the ImageWorks area of the Imagination pavilion.
A "new experiment will soon be underway at the Imagination Institute, creating a portal into other dimensions. This winter, that portal opens a window on the internet for Ralph and Venellope to step through for regular encounters with Epcot guests," Disney said in a press release.
Hmmm.... Actually, the idea of Ralph wrecking the entire Imagination pavilion into something fresh appeals, doesn't it? The pavilion has languished ever since Disney scrapped its original Journey into the Imagination attraction. The beloved Figment character eventually returned, but if Disney is going to inject more of its film IP into Epcot, an Internet-fueled mashup of led by Ralph and Figment would get me in the queue. How about you?
Perhaps not coincidentally today also is the 49th anniversary of the first message ever sent on Arpanet, which was the first iteration of what is known today as the Internet. Sarah Silverman, who voices Vanellope, tells the story.
Happy birthday, Internet!
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Inside Out, now Ralph?? Rumors of Imagination have been swirling for years now and I don't see it happening. Figment still brings in huge merchandising revenue though I'd say most of that is NOT thanks to JIIwF. The little guy still needs some sort of park connection to keep him firmly planted in guest's hearts. Besides that, does Ralph "really" fit the imagination theme? In some regards, yes. Then again, no different than Guardians fitting the "energy" theme...who says they have to keep a theme??
Anything that replaces the Imagination pavilion without Figment will be the final blow to take the wind out of my Epcot sails. I adore Ralph and Vanellope so my grudge wouldn't last forever. Could Figment join them?? Why not!? He joined Dr. Nigel Channing didn't he? It would be fun if Figment integrates into every IP that ever graces the glass pyramid until the end of the building.
The biggest problem I see, if they turn the Imagination Pavilion into a Journey Through the Internet with Ralph & Figment, is how often they would have to update it. Spaceship Earth's third act, as you travel through the future of communications, has been redone four or five times in the past thirty-five years - and usually looks quite stale (technologically) by the time they get to having it refurbished. That's not so bad, because the history lesson portion always holds up.
A trip into cyberspace would have to be designed to be regularly modified at limited expense, in order to stay current. Otherwise, it could quickly become irrelevant.
It's disappointing Disney sees the original Figment and Dreamfinder only worthy to slap on merchandise but not usable for a quality ride.
But anything is better than the abomination that Disney Imagineering created after the original ride (as they did with the low quality Sea Base Alpha make-over imho).
For what it worth I dislike the first Wrack-it Ralph movie so I hope it will be something else.
It really comes down to how they want to implement the renovation. If they're looking to do it on the cheap (like how the Living Seas and Maelstrom were done by simply overlaying existing ride systems - and to a certain extent TestTrack 2.0), I don't think Ralph is the way to go. There's just not enough meat on the bones to validate a 10-15 minute dark ride experience that overlays on the existing Imagination ride. I wouldn't mind seeing something with Ralph done to the 4-D theater, but the dark ride needs something more than what Ralph can offer. That's why the Inside Out concept seemed so plausible, because the Pixar movie, while not nearly as popular as Ralph, is a much more thought provoking subject matter that could be taken in many different directions that could easily fill Journey Into Imagination's runtime.
Ultimately, though I think Disney needs to bite the bullet, and understand that the entire pavilion needs a makeover, and that the best way to accomplish their goals would be to raze and rebuild it from scratch. Trying to retrofit a new attraction inside the current building may not be cost effective, and is liable to put Disney in the same spot it is now 10 years down the road. The Imagination pavilion has been getting band aids since Magic Journeys was retired and 3-D movies (using cross polarizer technology) became commonplace. This space is just begging for a clean slate approach.
Why not have Figment and the Dreamfinder be the new characters for the rebooted Pirates of the Caribbean? When they save that movie franchise, then they will be legit IP and then they will have some pull to do a real attraction.
We are planning to go to Epcot on December 4 and my son would LOVE this. Any info about what times it will be? Will we be able to get a Fastpass for it?
Sorry I am late TH!
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
While I got that out of the way...
Once again, Disney is missing the point of why Journey into Imagination is failing. Its not because it doesn't have IP (it does!), but the ride is terrible. They took a pretty beloved slow ride that was a little kitschy, but got its point across.
From what I remember, the biggest pain in Iger's side has always been Figment. Guests seem to be an uproar about him (as they should).
You know, god forbid somebody learn something on their trip. Disney used to aim high to inspire..They now are selling themselves to the lowest common denominator.
What's next? Living with the land with Groot? Don't you dare TH!
Nothing wrong with doing a little educating in a park, but way too much of Epcot is outdated and boring. The park is almost as old as the Magic Kingdom and the attendance figures are deplorable in comparison. Pretty soon, with their new lands and upgrades, AK and DHS will blow by it in attendance.
I say pour Disney IP into the park as fast as you can. The sooner, the better.
If it's temporary for Wreck-It-Ralph, fine. Whatever. But otherwise, NO! Absolutely no! I don't understand why Disney is considering alternatives of the ride theme when they clearly keep hearing the people rant about taking Dreamfinder and Figment away in the beginning. Their popularity was so wrongfully underestimated and I think it's about time for Disney to make it up for those two. I'm not saying restore everything EXACTLY the way the ride was during the 80's-90's, but just add a few new areas on how to explore imagination, a new story, and some new, highly advanced, state of the art, audio animatronics to animate Dreamfinder and Figment throughout the ride. Is that so hard to ask? So hard to consider?
Now as for Inside Out, HELL NO! Granted that emotions play a crucial part in how we think or express our imagination in real life, the story itself has NOTHING to do with the Imagination Pavilion itself. The only pitiful excuses they have are that there's an Imagination Land theme area in the movie and that Figment's playing as a cameo (I prefer continuing to call it "cameo"; the "Easter Egg" term is just plain stupid. Xp). But what good si any of that? All it's ever done is raise questions and irritating die-hard Figment and Dreamfinder fans, urging us all to want them back more than ever. Now in general, I'm not a big fan of EPCOT becoming completely "Disneyfied" in theme with Guardians taking over Universe or Energy and so forth, but if Inside Out must stay in Epcot, I suggest that it should be placed in the old abandoned Cranium Command Theater. If you compare the Inside Out and Cranium Command stories together, you'll see how much exactly they are like each other compared to Inside Out with Journey into Imagination. It's got a large screen to see what's happening outside of the host's head, a control panel that the Emotions could use, and captive audience, and a place or two where they could likely put a few animatronics, if needed.
I can't imagine Wreck-it-Ralph staying there either. I guess it would be alright if their stay isn't permanent. If anything, I'd much rather have both Dreamfinder and Figment come back to the public for good. At least then, we won't have to just buy merchandise of the duo and leave the parks with questions of who they are, what they are, why they are, and their whereabouts. It's obvious that Figment's character is the most popular out of the two, but there is a saying where sometimes you can't have one without the other, and for the past 20 years they've done exactly just that with Figment and Dreamfinder. If Dreamfinder doesn't make his debut with Figment again by the time WDW's 50th Anniversary comes up and if the Imagination Pavilion isn't restored to the greatest glory it deserves, then all of the hopes and dreams of their return will turn to dust and all of the invigorating suspense that is fueled by the merchandise, the FIGMENT comic series, and everything they did to get us excited over then will all be for naught! Either Disney opens their eyes and do something right, and I mean RIGHT, to Dreamfinder, Figment and the Imagination Pavilion, or they'll lose my respect for their ideals forever.
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