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EPCOT Will Get a New Version of the Imagination Pavilion

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The Imagination Pavilion at EPCOT, part of Walt Disney World outside of Orlando, Florida, is finally getting a refresh.

News of the project was announced at D23 in Anaheim, California, just down the street from Disneyland. No concrete details of the project have been revealed, beyond the fact that Figment, the plucky dragon and symbol of your imagination, will be a part of the new version of the attraction.

While the pavilion itself opened with the rest of EPCOT Center on October 1, 1982, the only attraction open at the time was “Magic Journeys,” a 3D film in the adjacent Magic Eye Theater. But the flagship attraction, Journey Into Imagination, which introduced the world to the kindly Dreamfinder and his dragon friend Figment, conjured by the power of imagination, wouldn’t open until the following year, on March 5, 1983.

That initial attraction, overseen by legendary Imagineer Tony Baxter, is one of the masterpieces of Walt Disney Imagineering – a lengthy dark ride, with tons of audio-animatronic figures, detailed show scenes, unforgettable music (including a theme song by the Sherman Brothers) and a unique ride system that was deceptively complex and cutting edge. When the Michael Jackson-led, Francis Ford Coppola-directed “Captain EO” 3D movie debuted at the Magic Eye Theater, the Imagination Pavilion became one of the hippest spots in all of EPCOT – or at least the Future World section of the park.

Towards the end of the 1990’s, though, Disney and the attraction’s corporate sponsor Kodak got itchy for a redo. And that led to the disastrous opening, in 1999, of Journey Into Your Imagination. The track was shortened, show elements eliminated, with scenes that were cheap and uninvolving. The Imagineers had folded in elements from “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience,” the 3D movie that had replaced “Captain EO,” but they had also removed adorable Figment and the grandfatherly Dreamfinder – the flagship characters of the attraction!

At the end of the 1990’s they also closed down ImageWorks, an interactive exhibit on the building’s second floor that included the rainbow tunnel, one of the coolest, most photographed locations in all of Walt Disney World that would have been a social media sensation if it was still around. (Here’s an amazing photo of Jackson in the tunnel. Honestly it might be the greatest single photograph in the history of mankind.)

After the failure of the new version of the attraction, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner demanded a fix. (It was reportedly the least popular Disney attraction on property.) This led to a hasty re-do that debuted in 2002 called Journey Into Imagination with Figment, which returned the cuddly dragon character to the attraction, left the Dreamfinder in the dust and was slightly more palatable. And we’ve been stuck with this version ever since.

Somehow, in the years since the lesser version of the attraction has been in operation, the popularity of Figment, as a character and a mascot for all of EPCOT, has only increased. He’s featured on countless pieces of merchandise, often as the ambassador of EPCOT’s seasonal food festivals and sells an ungodly amount of plush. At one point a feature built around the character, shepherded by Seth Rogen’s Point Grey productions, was in the works. The character is that beloved.

Whatever is next for the Imagination Pavilion, we do hope that they do something with the Magic Eye theater, which has been showing a smattering of very old Pixar shorts for years now, along with the main Imagination attraction. It would be great to see both return to their former glory – a place where you could really dream that anything was possible. With the help of a little dragon, of course.

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Disney’s Villains Land Reveals Fiendish New Details

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Something wicked this way comes …

Details for the new land that will bring together a host of iconic Disney Villains have been revealed at D23, including the land’s official name and some specifics about the two big attractions and the narrative that will bring the characters together.

First, let’s get the name out of the way – the area that has commonly be referred to as Villains Land since the project was introduced last D23 will now be known as … Villains Land. Hey, it works. And it keeps with the naming convention of most areas of the Magic Kingdom, the most-visited theme park in the world and the crown jewel of the sprawing Walt Disney World resort outside of Orlando, Florida.

Now, let’s talk about the storyline that brings the dastardly characters together.

The team was hugely inspired by the work Walt Disney Animation Studios has done on these classic animated movies and the work that they continue to do (“Hexed,” previewed the night before, looks like it’s just begging for a theme park land with its alternate world full of witches). Inspired by these fairy tales, where usually they are about straying awa from the safe path into a dangerous forest (which helps since many of the stories are about characters leaving the safety of childhood for the more untamed land of adulthood).

The team at Walt Disney Imagineering became intrigued by the idea of a wishing well. But not the usual wishing well that helps your dreams come true. What if this was a broken wishing well? And a mysterious stranger made an evil wish at the wishing well and the consequences were that it broken the well and infused poisoned magic into the land? Now the villains, hearing about this untapped, deeply cursed magic, are drawn to the land to conjure their own nightmares?

Pretty cool, right?

They teased some of the costumes for the characters in the land, which they promise to be bespoke and reflect the overall elegant aesthetic of the land.

But what about the rides?

Well after some noodling on a rollercoaster themed to “The Emperor’s New Groove,” they have gone back to one themed to Maleficent, the dark enchantress from Disney’s 1959 masterpiece “Sleeping Beauty,” later embodied in live-action by Angelina Jolie in a pair of films. She will be chasing you through the briar patch and around her mountaintop fortress. They teased that there will be an additional element to the attraction that they “haven’t done before on a Disney coaster” but are keeping that additional element a secret.

As for the E-ticket dark ride attraction, it is set inside the Evil Queen’s Palace from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Walt Disney’s original animated classic. That’s where you will go down into the catacombs and encounter the Magic Mirror. The Magic Mirror will take you into what they are describing as “the mirror realm,” where he will conjure visions of various Disney Villains. It seems to be similar, at least in spirit, to the way in which the upcoming Avengers: Infinity Defense at Disney California Adventure will take you into different Marvel worlds. Only this time you’ll get to hang out with all the villains who make being bad look so good.

Additional details of the land, including specifics on the retail and dining operations and whether or not the Magic Kingdom Railroad will have a stop at Villains Land, are being kept buried in the thicket of the briar patch. But we’re still a few years away from Villains Land opening. And anything is possible.

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Caitríona Balfe Joins Live-Action ‘Tangled’ As Queen Arianna

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From 18th century Scotland to the fictional Kingdom of Corona, Disney‘s live-action Tangled has found its Queen Arianna.

While Outlander star Caitríona Balfe was not featured in the footage teased Friday at D23, Disney has announced the 5x Golden Globe nominee will play Rapunzel’s long-lost mother in the adaptation of the 2010 animated fantasy musical.

Balfe joins the previously announced Teagan Croft as Rapunzel, Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider and Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel in the Michael Gracey-helmed movie, from a script by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Michael Montemayor.

Announcing a March 31, 2028 release date during Friday’s D23 panel, Disney also teased a first look at footage of Croft and Hahn in the film.

In the original Tangled, magical long-haired Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) spent her entire life in a tower until runaway thief Flynn Ryder (Zachari Levi) stumbles upon her, after which she sets out to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is. The cast also included Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman, Brad Garrett and Jeffrey Tambor.

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Harrison Ford to Star in New Indiana Jones Disney Attraction

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Harrison Ford will finally serve as the model for Indiana Jones in a new attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, part of the Walt Disney World resort outside of Orlando, Florida.

The announcement was made at D23, where Ford sent in a video stating that, for the first time in a Disney theme park attraction, they will use his actual likeness. Previously, at Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye (aka the Indiana Jones Adventure) at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Imagineering didn’t have access to Ford’s voice or likeness, which is both very apparent.

This new attraction, dubbed Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, is one of the cornerstones of the new Tropical Americas section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, taking over a section of the park formerly known as Dinoland, U.S.A. The Indiana Jones attraction specifically will take over the show building that previously held Dinosaur (formerly Countdown to Extinction), which used the same ride vehicles and track layout as the Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland.

As for the story of this new Indiana Jones attraction, it was revealed that the new original story will be set in the 1950’s, before the events of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” On the hunt for a mysterious artifact in South America, Indiana Jones (and, by extension us the guests) will be plunged into the underworld. And wouldn’t you know it? The underworld is guarded by a massive, feathered snake.

Why’d it have to be snakes?

Other attractions in the new Tropical Americas section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom include an “Encanto”-themed next-level dark ride called Antonio’s Fiestda de Encanto, with the entire cast of the animated classic returning to voice their roles, and a carousel featuring adorable versions of some of Disney’s most iconic animal characters.

No timeline has been given for the opening of Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and whether or not it will open in phases (like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge) or all at once. But hey, it’s not the years, it’s the mileage.

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