Figment

As a child, my favorite Disney attraction was EPCOT's "Journey into Imagination". It helped confirmed my childlike zest for life and creativity, and I simply loved the purple dragon, Figment. (I was also into Elliot, the green dragon in Pete's Dragon.) In a world where there are always so many pressures to be "grown up", the message in the old ride was that anyone can be playful, not only children. I just found a youtube video of the old ride: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI2VcQRMOM0&feature=related

Some years back, they did away with the Dreamfinder who leads the ride, and replaced it with a different kind of mad scientist. Figment was taken out of the ride for awhile. It was, consequently, with some trepidation that I returned to the reconfigured ride.

My response? Drum roll please.......

It wasn't as dreadful as I feared. That is: They kept the theme song. Hurrah! Hooray! Oh Frabjous Day Calloo Callay! (Some lyrics were altered.) They kept the value of imagination, and added the idea of teaching HOW to imagine by using different senses. In fact, it was more of a lesson in imagining than anything else.

However, I don't understand why Dreamfinder was removed, and why the playful, capricious side of creativity was underplayed.

I'm glad I had the old ride as an influence on my earlier years.

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