Journey Into Imagination With Figment

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Imagination Institute! Follow along with Figment as he shows you the secret to unlocking YOUR imagination!

Location:	Epcot: Future World
Type of Attraction:	Indoor Slow Moving Dark Ride
Height Restrictions:	None
Typical Wait Time:	5-10 minutes
Is It Scary?	Nothing scary here!

Quick Links:

Magical Moments

Hidden Mickeys & Other Secrets

Did You Know…?

Touring Tips

Photo Gallery

Join Figment and Dr. Nigel Channing as they take you on a fun-filled tour through the Imagination Labs. After Dr. Channing’s introduction it’s off to the Sensory Labs, where you’ll learn how the different senses (sight, sound, smell, etc.) contribute to your imagination. But Figment has other ideas! He believes that it’s not what you see, but how you see (or hear, or smell). After Figment creates some mischief in the Smell Lab (ewww!), Dr. Channing suggests that the tour be ended.

Figment wastes no time in taking over the tour, taking you to a short cut that leads to his topsy turvey home! Dr. Channing finally sees Figment’s point, and a delighted Figment proclaims that imagination is a blast (literally)!

At the completion of the tour, you’ll enter the Discover Labs. Here you can try your hand at a variety of interactive exhibits, all designed to let your imagination run wild!

Magical Moments

Fans of the original incarnation of this attraction will be delighted to see Figment again, back to his old mischievous self!
The banter between Figment and Dr. Channing is hysterical, especially the opening scene where Figment gives Dr. Channing a brief demonstration of the five senses.
The first experiment, sound, is pretty exciting, as it seems as if a train is bearing down upon you. You’ll get a nice rush of cool air as the (imaginary) train roars past.
You’ll soon encounter a room with an empty crate that suddenly contains a beautiful butterfly. See if you can figure out how the effect was accomplished.
Aah, the smell experiment. Figment is cooking up something extra special, what will it be? A rose? Chocolate? Wait, here it comes…
Ewwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fans of the original show will also be delighted with the last scene, as Figment gives you a send off that the Dream Finder himself would be proud of.
As the tour nears its end you’ll enter a dazzling room filled with hundreds of brilliant purple fiber optic lights. Pure magic!

Hidden Mickeys & Other Secrets

In the visual test room, look on the desk to find a Hidden Mickey among the gadgets and gizmos.
One of the laboratory doors has the name Dean Finder on the door. This is a punning reference to the Dreamfinder, the original host of the Imagination attraction.
In the final scene, look for the hang-gliding Figment. You’ll see that his “hang glider” is actually a piece of sheet music for “One Little Spark”, the theme song you hear throughout the ride.
On that same piece of sheet music, look for the silhouette on the right page. That’s the Dreamcatcher, the Dream Finder’s magical flying contraption from the original incarnation of the attraction!

Did You Know...?

The original Figment was voiced by Billy Barty.
In 1997, Fujifilm, (the main rival of the pavilion’s sponsor, Kodak) offered to take over sponsorship of the pavilion and turn it into a thrill ride (possibly a roller coaster). Kodak instead renewed their sponsorship with alternate proposals for the attraction (thereby keeping the imagination theme), thus initiating the series of renovations that the pavilion would go through over the next few years.
The distinctive pyramids are made of hundreds of mirrored glass panels installed over a tubular aluminum frame.
The original ImageWorks was an interactive play area that guests could visit after the ride. It was located on the second floor of the building. The area remained largely intact for some time, though unused, and was eventually used as part of a temporary Kim Possible attraction. Today, the area is a DVC Lounge with great views of the park!

Touring Tips

Lines are rarely long for this attraction, you can usually tour whenever you’d like.
There are lots of sight gags and visual puns throughout the attraction, be sure to look around!
After the ride is over, you’ll exit into ImageWorks, where you can explore a variety of pavilions that let you use your imagination to create wacky pictures and conduct zany symphonies. You can tour here as long as you’d like.
There are many unusual water features out side of the pavilion. See if you find the upside down waterfall and the leaping fountains.