You are correct. Unfortunately outsiders make it political based upon who the sitting president is and what his (or perhaps in the future, her) speech says.
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I’d phrase it a different way.
They make it political because they are being immature. NOTHING about the show is political in the slightest. The fact that someone would eschew a show simply because the show accurately reflects who the sitting president is is…immature. If they don’t want to see the show, fine. But I wouldn’t yank the show because of it. It is an inspiring show.
However, I’m certainly not married to the show, either. I’m not convinced there is any plans to replace the show. I think all such discussions are just outsiders worried about the loss of the Muppets over in HS, and conjecturing they could find a home in the current HoP.
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Maybe a sign of things starting to move - Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy giving way to a villain’s live show (yes, I know the villains land will be in MK, not HS). Word is that the McQueen animatronic will move to whatever Cars thing they build in MK.
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Villains, villains, villains. I have never seen the fascination with them. The LM show was cute and ran almost constantly. A live action show will only play 3 or 4 times a day, and the theater is WAY too small for the crowds that will probably want to see it. Not an improvement in my mind.
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Yeah, there’s been a bit of discussion about that over in the Uncensored Thread this evening. There’s plenty of folks who like villains and those who don’t. 
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Society has a fascination with the bad guys, so was only a matter of time before Disney caught up.
I suspect something larger will be created in that spot, one that can handle more people.
I’ve had a lot of discussions, and every one includes an un-silent minority saying how terrible this is. I know Touring Plans is but a sample of everyone that goes to WDW, but even their own ratings have Racing Academy as the worst attraction in all of Hollywood Studios (reader rating of 3.3 stars, Touring Plans rating of 2.5 stars). Even the highest rated demographic, preschoolers, rates it at only 4 stars.
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I suspect it could be even lower if all the people who have never been interested in seeing it would chime in. I’ve never seen it. No inclination so. But… what must we do to get the Journey Into Imagination attraction replaced? That’s the real question!
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Me too.
Agreed. So much potential with Figment and Dreamfinder.
If you think there is an uproar now for what is being changed, removing Figment may cause a riot in the middle of EPCOT!
I don’t think it would. Is there anyone who likes that ride?
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It’s not really about the ride but more about stuffed figures, t-shirts, and popcorn buckets.
Epcot has made Figment the face of Food festivals. They don’t need his ride any longer.
The original version with Figment and Dreamfinder was, IMHO, one of the best rides in EP. The story line, concept and technology were all top-notch. Then Disney hatched the" idea of showing Honey I shrunk the Audience in the 3D theater instead of Magic Journeys. Maybe it was when they lost Kodak sponsorship. The movie swap was actually not a bad idea; Magic Journeys was very pretty, but it was kind of boring. When they switched out the movie they had the idea of retheming the entire pavilion to HISTA. The original ride was gutted, shortened, and was charmless. The ONLY positive aspect was gthe use of Eric Idle as the “main character”. I was literally almost in tears when I rode that version the first time. There was a huge outcry among fans of the original, and after they stopped showing the film they made some modifications to the ride and inserted gratuitous Figment AAs. This is what we have now. I refuse to ride it because to this day it totally depresses me knowing what it used to be.
Here’s a very good video series that tells the whole history and is probably the best video of the ride that exists assembled by Martin.
Part 1 - The Original
Part 2 - The Imagination Institute and latest version
This one is a much better quality complete ride-through, but doesn’t have any of the history or later versions.
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Agree. When @ryan1 suggested replacement of the ride, I had assumed he meant with another Figment ride. I loved the original and have been hoping for a replacement ride with Figment and Dreamfinder that lives up to the original version. The current version is awful.
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I wouldn’t keep the existing ride just to keep Figment is my point. But if they replace it with one that does justice to the original Figment, great!
Everyone is waiting to see if Figment makes an appearance in Inside Out 3…
I wish Disney would just divest itself from the Jim Henson Company. They clearly have no interest in doing jack with them
Based on what?
They were doing great moments for years with the muppets, and just added the muppets to Jollywood Nights. So I would say quite the opposite is true.
They also did a Muppets series about the band, but it didn’t do well enough to last.
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I just had a crazy thought: the concept art appears to be a log flume ride. Since the ride has never existed in Paris, what if this Lion King attraction is going to be a clone of Splash Mountain??
From the concept art it looks like it pretty much will be. Or similar anyway. I think there is meant to be more meandering through the plains (rather than up high).
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