Journey Into Imagination Fact Sheet

Journey Into Imagination Ride Facts

• According to Kodak, 4% of all amateur photographs are taken at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
• Dreamfinder was modeled after Imagineer Joe Rhode who oversaw the development, construction, and operation of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Dreamfinder's voice was supplied by comic actor Chuck McCann and Ron Schneider. The voice of Figment was a little harder to cast. Imagineers tried men, women, boys, and girls even having adults inhale helium, but no one had the right voice. Until they found veteran performer Billy Barty whose voice was perfect for the 3 foot tall purple dragon.
• Tony Baxter recalls watching a " Magnum P.I." episode in which Magnum had hidden a goat in Higgins' yard and the garden had been torn up. Higgins, who didn't know the goat had been there, was convinced something was tearing up his garden. Magnum replied that it was just a figment of his imagination. Higgins then said " Figments don't eat grass!" That line sparked Tony's imagination to create a character " that everyone knows about and has never been visualized."
• Steve Kirk did the initial rough drawing of Figment and X. Atencio made it lovable " in a way that kids could relate to."
• One of the world's largest holograms can be seen on the left side of the ride vehicle as you enter the Dreamport in the " Deep Thoughts" container.
• Across from where Figment is sitting in the " Nightmare" book that is hanging from the ceiling, to the right of the ride vehicles, is the giant spine of a book that reads " Something Wicked." This is a reference to Disney's Halloween film release in 1982 called " Something Wicked."
• Right after the Dreamport in The Arts scene to the right of the ride vehicles is a white " plant" vine that has the familiar Mickey ears.
• In the Science and Technology scene, on the globe (just before you reach Figment's portal) off the southeast coast of Australia is a Mickey Mouse shaped island.
• The portals that you pass by just after the Science and Technology scene and before the Dreamfinder/Crystal Ball scene were originally intended to have film effects projected in them indicating that from this point there are an infinite number of paths available. The films were never produced, so in the final days before the official opening, Imagineer Tony Baxter collected some scrap plastics and set pieces and improvised the signs you see there today.
• Over 78 new special effects were created by Disney Imagineers for the Journey Into Imagination pavilion - more than all of those found in Walt Disney World on opening day in 1971.
• Like most songs, " One Little Spark" went through several revisions and had several verses written before the final version was settled on. Usually those scrapped verses never make it to the public, but one verse of " One Little Spark" has. In " A Souvenir Disney Songbook - Favorite Songs from Disneyland & Walt Disney World" (© 1994 Hal Leonard Publishing Corp.), this " lost" verse can be enjoyed:

One little spark
One flight of fancy
Shines up the dark
So that we can see
When things look grim
And nothings going right
One little spark
Clicks on the light

And here's another " lost" verse that was originally going to be just between when Dreamfinder says " And every sparkling idea can lead to even more." and just before the " So many times, We're stumbling in the dark" line:

One bright idea
One right connection
Can give our lives
A new direction
So many times we're stumbling in the dark
And then, Eureka! - that little spark!

Journey Into Imagination Attraction Specifications