BREAKING NEWS
For many years The Magic Eye Theater located in the Imagination Pavilion of EPCOT has hosted Captain EO to pay tribute to the King of POP, Michael Jackson. Prior to its rebirth you may recall the theater hosted Honey I Shrunk The Audience and it is often home to special sneak peaks into upcoming Disney films. Each of these attractions has failed to bring in the crowds to fill the theater seats... but today Disney announced that it will be ending the long time run of Captain EO on December 6th, 2015 to make way for something new... Read more to find out!
Perhaps in an effort to test the consumer response of such an induction, Disney will host the "Disney/Pixar Short Film Festival" in the Magic Eye Theater. This will feature 3 short films in 3D, and what I would assume to include some 4D effects as well. You will also have some insight into the visionary minds that make up some of the great story telling of our day. (I assume this will be part of the pre-show before you enter the theater).
I want to explore this idea a little further... I personally think this is a great step in reimagining the Imagination Pavilion into an extremely usable idea for the future. Pixar made the leap into an extremely difficult concept of "thought" with its 2015 film Inside Out. Disney Crossed this bridge in the 80's with the concept of a pavilion dedicated to imagination. How do you put such a large concept into an attraction that everyone can relate to? The Dream Finder and Figment are born! Years later Disney would remove these 2 iconic figures much to the dismay of park guests... only to reincorporate Figment at a later time. The attraction never has had the same appeal as its original design, but the people spoke and Figment reappeared in their imagination with just one spark of inspiration.
Disney needs a spark of inspiration to rethink its current concept. Pixar could do this... but tastefully. The response to Inside Out was a rousing success. I could easily see a bridge between Figment and the characters of Inside Out coming together to explore the Imagination side of Riley's mind... Imagination Island! The attraction takes you on a tour of Imagination Island where the charters of Inside Out join you for the ride as you explore Riley's new Island and discover Figment... who is a much better character than Bing Bong...
Anyway... My point is that if the Disney/Pixar Short Film Festival is a success I could see this becoming a permanent attraction and perhaps allow them to expand the concept into the rest of the pavilion. Fingers crossed I guess because I'm really excited for the potential!