Dreamfinder and Figment will return to EPCOT in a new journey into imagination

By entgrove · August 16, 2026

Disney closed its D23 Experiences showcase by announcing a new journey into imagination at EPCOT starring Figment and Dreamfinder, the inventor character absent from the park since 1998. Disney Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum said the company heard fans on this one, with details on the experience still to come.

Dreamfinder and Figment are headed back to EPCOT. Disney closed its Experiences showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event with word that a new journey into imagination is coming to the park, reuniting the purple dragon with the red-bearded inventor who created him. Host Neil Patrick Harris joked that it was the only thing he asked for, aside from unlimited churros.

The announcement that closed the show

Disney saved the reveal for the final moments of the Experiences panel. "We are taking a new journey into imagination at EPCOT with Dreamfinder and Figment!" Disney Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum told the crowd. "I'm so happy to share this news tonight. We know how important this is to you. We've heard you, and this is one more way we're putting you in the center of everything we do."

The line about listening was not an accident. Fans have asked for a proper return of the original Journey Into Imagination for decades, and bringing Dreamfinder back alongside Figment answers the most persistent request in EPCOT fandom. Disney has not yet said what form the new experience takes or when it opens, only that more is coming.

Figment, the little dragon who never left

Figment has been part of EPCOT since 1983, when the first version of Journey into Imagination opened in what is now the Imagination! pavilion. The ride has gone through several overhauls since, but the small purple dragon with two tiny wings, big yellow eyes, and steer horns stayed put and became one of the park's most recognizable characters.

He has been especially visible in recent years. Figment meets guests in the Imagination! pavilion, appears on a large share of EPCOT and festival merchandise, and has been the face of the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts since its first season in 2017. A novelty Figment popcorn bucket went viral in 2022 and drove hours-long lines, kicking off his latest surge in popularity. Disney describes him as the embodiment of imagination itself, a character whose curiosity fits EPCOT in a way no imported film character does.

Dreamfinder, the missing half of the story

Dreamfinder came first. The cheerful inventor and storyteller anchored the original Journey Into Imagination from 1983 to 1998, piloting his flying machine and, in his words, "collecting sounds, colors, ideas, anything that sparks the imagination." He created Figment during the ride's opening scene and served as the little dragon's mentor and friend for the attraction's 15-year run.

When the pavilion was rebuilt in 1998, Dreamfinder was cut, and he never returned to the ride in any later version. That absence is a big part of why his name still comes up whenever fans talk about what EPCOT lost. The song most associated with the pair, "One Little Spark," carried his message that imagination is worth holding onto at any age, and the announcement leaned on that same idea.

Why this matters

This is the first time since 1998 that Disney has committed to putting Dreamfinder back at EPCOT, and it confirms Figment's attraction presence has a future rather than winding down to meet-and-greets and merchandise. The open questions are the ones that count: whether this is a full rebuild of the Imagination! pavilion ride, a new show, or something else, and when it arrives. Disney says more details are coming, and GenieGrove will report them as they land.