Dreamfinder and Figment will return to EPCOT in a new journey into imagination
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, in his first D23 in the role, said the company heard fans on this one, framing the reveal as a response rather than a creative pitch. No date, no format and no word on the fate of the current Journey Into Imagination With Figment came with the announcement.
Dreamfinder and Figment are headed back to EPCOT together. Disney closed the "Horizons: A Carousel of Progress" 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 in 1983 and who has not appeared in the pavilion since 1998. That reverses a decision fans have complained about for 28 years. Host Neil Patrick Harris had joked it was the only thing he asked for, aside from unlimited churros.
Key Details
- What: A new journey into imagination at EPCOT featuring Figment and the returning Dreamfinder
- Announced at: The closing moments of the Disney Experiences showcase, "Horizons: A Carousel of Progress", at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented by Visa
- Announced by: Thomas Mazloum, Chairman, Disney Experiences, in his first D23 in the role
- Where: The Imagination! pavilion, Figment's home since 1983
- Dreamfinder's original run: 1983 to 1998, when the original attraction closed
- Timing and format: Not announced, including what happens to the current Journey Into Imagination With Figment and to the pavilion's other spaces
The announcement that closed the show
Disney saved the reveal for the final moments of the Experiences panel, Mazloum's first D23 as chairman, after Harris had spent the evening asking for exactly this.
"We are taking a new journey into imagination at EPCOT with Dreamfinder and Figment!" 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."
Two things are packed into that sentence. Figment stays, which answers a question fans have asked every time the Imagination! pavilion comes up in a rumor cycle. And Dreamfinder returns, which is the part nobody had a reason to expect. The line about listening was not an accident either: 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 framed the reveal as a response to fans rather than as a creative pitch, which is not how most park announcements are staged, and positioning it as the showcase finale signals how big a swing the company intends to take at the pavilion. The phrasing itself, "a new journey into imagination," points squarely at the pavilion's ride, even though Disney stopped short of confirming that.
Figment, the little dragon who never left
Figment arrived with the original Journey Into Imagination in 1983, in what is now the Imagination! pavilion: two small wings, big yellow eyes, the horns of a steer, and a coat of royal purple. The attraction has been rebuilt twice since, and the character survived every version, including the 1999 rework that reduced him to a cameo and the 2002 return that put his name back on the marquee.
Outside the ride he has become one of the busiest characters in the park. He meets guests in the Imagination! pavilion, he has anchored the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts since its first season in 2017, and he covers a large share of EPCOT and festival merchandise. The novelty popcorn bucket that went viral in 2022 drove hours-long lines at that year's Festival of the Arts and sent resale prices into the hundreds, turning a long-running mascot into a resale market. The reason he works is that he belongs to one park and no other. He is not a film character borrowed for a ride; he was built for EPCOT, and curiosity and play are what the park sells. What he has not had in more than two decades is the character he was created alongside.
Dreamfinder, the missing half of the story
Dreamfinder came first. The cheerful red-bearded inventor and storyteller anchored the original Journey Into Imagination from the park's 1983 opening until 1998, piloting his dream-catching dirigible through the attraction and, in his words, "collecting sounds, colors, ideas, anything that sparks the imagination." He built Figment out of them in front of guests during the opening scene, and served as the little dragon's creator, 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, including the current Journey Into Imagination With Figment, which opened in 2002 and has long been the pavilion's sore spot. The campaign to bring him back has run quietly ever since, in fan art, in petitions, and in every Imagination pavilion rumor cycle of the past two decades. Fans who rode as children kept the character alive at conventions long after Disney stopped using him, which is a large part of why his name still comes up whenever fans talk about what EPCOT lost. The affection has less to do with the dirigible than with what he asked of people, the message carried by "One Little Spark": that staying curious is worth doing at any age, and that all it takes is one little spark. The announcement leaned on that same idea.
What Disney has not said yet
The announcement came with no date, no concept art, no ride system, no description of the format, and no statement about what happens to Journey Into Imagination With Figment while the new version is built. Disney has not said whether this is a full replacement for the current attraction, a refurbishment of it, or something built elsewhere in the pavilion, and there is no word on the pavilion's other spaces either. Disney called it a new journey, which leaves room for anything from a full attraction replacement to a reworked pavilion. Until Imagineering shows a rendering, the confirmed facts are two names and a park.
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. It also hands the Imagination! pavilion its first new story since 2002. What guests can plan around today has not changed: Figment still meets guests in the Imagination! pavilion, Journey Into Imagination With Figment is still operating, and the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts returns this winter with Figment once again at its center. Anyone who wants the current ride on the record should ride it before a closure date lands, with a closure notice on the Imagination! pavilion as the first real signal that work is starting. Paired with the Spaceship Earth next chapter announced the same night, EPCOT's original pavilions are getting their most attention in decades. Disney says more details are coming, and GenieGrove will report them as they land.