Disney has revealed a new Figment design for Disney Lorcana, giving EPCOT’s purple dragon a fresh interpretation for a 2027 release tied to the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts. The reveal matters because Figment has been associated with Walt Disney World since Journey Into Imagination opened at EPCOT Center on March 5, 1983.
There is, however, an important distinction for Disney World fans: this is not a confirmed replacement of the Figment seen in Journey Into Imagination With Figment. Disney has not announced that the EPCOT attraction is closing, being reimagined, or receiving a new Figment character design. The change announced at D23 concerns Figment’s appearance as a Disney Lorcana “glimmer.”
Disney Lorcana Is Giving Figment a New Form
The newly revealed card is titled “Figment – Creative Inspiration” and is planned in connection with the 2027 EPCOT International Festival of the Arts. The announcement brings a character created specifically for EPCOT into Disney Lorcana, the Ravensburger trading card game built around familiar and reimagined Disney characters.
That distinction is crucial. In Lorcana’s official story, a “glimmer” is a version of a Disney character created through magical ink that exists within the realm of Lorcana. Ravensburger explains that some glimmers resemble familiar characters, while others appear in new forms or take on different roles and abilities.
In other words, a redesigned Figment glimmer does not automatically establish a redesign of Figment across Walt Disney World. It gives the character a new identity inside Lorcana’s own creative framework, where reinterpretation is part of the game’s premise.
The New Figment Design Builds on a 1983 EPCOT Icon
Figment made his public EPCOT debut with Dreamfinder when Journey Into Imagination opened on March 5, 1983, according to D23’s official Disney history. That makes the character 43 years old in 2026, not 42, and the planned 2027 Lorcana appearance will arrive 44 years after his attraction debut.
The version of the attraction guests experience today is not the 1983 original. D23 records that the pavilion was extensively revised in 1999, while Figment returned in the current Journey Into Imagination With Figment in 2002.
That complicated history helps explain why any suggestion of a Figment “replacement” carries extra weight. Inside the Magic has previously covered the current attraction’s history and its changes, including the removal and later return of the purple dragon. The character has outlasted multiple versions of the pavilion experience even as the attraction around him changed.
Figment and Lorcana Already Share EPCOT Ground
The crossover also follows a growing Disney Lorcana presence inside EPCOT itself. Disney brought Lorcana activities to the 2026 EPCOT International Festival of the Arts, including a Collection Quest, an Ink & Find scavenger hunt and promotional cards available through festival activities while supplies lasted.
That made the Festival of the Arts a natural bridge between Figment and Lorcana. Figment is heavily represented during the annual event through merchandise and Figment’s Brush with the Masters scavenger hunt, while Disney describes Lorcana as an experience built around the artwork of Disney characters.
Inside the Magic has also chronicled Figment’s status as a Disney character created specifically for the parks. Unlike Mickey Mouse, Ariel or Stitch, Figment’s identity began at EPCOT. A Lorcana glimmer therefore extends a theme-park-born character into a game that routinely remixes established Disney identities.
What This Does — and Does Not — Mean for the Ride
For guests planning a Walt Disney World vacation, nothing in the available official information changes the operating status of Journey Into Imagination With Figment. Walt Disney World currently lists the attraction as an operating EPCOT experience, describing Figment as the guide through Dr. Nigel Channing’s sensory laboratories.
Disney also continues to list a Figment character greeting inside ImageWorks. Those current listings matter because no official Disney announcement located for this story says the ride character, meet-and-greet design, or attraction itself will be replaced in 2027.
That leaves the bigger question about the Imagination Pavilion unanswered. Inside the Magic has covered calls for the attraction to receive an update, as well as past operational closures at Journey Into Imagination With Figment. Those stories provide context for why a dramatically different Figment image can quickly trigger speculation, but they are not evidence of a coming ride overhaul.
The New Figment Arrives in 2027
The next confirmed step is Figment’s Disney Lorcana debut associated with the 2027 EPCOT International Festival of the Arts. Disney’s official festival page says details for the 2027 event are still forthcoming and warns that offerings are subject to change.
For collectors, the reveal is significant on its own: an EPCOT original is becoming a Lorcana glimmer with artwork designed for the game’s alternate-character framework. For park fans, it is also another sign that Figment continues to move beyond a single dark ride and into Disney’s wider portfolio of games, merchandise and festival programming.
What Disney has not announced is just as important. There is currently no confirmed 2027 closure or reimagining of Journey Into Imagination With Figment tied to this card, and no official statement that the classic park character is being permanently replaced. Until Disney says otherwise, the overhaul belongs to Figment’s Lorcana interpretation, not to EPCOT’s attraction.
