Even Disney’s oldest attractions aren’t necessarily safe from major updates anymore.
Across its parks, Disney continues to balance decades of history with newer technology, updated storytelling, and changing guest expectations. Instead of simply removing every attraction that shows its age, the company appears willing to rethink what is already there.
That could eventually become important at EPCOT.
Disney has not announced any changes for Journey Into Imagination With Figment. However, its decision to dramatically rework one Magic Kingdom classic provides an interesting example of what could happen when another aging attraction eventually needs attention.
Carousel of Progress Is Getting a Major Update
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress has long been one of Magic Kingdom’s most historically important attractions.
Instead of retiring it, Disney is giving it a substantial overhaul.
The attraction closed in July 2026 and is expected to return in 2027 with new scenes, technology, and an updated presentation. Disney is also adding an Audio-Animatronic figure of Walt Disney to a new introductory scene.
The main show will move through several new time periods.
Guests will first see the family during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. The story will then move to Halloween in the 1980s before jumping to New Year’s Eve around the turn of the millennium.
The final scene will take a much bigger leap, showing the family living in an off-planet future.
Disney isn’t replacing Carousel of Progress with an entirely different attraction. Instead, it’s replacing the current version of the experience with a modernized interpretation.
That distinction could become important elsewhere.
Disney Has a Blueprint for Aging AttractionsThe
The Carousel of Progress shows that Disney has another option for experiences that have been around for decades.
The company doesn’t always have to choose between leaving an attraction untouched or removing it completely.
Imagineers can preserve the central concept while updating scenes, figures, technology, effects, and storytelling.
Several attractions across Disney World still rely heavily on designs and technology from earlier eras.
And at EPCOT, one attraction stands out as an obvious possibility.
Journey Into Imagination Has Changed Before
Journey Into Imagination With Figment remains one of EPCOT’s most recognizable attractions, largely because Figment has such a strong connection to the park.
The current ride takes guests through the Imagination Institute with Dr. Nigel Channing, played by Eric Idle.
As Channing guides guests through laboratories focused on sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, Figment repeatedly interrupts the tour.
The experience eventually becomes Figment’s lesson about imagination before ending with “One Little Spark.”
This isn’t the first version of the attraction.
The original Journey Into Imagination opened in 1983 with Dreamfinder and Figment. Disney replaced it with Journey Into YOUR Imagination in 1999 before introducing Journey Into Imagination With Figment in 2002.
That history already shows Disney is willing to reinvent the attraction while preserving its broader theme.
A New Figment Ride Could Keep Figment
A future overhaul wouldn’t necessarily require Disney to remove Figment or completely rebuild the pavilion.
Disney could instead modernize what is already there.
New Audio-Animatronics could give Figment more expressive movements. Frozen Ever After provides an example of how Disney can update an existing attraction with newer figure technology.
Disney could also introduce another host or doctor in place of Dr. Nigel Channing, creating a different storyline around the Imagination Institute.
The individual rooms could become more interactive, allowing guests to trigger effects or watch Figment respond directly to the environments around him.
Updated projections, lighting, practical effects, larger sets, and smoother ride vehicles could make the experience feel considerably more modern.
A replacement, in this case, wouldn’t have to mean replacing Figment. Disney could replace the current version of its attraction instead.
Other Classics Could Eventually Get Similar Treatment
Journey Into Imagination isn’t the only aging attraction that could fit this approach.
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros at EPCOT could potentially receive updated figures, effects, scenes, and technology while keeping its familiar theme.
Magic Kingdom’s “it’s a small world” could also be a candidate for modernization.
Disney could update its Audio-Animatronics, lighting, scenes, and effects without removing the familiar experience guests have known for generations.
Carousel of Progress makes that type of strategy easier to imagine.
Disney Could Be Rethinking Its Classics
Disney hasn’t announced replacements or major overhauls for Journey Into Imagination With Figment, Gran Fiesta Tour, or “it’s a small world.”
For now, those possibilities remain speculation.
Still, Carousel of Progress demonstrates that Disney is willing to make substantial changes to historically important attractions while preserving their identities.
If that approach continues across the resort, Journey Into Imagination With Figment could become one of EPCOT’s most logical candidates for a major modernization.
