Disney announced at D23 that Dreamfinder and Figment are reuniting for a new journey into imagination at EPCOT. Dreamfinder has been absent from the park since 1998. Disney confirmed no ride, no date, and no details beyond the announcement itself.
Disney finally said the name fans have been waiting 28 years to hear.
In the closing moments of the Horizons: A Carousel of Progress showcase on August 15, Disney Experiences chairman Thomas Mazloum announced that Dreamfinder is returning to EPCOT, reunited with Figment.
“We are taking a new journey into imagination at EPCOT with Dreamfinder and Figment,” Mazloum told the crowd. “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.”
Host Neil Patrick Harris said it was the one thing he’d asked for all weekend, churros aside.
Dreamfinder has been gone since October 1998
The original Journey Into Imagination opened in 1983, built by Imagineers Tony Baxter and Steve Kirk. Dreamfinder piloted his dirigible collecting sounds, colors, and ideas, then assembled a small purple dragon out of them.
Chuck McCann voiced Dreamfinder. Billy Barty voiced Figment. Ron Schneider played the character in person around EPCOT Center, alongside Steve Taylor and Jeff Breslauer across the years.
The ride closed on October 10, 1998.
What replaced it a year later, Journey Into Your Imagination, removed Dreamfinder entirely and cut Figment to a fleeting cameo. Eric Idle hosted as Dr. Nigel Channing, walking guests through a fictional research institute on a track using fewer than half the original vehicles.
Fans hated it.
Disney already caved once, and left Dreamfinder out
The backlash worked, partially.
Disney retooled the attraction again and reopened it in 2002 as Journey Into Imagination With Figment, restoring the dragon to a starring role. It kept the shortened 1999 track, and it has been criticized ever since for running short of the original’s warmth.
Figment came back. Dreamfinder did not.
So Disney has known for the better part of three decades exactly what fans wanted, brought back half of it in 2002, and left the other half sitting. When Dreamfinder made a rare appearance at a D23 event in 2011, the room reportedly erupted.
Mazloum’s “we’ve heard you” is Disney acknowledging a campaign that has outlasted several park presidents.
Disney didn’t say what this actually is
Now the part that will frustrate everyone.
Disney confirmed Dreamfinder and Figment are returning for a “new journey into imagination.” It did not confirm what form that takes.
No word on whether the current attraction closes, gets rebuilt, or gets replaced. No word on a show, a meet-and-greet, or a full ride. No concept art. No dates. No mention of whether the shortened track finally gets extended back toward the original layout.
The phrase “a new journey into imagination” reads like a nod to the attraction’s name. Disney never said the attraction itself is changing.
EPCOT got both of its big announcements in one night
Fan predictions ahead of D23 mostly assumed EPCOT would get one major project, either Spaceship Earth or the Imagination pavilion, and that Spaceship Earth would win.
Disney announced both. A Spaceship Earth reimagining came earlier in the same showcase, shifting that ride’s theme from human communication to human connection.
Two of EPCOT’s oldest and most argued-about attractions are now officially on Disney’s list, on the same night, with no dates attached to either.
What Figment has been doing in the meantime
The dragon never really left, which is part of why the pairing matters.
Figment has anchored the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts since its first season in 2017, and his popularity spiked again with a viral popcorn bucket in 2022. He does meet-and-greets in the Imagination pavilion and sells a genuinely absurd volume of merchandise.
He’s been carrying the pavilion alone for 28 years. Disney just said his partner is coming back, and then stopped talking.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
- Disney Parks Blog (August 15, 2026), the Dreamfinder and Figment return announcement, the Mazloum quote, and Figment’s festival and merchandise history
- Disney Wiki and Extinct Disney (retrieved August 16, 2026), the October 10, 1998 closure date, the Journey Into Your Imagination changes, and the 2002 retooling
- Postcard Inspirations (2021), the Chuck McCann and Billy Barty voice credits and the Tony Baxter and Steve Kirk creation history
- The Main Street Mouse (June 2026), the Ron Schneider, Steve Taylor, and Jeff Breslauer performer history
- TV Tropes (retrieved August 16, 2026), the 2011 D23 Dreamfinder appearance and crowd reaction
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