Alongside updates to the big new lands coming to Walt Disney World in the coming years, D23 was also a chance to highlight some upcoming changes coming to existing rides. In this post, we’ll quickly go through the major reimaginings and refurbishments we learned about at D23, starting with the long-awaited return of a beloved character…
Dreamfinder Returns to Figment
The biggest theme park news out of D23 was probably that EPCOT’s Journey into Imagination will be reimagined to bring back Dreamfinder. ICYMI, Journey into Imagination opened in 1983 with the characters of Figment (the purple dragon) and Dreamfinder (the bearded guy).
Updates happened in 1998/1998, and the ride operated as Journey into YOUR Imagination from 1999 to 2001, without Figment as a feature character. Guests hated it, so Figment came back in the 2002 (and current) version, Journey into Imagination with Figment.
I find Journey into Imagination with Figment to be something of an abomination—emphasizing the most mundane and unimaginative aspects of “imagination”, so I’m glad to see that changes are coming. As for when these changes will happen…let’s discuss one other announcement first.
Spaceship Earth Reimagining Redux
Spaceship Earth was originally set for a significant reimagining before 2020 happened. Now, that project has been revived.
Disney says a “re-imagineered Spaceship Earth will be coming to EPCOT, bringing the attraction into the internet age and beyond.” The theme of human communication will also be reimagined to the broader theme of “human connection.”
Disney has not given a timeline for this project or the Journey into Imagination project. To my mind, the main question is “can they really close both of these for an extended amount of time at the same time?” And the answer is, simply, “yes.” Even combined, they aren’t huge crowd draws. And in any case, Disney announced both of these updates—there’s no reason to do so if one was going to happen substantially after the other.
I suspect they’ll wait until after the holiday season to begin work, but I’m expecting an early 2027 closure for at least one of these. The other might make it through spring or even summer, with something like a 6-month overlapping closure that includes the summer season.
Bye Bye B-Mode (Fixes Coming to Expedition Everest’s Yeti)
The Yeti on Expedition Everest will finally be fixed! No date was given, but Disney says the repair is forthcoming. If you’re not a close follower of these things, you honestly might not even know the Yeti is broken. The ride opened in 2006 with the animatronic Yeti able to move and swipe at guests. Sometime in late 2007, the effect permanently ceased and was replaced by the “disco Yeti” strobe effect.
Most of the information we have about the Yeti comes via years and years of Joe Rohde snippets, but my understanding has long been that fixing the Yeti is a big project because the problems are related to the underlying structure the Yeti sits on, which is at least partially independent from the structure of the ride itself. In any case, this is not a “the animatronic is broken” situation.
So, when will this happen? Probably not for a while. Animal Kingdom already has distressingly low ride capacity, and the park can’t afford to be down another ride until all of Tropical Americas is reopened. Based on what we know, this project also will take several months, at least. I suspect we’ll see a closure sometime after the initial crowd surge for that land dies down—sometime in 2028.
Carousel of Progress Updates
Finally, we also got updates on one reimagining that’s already ongoing—Carousel of Progress. Carousel of Progress closed in July 2026 and will reopen with updated scenes in late spring 2027. The updated version will feature the voices of Bryan Cranston and Jamie Lee Curtis.
For more on reimaginings and refurbishments at Disney World, check out these posts:
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