Disney ParksEPCOTNews

Figment Fans Furious With Hours Long Wait On First Day of Meet And Greet

At this weekend’s D23 Expo, Chairman of the Parks, Experiences, and Products Josh D’Amaro made many big announcements about the future of the Walt Disney World Resort. He teased the new land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which will replace DinoLand USA and the unique Zootopia experience that will replace. It’s Tough to Be A Bug. He also got fans hoping for a Villain’s Land when he said the Magic Kingdom would get the “largest” expansion in its history.

Figment Meet Start Date
Credit: Disney

But few announcements drew louder cheers than when D’Amaro told the audience that the new Figment meet and greet would open the next day. It was the perfect way to end D’Amaro’s list of announcements, but then Figment came out on stage to dance and show off what fans would be getting.

And then reality set in. When EPCOT opened at nine this morning, fans rushed to Journey Into Imagination With Figment to get in line, only to find that the wait was already hours long. But that wait would seem paltry compared to what would come later in the day.

As more and more fans flooded into EPCOT, the line continued to grow. At one point, it ran out of the Imagination pavilion, around the pond just outside the pavilion, and nearly to the walkway heading to the World Showcase. In the middle of the day, the wait was almost five hours to meet Figment on his first day of action.

Disney Cast Members shut down the line in the middle of the afternoon so that all of the guests could have their chance to meet Figment before the Park closed at nine.

For guests who attended the Destination D23, they got a special Figment meet and greet last night and were able to avoid the line. However, for guests who wanted to meet Figment on opening day, there was a wait outside the Imagination pavilion.

Many who met Figment took to social media to spend a few minutes with one of Disney Park’s favorite characters. While others lamented that they waited hours for a few minutes with Figment and ruined the entire day at Disney World.

While many guests waited in line, the wait time for the actual ride was less than 20 minutes throughout the day.

It’s been years since guests could meet Figment at the Imagination Pavilion, but that was with the Dream Finder and only as a puppet.

Figment and Dream Finder
Credit: D23

The overwhelming response to Figment shows that no matter how much EPCOT changes, fans will still want a piece of their childhood. Whether Future World is gone or the Imagination Pavillion is in World Nature or World Celebration doesn’t matter.

Disney fans will wait hours to be reminded of that Walt Disney World vacation from their childhood. And meeting Figment helps to bring that out of us.

 

Rick Lye

Rick is an avid Disney fan. He first went to Disney World in 1986 with his parents and has been hooked ever since. Rick is married to another Disney fan and is in the process of turning his two children into fans as well. When he is not creating new Disney adventures, he loves to watch the New York Yankees and hang out with his dog, Buster. In the fall, you will catch him cheering for his beloved NY Giants.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles