Orlando Airport Celebrates the Return of Figment to EPCOT

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Epcot, Uncategorized

Just a couple of weeks ago, The Walt Disney Company hosted its ultimate fan event — the D23 Expo — in Anaheim, California, just steps from the Disneyland Resort. The Expo celebrated all things Disney and there were a ton of fun events and happenings, including the Disney Legends awards, exclusive merchandise and shopping opportunities, and panels that shared more on everything from first looks at new films and television shows to news about what is happening in Disney Parks around the world.

As in years past, the Disney Parks Panel was one of the most in-demand panels at the Expo. Disney fans always want to be the first to hear about what is coming down the pike at places like Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland.

At this year’s Parks Panel, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro shared a lot of exciting news — including more on Splash Mountain’s transformation into Tiana’s bayou Adventure, the return of Happily Ever After to the Magic Kingdom, and San Fransokyo coming to Disneyland. One of the more unexpected announcements had to do with Disney World’s popular theme park — EPCOT.

D’Amaro shared that a Figment meet and greet would be returning to EPCOT for a limited time in 2023 — although no specific dates have been announced at this time. Fans were shocked and excited to hear that the icon of EPCOT would once again be back at Disney World and greeting Guests. Even the Orlando International Airport was excited to hear the news, and shared the following tweet:

For years, Guests visiting EPCOT could head to the Imagination Pavilion and ride Journey Into Imagination and then meet the purple dragon himself. The Figment meet and greet ended in the early 2000s, but since then, Figment seems to have only grown in popularity. At last year’s International Festival of the Arts, Disney released a Figment popcorn bucket, which sold out in less than two days and had Guests waiting 5 hours to get their hands on one.

Even though D’Amaro said that the Figment meet and greet will only return for a limited time, it is possible that, if the meet and greet proves to be popular, Disney could choose to keep it around for a while. Only time will tell!

Disney Announces Fantastic New Character Meet and Greet at EPCOT

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Epcot

At D23 Expo 2022, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro shared a look into the future for Disney theme parks and beyond. One of the announcements about a new character meet and greet at EPCOT has sparked our imagination and interest.

From a Disney Cast Member;

Imagination has always been a core theme at EPCOT, with attractions and experiences that push the boundaries. There’s one key character who always comes to mind when we think about imagination, and he’s coming to life in a whole new way by the end of next year. That’s right, you’ll be able to meet Figment in person at EPCOT.

An Ending to The Figment Drawing on Ebay Story

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Epcot

This Figment popcorn bucket craze is interesting, to say the least. The adorable little lavender-colored popcorn bucket is made in the likeness of the lovable Figment character from EPCOT’s Journey into Imagination attraction.

Guests at EPCOT on Friday when the International Festival of the Arts opened waited in line for as long as six hours to have the chance to purchase one. Or two. Or several. Figment immediately started popping up on resale sites like eBay, Mercari, and Poshmark, and for prices sometimes 8 times what he was going for in the parks.

Some Guests even set up shop at EPCOT and sold the buckets to other Guests. And then there were some who chose to share a bit of that Disney magic and Figment imagination with others, like a man who waited in line for 4 hours, bought 2 Figment buckets, and then gave them away–one to his mom for her birthday and one to a total stranger standing at the end of the line for the chance to purchase her own.

Then the Figment buckets began to show up on eBay, but rather than plastic, they were paper. A bit of Disney humor made its rounds on the eBay platform as sellers posted drawings of the wildly popular buckets. Fans could bid on drawings of the buckets, and the proceeds would be directed to charities.

In one particular case of a drawing listed on eBay, 90% of the proceeds were to be directed to Habitat for Humanity. Seller juliaki1 listed a drawing of the Figment bucket and noted in the title of the listing that the drawing wasn’t great: it was listed as a “Bad Artwork Sketch” of the bucket. The seller even promised a bag of microwavable popcorn with the drawing because, as she posted, “what is sadder than a popcorn bucket without popcorn?”

But the seller, Julia, became suspicious of the bids. The bidding was ended, and the listing was closed when the winning bid reached an unbelievable $10,000. She was hopeful, though, that the bids would be legitimate, and if so, it was her goal that the seller go through eBay to make the donation to Habitat for Humanity.

As it turns out, however, Julia’s suspicions were correct. She tweeted about the scenario with a lengthy post that detailed the events of her Figment drawing scenario.

Julia tweeted that she had an idea after learning that the highest bidder had placed bids unintentionally, especially since she wanted Habitat for Humanity to benefit.

Julia started a bidding event of sorts today to benefit Habitat for Humanity. She will photocopy the original drawing–making 100 copies in all (keeping one copy for herself). She will mix up the copies and include the original so that it’s a complete surprise about which buyer will receive the real drawing!

“On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at 12 PM ET, I’ll be listing an item on eBay of the bad Figment sketch artwork with a buy-it-now price of $10. Like the original listing, 90% will go to Habitat for Humanity,” Julia tweeted.

It sounds like a win-win for fans and for Habitat for Humanity as well!

But Julia is taking it up another level: she’s creating a logo for offerings at TeePublic.com with the phrase “Anything is Art if You Use Your Imagination!” She’s setting it up so that 50% of the profits for 2022 will be donated to World Central Kitchen. Julia said the guaranteed donation will be $100.

Image 1 - Original/Copies of 2022 Bad Figment Popcorn Bucket Sketch Artwork for Charity

We are happy to announce that Julia’s listing is doing well, and as of the time of this post, the listing has made $270 for Habitat for Humanity! If you want to get in on–as Julia calls it–a piece of internet history, while making a contribution to a worthy cause, you can view her listing here.

$10,000 for a Figment Popcorn bucket! And it’s only a drawing!

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Epcot

The Figment popcorn bucket craze has been all over social media and the news since the adorable purple plastic buckets became available on Friday, the first day of EPCOT’s International Festival of the Arts.

The buckets were available at Pop Eats inside EPCOT at the festival, and lines to get one on Friday would cost you between four and six hours of your park day. Some who were willing to spend that kind of time in line just for the honor of having Figment hold their popcorn left the park that day with a sense of completion and fulfillment. Others found their fulfillment by purchasing far more than the number of buckets allowed per Guest, taking them home, and listing them on sites like eBay, Mercari, and Poshmark for as much as $200 apiece.

Other Guests were completely selfless with their buckets, waiting four or more hours in line, just purchase the Figment buckets as gifts or–better yet–to give “just because” to a Guest at the back of the line for the buckets, like this man, Jason M., who bought a bucket for his mom for her birthday and a bucket to give away. The recipient was in shock. Grateful, but shocked.

The lavendarly-adorable Figment buckets are ALL SOLD OUT.

But the most shocking thing you’ll hear today about the Figment popcorn buckets is that some are being sold on eBay, but not as actual buckets. Rather, bids are being placed on drawings of the Figment buckets. (And, admittedly, some of the drawings aren’t even very artistic.)

Just when we thought 7 hours in line for a Figment bucket was the craziest part of the dragon-bucket craze at EPCOT this weekend, we heard something that takes “craze” to a whole new level, but the amazing part is that this part of the phenomenon will benefit charity.

Some people took to eBay to list drawings, sketches, and even photos of the coveted Figment bucket. One of the drawings listed actually had the words “bad artwork sketch” in its listing title. The listing required an opening bid of $0.99 and opened on Friday morning at 11:16 a.m. local time. Almost immediately, eBay users began bidding on the drawing of the bucket.

figment bucket drawing

Bids came in regularly until the total amount bid reached $10,000. Yes, ten thousand dollars. You can see the bid amount in the eBay screenshot below:

figment bucket drawing

All of the proceeds from the sale of the “bad artwork sketch” were to go to charity, as stated in the listing. But sadly, the owner of the listing had to end the bidding and take down the listing due to some questions about the authenticity of the bids, according to a post from the seller himself/herself:

I’m skeptical of the series of automated bids that pushed this over the $10K mark, so I’m ending the auction so I can start the clock going on having them pay eBay to give the money to Habitat for Humanity. If the high bidder is legit, I’m so thankful for your generous donation. If not, then we’ll go through the proper channels to get everything settled and get money to Habitat.”

Hopefully, the bids were legitimate, and the bidder will follow through with his or her donation, which will benefit the efforts of Habitat for Humanity. According to the seller’s post, the bidder–if authentic–can go through eBay to make the donation directly to the charity.

PhotoPass Reveals NEW Taste of the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts Magic Shots

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Epcot

Disney PhotoPass recently revealed a few of the Magic Shots guests can expect to see around EPCOT during the Taste of the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts this year.

The Twitter post features three different “drawings” guests can stand in front of to take a unique picture. The photos are shot with a construction wall in the background, but then the art is digitally added to your photo after.

The designs include some of EPCOT’s icons, such as Spaceship Earth and Figment! There is also a rainbow you can stand under. All of the photo-ops have “EPCOT Festival of the Arts 2021” written next to them.