What you are about to see may hurt you a little. You may feel betrayed. You may wonder how I could possibly let this happen. I DIDN’T KNOW, OKAY? I DIDN’T KNOW.
It was the last time my family went to Walt Disney World, 1998. I was a mere twelve years of age. Disney’s Animal Kingdom had yet to open its gates, ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter was still a thing I refused to go near, and Journey Into Imagination was everything I remember it to be.
I had yet to splash merrily into the pool of thrill rides and I had not yet found my dodger’s feet in the Magic Kingdom’s oppressive crowds, but in Epcot the line for Figment’s ride hardly existed. It was gentle, and the interactive exhibits at the end had an upstairs. It was glorious.
When my parents prompted me to pick out a souvenir, I settled readily and definitively on this.
I know. I KNOW. It’s faded from years and wears and washings and I cut a slit in the neck because I hate tight neck holes. I have destroyed this poor poor wonderful relic of days past. And I’m sorry for that. I wish I’d thought ahead. I wish I’d realized how precious this simple memento was, would become.
And yet, over a decade and a half later, it remains in my closet. Maybe the only item of clothing I own to last so long. I love you, Figment t-shirt. Next time I’m in WDW I will finally buy those Figment mouse ears I’ve been eying for so long.
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ooooooooor, as a professional archivist, I could tell you that this shirt reflects the love you felt for it and is a testament to your everyday life and thus you've added value to the shirt itself by wearing it. Also, as a sewer, it'd still make a great pillow if ever you decided to not wear it anymore.
Ha, that's a good call! My sewing skills are mostly confined to attaching ribbons to pointe shoes with dental floss, though…
IMAAAAAAAAAAGINAAAAAAAAAAAATION, IMAAAAAAAAAAGINAAAAAAAAAAAATION
A dream, can be a dream come true.
With just that spark, in me and you.
Sorry, was that not the cue to start singing the original (and far superior) version of the song?
Oh, no, it definitely was. CONTINUE!
Regardless of fading and cut-up collars, that shirt is amazing and holy cow do I want one.
They should just go back in time, grab the old Imagination Pavilion, and swap into its rightful place.
From someone who was too young to experience the original (and remember it), YES PLEASE.