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Thread: More Mouse: Remembering the Magic - The Seas with Nemo & Friends

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    More Mouse: Remembering the Magic - The Seas with Nemo & Friends

    Remembering the Magic - The Seas with Nemo & Friends by Jonathan Heigl

    Jonathan Heigl dives through the history of this beloved pavilion.

    Read it here!


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  3. #2

    Jonathan,

    Thanks for sharing this article. If I were to do a Yes…and I would include say that your coverage is really only about the SeaBase Alpha experience. There really is so much more to The Living Seas:

    1. Education has and always will be a part of the Epcot experience. While it has been less a focus with the Nemo overlay, it has continued for years as part of its youth education programming. Scores of thousands of children have visited special classes at The Living Seas. There is a classroom there out of site of the guests, and there is often some kind of educational programming going on.

    2. During the "Dead Seas" years, Disney did go more out of the box in identifying special tours and experiences. I helped pilot the Disney's Dolphins in Depth--a predecessor, and a more educational experience than the later Discovery Cove at Sea World. Epcot Dive Quest and Epcot Sea Aqua Tour are also available. All three allow you to get in the water and experience some amazing creatures. Having done snorkeling experiences off the shores in Hawaii and Florida, this may seem somewhat artificial, but you will never see as many creatures as you do at The Living Seas. Plus you have some really great educational insights and guidance as part of your experience.

    3. By no means would I consider the Coral Reef restaurant educational, but it is a fantastic dining experience, and by no means has ever been "dead". It remains today one of the most popular dining experiences in all of Epcot.

    4. Upstairs above the Coral Reef is the former sponsor lounge of United Technologies. One of the best things about United Technologies is that it has freed up that space to doing so many fantastic things. There is a great event space looking into the tanks. There is also a board room that rivals anyone's in the country, and a classroom. I was one of the first to use that space by bringing Disney Institute programs into that venue. It gave us an opportunity to do educational things that weaved business concepts and marine life activities together.

    5. Behind the scenes is a team of people that have always been dedicated to not only the Living Seas experience but to marine conservation in general. Manatee rehabilitation is just one of those efforts, there are others. Also, these folks are major contributors in their various fields.

    6. Finally…did you know that from the Living Seas, the team also monitors Sharks reef at Typhoon Lagoon, the koi fish in Japan, and support the habitats in Castaway Cay and Aulani. There's a lot more to what the team at Living Seas does than just manage a big tank.

    No doubt that Nemo and Friends has been a huge plus for revitalizing the patronage of day guests into The Living Seas. But know that the Living Seas has never really been dead, nor will it be any time soon. The company remains committed to the work done at the Living Seas and will be for some time.


  4. #3
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    My first trip to WDW was in 2002, so I was abe to catch The Living Seas film and experience before it switched to its current version. I can honestly say that I like the new version and by far. The film was really only worth watching once. After that, it was just a large aquarium where you could walk around and see a lot of fish. To me, I found it very ordinary. Perhaps when it originally opened and other such aquariums didn't exist like they do now all over the country, it seemed very cool - especially with the theme of being "under water". Had I hit this park in the 80s, I probably would've loved it. As it was, I hit it in the new century and found it lacking.

    Then they added the Nemo and Friends overlay, which happened to coincide with the birth of my first child. When we went to Epcot in 06 with her and a 1yo, she loved it and so did we! And each child that has come has been taken on this attraction of clammobiles. I like the feel of it, I like that you come out with a Nemo play area, and we all love Turtle Talk. It has turned an attraction that may have been skipped every other trip into an area that we hit every time we enter Epcot. I'm glad they made the change.

    Working for Disney. No, no. Working (in a Modesto office) for (the money to take a trip to) Disney (World/Land)

    WDW Trips: June 2002, Feb 2004, Dec 2006, Dec 2008, Jan 2010, Feb 2011, Dec 2012
    Disneyland Trips: Feb 2006, Nov 2013, Nov 2014, Feb, March, June 2015 (x2), Nov 2015

  5. #4

    Behind the keep it/return it question is a deeper question that concerns all of the parks at Disney World. As Jeff pointed out, Education was always a focus at Epcot- whether it was about our planet or the nations that make it up. However, I always felt as originally designed that EPCOT (and I use the fully capitalized acronym deliberately) was always too big on education and too little on entertainment, which made it interesting for adults, but deadly dull for children, since much of the park was look but don't interact. To a lesser extent, Animal Kingdom has faced this problem too, but since it is a younger park, it has learned the lessons of EPCOT.

    To correct the problem, we've seen rides that are far more thrilling than you had before- Mission Space, Test Track and Soarin are far more exciting than anything that happened before. These more thrill rides can help make the park more palatable for kids and act as "hooks" to interest children in the overriding message of the pavilions. At Living Seas, if Nemo, Crush and Bruce can help children become more interested in the importance of the planets water and the conservation and preservation thereof, then the more educational parts will hit them better. Kids that think the Crush was funny and thought the manatees were cool may continue their interest in the seas and as they grow, develop more of an attachment and understanding to it, and perhaps later give back in significant and conceivable ways.

    Disney has long been a leader in what is now known as edutainment (actually it was Disney that coined the phrase in 1948 with it's True Life Adventures series) and has recently recomitted to that with the Disney Nature series. To me, the new Living Seas represents the current trend in edutainment- education through discovery and interaction. For that reason, I prefer to leave the pavilion the way it is now as compared to the way it was before.


  6. #5

    While I'm no fan of many of the "updates" that have been made at Epcot, I'm not particularly upset by the transformation of The Living Seas to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. The problem with the original pavilion was one of repeatability -- this was a pavilion that didn't stand up to multiple visits very well. The pre-show film and hydrolator experience were interesting the first couple of times you did it, but they just got to be long, boring waits after our first few times in the pavilion.

    In its later years, we found ourselves bypassing The Living Seas more and more, and when we did visit, we'd always go in through the exit, because you could just wait for the hydrolator doors to open on the outside, step in, and pretty much immediately go into the pavilion. With no Sea Cabs, there just wasn't reason enough to wait through the whole entry process. But, even after gaining entrance, the experience inside the pavilion was never exciting.

    On the other hand, we visit The Seas with Nemo and Friends every time we're in Epcot. The dark ride and Turtle Talk are both charming. So, this is pretty much an "update" at Epcot that we enjoy more than the original.


  7. #6

    Thanks for the replies everyone! I appreciate reading everyone's responses. Did anyone read the article from the Lakeland Ledger? If so, do you like that being included with the article or is that something you don't think is necessary?

    Thanks!

    "Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time. And for a brief moment, we have been among its many passengers."

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