The Living Seas Closes Today 8/20/05

Today is the final day of operation at The Living Seas. It will close for an extensive refurbishment with reopening sometime in November of 2005.

As the sun sets on the Seas as we know it, let's remain optimistic knowing that such progress is essential to vitality of a dynamic park such as Epcot.

Let's hope the pavilion's farewell message as you board your exit hydrolator rings true...

Thank you for visiting Sea Base Alpha and exploring the wonders of The Living Seas. Please come back and visit us again soon. There's always something new and exciting for you to discover here at Sea Base Alpha.

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What a depressing Thread :lol:

I would be really excited about this overhaul if it werent becoming another cash in to a popular movie (finding nemo).

mousermerf said:

Today is the final day of operation at The Living Seas. It will close for an extensive refurbishment with reopening sometime in November of 2005.

As the sun sets on the Seas as we know it, let's remain optimistic knowing that such progress is essential to vitality of a dynamic park such as Epcot.

Let's hope the pavilion's farewell message as you board your exit hydrolator rings true...

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A personal thanks for that touching tribute, Merf...

Lets hope for a better and just as relevant future pavilion for a new generation come Nov...

"There's a great big beautiful tomorrow..."

At least it'll be looking all new for my 2006 trip.

mousemerf; very nice. Lets hope what we have seen with the pavilions neighbours rehab is a sign of things to come here too.

I really wanted to buy a plush manatee, if its not open again by Nov will there be anywhere to buy one???

Of course!

Head to Sea World. Sadly, there were no manatees in Finding Nemo (probably so future generations will have no idea of the existance of manatees once they are wiped out).

What rotton timing, I fly into WDW tomorrow. I wanted to ride the hydrolator just one more time. Plus, I never got to see Crush Talk. *SIGH* I hope the refurb is worth the inconvienence.

*sniffle* I loved TLS... I especially loved the manatees. I would stand there for HOURS just looking at them. Why did they have to close it tomorrow? I wanted to say goodbye! Even if they do bring manatees back, I have a funny feeling that Lou (the younger one) was scheduled for release back into the wild and so they'll take this opportunity to release him... Not sure what they're going to do with Bock, given the problem with his back tail fin.

I too never got to see Turtle Talk, but everyone said it was great! I assume that it WILL survive the refurb, so at least I'll get to see it then...

Plus, I never got to see Crush Talk.

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it's you're lucky day
I will release turtle talk with crush today (Disney-Central) .. final renderings are done as we speak :wave:

We went last night to say goodbye, Living Seas has always been a family favorite. Things really didn't look bad, other than the lower tank viewing area was boarded up with construction walls and one escalator wasn't working. With all the sprucing up they did while putting in the smaller Nemo exhibits and Turtle talk the whole pavilion looked clean and well kept.

We usually skip the movie but decided to see it one last time last night since it probably won't survive the downtime. For a film produced in the early eighties it really doesn't seem dated at all. The green-lined computer display of Seabase Alpha is the only thing that stands out and even that is still cool. We just love the Law and Order like "bong!" noises in the film!

The CMs there all seemed well-informed, they were all aware of the length of the downtime and what would remain open and what would not. Coral Reef and dive programs almost no closures and the pavilion would reopen late November. All agreed that the sea cabs would return in some form and that Nemo would be an even bigger presence but no details other than that other than most thought the entrance area was getting the most work. Almost all agreed that IASW rehab was wonderful and that both Imagination rehabs stunk - first on-stage negative comments I think I've ever heard!

Glad we were able to spend one last night, hoping for the best with the changes...which would be the least Nemo, I guess. Turtle Talk is great, if all the enhancements are up to that standard it won't be as hard to lose the Seabase Alpha we know and love!

Finding a manatee

If you don't want to go to Sea World to buy your stuffed manatee they have a Sea World gift shop at the airport.

Try the Sea World store at the airport.

is it so good to post it twice ?

Well, here's hoping they do a good job with the rehab.

How extensive can the rehab be if it is only 3 months? IASW was closed for a lot longer than that.

Damn, I usually bypass the film and head for the hydrolators. I wish that I saw the film before they closed it.

Living Seas is the one exhibit that i do not mind taking on a movie theme. Maybe not the entire attraction, because i believe that the Living Seas should maintain its primary purpose, but adding Nemo will probably increase interest for some, especially children. I like living seas, but where i live, here in new orleans, we have the aquarium of the americas. While the two exhibits are not exactly the same, some people who come from cities that have major aquariums probably do not feel as though the living seas is a must do attraction. Now, i could be wrong; however, making this attraction a little more appealing to the younger set will definitely increase attendance.
The only wish i have is that they would, somehow make another attraction at living seas about possible future, undersea habitation. Of all the frontiers, the sea is still primarily unmastered by man. I believe an attraction of some type involving an underwater adventure, leading to underwater habitation (such as mission:Space, but not so intense) would be outstanding if done correctly. So, to make a long post short, i look forward to the refurbishment. I believe it will be a positive one.

hopefully they'll get this one right:animwink: