Idea for a possible retheme of Wonders of Life to a Martian Base and Krakatoa (Fire Mountain) at MK!

[Corey]

Hi all,

I was thinking that if Epcot ever decides to restore the former Wonders of Life pavilion as an attraction rather than a pavilion for food and wine, they could easily convert it into a Martian Base (complete with a bio-dome). It would compliment the nearby Mission-Space and kind of serve as the destination for that attraction. The former Body Wars ride could be converted to an escape vehicle for the base in the event of an asteroid impact that threatened to crack the bio-dome thereby causing a decompression of the habitable area, threatening the lives of those living in the station. The converted Body Wars ride could have some of the erratic flight behavior of the former ride by having the craft have to evade the breakup of the asteroid (basically something akin to a meteor shower). The former Cranium Command could be converted into a theater whereby a presentation is given concerning the efforts at terraforming Mars. The conversion of the Wonders of Life pavilion to a Martian Base would help continue the theming of the Future World section of Epcot. Feel free to critique this proposal.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

You know fans want Wonders of Life to return with a Inside Out attraction in Cranium Command's place.

 

[Corey]

You know fans want Wonders of Life to return with a Inside Out attraction in Cranium Command's place.

Hi Twilight_Roxas,
I wasn't aware of the effort to restore Wonders of Life in much of its original theming. I was just thinking that Disney likes to update or change attractions every few decades in some cases. Such as the changes they made to Star Tours because of the prequels. They once again will update it for Episode VII. I just thought that if they wanted to bring in new guests by having a new theme, they could do so with the Martian Base idea for a relatively small investment. It isn't intended to strike controversy, just to throw out some possible ideas for something that might inspire younger guests, kind of like the Apollo missions of the late 60's and early 70's inspired a generation about the space program. Basically, something future focused. Thanks for the comments though!

 

[DlpPhantom]

What if it where themed to the Martian movie. I think that would be cool

 

[Corey]

Hi DlpPhantom,

I would have no problem basing the Martian base on the movie The Martian. It would be a matter of rights. My idea of the replacement for Cranium Command having something to do with terraforming could tie in with the astronaut's (Matt Damon's character) effort to grow food on Mars while he is marooned. However, I'm not sure what could be done with Body Wars. I had thought of possibly basing the pavilion also on either the past movies Mission to Mars or Red Planet. However, I again had difficulty working in a spacecraft adaptation of Body Wars that would fit in with those movies. My idea of it evading the breakup of a asteroid or meteor was partially inspired by the scenes of the Freedom and Independence dodging and weaving through the asteroid in Armageddon. You might have the spacecraft adaptation of Body Wars be coupled with the launch of missiles either land based on Mars or similar to what was seen in the 1979 movie Meteor where they were launched from orbital weapons platforms (or in this case a planetary asteroid defense platform) to deflect the asteroid or meteor. I understand that breaking it up would make the problem worse. However, exploding some nuclear devices in the vicinity of an asteroid might produce helpful shock-waves from the the explosions in space the could push the meteor out of a planetary impact trajectory, or landing a craft on the meteor itself that could use some kind of propulsion to propel the meteor away from a Mars planetary impact might work. In addition to having the spacecraft utilizing Body Wars have to avoid the breakup of a meteor, it could also be rocked by the shock-waves of the nuclear explosions (kind of like how the drop ship from the Sulaco was rocked by the explosion of the nuclear reactor on LV-426 at the end of the movie Aliens). These were just some of my ideas. However, your idea of The Martian might also work if you can come up with a suitable replacement for Body Wars.

 

[Corey]

I had a thought. What about building a rocky exterior covered in what appears to be snow and ice around the front of the Wonders of Life Pavilion and turn the interior into the Echo Base on the ice world Hoth in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Then you could turn the Cranium Command theatre into the operations center as they watch the battle between the T-47 Air Speeders (Snowspeeders) against the Imperial AT-AT's. Basically, you would watch how the Rebels are losing the battle and will be forced to evacuate the base. The interior of the base could have T-47's, X-Wing, and Y-Wing fighters being serviced. The Body Wars ride could be converted into a modified version of the Star Speeder. However, in this case it is an escape vehicle that is being used to evacuate the Rebels in Echo Base. However, they will first have to fight their way through the Imperial TIE Fighters, Star Destroyers and Super Star Destroyer in orbit with the help of the Ion Gun. This was just a thought. However, since Disney owns Star Wars now, they could pretty much do whatever they want with the franchise. I'm curious what your thoughts are?

 

[Corey]

I had another thought. If Disney decides to add additional Star Wars related attractions at Walt Disney World beyond the Star Wars Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios, they could go beyond my suggestion for Epcot by building an expansion for Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom. Instead of the possible Frontierland Expansion, they might consider spending some of the 3.5 billion dollars they have allocated for Walt Disney World to expand the offerings in Adventureland. In the relatively open space beyond the park boundary between Splash Mountain and the Pirates of the Caribbean, they could build the rebel base that is housed in the Massassi pyramid on the moon Yavin 4 depicted in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Since it is based on the ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, it would certainly be in keeping with the theme of Adventureland. However, since it is based on a fictionalized universe, the pyramid might have more than one floor. My idea would be for the bottom floor to depict the hangar that housed the X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters in the film. Guests could walk up special staircases (i.e. safety minded ramps) that would enable them to enter and sit in the cockpit of some of the rebel fighters. On the second floor they could have the command or operations center where guests could experience the disheartening visually displayed and audibly heard information that the rebel squadron attacking the Death Star is losing the fight. Basically, it could be coming from cameras on the X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters that are being picked off by the TIE Fighters protecting the Death Star. Now, as for the E-Ticket attraction. There could be a similar Millennium Falcon ride that is going into Disney's Hollywood Studios. The ride could basically retell the story of Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon at the end of Episode 4. Instead of having Han save Luke at the last minute, you could instead have him fighting his way through waves of TIE Fighters and attempting to aid the X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters in an attempt to get to Luke. You could even have James Earl Jones reprise his role as Darth Vader and give an audio recording of his response to other TIE fighter pilots that they should take out the Millennium Falcon. Later on during the recorded message he might say "its no threat." That would add an element of surprise for those watching the movie when he utters his "What?" when he sees the Millennium Falcon take out his TIE fighter wingman before he in turn is disabled by Han Solo. This message could be something that is picked up in the operations center on the rebel base on Yavin 4. At the last minute, the guests riding the Millennium Falcon ride can disable Darth Vader's TIE Fighter thereby enabling Luke to destroy the Death Star with his Proton Torpedo. The ride would then conclude back at the rebel base. Well, I look forward to your thoughts!

 

[Corey]

If any of you were thinking that adding a Star Wars themed attraction to Epcot would not be in keeping with the theme of Future World, I thought Disney might make a slight change to the Epcot area's title. Instead of Future World it could be Futuristic World since the technology depicted in the Star Wars Universe is far more advanced than what exists today on Earth. Basically, this would overcome the criticisms that might be made about having a Star Wars themed attraction in Epcot's Future World given the fact that Star Wars takes place, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

 

[orlando678-]

Oh God these star wars ideas would make Epcot even worse than it already is. Disney doesnt need to make the swme mistakes like they are doing with Nemo and Frozen...

 

[Corey]

Hello orlando678-,

You might be right about over saturating Star Wars throughout WDW with too many Star Wars attractions in the different parks and not concentrating them in one park. Maybe Star Wars Land should be kept unique so as to help visitation to Disney's Hollywood Studios. My idea for having Star Wars attractions in more than one park was based on how Universal put Harry Potter attractions in both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. However, the idea of retheming Wonders of Life to a Martian Base could still be in keeping with the future focused theme of Future World in Epcot. Perhaps my earlier ideas about the Martian Base would work better.

 

[orlando678-]

Hello orlando678-,

You might be right about over saturating Star Wars throughout WDW with too many Star Wars attractions in the different parks and not concentrating them in one park. Maybe Star Wars Land should be kept unique so as to help visitation to Disney's Hollywood Studios. My idea for having Star Wars attractions in more than one park was based on how Universal put Harry Potter attractions in both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. However, the idea of retheming Wonders of Life to a Martian Base could still be in keeping with Epcot's Future World's future focused theme. Perhaps my earlier ideas about the Martian Base would work better.

It just doesnt follow the Epcot theme.( if anyone is going to say, so Nemo and Frozen are, I will say no, but mistakes are not to be made again)

 

[Corey]

Hi orlando678-,

Then perhaps my idea for a Star Wars: A New Hope (Tikal-based Pyramid housed) attraction wedged between Splash Mountain and the building containing Pirates of the Caribbean in the Magic Kingdom could instead be the long talked about Fire Mountain. However, to keep the Adventureland theme, they could theme the mountain to Krakatoa in Indonesia and the famous, or rather infamous, 1883 volcanic eruption. They could probably do every bit as much theming as Fire Mountain and base it on a real world location that would perfectly be in keeping with the theme of Adventureland. While the mountain is pretty barren at the moment, they could theme it as if it were erupting so that lava is flowing or has recently flowed down the mountain. They could even theme it so that the queue (line) could shake to some extent because of tremors in the mountain leading up to the volcanic eruption that is somewhat depicted in the ride. They would have to maintain ADA compliance, but they could make even waiting for the ride somewhat appealing.

 

[The90skid]

The Star Wars ideas are really cool! But like others have said, they feel out of place to me Your original idea was pretty great too! Maybe redirect the exit of Mission: Space to empty into the WoL pavillion, change some of the ride dialogue, and boom! Now you are in an experimental living facility to be used on the Red Planet!

 

[Corey]

The Star Wars ideas are really cool! But like others have said, they feel out of place to me Your original idea was pretty great too! Maybe redirect the exit of Mission: Space to empty into the WoL pavillion, change some of the ride dialogue, and boom! Now you are in an experimental living facility to be used on the Red Planet!

Great idea The90skid,

They could make it into a routine flight to the Martian Base instead of the first Mars Mission. From the existing ride they could retain the landing on the barren runway. However, you would leave the Mission: Space building from a new exit, then board a vehicle inspired by the lunar rover (however, in this case it would be based on Mars). It would take you around a Mars diorama behind the Mission: Space building and take you to a new entrance to the Wonders of Life pavilion (the new "Martian Base"). Basically, the Mars diorama could be in a new building that has a reddish sky to make the Martian atmosphere seem more convincing. The rover could be on a loop so that once riders exit the vehicle, the vehicle returns empty to the Mission: Space building to be boarded by new guests.