WOL Demo coming ..

[rd805]

I don't think I ever set foot in the Wonders of Life pavilion. Not sure why.

Cranium Command was a fun little show IMO; Body Wars skeeved me out, but I liked walking around the pavilion itself too. I remember this baseball swing thing - i think it recorded you swinging then Frank Thomas had a pre-recorded clip that talked back to you? It was horrible, but still fun lol.

And if they are clearing this out, theres no reason not to think this is for a future big announcement, perhaps at the next D23. Disney knows it can't just NOT BUILD new attractions (at least I hope so), once this current batch is done.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

Yeah this exactly. Even though building something to replace WOL wouldn't require closing anything that is operating so it wouldn't be a big deal in that sense, I don't think it's happening right now. They have a lot underway already. They definitely would have teased it if it were coming anytime "soon" (5 years ish).

I'm surprised they would opt for demo rather than just completing the Play project that is supposedly at least halfway done, but who knows. I guess they no longer rent out the old corporate lounge area for events? Because obviously if demo'd that would be gone.

Play Pavilion sets were recently destroyed, all that's in Wonders is a bunch of steel frames for facades that don't exist. No show equipment ever got installed, it would be an even more difficult hack job to work around the existing Play Pavilion infrastructure on top of fitting something into Wonders of Life. Personally I would gut the whole pavilion and start over again, but there must be some reason why WDI is allegedly not considering that.

Corporate lounge hasn't been available to rent for nearing seven years now. It still structurally exists but I don't think it's currently in a presentable state even if they wanted to start renting it out again.

 

[jah4955]

yeah but they won't...the Space pavilion is finished in their eyes...there is now expanded part 2 ...it is just a one-off simulator with a gift shop and restaurant.

IF it was popular like Soarin' I could see them building extra centrifuges on that land like they built that third "theater" over the land that was once floated to be The Great Movie Ride. But, fortunately, it's not.

 

[KDM31091]

With health and wellness being more in vogue these days and all the fitness apps and whatnot a revitalized health pavilion would make a ton of sense but I guess they don’t want to go that direction. I know they wouldn’t do it without IP anyway.

What a waste to destroy sets for the Play pavilion that never happened.

 

[jah4955]

With health and wellness being more in vogue these days and all the fitness apps and whatnot a revitalized health pavilion would make a ton of sense but I guess they don’t want to go that direction. I know they wouldn’t do it without IP anyway.

What a waste to destroy sets for the Play pavilion that never happened.

My favorite part of a vacation, wherever it may be, is taking a complete break from the healthy diet and exercise routine lol. Besides, regarding WDW, I've always told myself (inaccurate as it may be) we "walk off" much/most/all of the "cheating."

 

[Streetway Again]

Play Pavilion sets were recently destroyed, all that's in Wonders is a bunch of steel frames for facades that don't exist. No show equipment ever got installed, it would be an even more difficult hack job to work around the existing Play Pavilion infrastructure on top of fitting something into Wonders of Life. Personally I would gut the whole pavilion and start over again, but there must be some reason why WDI is allegedly not considering that.

Corporate lounge hasn't been available to rent for nearing seven years now. It still structurally exists but I don't think it's currently in a presentable state even if they wanted to start renting it out again.

While it would be sad to lose the building, at this point I just want whatever is going in that spot, dome or not, IP or Original, to be in line with and respect the original spirit of EPCOT. Not really sure what they could have in mind, but tt 3.0 and the way Moana blends IP and edutainment so well gives me hope.

 

[Bocabear]

Why Demo WOL whith no plan of a replacement when World Showplace exists? They should move all events from World Showplace into the WOL building and have room for either another Country pavilion or room for a larger attraction for UK Pavilion...

 

[DisneyCane]

Cranium Command was a fun little show IMO; Body Wars skeeved me out, but I liked walking around the pavilion itself too. I remember this baseball swing thing - i think it recorded you swinging then Frank Thomas had a pre-recorded clip that talked back to you? It was horrible, but still fun lol.

And if they are clearing this out, theres no reason to think this is for a future big announcement, perhaps at the next D23. Disney knows it can't just NOT BUILD new attractions (at least I hope so), once this current batch is done.

They could have a very different attraction featuring Frank Thomas now!

 

[rd805]

They could have a very different attraction featuring Frank Thomas now!

One featured around... personal growth?

 

[danlb_2000]

With health and wellness being more in vogue these days and all the fitness apps and whatnot a revitalized health pavilion would make a ton of sense but I guess they don’t want to go that direction. I know they wouldn’t do it without IP anyway.

What a waste to destroy sets for the Play pavilion that never happened.

Health is also becoming increasingly politicized. Disney may want to stay away from that.

 

[KDM31091]

Health is also becoming increasingly politicized. Disney may want to stay away from that.

Well yeah, because you can’t imply anything about health without someone taking offense or feeling attacked or something. It seems almost everything is becoming polarized in this way. It’s a shame.

 

[Horizons '83]

Hard to believe this will get demolished. I've been wrong before (was 1000% sure Monsters was going in AC but you see how that played out)

 

[ChrisFL]

I don't think I ever set foot in the Wonders of Life pavilion. Not sure why.

Futureport82 (the virtual re-creation project of classic EPCOT Center attractions using Unreal Engine) has made a really good WOL pavilion re-creation:

 

[trainplane3]

Play Pavilion sets were recently destroyed, all that's in Wonders is a bunch of steel frames for facades that don't exist. No show equipment ever got installed, it would be an even more difficult hack job to work around the existing Play Pavilion infrastructure on top of fitting something into Wonders of Life. Personally I would gut the whole pavilion and start over again, but there must be some reason why WDI is allegedly not considering that.

Corporate lounge hasn't been available to rent for nearing seven years now. It still structurally exists but I don't think it's currently in a presentable state even if they wanted to start renting it out again.

Gotta ask, whatever happened to the mobile from WoL?

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

Gotta ask, whatever happened to the mobile from WoL?

Gut instinct says it was destroyed. I've heard everything from it was fully preserved, segments were preserved, segments were taken by people on the project team, and fully destroyed. I would like to imagine pieces of it are still floating around somewhere, but I only know of a single digit amount of items that were actually removed and archived from Wonders before demolition started. Almost everything else was destroyed, little reason for me to believe the mobile was an exception.

 

[ChrisFL]

Was the mobile still there when it was the festival center? I can't remember

 

[trainplane3]

Gut instinct says it was destroyed. I've heard everything from it was fully preserved, segments were preserved, segments were taken by people on the project team, and fully destroyed. I would like to imagine pieces of it are still floating around somewhere, but I only know of a single digit amount of items that were actually removed and archived from Wonders before demolition started. Almost everything else was destroyed, little reason for me to believe the mobile was an exception.

Dang alright. I kind of figured destroyed but was hoping since it was a Rolly piece, they'd save it.

Was the mobile still there when it was the festival center? I can't remember

Yes.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Depends... I found the experience at Paris (Vegas) and their tower made Disney's antenna on a roof feel basic. What Disney did in the late 70s felt amazing to what they came up with.. but in the 2000s it felt lower grade compared to what others had done as follow ups.

I guess it depends what you're into, but I think what Disney understands at its best that Vegas can't capture is charm and warmth. The smaller scale of the countries and the more handcrafted feel of their interior and exterior spaces has a very different effect than the giant casino/hotel replicas of the same parts of the world in Vegas.

I have also spent a lot of time in Norway, lived in Germany for 3 years, lived a year in Mexico and spend about a month there every year, and have been living and traveling in Europe for almost a decade, but I still find charm in the environment of the World Showcase pavilions. There is a certain amount of playfulness to wandering around World Showcase that, at least for me, speaks to the best of Disney theme park design as being the sum of its parts rather than just attractions.

Admittedly, I hated Vegas the one time I went, so it may be horses for courses.

 

[larryz]

3. put coco into Mexico, and take out the restaurant and make it queue, if need be build a new restaurant outside.

Sacrilege! El Rio del Tiempo/Gran Fiesta Tour con Los Tres Caballeros was WDW's consolation prize for not getting a restaurant in the Pirates load/entry lagoon.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

Dang alright. I kind of figured destroyed but was hoping since it was a Rolly piece, they'd save it.

It just comes down to logistics. You can't save everything, and the mobile was a huge piece. It was assembled in pieces in Maryland and then welded together inside Wonders at the last possible second (weeks before opening). How do you take that down and safely remove it from the building? Where/how do you store it? It wouldn't surprise me if these are all questions that were asked when it was taken down, but I do unfortunately doubt that much of it (if any) was saved from the rubble.