Attraction marquee up for The Seas with Nemo and Friends

[Mecha Figment]

Trust me guys if i was still in the world i would have hopped on over and taken a pic for you. But I"m back home now for a while. So sorry.

 

[CTXRover]

I really don't know what to feel about all of this, other than that this is one more step in Futureworld's totally losing its focus. Mission: Space is the only thing that's opened there in my lifetime that has anything of a futuristic or ever-so-slightly educational feel to it. It's kind of sad that now even attractions with an originally futuristic or progress theme are changing to a more Disneyfied theme. I truly believe our society is taking steps backward. Why is nobody excited about progress any more?

Test Track is educational. Mission:Space is educational. All the new exhibits in the Living Seas are educational. Soarin' isn't, but is fun and more appopriate for a pavilion about the land than Food Rocks was and perhaps might inspire someone to realize how great "our land" truly is. Imagination 3.0, well I can't say much good about that in either the enterainement of education dept. All of the Innoventions exhibits are educational. The main difference I see compared to the early 80's Epcot is all of the newer attractions don't spoon-feed you information in a 3-D history book ride-through. In fact, with the exception of Horizons and the supposedly futuristic Sea-base Alpha theme, most of my memories of Epcot's original rides were more about looking at the history of progress than necessarily what the future held. Understanding where we came from is important to make any progress, but the original Epcot actually seemed to be more of a history lesson than displaying a look into the future. I think that is why it was getting the bad reputation of being a "teacher's park" when it was so much more.

I hear a lot of people say Test Track isn't educational, but I disagree. The queue is a motor-lovers dream museum. The actual ride is an inside look into what the cars we drive on a daily basis goes through before they are manufactured. I admit that I actually learned my fair share of things from TT.

I loved the original Epcot Center as much as the next guy here, but I certainly would not be happy if everything had stayed the way it was for nostalgia sake. Epcot today is much more of a passive educational experience, and dare I say more fun. To be honest, I think the average guest finds that more fun as well. Will the new Living Seas ride provide any educational value? I have no idea. But I hope it does a little. If not, the main pavilion is just as educational about sea life as it ever was...just a little less emphasis on a theoretical future of sea exploration, which I admit is kind of a shame.

Anyway, I think people are very interested in progress. But in a world where the next big technological advancement that will change how we live our lives, experience entertainment or travel from place to place is literally months to a few years away, it is impossible for a park to focus each of their attractions on the future. By the time they went through the design phase and were built, they'd be out of date and require an update...its actually a problem I see with many of the Innoventions exhibits and why I think they are going to more generic hands-on experiences than future technology advancements.

 

[dxwwf3]

While I did love Seabase Alpha and the overall theme of The Living Seas, I think this is will a great change all the way around. I have to admit that The Living Seas was something that we usually only saw once every two or three trips. It will be great to have a ride back in the pavilion and it will be something that kids will enjoy. There's not a TON of things for the little ones in Epcot and this should help that.

 

[Skippy]

I agree with the educational value of the new Living Seas. Especially with kids, the addition of these characters by their respective areas of the seabase a great, fun addition to things they might learn about the fish. And I've said it before: Turtle Talk with Crush was the best example of 'educational yet fun' that I've seen at WDW in a long time.

 

[Baums101]

While I was driving the monorail through Epcot today, I noticed that the rocks in front of The Living Seas pavilion where the water splashes now has a sign on it with the pavilion's new name: The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Its definitely the permanent marquee for the pavilion. However, that half of the pavilion is still behind the blue construction wall. Also of note, the mural out front of the building has been painted all blue for some reason. What becomes of it, who knows, but I found out odd that the whole thing was painted one color.

Thanx for the update!

 

[Skippy]

Sign pictures are supposed to be up at this thread tomorrow.

 

[Disneyfanman]

I guess I don't understand why some folks are upset at this change. They are keeping one of the original pavilions relevant and attracting families to a very educational experience. There is no down side here for me except for hearing people complain. I think some folks would complaint about the only cloud on a sunny day.

 

[year45]

It is indeed that same logo with the bubbles, I was at epcot today and you can see part of it poking above the construction wall if your far away. The wall is being repainted, kinda still looks the same with blues and purples. But the big thing I noticed in place on the rocks today aside from the sign are the seagulls from the movie. I like the way its coming along.