Remember: (the original)The Living Seas

[crowdcontroltap]

Hey everyone!
I remember being at the opening of this attraction and during its lifespan esp. during the late 1980's it was ahead of its time. The line that you would start in had displays of various ways the ocean depths were explored or ideas that did not float (lol). The pre-show was a wrap around screen with a film (and the pavilion) sponsored by United Technologies. The film showed brief clips of current and future underwater exploration. Moving on, you would go into a theater where it would show some people's thoughts of how the oceans came about (we always skipped this show because we did not agree with their theory and thankfully they allowed you skip it).

Next up was the hydrolators which as a kid I thought this was so awesome to enter and ride. It made you feel like you were going to Sea Base Alpha, through the rocky layers of rock in the ocean to the sea floor.

When you exit the hydrolators you would board ride vehicles for a ride through part of the sea base. From this ride portion you would see the many fish and sea animals that call Sea Base Alpha home (The Nemo ride took over this portion).

I will have more on this later.....oh yeah, remember "Thunder in Paradise" (starring Hulk Hogan)? Well, some of the show was filmed here!

 

[crowdcontroltap]

O.k. after exiting the ride, you would walk around Sea Base Alpha (as you do now) and see the various displays and look through the windows at the sea life. At times Disney divers would get in the water and go and communicate with the guest (esp. kids) using their hands (a great game of charades..lol)

Alot of the displays they have now are about the same as they had back then except there were two submersibles (one actually won an award for best design and performance) one hanging from the top and one on the ground floor near the escalators. At one time there was a yellow robot named Jason that would talk to guest and tell them about what his job is in the ocean waters. There were a couple of cartoons shown in one room: one featured the ancient Greece character of Atlas (which I believe Patrick Warburton did his voice, it sounds like him) and a cartoon of a father and son fish talking about different and weird things in the ocean. You could also step into a huge underwater dive suit and try your hand moving and turning things using the claws on the arms of the suit. The gift store portion was in the middle of the room instead of at the far left of the building the way it is now. The tube towards the back of the building near where Crush is at now, once upon a time was used as a Diver Chamber, where a diver would swim down and then the water would empty out and the diver would come out and talk to the guest about his equipment. Nothing much has changed inside the aquarium itself.

If anyone else has anything to add then be sure to add it so it can make this a great memory of an attraction that has now quickly become even more popular with Nemo and Friends.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Excluding SSE,TLS was my favorite FW attraction.

"And it rained....and rained....and rained....and rained.

THE DELUGE!!!!"
:lol:

 

[Sam Eagle 1776]

The sea cabs were great but the rest didn't change hardly at all until the makeover.

 

[SleepingMonk]

The hydrolators were always my favorite with the bubbles streaming past the windows and the way the floor would shake side to side. I still remember the grey rubber floor with the little non-slip round circles on it.

 

[TheDisneyMagic]

The entire design of this pavilion, like Journey into Imagination was absolutely perfect for guest flow, you got to see so many things without lining up for a long period of time.

Everything from the film (which still makes the hairs on my arms stand when I hear recordings), the hydrolators, sea cabs and other exhibits was brilliant.

Dive Quest are a little too strict though.

 

[One Lil Spark]

The hydrolators were always my favorite with the bubbles streaming past the windows and the way the floor would shake side to side. I still remember the grey rubber floor with the little non-slip round circles on it.

Literally until the last time I experienced the true Living Seas I thought the Hydrolators had to be real. It was a sad day when you rode the Hydrolators to Seabase Alpha without arriving via Seacab.

Part of classic EPCOT Center that I sorely miss.

 

[DarthGrady]

Does anyone know if/where the original pre show movie can be seen now? I would love to hear it again, the lady narrators voice was the best part. I wonder who she was?

 

[TheDisneyMagic]

Martin's tribute over at Mousebits has the video and audio.

It is a great download.

 

[pinjim]

Thanks for the reflection, I enjoy these type of posts.

 

[mcjaco]

Does anyone know if/where the original pre show movie can be seen now? I would love to hear it again, the lady narrators voice was the best part. I wonder who she was?

It was Kathleen Turner.

 

[DisneyWorldFred]

I remember The Living Seas, loved the attraction until I heard they replaced it with "Nemo". I loved the presentation movie before the hydro ride in the elevators down to Sea Base Alpha then get in the car to view the different parts of the Sea Base. I miss that as well Horizons as well and Body Wars. There is so much that I wish they leave be but with time things have to change and improve.

 

[simking]

How many rides have been replaced with crappy CGI or in your face rides that require no imagination.
That's the problem their is no imagination anymore cgi has replaced imagination those rides like 20k required you believe something that was not real you created the adventure in your mind.That is lost with these new dumbed down rides I really believe its hurting more than its doing good.Seems like everything is spoon feed to you it requires no work no imagination.I blame the fast paced world where everything is a click away.

 

[wiigirl]

Thanks for the reflection, I enjoy these type of posts.

Me too!

 

[Clamman73]

When I hear the splashing outside, it reminds me of the old school days, but then those seagulls ruin it! mine

 

[hiptwinmama]

I remember how beautiful the tanks used to be and how there used to be a lot more sea life in them. We would spend an hour in there between the Pre-Shows, Ride, and Seabase Alpha. It seems like there was a lot more to experience at EPCOT back in the day.

 

[The MadHatter]

"And it rained....and rained....and rained....and rained.

THE DELUGE!!!!"
:lol:

THIS

 

[The MadHatter]

this thread got me thinking about when live cast members were stationed on living with the land.

 

[matt9112]

Hey everyone!
I remember being at the opening of this attraction and during its lifespan esp. during the late 1980's it was ahead of its time. The line that you would start in had displays of various ways the ocean depths were explored or ideas that did not float (lol). The pre-show was a wrap around screen with a film (and the pavilion) sponsored by United Technologies. The film showed brief clips of current and future underwater exploration. Moving on, you would go into a theater where it would show some people's thoughts of how the oceans came about (we always skipped this show because we did not agree with their theory and thankfully they allowed you skip it).

Next up was the hydrolators which as a kid I thought this was so awesome to enter and ride. It made you feel like you were going to Sea Base Alpha, through the rocky layers of rock in the ocean to the sea floor.

When you exit the hydrolators you would board ride vehicles for a ride through part of the sea base. From this ride portion you would see the many fish and sea animals that call Sea Base Alpha home (The Nemo ride took over this portion).

I will have more on this later.....oh yeah, remember "Thunder in Paradise" (starring Hulk Hogan)? Well, some of the show was filmed here!

i loved the hydrolators....i felt like i was going 20 storys down to command some serous s**t