Wondering what’s up with Wonders of Life?
We were curious about the Wonders of Life too, and thus we ventured inside to explore the area while it was open at the Festival Center for the Flower and Garden Festival.
Once inside, there’s been a small amount of paint work done to give it a slightly different feel but much of original 1980’s look is still apparent. The cool blue is a nice throw back to the original Epcot color schemes in Future World.
Body Wars has had its mural painted over with white, its sign removed, and it’s entrance is boarded up where the main part of the queue would begin. The courtyard which once was themed to a indoor grassy area and pathway (this where they housed the housed the Exercycles) is replaced with seating for the festival seminars.
Nearby, the Making of Me has been stripped of all of it’s signage and is being used to show a film on the making o the Flower and Garden festival on a constant loop. The front entrance doors are barricaded with a banquet table and the side exits are used as an open pass-through.
The most surprising change is the removal of the archway and marquee for Cranium Command. If you didn’t know where to look you’d never suspect this was the entrance to an animatronic show.
The good news is that the giant mobile is still hanging in the dome and for this festival it has been turned back on and is once again spinning.
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3 Responses to “Wondering what’s up with Wonders of Life?”
Is it just me, or does anyone else think Nintendo would be a great sponsor for this Pavilion? They could cross promote the WII Fit and some of their other more ‘active’ games, update Body Wars to Tron and put you inside a WII instead of a computer, reopen cranium command (which was a must do for us, I would not change a thing) and put some fresh paint on the Making of Me. Bring in some Nintendo characters (Mario, Luigi), cross promote Kingdom of Hearts. It really feels like a good fit, so for that reason will probably never get done.
I miss this pavilion’s heyday, too. Cranium Command was such a favorite of ours we took a trip to WDW the last weekend it was open, just to see it a few more times. I think the theme–physical and mental health–deserves a second chance and a new life, with some minor changes for the new millenium. The Wii Fit sounds like a great corporate and popular draw and a good match.
Personally, I still think shoehorning the Power Rangers into the Disney family of characters was a terrible move on so many levels. It’s the only time I’m at Disney that I feel the experience is cheapened. I feel the same about the possibility of adding Nintendo characters. Disney’s rich legacy–as demonstrated with Goofy’s use in the old pavilion–is deep enough to rely on their own characters to meet the needs of overall fitness. And when they’ve reached out beyond the Disney family–as with Indiana Jones or Star wars–I believe it was done with the proper sense of balance and dovetailing with respect to Disney ideals.
i never went in it and i dont remember a time when it was open when i went down but i can say that i believe that they should strip it out and put something more exiting and more modern like test track was put in after the world of motion. it has a lot of room and a more intense ride would do disney good because all there is is test track, mission: space(orange), everest, and dinosaur. its just empty space that is open from time to time but even then the rides are closed. it closed (other then the loss of its sponsore met-life) from loss of popularity and if they bring it back the popularity would stay the same as it was (or get smaller due to this generations need for addrenalin pumping rides) so what would be the point in reopening it?