Comments on: Show # 227 – June 19, 2011

By: Casey Jo

Casey Jo — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:33:47 +0000

Oh and I forgot, as something I”d love to see at the Wonders of Life Pavilion….I’d love to see just an updated remake of it. With where technology is now, I can only imagine how they can revisit Body Wars. Whether they keep it as a simulation or actually make it into a thrill ride. The interactivity of the cycles, large headphones to sit in with the sounds are missed. Cranium Command was such a cute idea and it was so funny that they could possibly make it more interactive with the audience and have a choose your own adventure ride.

I’ve always felt the Wonders of Life just needed an update and it’d keep interest. Miss it a lot!

By: Casey Jo

Casey Jo — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:41:37 +0000

Thank you so much for doing a show on The Wonders of Life Pavilion! I loved it growing up and my family would spend hours in there. I really loved the baseball netted area as a child. So much fun. I show my friends youtube videos of Cranium Command to give them an idea of what they missed out on and we all agree that it’s truly missed.

Thanks for a blast from the past!

By: John King

John King — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:32:43 +0000

Great episode, guys! Your attention to detail is fantabulous.

I think the Wonders of Life, if re-opened, should focus on breakthroughs in wellness, by encouraging exercise using, say, Kinect or Wii technology on a large, fun scale with games unique to Walt Disney Worldâ€”sort of an aerobic version of the old Imageworks. Of course, the bikes that simulated riding through WDW never go out of style! Nutrition and exercise shows, featuring animatronics, could be a plus (thereâ€™s room for Kitchen Kabaret there, I think).

Potential sponsors could include athletic product manufacturers (ones that value good health more than image [as in, not Nike]), videogame people, or maybe even Whole Foods, unless a food sponsor would conflict with sponsorship deals in The Land.

Cranium Command still played well when I last saw it in December of 2006, but maybe the film could be updated showing kids with iPhones and a replacement for Hans and Franz could be found. The premise was so classic!

By: Jenn

Jenn — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:04:37 +0000

Lou and Ryan,
Thank you so much for this trip in the Wayback machine! Wonders of Life used to be one of my favorite Epcot pavilions -especially to see Cranium Command and The Making of Me. I still have a couple of items that I purchased from this pavilion, and remember getting some great smoothies from Pure & Simple. Great work on these podcasts – keep it up!
Thanks!

By: Jr. Imagineer

Jr. Imagineer — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:38:04 +0000

Hey Lou! After listening to this weeks podcast about the Wonders of Life pavilion and ideas for its future, I was reminded of a concept I began working on years ago in my post-imagi-nations efforts to get a job with Imagineering (I was an Imagi-Nations finalist in 2005). The idea was this: an Incredibles themed attraction that was fun and exciting but still allowed guests to learn about the aspects of life. I called it “Super Human”. I only got through some ideas and sketches, but I think the idea of a life-based attraction supported by the superhero abilities from the Incredibles is an excellent fit. The existing architecture could be easily re-themed to look like the 60s modern-style building featured in the film, and a really great E-ticket, state-of-the-art attraction could be developed for the inside. The visual possibilities are endless (imagine walking through that lava hallway). The pavilion could also feature many additional exhibits that would showcase the super abilities of the human body. A long, long, long time ago I started a blog to document my process. Unfortunately, real life took over. Check it out at: http://thejrimagineer.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the great podcasts.

By: WDW-Memories Lou

WDW-Memories Lou — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 20:12:43 +0000

Lou and Ryan, this was a great in depth review of this now missing pavilion. I wanted to let you (and any of your listeners/readers) know that I shared some binaural audio from the last time I got to see this pavilion in action back on Memory 014 of the WDW-Memories Podcast. I also wanted to thank you and Ryan for the hard work pulling together all the information you shared. The depth of knowledge was just awe inspiring. Thanks for all you do.

By: Joel

Joel — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:26:59 +0000

I had a chance to visit the pavilion when it was in soft opening. Making of Me was not opened and Cranium Command didn’t have the final film (Several scenes were the draft drawings). One aspect that dated the pavilion horribly was the use of hip stars of the moment. Bobcat Goldthwait, Hanz and Franz, etc I think was a bad idea. Just like putting in Ellen over at Energy, it removes the timelessness of an attraction. The next time I visited 17 years later, it was seasonally closed and then permanently closed a few months after.

At the same time when it lost Met Life as a sponsor, it became apparent that Disney didn’t believe in the pavilion. They weren’t willing to take on the cost of running the attractions or to really upgrade them to keep the crowds coming.

By: James

James — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:12:42 +0000

I loved the Wonders of Life pavilion. It did such a great job of educating without seeming like it was. Not only were the attractions inside the pavilion fun, the exhibits were eye-opening! I will never forget the hot and cold coils — you felt the 6 warm coils, you felt 6 chilled coils, but when you felt 6 coils that alternated (chilled-warm-chilled-warm, etc) you would “feel” that it was burning hot and pull your hand back. There was also a great frozen yogurt bar, iic.

As for the question of what to do with this pavilion, I don’t have any great ideas. If you look at the other pavilions in Future World, it would seem logical to make it into something that has to do with air planes. We’ve already got the sea, the land, and space. We also have automobiles and a space ship. Why not add air travel? I’m sure they could find a sponsor for that and I’m sure people of all ages would be interested in the subject matter. The existing motion simulator could be put to good use, too.

By: Freddyfreak1999

Freddyfreak1999 — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:23:48 +0000

An indoor toontown

By: Tammy

Tammy — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:32:23 +0000

Hey there everyone!

Just wanted to say that Lou & Ryan were correct when saying the man who sang ‘Unhealthy Living Blues’ sounded like Sonny Eclipse, because indeed the man (Kal David, http://www.kaldavid.com) did also voice Sonny Eclipse.

We had a wonderful interview with him on the 6th episode of the Tiara Talk Show which he talks about the recording session for the song as well as recording for Sonny Eclipse (wwwtiaratalkshowpodcast.com).

Hope this information has been of some help!

Tammy
Host of the Tiara Talk Show