The Living Seas Pavillion Secrets of WDW Discuss The Living Seas Pavillion in the Trivia and Games Forums forums; WHAT DID THEY DOOOO?????!?!! i enjoyed the effects of the nemo ride...but when we got out...i deeply missed the old hydrolator water elevators, and the fish.....WHERE DID ALL THE FISH ...

[Wonderland16]

WHAT DID THEY DOOOO?????!?!! i enjoyed the effects of the nemo ride...but when we got out...i deeply missed the old hydrolator water elevators, and the fish.....WHERE DID ALL THE FISH GO!?? it looks like a rundown, poor excuse for an aquarium. I am HOPING....that they are doing this because maybe their in the works of making a new park/aquarium style thing....i think they would be great. the only plus about the pavillion right now is that they still have the manatees!

[Sorria]

Welcome to the world of the gradual "dumbing" up of Epcot. People are afraid that they might actually learn something on vacation and there's the ever prominent theory that Epcot isn't for kids. So what do the do they gut World of Motion and Horizons and replace them with white knuckle thrill rides and then take the Living Seas and El Rio del Teimpo and add characters in there to make parents with the kiddies happy and disguise the fact that "Hey, I'm learning stuff about the ocean."

The "edutainment" aspect of The Living Seas, and really all of Epcot, used to be very prevalent, but with the addition of rides like Nemo and Test Track....the education is still there, but its more disguised. Wether they're disguised as a thrill or desguised for kids so that they'll have fun on it. Its a gradual change Epcot's been making for a long time. I don't like it, but that's the way it is. I even think the new version of Spaceship Earth, though not completely ruined, is a "dumbed-up" version of its former predicesors with lines like "remember how you learned your ABC's" in the current attraction.

I too very much miss the hydrolatos in the old Living Seas. I miss the movie and how I used to always be able to recite parts of the movie when it was being played. I miss the whole Sea Base Alpha feel. With the Sea Base Alpha theme you actually felt like you were going miles under the ocean to a special secret research facaility, now with Nemo its more like you're just going to a regualr aquarium. I remember the Seas when they used to have tons of fish, sea turtles and sharks....and I miss my little puffer fish they used to have. I agree, there doesn't seem to be as many fish there and for years I don't think they had any sharks, though I think they have a few now.

I'll get off my soapbox now through.

[GoofyOnDWT]

On our recent trip (this past weekend), we didn't go to the Living Seas, and I'm glad I didn't based on what I'm reading in your posts. My wife and I are huge fans of EPCOT, but we were disappointed in the changes to El Rio de Tiempo. We've been going to Disney now for 20 straight years, and I understand "progress", but I do miss the original version of the ride.

Oh well, we'll still visit the park and do the things we love to do, but the feelings created during all of our previous visits have been altered to a less enjoyable state in regards to some of the recent alterations in EPCOT.

[albino_pygmy]

Originally Posted by Sorria

Welcome to the world of the gradual "dumbing" up of Epcot.

That's the best way of saying what's really happening with Epcot, love it!

I even think the new version of Spaceship Earth, though not completely ruined, is a "dumbed-up" version of its former predicesors with lines like "remember how you learned your ABC's" in the current attraction.

Probably they wanted to make sure everyone was on the same level and can understand ABC's, but we're not too sure that everyone can understand 'arabic alphabet' Either that, or make it easier for everyone to remember and recite lines from the ride like you just did without much hesitation, I assume? At least it's still "like a grand and miraculous spaceship . . ."

I too very much miss the hydrolatos in the old Living Seas. I miss the movie and how I used to always be able to recite parts of the movie when it was being played. I miss the whole Sea Base Alpha feel. With the Sea Base Alpha theme you actually felt like you were going miles under the ocean to a special secret research facaility, now with Nemo its more like you're just going to a regualr aquarium.

I actually thought we were at least 1 story underground that helped give the illusion of going miles under the ocean, becauase I was certain that the 'hydrolators' were just regular elevators that actually moved you, not just shook the ground and move 'rock walls' in the corners. It was a shock to me that everything was on the same level when they removed the hydrolators and really ruined the feeling of a "seabase," if they're still calling it a "seabase" that is? But hey, at least they brought back the old sea cabs in a clam form, but unfortunately make that main part of the pavillion and the rest seem less exciting.

[GirlStar613]

i also think it's a change in the way kids are overexposed to everything now...they "mature" earlier then i ever did...i remember actually being a kid and enjoying growing up and make believe...i get why they make it more nemo though to bring in the kids...but i still loved seabase alpha. and i have to agree about el rio del tiempo...i kinda miss the creepy marionettes at the end and of course the la la la la la.......

[HauntedGabe]

Originally Posted by Sorria

Welcome to the world of the gradual "dumbing" up of Epcot. People are afraid that they might actually learn something on vacation and there's the ever prominent theory that Epcot isn't for kids.

I couldn't have said it better than your post. I WANT MY OLD EPCOT BACK!

Rant over.

[BamaJenn]

While I miss the hydrolaters and a lot of those goodies... I thought the refurb of the Living Seas was well done. I think my reasons for this are partially because my son is a Nemo NUT but I think too it's because I've gotten so used to seeing refurbs that might as well have been demolisions... so any time they just change things a bit without completely gutting it and starting over is good with me. Also I think a big reason I like the refurb is because the Nemo ride they "added" isn't "new". They actually brought back to life an old attraction that had been closed for so long that it was forgotten about... and just gave it a Nemo theme. I was thrilled!

[redheadbrown]

The Hydrolators were so cool and I see what Wonderland 16 is saying about the fish not being there. The new ride is cool but I miss the old Living Seas Pavillion.

[mritty]

I experienced the hydrolaters exactly once, and that was once too many. What a phenomenal waste of time they were.

[albino_pygmy]

Originally Posted by mritty

I experienced the hydrolaters exactly once, and that was once too many. What a phenomenal waste of time they were.

All of 20 - 30 seconds just to get you immersed into the atmosphere that you are really miles under the ocean in a 'sea base' rather than just another aquarium? It was part of the theming that helped create the feeling you're in a sea base, and without them there anymore, it just doesn't feel as special anymore. Just like any other little detail of theming, such as background music in the Jungle Cruise. It helps create the atmosphere that you've gone back in time in 1920's - 1930's, plus with the added jokes of Albert Awol really add to the queue experience if you are able to hear his messages. Without them, you're just waiting in a hot boring queue just like without the hydrolators you're just in an aquarium with hardly any fish. It's probably sad to say Jungle Cruise might have more fish than Nemo

[redheadbrown]

Originally Posted by albino_pygmy

All of 20 - 30 seconds just to get you immersed into the atmosphere that you are really miles under the ocean in a 'sea base' rather than just another aquarium? It was part of the theming that helped create the feeling you're in a sea base, and without them there anymore, it just doesn't feel as special anymore. Just like any other little detail of theming, such as background music in the Jungle Cruise. It helps create the atmosphere that you've gone back in time in 1920's - 1930's, plus with the added jokes of Albert Awol really add to the queue experience if you are able to hear his messages. Without them, you're just waiting in a hot boring queue just like without the hydrolators you're just in an aquarium with hardly any fish. It's probably sad to say Jungle Cruise might have more fish than Nemo

I Agree with you totally. Atmosphere/setting is everything.

[mritty]

Yes, atmosphere/setting would be everything. But it wasn't. The atmosphere/setting ended with the hydrolators. Once you got to "sea base alpha", it was just a friggin' aquarium. Nothing more, nothing less. You walked around, looked a fish, walked around some more, and walked out of the building on the same floor. There was nothing about the aquarium that made me believe I was underground.

You have to do something all the way, not half-way.

[Sorria]

Since you only experienced the hydrolators once, I would probably venture to say you experienced them, as well as the whole Seabase Alpha experience, in its last days.

The Seabase Alpha of the years just prior to the "Nemoization" was a far cry from what The Living Seas Pavillion and the Seabase Alpha theme was in its glory days. The Seabase made a lot of changes since it opened in the 80s and progressed into the 90s and new milinnium.....over time, as with much of Epcot, the pavillion got "dumbed down", the old ride (which provided a lot of the themeing to the Seabase) gutted, and unfortunately the themeing of being in an underwater research facility worsened.

[bowlingman7]

I don't think Epcot should have anything to do with the characterization of the pavillions, leave that for the MK. I too miss the hydrolators & totally bought into the effect.

[BamaJenn]

Sorria sort of too the words from my finger tips on this. I remember the original Seabase Alpha... when the Hydrolaters actually fit into the overall theming of the pavillion. In their last few years they were really just a crowd control device and certainly didn't do much to help with the overall atmosphere. I'm sure that's where mritty is coming from in his experience of them.

Without the original pre-pre-show playing (that large round room with nothing but a wavey image actually was once much more) you missed the whole setting up of said atmosphere. Without it the hydrolaters came with no prior explanation of purpose or really any understanding of what was "supposedly" happening once you entered them. In the later years they were just a little room you squeezed into and invaded the personal space of others in for a few seconds while the floor wobbled beneath you.

I remember Seabase Alpha when it first opened and I can tell you with all certainty that, like many other things in the parks, when all the pieces are put together and fit perfectly, like a puzzle, the overall picture was much more impressive.