Sep 12
24
Oh, The Wonders of Life!
When I was growing up, Epcot was overflowing with wonderful attractions and pavilions of all kinds. After Spaceship Earth, the second stop on our journey through Epcot Center was The Wonders of Life Pavilion. The first pavilion to the left of Epcot’s icon, The Wonders of Life brought the world of health, the body, and exercise to the everyday person.
Opening on October 19, 1982, the Wonders of Life Pavilion welcomed guests with a 75 foot tall double helix standing out front. While this pavilion was full of life, literally, the fun only lasted through 2006, when Wonders of Life took its place among the growing list of closed Epcot pavilions.
The pavilion boasted multiple types of attractions. Body Wars, similar to Hollywood Studios’s Star Tours simulator ride, took guests on a journey through the blood stream. The Making of Me, one of the more controversial attractions in all of WDW, displayed just that: how a human comes to be on this earth. Cranium Command used audio-animatronics to show the interaction between the brain and the body. The Anacomical players put a lighter spin on the human body, and Goofy about Health showed us Goofy as the picture of good health.
I truly believe that this pavilion should still have a place in the realm that is Epcot. With the amount of people on scooters and in wheelchairs that we see at Disney parks, and with the amount of overweight individuals that our in our country, there are so many themes that could be used to revamp and reopen this pavilion. Now just used for festival welcome centers, things like advancements in medicine, proper techniques in cooking and food preparation, and healthy living could be showcased in this pavilion. What a shame that it is extinct.
Take a look while you are at the Food and Wine Festival this fall at the inside of the Wonders of Life Pavilion. There are remnants of the past that will stir up great memories.
