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The Seas With Nemo & Friends
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Seas with Nemo & Friends (previously The Living Seas) is a pavilion in Future World at Epcot in Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The attraction is based on underwater exploration, with several exhibits devoted to that theme. The pavilion opened in 1986, but had been a planned part of the park since its opening in 1982.
The Living Seas was sponsored by United Technologies until 2001.
History
The Seas with Nemo and Friends Pavilion opened to the public in 1986 as The Living Seas. It was the largest man-made underwater environment in the world at its completion (since surpassed by the Georgia Aquarium). The concept of the building was to take visitors under the ocean to 'Sea Base Alpha'. Visitors would watch a short movie then take a simulated elevator ride to the ocean floor via a 'Hydrolator.' Guests then would ride the Caribbean Coral Reef Ride in a "seacab" along an underwater tunnel through the aquarium. From there guests would ride around 'Sea Base Alpha' getting an up-close view of the marine life. They would then disembark into the main exhibit area where they could interact with various multimedia displays.
In 2003, the process of bringing in elements of the Pixar film Finding Nemo began. This includes the now popular Turtle Talk with Crush show where the sea turtle Crush talks to the audience about marine life by usage of an innovative live CGI system. In 2005, The Living Seas closed for its extensive Finding Nemo lay over, which included removing the hydrolators (primarily due to the amount of guest complaints from decompression sickness - despite not actually moving), "The Seas" film, and changing the Seacabs ride. The pavilion reopened in October of 2006 with a new name, The Seas with Nemo and Friends Pavilion as part of Disney's Year of a Million Dreams celebration.
A loosely related attraction, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage has also been built at Disneyland which is located in the same area as the original Submarine Voyage, which closed on September 9th 1998. This attraction opened on June 11th 2007.
The Attraction
Guests board their own 'Clamobiles' and venture into the sea to join Marlin, Dory, and the other memorable characters as they search for Nemo who has become lost again. They first journey through a coral reef where they find Marlin the clownfish searching for Nemo. Farther along the reef they come across Mr. Ray and his students setting out to explore and look for Nemo. Dory soon joins Marlin in the search and they come upon a group of jellyfish. Suddenly out of the darkness comes an anglerfish that begins to chase them frantically. Guests dive deeper and come upon the wreck of a massive submarine that sits in the center of a deadly minefield. Peeking out from the wreck is Bruce the Great White Shark, and Chum the Mako shark trying to coax Nemo out from his hiding spot. Unfortunately Anchor the Hammerhead is not part of the ride. They assure him that fish are friends not food in their sneaky voices. Guests's clamobiles are then swept up into the EAC with Nemo, Crush, and Squirt. The current empties out the guests into a massive aquarium where Nemo is reunited once again with his friends. As they sing a closing song, "In the Big Blue World" (although the ride opened first, the song was adapted from the Disney's Animal Kingdom show Finding Nemo - The Musical), these Pixar characters swim in the real aquarium along with real fish by use of special effect glass. The clamobiles then return to the surface.
Pavilion Attractions and Services
- Coral Reef Restaurant - a table service dining establishment whose primary draw is the fact that one of its walls is the aquarium's glass back.
- The Seas With Nemo & Friends - a ride aboard 'clamobiles' that follows the adventures of Nemo and his friends, with the characters from the movie actually interacting inside of the Living Seas aquarium (opened October 2006)
- Sea Base - the main viewing area for the aquarium
- Turtle Talk with Crush - an interactive show wherein the sea turtle from Finding Nemo answers children's questions about the sea.
- Gift Shop
VIP Room
This pavilion has a backstage VIP room that is used for private events, such as weddings and conventions. The room is a long, curved room, with wood paneled walls. One side has floor-to-ceiling windows into the aquarium. The room also has an acrylic glass see-through piano.
The article text above is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Seas With Nemo & Friends".
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