Changes

Change continued to be a constant at Epcot, as the park got ready for its Millennium Celebration. In 1998, the popular [[Journey Into Imagination pavilion]] closed for refurbishment <ref name= "imagination"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?p=95 </ref>. During the renovation, the [[Journey Into Imagination attraction]] was replaced by the unpopular [[Journey Into Your Imagination]], and the upstairs [[ImageWorks]] was closed off to guests (a smaller ImageWorks reopened in the pavilion's first floor) <ref name= "imagination"/>. Following the renovation, the pavilion was renamed simply Imagination! <ref name= "imagination"/>. The following year, in January of 1999, Horizons closed for good <ref name= "horizons"/>. The pavilion had remained unsponsored since GE ended its sponsorship in 1994, and it was beginning to look dated<ref name= "horizons"/>. As opposed to repurposing the pavilion, Disney instead chose to demolish it, to create room for the previously announced [[Mission: Space]] attraction<ref name= "horizons"/>. In 2000, Disney also decided to add a large mickey arm holding a wand to the top of Spaceship Earth <ref name= "wand"> http://www.yesterland.com/icontower.html </ref>. The large dedication “2000” was also added at the end of the wand, although this was subsequently changed to “Epcot” starting in 2001 <ref name= "wand"/>.

Following the addition of the wand, Epcot stayed relativity stagnant until 2003 when [[Mission: Space]] finally opened <ref name= "space"> http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/epfw-mission.htm </ref>. The new attraction was a motion simulator thrill ride which was themed as an astronaut training program for the first flight to Mars <ref name= "space"/>. In 2005, Another simulator was added to the park, this time to the Land pavilion in the form of the new attraction Soarin' <ref name= "soarin"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?p=208 </ref>. Initially created for Disney’s California Adventure, this motion simulator gave guests the feeling they were hang gliding over California <ref name= "soarin"/>. In 2006, The Living Seas was rethemed to tie in with the Disney-Pixar movie Finding Nemo, subsequently renamed [[The Seas with Nemo & Friends]] <ref name= "seas"/>. The pavilion now housed a dark ride attraction (also called the Seas with Nemo & Friends), as well as Turtle Talk with Crush, and the interactive exhibits in Sea Base<ref name= "seas"/>. Overall, the pavilion took a much more of a fantasy tone, as opposed to the previously scientific tone of the pavilion.