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/* Development and Construction */
==Pavilion History==
===Development and Construction===
Although The Living Seas would not open until 1986, plans for The Seas pavilion had been apart of EPCOT Center's early designs. The first mention of The Seas pavilion took place appeared in the 1977 Walt Disney Productions Annual Report. While touting the breakthrough of their newest plan to make EPCOT Center a reality, Disney described the planned Seas pavilion:
{{Quotation|'''The Seas''' -- Guests will board the clipper ship, "Spirit of Mankind," to sail through moments of peril and triumph with seven legendary mariners ... the great explorers who charted the seas for civilization. In another adventure, Poseidon the Sea Lord will challenge visitors to journey through ocean depths ... from the Continental Shelf to the Great Coral Reef. Finally arriving at "Sea Base Alpha," guests will experience an authentic ocean environment with live marine life, an undersea restaurant, and a showcase of oceanographic exhibits and displays<ref> Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Productions 1977 Annual Report , 1977. July 2018. </ref>.}}
As plans for The Seas continued to develop, the makeup of the pavilion began to change. By 1980, the "clipper ship" attraction seems to have been removed. In this version of the pavilion, guests would enter The Seas through a “portal” which transported them into a grotto. From here, they would enter a large preshow theater. With a storm raging around them, the doors of the theater would close. With a strike of lightning, Poseidon would appear and calm the storm with a stroke of his hand. He then noted that despite mankind's superstitions regarding the sea, it was the oceans themselves that were the “cradle of life”. Looking back at the few men who were brave enough to explore the oceans, he the god would then note that with wisdom and courage, we guests too could explore the sea.
At this point, the entire theater was to turn 180 degrees as the action on the screen followed guests. Another crash of lightning would then reveal a load area in the distance. As Poseidon called guests to move to the load area, they would travel down a long corridor to their ride vehicles, which were shaped like large glass bubbles.
After boarding their omnimover vehicles, guests would go on an adventure where they would pass through a “series of scenes depicting the visual drama of ocean kelp forests, abyssal canyons and other marvelous and mysterious ocean environments”<ref name= "intercot"/>. They would then enter a clear acrylic tube which was to run through the pavilion's 5 million gallon sea water tank. Following this journey, they would arrive in SeaBase Alpha, where they could further examine interactive exhibits as well as enter viewing platforms to observe the activity in the large aquarium.
Continuing to tinker with the pavilion, eventually, Imagineers cut the large entrance hall between the Poseidon show and the omnimovers. Furthermore, the ride path the the omnimovers would take was changed so that instead of going straight through the pavilion's massive tank, the ride vehicles now went around its circumference before entering and exiting through the central viewing module.
{{Quotation| "Visitors to The Seas pavilion will explore the wonders of the aquatic frontier through two major presentations. First, "The World of the Sea," a ride-thru experience presenting various ocean environments; and second, "Sea Base Alpha," a futuristic undersea research station complete with a 5,000,000-gallon tank supporting a living coral reef community." <ref name= "intercot"> http://www.intercot.com/edc/LivingSeas/lsconstr.html </ref>}}
When EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982, TheSeas The Seas pavilion was nowhere to be found. Instead, an empty large plot of land could be found in Future World West, with a sign that announced that The Living Seas would be opening in 1984. Despite this promise, Disney had yet to find a sponsor for the pavilion. This changed however on July 20, 1983 when United Technologies agreed to sponsor the 90 million dollar pavilion.
