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{{Template:Infobox Disney ride |
| image= seasfacade.jpg
| caption='''The coastline facade façade in front of the Seas With Nemo & Friends.'''
| theme=Finding Nemo, the sea
| sponsor= United Technologies (1986-1998)
| land=Future WorldNature
| park= Epcot
| opened=January 15, 1986
| custom_label_2 = Formally Known As
| custom_value_2 = The Living Seas (1986-2005)}}
The Seas With Nemo & Friends is a pavilion within World Nature in [[Epcot]]. If you are looking for the attraction located within the pavilion please see [[The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Attraction)]]
==Pavilion History==
===Development and Construction===
Although The Living Seas was originally planned as an opening day pavilion for EPCOT Center, the pavilion did would not open until 1986. Part of the delay, was the fact that both the design and tone of plans for The Living Seas changed drastically during this time. The original concepts for the pavilion were more fantasy based then scientific, with one had been a part of the EPCOT Center's early ideas for an attraction within the pavilion allowing guests to “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”designs. Another early concept would have begun with guests entering The Living first mention of The Seas and seeing a preshow where pavilion appeared in the Greek god Poseidon would calm a raging storm1977 Walt Disney Productions Annual Report. After While touting the preshow, Poseidon would have narrated guests on breakthrough of their dark ride adventure. This dark ride would have been a fully immersive experience, with shark attacks, shipwrecks, and various special effects adding newest plan to the excitement, before guests eventually entered the pavilion’s 200 ft. tank at the rides conclusion. Following the dark ride, guests would have arrived at Sea Base Alpha- an underwater research facility. According to the 1982 book make EPCOT Center: Creating a reality, Disney described the World of Tomorrow, while in The Living planned Seas ride guests would seepavilion:
{{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>.}}[[Image:Seas2.jpg|400px|thumb|Early concept art for The Living Seas pavilion featuring the glass bubble ride vehicles.]] 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 new version of the pavilion, guests would enter The Seas through a “portal” which transported them into a grotto <ref name= "Martin"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7TGeBE_0cQ </ref>. From here, they would enter a large preshow theater. As a storm raged 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, the god would then note that with wisdom and courage, guests too could explore the sea<ref name= "Martin"/>. 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 forward, they would travel down a long corridor to their ride vehicles, which were shaped like large glass bubbles<ref name= "Martin"/>. 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 Sea Base Alpha, where they could further examine interactive exhibits, as well as enter a long viewing platform 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<ref name= "Martin"/>. Furthermore, the ride path that 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<ref name= "Martin"/>. By the end of 1980 plans for The Seas pavilion were still changing. At this point the omnimover ride was shortened and the tone became more scientific. In the 1980 book Walt Disney's Epcot Center, the Seas pavilion is described:{{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>}}[[Image:Seasopening.jpg|400px|thumb|The Grand Opening of The Living Seas.]] Between 1980 and 1982, the tone of The Seas had clearly shifted. Gone was the fantasy elements of the pavilion's designs (including the "bubble" ride vehicles), as the focus of The Seas moved completely to the scientific, with an emphasis on the Seas Base Alpha portion of the pavilion. The 1982 book EPCOT Center: Creating the World of Tomorrow, notes that while in The Living Seas ride guests would see: {{Quotation| The environment, designed to look like a futuristic sea base, is an actual working environment in which man and machine coexist with the sea and its original inhabitants. All around us, we see diver’s carrying on their tasks, often accompanied by their coworkers, the dolphins, trained to work alongside man.| <ref> Beard, Richard R., and Walt Disney. Walt Disneys EPCOT Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow . Harry N. Abrams, 1982. </ref>}}[[Image:Seas2.jpg|thumb|Early concept art for When EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982, however, The Living Seas pavilionwas nowhere to be found.]]Inside of Sea base AlphaInstead, guests an empty large plot of land could see be found in Future World West, with a "television" system sign that allowed them to follow various divers’ activities. One camera announced that The Living Seas would be set on the sea flooropening in 1984<ref name= "Martin"/>. Despite this promise, the second mounted on Disney had yet to find a robotic device which followed sponsor for the diverpavilion. This changed on July 20, and finally1983, one would be on when United Technologies agreed to sponsor the diver’s helmet itself90 million dollar pavilion<ref name= "Martin"/>. In With United Technologies now sponsoring the research facilitypavilion, guests would also be able to see a series of exhibits that not only showcased underwater life, but also the future final layout of underwater science. Unlike its successor, the original plans for The Living Seas pavilion’s architecture called for a two story pavilion, with a glass roofbegan to take shape. As designs At this time, the Poseidon preshow and the long dark ride attraction (which United Technologies was unwilling to pay for ) were removed <ref name= "Martin"/> <ref> https://futureprobe.blogspot.com/2012/10/from-seas-to-living-seas-and-beyond.html </ref>. Instead, guests would now enter the pavilion changed, and the entire Living Seas took on watch a more serious toneshort preshow video. After this, they would take a quick trip through the glass ceiling was replaced by pavilion's aquarium before arriving at Sea Base Alpha. After a conventional oneseries of setbacks, construction on The Living Seas began in March of 1984 <ref name= "Martin"/>.
===The Living Seas Presented By United Technologies (1986-1998)===
===The Living Seas (1998-2006)===
===The Seas with Nemo & Friends (2006-Present)===
[[Image:SeasMickeyjpg.jpeg|400px|thumb|Mickey swimming in the Coral Reef Aquarium.]]On November 23, 2005, the Sea Base Alpha half of the The Seas pavilion reopened<ref name= "Martin2"/>. During the refurbishment, the exit hydrolators Hydrolators were removed from the pavilion, and guests now (temporarily) entered and exited through large glass doors<ref name= "Martin2"/>. The Sea Base (as it was now called) had also been completely remodeled. New signs and decor were added, and some of the previously scientific exhibits were replaced by Finding Nemo themed ones. Although Sea Base (and thus Turtle Talk with Crush) was operational by November, the front half of the pavilion remained closed. During this time, the preshow theater, hydrolators, and former Sea Cab area were removed, so that the dark ride portion of the pavilion could be expanded. In the place of the old preshow, hydrolators, and Sea Cabs ride, Disney planned on creating a new dark ride also titled The Seas with Nemo & Friends, which would allow guests to follow Nemo’s adventures in the ocean, after once again being separated from his father. In total, 9 new dark ride sets and 280 feet of extra track were added to the old Sea Cab track in order to create the new attraction. To go along with the new track, side facing <ref name= "ClamobilesMartin2" (the dark ride's vehicles) were added. The reason for that the vehicles were side facing, was that Disney had developed a new technology that allowed them to project the characters from Finding Nemo into the large aquarium tank. During the refurbishment Disney also remodeled the pavilion's queue, so that guests now walked directly to the loading area for the dark ride. The new queue was themed so that guests would travel from the beach, to under the pier, to underwater. By doing this, Disney eliminated the need for the hydrolators, but retained the original story that they told/>.
The Seas with Nemo & Friends's queue replaced the Hydrolator portion of the attraction. The new queue was themed so that guests would travel from the beach, under a pier, and finally underwater. This allowed Disney to eliminate the need for the Hydrolators, but retain the original story that they told. The removal of the third Hydrolator, as well as the preshow theater, also allowed Imagineers to install nine new dark ride scenes <Ref name="Martin2"/>. In order to extend the original Caribbean Coral Reef Ride track to include these new scenes, 280 ft of additional track was installed<Ref name=Current Attractions=="Martin2"/>.The SeaCabs themselves were replaced with the "Clamobiles" that would take guests through the story.
With the Seas with Nemo & Friends operational, there was still one final change to The Seas pavilion. On January 29th 2007, Turtle Talk with Crush closed <ref name= "Martin"/>. The popular attraction was then moved from module 1C to the larger module 1A. A corridor was also built to connect the module to the old preshow theater #2, allowing Turtle Talk to have a much higher capacity <ref name= "Martin2"/>. ==Current Attractions=='''[[The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Attraction)]]'''- This dark ride allows guests to explore the "Big Blue World" with Nemo and his friends. On The Seas with Nemo & Friends, guests board Clamobiles and set off to help rescue Nemo, who is once again missing. The Seas with Nemo & Friends is based on the Finding Nemo franchise. [[Image:TurtleTalk.jpeg|490px|thumb|Turtle Talk with Crushopened in The Seas with Nemo & Friends in 2005.]]'''[[Turtle Talk with Crush]]'''- This interactive show allows guests to meet and talk to Crush himself. Turtle Talk with Crush uses digital puppetry to help Crush (from Finding Nemo) the sea turtle answer guests guest's questions.
'''Sea Base'''- This interactive area allows guests to further explore the seas. Here, guests can look out in into the pavilion's aquariums, and learn more about aquatic life from various Finding Nemo themed interactive exhibits.
===Tours===
The Seas with Nemo & Friends features three different tours that guests can experience (for an additional cost):
'''Epcot Seas Adventure- DiveQuest'''- Epcot DiveQuest This tour is 3 a three hour experience that certified SCUBA divers can take. The experience is broken up into three parts, a 40 minute under water underwater tour in the Caribbean Coral ReefAquarium, a backstage tour, and free time. Guests must be at least 10 years old to participate in Epcot Seas Adventure- DiveQuest
'''Epcot Seas Adventure- Aqua Tour'''- This tour allows guests to swim in the Caribbean Coral Reef Aquarium with the assistance of a SCUBA Assisted Snorkel system. The tour last approximately two and half hours, and guests must be at least 8 years old to participate.
'''Epcot Seas Adventures- Dolphins in Depth'''- This three hour tour allows guests to learn about, meet, and even swim with the dolphins. Guests must be at least 13 years old, but do not need to know how to swim to participate. Only one group of up to 8 guests can participate in the Dolphins in Depth experience per day.
==Former Attractions==
[[Image:SeaBaseAlphaSeas.jpeg|400px|thumb|Sea Base Alpha]]
Originally, The Living Seas featured three separate but interconnected attractions. The attractions formally located in the pavilion included:
'''SeasThe Sea'''- This short video explained to guests how the Earth changed from a volcanic planet, to one covered in oceans. The Seas Sea film played from 1986 until 2005.
'''Caribbean Coral ReefRide (aka The SeaCabs)'''- The This short omnimover attraction allowed guests to board SeaCabs and take a ride through Caribbean Coral Reef Aquarium to Sea Base Alpha. While on board the ride vehicles, guests could get a 270 degree view of the large aquarium. The Caribbean Coral Reef ride closed to guests in 2001. Following their closure, guests simply walked down a corridor to Sea Base Alpha.
'''Sea Base Alpha'''-Sea Base Alpha featured many scientific exhibits related to underwater research. related exhibits. Although the exhibits changed over time, they always had a marine focus. From Sea Base Alpha, guests could look out into the pavilion's aquariums and see many exotic marine animals. Sea Base Alpha was open from 1986-2005. At this time, the area was renamed simply Sea Base, and many of the exhibits housed within were given a Finding Nemo Themetheme.
==Restaurants==
'''[[Coral Reef Restaurant]]'''- The Coral Reef Restaurant is a table service restaurant which specializes in seafood. The restaurant is located to the right of the entrance to [[The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Attraction)]]. Inside, guests can look out into the Caribbean Coral Reef aquarium and observe over 4000 6000 sea creatures.
==Shopping==
'''The Seas with Nemo & Friends Gift Shop'''- The pavilion's gift shop is located near in the Sea Base, near the pavilion's exit. The shop sells Finding Nemo and aquatic merchandise, as well as general Epcot souvenirs.
==Fun Facts and Trivia==
*When United Technologies signed on to sponsor The Living Seas, the company wanted their own set of characters similar to Dreamfinder and Figment in the [[Journey Into Imagination pavilion]]. Perhaps in jest, Imagineer John Hench designed Captain Saltyhinder and his pet mackerel. The characters were never used <Ref> https://d23.com/the-saga-of-captain-saltyhinder/ </ref>.
* There are 61 different windows through which guests can view The background music played in the Caribbean Coral Reef aquariumoriginal Living Sea's Hydrolators was composed by Russell Brower and based on a theme by George Wilkins <ref name="D23"> https://d23.com/a-to-z/living-seas-the/ </ref>.
* Spaceship Earth could fit completely inside There are 61 different windows through which guests can view the Caribbean Coral Reef aquarium<ref name= "intercot2"/>.
* Many of Spaceship Earth could fit completely inside the interior pipes in the Sea's With Nemo & Friends have the name and extension number of Imagineers who worked on the attractionCaribbean Coral Reef aquarium <ref> https://twitter.com/wdwtoday/status/872105819361480704 </ref>.
* Montgomery Watson was Many of the interior pipes in the prime architectural and engineering contractor for The Living Seas With Nemo & Friends have the name and extension number of Imagineers who worked on the pavilion<ref name= "trivia"> http://www.wdwradio.com/2007/09/the-seas-with-nemo-and-friends/ </ref>.
* Montgomery Watson was the prime architectural and engineering contractor for The Living Seas pavilion <ref name==References=="book"/>.
===Consultants <Ref name="intercot2"> http://disneyworldwww.disney.gointercot.com/tours-and-experiencesedc/epcot-dive-questLivingSeas/lsfacts.html </ref>===Consultants that helped in the creation of The Living Seas included: