Changes
/* The Living Seas (1998-2006) */
===The Living Seas (1998-2006)===
Aside from minor changes to Sea Base Alpha, The Living Seas remained essentially unchanged until 1998 when United Technologies ended their sponsorship of the pavilion. With the end of United Technologies sponsorship, all references to the company were removed from the pavilion by the end of 1999. At this time, one of the two preshow theaters was also closed, in order to allow returning guests to skip the film altogether and move directly to the hydrolators. Subsequently, in 2002 the Sea Cab portion of the pavilion closed, with guests now walking from the Hydrolators, past the non-functioning Sea Cabs, and into Sea Base Alpha (of note is the fact that the SeaCabs remained intact after being discontinued, they were just boarded up).
With no sponsor, and a decrease in popularity, Disney decided that The Living Seas needed a new tone. In order to increase the pavilion’s popularity, Disney began to tie the popular 2003 film Finding Nemo into the exhibits in Sea Base Alpha. As part of this new tie in, in 2004 Modules 1C and 1D were closed to the public. When they reopened, the featured Bruce’s Shark World (in 1D) and a new attraction [[Talk with Crush]] (in 1C). Turtle Talk With Crush was an interactive show that featured Disney's newest technology, "digital puppetry"- which allowed guests to talk and interact with Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo. The new show proved to be extremely popular, quickly becoming the biggest draw in The Living Seas pavilion, and causing Sea Base Alpha to be overwhelmed by the crowds. Due to this unexpected popularity, Disney decided to rethemed the entire Living Seas pavilion, and on August 21, 2005 the pavilion was closed. [[Image:Seasnase.jpg|thumb|Sea Base Alpha prior to the 2005 Finding Nemo retheme.]]
===The Seas with Nemo & Friends (2006-Present)===
On November 23, 2005, the Sea Base Alpha half of the Seas pavilion reopened. During the refurbishment, the exit hydrolators were removed from the pavilion, and guests now (temporarily) entered and exited through large glass doors. The Sea Base (as it was now called) had been completely remodeled. New signs and decor were added, and 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 "Clamobiles" (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.
