Changes

Although The Living Seas was originally planned as an opening day pavilion for EPCOT Center, the pavilion did not open until 1986. Part of the this delay, was the fact that both the design and tone of The Living Seas changed drastically during this time. The original concepts for the pavilion were more fantasy based then scientific, with one of the 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”. Another early concept would have begun with guests entering The Living Seas and seeing a preshow where the Greek god Poseidon would calm a raging storm. After the preshow, Poseidon would have narrated guests on their dark ride adventure. This dark ride would have been a fully immersive experience, with shark attacks, shipwrecks, and various special effects adding to the excitement, before guests . Guests would eventually entered enter 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 EPCOT Center: Creating the World of Tomorrow, while in The Living Seas ride guests would see:

Inside of Sea base Base Alpha, guests could see a "television" system that allowed them to follow various divers’ activities. One camera would be set on the sea floor, the second mounted on a robotic device which followed the diver, and finally, one a third would be on the diver’s helmet itself. In the research facility, guests would also be able to see a series of exhibits that showcased not only showcased underwater life, but also the future 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 roof. As designs for the pavilion changed, and the entire Living Seas took on a more serious tone, the glass ceiling was replaced by a conventional one.

Due to this change in tone as well as logistical issues, construction on The Living Seas was pushed back. In By 1980, plans for The Living Seas called for both an extensive dark ride, titled "The World of the Sea” which would have allowed guests to enter “bubble-like vehicles” to experience various dramatic ocean scenes, and the elaborate Sea Base Alpha. Eventually Before construction, however, the layout of the Living Seas was altered. This was either due to a change in tone, or United Technologies’ (the pavilion’s sponsor) unwillingness of of the pavilions sponsor, United Technologies, to fund the elaborate pavilion, the layout of The Living Seas was altered before construction. Instead of the elaborate dark ride that would have led guests to Sea Base Alpha, a preshow video and short trip through the aquarium were instead installed. The pavilion was now designed to essentially be in two parts, : the large Coral Reef tank, and Sea Base Alpha- , where guests could look at the future of underwater research. After a series of setbacks, construction on The Living Seas began in March of 1984, and the pavilion opened to the public on January 15, 1986.

When The Living Seas opened, it featured three connected attractions, and the Coral Reef Restaurant. After winding their way through the queue (where guests could see historical artifacts from the history of sea exploration), guests watched a short film called The Seas. This movie, showed how water made life possible on earth, and also how our understanding of the seas have developed. After watching the short film, guests entered the hydrolators, which were elevators that took guests "down" to the ocean floor (although in actuality they did not move anywhere), before they were loaded into their Sea Cabs for the Caribbean Coral Reef Ride. The Caribbean Coral Reef Ride took guests through the ocean's depths (the Coral Reef Tank) in omnimover fashion, to Sea Base Alpha. Once at Sea Base Alpha, guests could explore various interactive exhibits that allowed them to learn about marine life, and the technology that makes underwater research possible. From Sea Base Alpha, guests could also look out into the various tanks. After exploring Sea Base Alpha, guests could enter another set of hydrolators and exit the pavilion.

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 [[Turtle 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 retheme the entire Living Seas pavilion, and on August 21, 2005 the pavilion was closed.

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 . The ride 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, This allowed Disney eliminated to eliminate the need for the hydrolators, but retained retain the original story that they told.

Finally, on October 10, 2006 , the construction walls came down, before the rest of the pavilion opened to the public on October 19th. The Seas with Nemo & Friends now features a substantial dark ride (also named the Seas with Nemo & Friends) to go along with Turtle Talk with Crush and the rest of the Sea Base. With the Seas with Nemo & Friends operational, there was still one final step change to the Seas’ overallpavilion. On January 29th 2007 , Turtle Talk with Crush closed. The popular attraction was then moved from module 1C to the larger module 1A. A corridor was then built to connect the module to the old preshow theater #2, allowing Turtle Talk to have a much higher capacity.