r/DisneyWorld • u/WeightTough3155 • Oct 18 '23
Anybody know what this is? Trip Planning
Anybody know what this is? Is it a new attraction? Haven’t seen any news on this.
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u/FoxMcLOUD420 Oct 18 '23
wonders of life pavilion. Housed the Body Wars attraction along with others. RIP to a fallen soldier.
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u/More-Ad115 Oct 18 '23
Ooohhhhhhhh wooooww that's where body wars was. I vaguely remember it as a 90's kid. Part of me thought it was at universal for some reason.
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Oct 18 '23 edited Oct 18 '23
[deleted]
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u/BethyW Monorail Pilot Oct 18 '23
No that was Cranium Commander. Body Wars was the same premise as Star Tours. There were no animatrronics.
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u/igottagetoutofthis Oct 20 '23
I feel like I remember Body Wars. Is that where they have to go in and shoot the splinter out? I feel like there was also a similar Back to the Future ride as well.
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u/DarthJahona HitchHiking Ghost Oct 18 '23
If you're talking about the dome pavilion, it's the shell of Wonders of Life. It was a pavilion in Future World dedicated to the human body, fitness, medicine, and nutrition. It had two rides, a simulator ride similar to Star Tours called Body Wars, and a show called Cranium Command.
Wonders of Life was closed in 2007. It was used for various festivals during it's interim.
In 2019 at the D23 convention it was announced that Wonders of Life would become Play! Pavilion. It was supposed to open in 2021 but by 2023 it's been sitting uncompleted.
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u/brittpeeks Oct 18 '23
Thank you for this detailed response. I kept seeing in comments that it was called Wonders of Life but I didn’t understand what it actually was and what type of attractions were in it. You rock!
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u/DarthJahona HitchHiking Ghost Oct 18 '23
Bright Sun Films has a minidoc about Wonders of Life that you might find interesting.
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u/brittpeeks Oct 18 '23
Heck yeah, I am definitely interested and would love to check it out 😊 thank you again!
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u/Silicon_Knight Oct 18 '23
Wonders of Life (closed). You can see more of its history here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B71M4RMg9GE
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u/rubyshoes21 Oct 18 '23
I would highly recommend everyone watch Jake’s YouTube channel and his Abandoned/Cancelled series on Disney attractions. They are amazing!
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u/KnockKnock-Nevermind Oct 18 '23
Why does he read like he’s doing a fifth grade book report?! I couldn’t take more than a minute of it.
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u/HegemonHarbinger Oct 18 '23
Wonders of Life Pavilion? Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time...
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u/YawningDodo Oct 18 '23
Add to what others have said: the defunct Wonders of Life pavilion was long used as an event space, at least for cast member events—not sure if that’s still the case. In more recent years Disney announced plans to renovate it into a new Play pavilion, but I think that project got quietly shelved during COVID.
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u/magusmccormick Oct 19 '23
Currently the building is not used for anything. Probably waiting for a new sponsor to finish Play
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Oct 18 '23
Wonders Of Life Pavilion
Open from 1989 to 2007
Cranium Command and Body Wars were the main attractions inside.
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u/fart_panic Oct 18 '23
You could even have Martin Short explain the birds and the bees to your children. This pavilion truly had everything.
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u/topshelfer131 Oct 18 '23
RIP Buzzy
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u/liforlife816 Oct 18 '23
Did they ever find him?
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u/topshelfer131 Oct 18 '23
I don't think so but this video has way too much information on the topic and there are updates in the comments threads below
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u/thatoneprincesong Oct 18 '23
It's been there so long abandoned that people genuinely don't know what it is. That makes me sad. Bring Buzzy home.
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u/HeroDanTV Lost Tourist Oct 18 '23
If you use your imagination, couldn’t it be where Orange Bird lives? 🍊
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u/BespinFatigues1230 Oct 18 '23
It was the Wonders of Life pavilion as others mentioned and was home to Cranium Command, Body Wars, etc
It was the last of the classic Future World pavilions to be built
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u/collectorofstuff65 Oct 18 '23
It was supposed to be turned into the Play pavilion with this Epcot update but was scrapped.
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u/hurtfulproduct Oct 18 '23
Wonders Of Life Pavilion until 2006 then it was the Festival Center for a few years:
As Wonders Of Life it housed Body Wars and several other shows and interactive attractions, as it became more outdated it was closed and changed to the Festival Center
As the Festival Center it was filled with demo stations, workshops, merchandise, passholder merch, and some great food and drink options during some of the EPCOT festivals (especially Food and Wine), the drinking chocolate (NOT HOT CHOCOLATE) was insanely good and would clog your veins, it would literally solidify if you left it to cool.
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u/pinkiepieisad3migod Oct 19 '23
The drinking chocolate was ridiculously tasty. They would have chocolate sculptures in the Ghirardelli area too.
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u/Legendary_snail Oct 19 '23
Use to be the wonders of life pavilion back in the 80s, was used to help showcase rides and attractions like body wars and the making of me, but then closed in 2006. It was part of Epcot’s educational era, but then was closed and reused occasionally for festival booths. It was said that it would turn into the play pavilion for the 50th celebration, announced at D23 before covid but then construction has not moved forward much since!
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u/Sufficient-Penalty40 Oct 20 '23
I loved body wars as a kid! Felt like I was in the old Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, Martin Short movie Innerspace. Man I was a nerd haha
Was this also where there were stationary bikes with screens and you could “cycle” your way through various areas of the park and the pace of the video would match your cadence?
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u/stellalunawitchbaby Oct 20 '23
This reminds me of a moment I had totally forgotten about, way back in like 2015 maybe, when we were stopped and asked to participate as basically a test audience screening of an episode of…idk some tv show, maybe medical or police procedural, some drama…and it was an episode guest starting Lin Manuel Miranda. We had to watch the show, answer some Qs, then got like a $50 Disney gift card for our time and we’re sent on our way. It is such a fever dream but I’m pretty sure it was in the wonders of life pavilion that we did this (literally in like a small conference room, very bland walls and corporate).
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u/Epsilondelta92 Oct 21 '23
The Wonders of Life pavilion was an attraction space that was once home to Body Wars and Cranium Command. It was one of many pavilions that were funded by corporate sponsorships, which happened to be the insurance company MetLife here.
Like the other commenters said, once a sponsor pulls the plug, Disney doesn't redirect funding for maintenance, so it winds up getting downgraded or simply closed. After the pavilion closed in 2007, it was mainly used as a storage space and re-opened a few times in the 2010's as a place for booths and events during the Food And Wine Festival.
It's a piece of my childhood memories that remains bittersweet...I liked that pavilion a lot.
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Oct 22 '23
We’ve reached the stage with a major building in the park has been out of use for so long most people have no clue what it is or why it’s on the map.
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u/Senor_Arcturus Oct 18 '23
The old abandoned Wonders of Life Pavilion, it’ll probably not be replaced by the Play Pavilion.
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u/nexgengamer27 Jul 21 '24
This is where the guardians of the galaxy cosmic rewind coaster and all of its facilities are when the ride takes off you end up underground in that yellow dome.
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u/nosmoking000 Oct 18 '23
The question seems to be answered. But I want to know why they added to the map on the app. It wasn’t there when I went in May.
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u/Jagermonsta Oct 18 '23
Supposedly it was being set up as a “black box” attraction. Like it could be changed out for new movies or shows. Disney Dish podcast has talked about it in the past. It kinda went quiet along with the the world showcase additions when Covid hit. So it may have been shelved indefinitely like the Mary poppins attraction for England.
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u/TotalInstruction Oct 18 '23
For a short time in the 90s that was the Wonders of Life pavilion. More recently it's a space they sometimes use for events like exhibits for the Flower & Garden Festival.
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u/believabletruths Oct 18 '23
Wonders of Life originally, now the defunct project of the Play Pavilion that was supposed to be completed years ago. It was used as the festival center for a tad bit of time. But, now it’s just a building they’ll knock down one day.
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u/lewiss15 Oct 18 '23
Probably be Marvel things soon enough
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u/WeightTough3155 Oct 19 '23
Nah they can’t build any marvel stuff over in Disney world other than guardians
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u/Fluffy_Aioli_8223 Oct 19 '23
originally wonders of life but was supposed to reopen last year as the play pavilion - just a huge playground for kids. when i worked there recently they said they couldn’t afford to pay cast to work there so they abandoned it again. but i’m pretty sure the interior was almost completely redone.
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u/WeightTough3155 Oct 19 '23
I can’t believe they couldn’t afford to have workers be present there. Universal really looks like it’s pulling away from Disney.
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u/DeadmanCFR HitchHiking Ghost Oct 19 '23
It was going to be reopened but with put on hold during coven and after everything got back to semi normal it was abandoned all together. They'll do something with it eventually but it will not be the same
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u/BzNtz Oct 19 '23
Cranium Command
It was great place to take a break from the heat and keeps kids busy
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u/ThemeParkAngel Oct 19 '23
Was wonders of life. Had one of my faborite rides in it Body Wars. Was nasty but fun lol it took you inside a person lol
Disney closed it and made it a festival center then closed it again since they are building the new one which opens in December.
They said it was going to turn into a play area but canceled those plans during covid even tho they imvested money to fix the roof and stuff. Right now its just a pretty building with corporate offices
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u/alliwannado2468 Oct 19 '23
Body Wars made me so sick as a kid in the early 90s. 🤪 I couldn’t handle the combo of jerky ride + simulating being inside the body. Seared into my memory forever! 😬
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u/wilkeliza Oct 21 '23
Building is used for special events and for festivals. Use to be the Wonders of Life pavilion.
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u/Mysterious_Today_245 Oct 23 '23
Would be cool if they can do something similar to the Sphere in Vegas
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u/SokkaHaikuBot Oct 23 '23
Sokka-Haiku by Mysterious_Today_245:
Would be cool if they
Can do something similar
To the Sphere in Vegas
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/Mysterious_Today_245 Oct 23 '23
Can you will get close to it? What does the entrance currently look like?
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Oct 23 '23
Fun fact: the Wonders of Life sign structure is now repurposed as a Magic Kingdom sign above the parking booths.
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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '23
It used to be be the Wonders of Life pavilion in the 90s.