Wonders of Life opened in October 1989 in the Future World section of Epcot Center (now Epcot). Originally sponsored by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife), Wonders of Life included a collection of attractions, interactive exhibits, a restaurant, and a shop:

• Body Wars — a simulator like Star Tours, but with a higher queasiness factor
• Cranium Command — a very clever show about the functions of the human brain
• Sensory Funhouse — interactive kiosks about touch, sight, and sound
• The Making of Me — a film that answered the age-old question, “Where do babies come from?” honestly, yet in a way that was suitable for all ages
• Goofy About Health — a multi-screen presentation, promoting health using clips from old Goofy cartoons
• AnaComical Players Theater — live improvisational comedy show
• Other interactive exhibits
• Pure & Simple — a healthy counter service restaurant
• Well and Goods Limited — the pavilion’s shop

MetLife dropped its sponsorship of Wonders of Life by June 2001, but the pavilion remained open daily. That changed in 2004 when the pavilion became seasonal, opening only during busy times of the year when Epcot needed additional guest capacity.

After the 2006 Christmas season ended, Wonders of Life once again locked its doors on January 1, 2007. But this time, the pavilion would never again reopen as Wonders of Life.

The golden domed pavilion welcomed guests in Fall 2007 for the wine seminars of the 2007 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival as the Festival Center. There was still plenty of evidence of the pavilion’s former use. Over the years, that evidence has been largely erased.

Let’s take a look at several parts of Wonders of Life, how they have changed.

The double-helix sculpture drew attention to the Wonders of Life, a structure that, despte its golden roof, never had the physical presence of other Future World pavilions.

The sculpture would have made no sense in front of the Festival Center, so it disappeared.

All references to Wonders of Life have been removed or covered up.

Before the 2007 Food & Wine Festival opened, Disney painted over the old Body Wars mural—but guests waited for wine seminars below the prominent Body Wars sign. It was the same way in 2008 (not shown).

For 2009, the sign came down. All traces of it have disappeared.

But even in 2011, the flooring still looks familiar.

In 2007, the former Cranium Command marquee became part of the stage for one of two wine seminar spaces in the Festival Center. Guests who didn’t know that it had once been an attraction marquee might even have thought it was designed to draw attention to the wine speaker at the front of the space.

In 2008, culinary demos moved into the space, with the audience oriented differently, making it obvious that the marquee was an odd remnant of the past.

For 2009, the space is again used for culinary demos. With the marquee gone and a new demonstration kitchen, the space looked better than before.

For 2011, the eradication of Cranium Command was complete. The squares on the wall were used for festival-specific graphics, and a new wooden framework served to define the space and to support lighting and video cameras.

The Sensory Funhouse was one of several interactive areas meant to educate guests about health. (Did you notice the “Wondercycles” in the Body Wars photo from 2002?) During the 2007 Festival, there were still remnants of some interactive exhibits.

For 2009, all evidence of interactive devices was gone, but the wall still had the old circus-like graphics. By 2011, the wall became a simple beige wall.

The Making of Me, starring Martin Short, ran in a small theater near the back of the Wonders of Life pavilion.

In 2007, an awkward curtain hid the marquee. In fact, it hid the entire front entrance to the theater. Guests could enter the theater through the exit doors to see a promotional film about Disney Vacation Club.

In 2008, there was no effort hide the original movie, even though the theater was showing films about food.

In 2009, 2010, and 2011, the theater showed Seasons of the Vine, with music by Bruce Broughton and narration by Jeremy Irons. Yes, it’s the same movie that was an attraction at Disney’s California Adventure until March 2008. The marquees looked much more professional than during the 2007 and 2008 Food & Wine Festivals. In 2011, an HGTV video alternated with Seasons of the Vine.

Some Disney fans on web forums complain that the old Wonders of Life pavilion now sits unused, a sign that Epcot isn’t what it used to be. It’s true that the closing of Wonders of Life meant the loss of two fairly major attractions and several minor ones. But the pavilion is hardly unused!

With the 75-day Flower & Garden Festival and the 45-day Food & Wine Festival each year, the Festival Center is open to the public 120 days—almost one third of the year. And if you’re interested in holding a large corporate event inside a theme park, you might want to call Disney Meetings and ask them for a price.

Each year since the closing of Wonders of Life, the Festival Center has looked a little less like a defunct attraction pavilion and more like a real event space. By removing many remnants of the past, repainting everything, and installing event-appropriate graphics, Disney has made the Festival Center look quite good.

Despite the revised paint, the three theaters in the center of the pavilion still look like remnants of the pavilion’s original use. Perhaps the transformation of the pavilion will continue in future years.

All these changes make it clear that Wonders of Life is gone forever.

Click here to discuss this page on the Yesterland Discussion Forum at MiceChat!

Disney-MGM: Beginning Future World Recent Past, 2 Home

© 2007-2012 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks

Updated Febraury 17, 2012.

Photos of “Wonders of Life is Closed” sign: 2007 by Werner Weiss.
Photos of Wonders of Life and Festival Center: Werner Weiss (year shown under each photo).