Photo by Chris Bales, 2005

A golden dome houses Wonders of Life, Presented by MetLife. It’s not an attraction in the traditional sense. It’s more like a whole theme park “land” under one roof.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2004

Tower of Life at the entrance to the golden dome

Photo by Chris Bales, 2005

Why the Tower of Life is often called the DNA Tower

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2006

Entering the dome

According to the printed Guidemap that you picked up when you entered the park, there are ten attractions, a restaurant, and a shop:

Body Wars — Turbulent thrill ride through the human body. Health and other boarding precautions. Must be 3 years of age.

Cranium Command — Hilarious look at the workings of a 12-year-old’s brain with celebrity guests.

“The Making of Me” — Sensitive film on the beginnings of life. Discretion recommended.

AnaComical Players — Improvisational skits.

Met Lifestyle Revue — Health Survey.

Coach’s Corner — Pros judge your baseball, golf, and tennis swings.

Frontiers of Medicine — Research.

Wondercycles — Exercise.

“Goofy About Health” — Animation.

Sensory Funhouse — Test your senses.

Restaurant: Pure and Simple — Low-fat, nutritious waffles, sandwiches, salads, yogurt. Counter Service.

Shopping: Well & Goods Limited — Equipment for healthy living.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2006

Map pedestal at the entrance landing

Photo by Chris Bales, 2006

Find your destination

This pavilion is so big, you might need a map to find your destination. There’s a big map on a pedestal just past the entrance to the pavilion.

It’s a useful map—but for some reason The Making of Me is simply labeled as “birth theater.”

Photo by Chris Bales, 2006

Mobile designed by Rolly Crump

Photo by Chris Bales, 2002

Body Wars

Body Wars is a big draw. It’s a simulator attraction, with a film directed by Leonard Nimoy. Ready for the ride? Your vehicle is a 40-passenger Body Probe. You learn it will be “miniaturized and beamed below the surface of the skin” of a patient whose right index finger has a nasty splinter. Thrills ensue! Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that queasiness and motion sickness ensue.

You can read more about Body Wars here.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2006

Cranium Command

Cranium Command has a clever script, great character animation, and celebrity talent in a highly original theater show.

You can read more about Cranium Command here.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2006

The Making of Me

”Where do babies come from?”

The Making of Me is an entertaining film that honestly answers that question without any in-theater gimmicks. A sign at the entrance warns guests about the subject matter:

“Dear Guest,

“The Making of Me explores the sensitive subjects of human reproduction and birth. This film contains spectacular images of fetal development, as well as live footage of the birth process.

“We ask that you use discretion when deciding whether you or your family should view The Making of Me.

“Thank you.”

Martin Short, the star of The Making of Me, is also the star of two other Yester-shows at Disney parks: the second version of O Canada! (2007-2019) at Epcot’s Canada Pavilion and CinéMagique (2002-2017) at Walt Disney Studios Paris.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2006

Anacomical Players

Photo by Chris Bales, 2006

Anacomical Players seating and stage

If you time your visit right, you might be in for some good laughs at the Anacomical Players. Skits—with names such as “Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Sugar,” “Flossed in Space,” and “Cooking with Mr. Bob”—usually feature three performers and one audience member. The skits are never exactly the same because the performers improvise based on answers from the audience member.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2006

Coach’s Corner

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2006

Goofy About Health

Goofy About Health uses recycled film clips from around two dozen Goofy shorts made over a period of 28 years. The show begins with a not-so-healthy Goofy, a victim of his own bad habits. After he finds himself sick in bed, he mends his ways. You too can “live a healthier life the Goofy way.”

You can read more about Goofy About Health here.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2006

Sensory Funhouse

Sensory Funhouse may sound a bit risqué, and Pure and Simple may sound like an environmentally friendly cleaning product—but neither is the case. The former provides interactive activities to teach you about health, while the latter is a counter service eatery serving healthy fare.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2006

Colors of the 1980s

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2006

Interactive activities

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2006

Wearing headphones within giant headphones

Photo by Chris Bales, 2006

Leaving the dome

Photo by Chris Bales, 2000

Thanks!

Now that you’ve experienced the Wonders of Life, are you going to switch to a healthy lifestyle and live a long life? Or are you going to buy life insurance from MetLife, so that your loved ones are taken care of, even if you’re no longer around?

The Wonders of Life pavilion, sponsored by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife), opened at EPCOT Center (now Epcot) in October 1989.

An article in the Chicago Tribune on January 14, 1990 (“Land of change: A lot is new at ever-changing Disney World” by Joan Foster Dames, St. Louis Post-Dispatch) summarized the new pavilion:

“A new pavilion called Wonders of Life has been added by Metropolitan Life to the already attraction-rich EPCOT Center. The grand opening was Oct. 30. The focus of Wonders of Life is good health, which is what one would expect from a giant insurance company that is betting you that you will live longer than you think you will.”

“Walt Disney World’s treatment of the human body in all its wondrous complexity was imaginative, as one would expect from Disney—and occasionally preachy. A sermonette by Goofy on good health practices seemed straight out of Red China or the Soviet Union, with its sloganeering.”

Postcard © Disney, from the collection of Chris Bales

Wonders of Life postcard

MetLife ended its sponsorship of the Wonders of Life by June 2001. Although the MetLife logos disappeared from the pavilion, most of the pavilion’s other attractions continued to operate normally through 2003. AnaComical Players Theater shows had already been eliminated in 2000.

When a Disney attraction loses its sponsor, it doesn’t necessarily cease to operate. At Epcot, ExxonMobil stopped fueling the Universe of Energy in 2004, but the attraction remained in operation until 2017. United Technologies got out of the water of The Living Seas in 2001, yet it continues to operate as The Seas with Nemo & Friends—still without a major sponsor.

By the time MetLife departed, Wonders of Life was already past its prime. The pavilion was stuck in the 1980s, with a Miami Vice color palette and trendy 1980s design elements. Although guests still enjoyed the clever script and high energy of Cranium Command, the heavy reliance on “current” comedy stars (sometimes as characters from SNL skits) from 1980s meant the attraction was quite dated.

No new sponsor came along to take over the Wonders of Life. Disney limited its spending to routine maintenance and basic staffing. It didn’t help that the simple dome of the Wonders of Life was easy to overlook between its flashier Future World neighbors.

In 2004, the Wonders of Life pavilion became seasonal. It seemed to be open fewer days each year. In 2006, it even remained closed during Epcot’s busy Easter period, leading to reports that the pavilion had been closed permanently. Surprise! The Wonders of Life reopened for the 2006 Christmas season—but that was its last hurrah.

When its doors were locked New Year’s Day 2007, the Wonders of Life became history.

From 2007 to 2018, the domed pavilion became the Festival Center for Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival in fall and for Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival in spring.

Artist Concept Only ©Disney

Rendering of PLAY! pavilion, reusing the Wonders of Life dome

In February 2018, Disney announced that Wonders of Life would become the PLAY! pavilion.

According to Disney at that time, “The PLAY! pavilion at Epcot will open in time for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World Resort. In this digital metropolis, guests will discover an interactive city bursting with games, activities and experiences that connect them with friends, family and beloved Disney characters—both real and virtual—like never before.”

Artwork included Joy from Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out. Perhaps, the PLAY! pavilion would take you inside the mind of Riley, the 11-year-old girl in Inside Out, just as Wonders of Life had taken you inside the mind of Buzzy, the 12-year-old boy in Cranium Command.

Artist Concept Only ©Disney ©Disney/Pixar

Rendering of the PLAY! pavilion interior

On October 1, 2021, Walt Disney World began an 18-month marketing event. “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” marked the 50th anniversary of the Florida destination’s opening on October 1, 1971. The plans had been cut back due to the Covid-19 pandemic. New attractions were delayed, paused indefinitely, or cancelled.

The PLAY! pavilion was not part of the celebration after all. Rather than still being promised as a future addition to World Discovery neighborhood of Epcot, PLAY! disappeared from maps and marketing. It wasn’t mentioned at the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center in September 2022. The following month, numerous Disney fan websites claimed the PLAY! pavilion had been cancelled, despite significant interior and exterior work.

We’ll see. The former Wonders of Life dome is a huge climate-controlled indoor space at a theme park that gets plenty of rain and humid heat. It could eventually reopen as the PLAY! pavilion after all.

Or maybe Disney will find a corporation that wants to sponsor a health pavilion.

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Updated April 28, 2023