I can tell you it doesn't just sit around for 2/3 of the year. Hidden in the building are large conference rooms that they hold meetings in and when I was there with my college, some Disney youth to youth programs. It was actually a great space for the youth to youth and professional programs to use.

The Wonders of Life should get retooled as The Wonders of the Mind, which would be inspired from the Disney/Pixar's Inside Out.

Wonders of Life pavilion was a part of my childhood memories. I remember all the rides and exhibits. I loved it! I am glad I found this article, I have always wondered what happen to the pavilion. It's really sad how Disney can waist money on letting buildings or even whole waterparks decade and not do anything with them. We pay good money to get in the Disney theme parks they should be able to afford to rebuild and maintain a pavilion. Being healthy and eating right is a part of our society. They should bring Wonders of Life back!

One important note left out here is what the building is used for now. It's operational more than just 1/3 of the year. This is one of the most rented spaces on property for corporate receptions and convention spaces. Jim Hill has reported in the past that WDW is so reliant on having this space to offer to corporate guests that it's unlikely the pavillion will ever reopen to the general public on a full time basis.

Now, on the off chance it ever could reopen, I think the Disney corporate family has an ideal property they could use to bring back the Wonders of Life. It's ESPN. Particularly their Sports Science segments.

It's sad for me to see any theme park attraction die, but especially one such as this which should have great potential. Even with the loss of a sponsor, it should be the type of attraction that Disney would keep alive. The message is universal as is the appeal. Surely a co-sponsor could be found to help keep it going. But, even if not, Disney has deep pockets, and they should easily be able to fund a couple of attraction re-vamps to make this something people could enjoy once again.
The problem, as I see it though, is Disney began asking too much of their attraction sponsors, and in return gave them very little of a return. Back in the day, Walt knew how to sell the parks and movies in a way that made others want to join with him. That's gone now, and it's all about profit and how much they can make off both the guest and the sponsor.

The pavillon is used for a lot more than 1/3rd of the year. It is actually used year round as conference center for corporate clients, which makes a lot more money for Disney.

The artical is completely a wasted read. The food and wine festival is a major draw for the park at the present time we go every year just enjoy it. Cant say the same for the wonders of life

Apparently this investment has worked as well as MetLife's Long Term Care program.

I think Disney should convert the front part of EPCOT into being 100% Star Wars. Move the Star Wars ride from Hollywood Studios to EPCOT to replace the BODY WARS ride. Each pavilion in EPCOT could be a unique Star Wars experience. Change SOARIN into some type of Flying through the forest of ENDOR. With this approach EPCOT could still have the future spin but with a very strong movie tie-in that disney now owns.

While Cranium Command was one of my favorite Walt Disney World attractions, I never really like the whole Wonders of Life concept. But, it is sad Disney hasn't replaced the building with something new in all this time. Of course, Universe of Energy needs a complete face lift and Journey into Imagination needs to go altogether.

My two children watched The Making of Me as the beginning of their sex education. Cranium Command was so so creative. Seems stupid to have this building empty!

Never liked this attraction, but it should be revamped into something else instead of just sitting there 15 years later. There needs to be more rides in Epcot. The lack of attendance at Universe of Energy, along with the Innoventions pavilion should be redone.

I always thought that EPCOT could stay in the future .. How about work with a car company and show the future of driver less cars... have an actual design / test environment were guest can actually ride in a make shift city to see how they operate ..

I miss this pavilion as well. I loved Cranium Command and loved seeing the nod to it with the Inside Out movie. One of my favorite rides from the past, The Universe of Energy, however, has also lost it's luster and I just wonder how much longer they are going to keep that one going.

I used to work at the Wonders of Life as a teen in high school. The 5 years I spent there were some of the best times I had. To the day I walk in during F&G or F&W just to reminisce.

I agree, what Disney has allowed the Wonders of Life pavillion to become is so sad! I also agree that Inside Out would absolutely make sense to be put into that space and breathe new life into the pavillion. I've never understood why they use that area for festivals that make far more sense to be presented in the old Millennium Village building that was erected back in 2000. Both Food & wine and flower & garden relate more to the world showcase than to future world. If anything, Disney should try to add a special section on to the Land pavilion to be used for seminars or demonstrations foe these festivals, since both have a direct connection to the Land. (I suppose if Wonders of Life ever did re-open, there could be a tie-in with food & wine as far as ways to cook healthily and nutritiously). I know there is a rumor that Inside Out is going to take over the Captain EO theater, but I would much rather see Disney use Inside Out to completely restore Wonders of Life once and for all. I've said it since the pavillion closed, that there is still a huge need for a space devoted to health and fitness, given all the obesity in this country. Add in all the teen pregnancies and the current shift in human sexual orientation and Disney could actually make a huge impact on today's youth with a re-do of this pavillion. ABC Family has that new show on Transgender families, so why not try to do a tie-tie-in with that? And ABC has been running Extreme weight loss for easily 6 years now and I think it is finally becoming a serious Contender to the Biggest loser (which unfortunately Disney can't use since they are NBC Universal). And last but certainly not least, why doesn't Disney try to tie in Dancing with the Stars. I know it's not entirely weight loss-centric, but there have been so many stars that have gone on and lost lots of weight, it is almost crazy that Disney hasn't figured out a way to connect their number 1 reality show to that pavillion. Obviously, the pavillion would still have the issue of easily going out of date as soon as dancing with the stars and extreme weight loss go off the air, but again, with their being so many health issues happening in our nation right now, I think the Wonders of Life pavillion is more important than ever. I know I loved it when it first opened so I would love to see it brought back. Heck, they're struggling so much to make the imagination pavillion work, why not re-do the original Figment and Dream finder ride and add that to the pavillion too? Imagination is definitely a part of life, since we use our brains to imagine. The whole Imagination lab could be moved into the pavillion as one section and that would free up the original pavillion for something else (a new country for world showcase or another area about the future, though not sure what). And finally, they need to re-open the old Odyssey restaurant. So sad when that closed because the live show with Mickey and his friends in 80s rainbow space suits was just too awesome! It just made sense to be right there in Epcot and it is so sad to walk past it and see only meeting space and restrooms!!
(One more thing: Disney keeps pushing the good dinosaur as their next feature. Who's with me that that movie should be used to help upgrade the Universe of Energy? Supposedly the movie is a what - if the meteor never hit and dinosaurs lived among man. What a great way to teach kids about energy if they see what life would be like if they had to share their energy that is created and consumed with dinosaurs? I think it would definitely breathe new life into that pavillion and then Disney can update the Seas with Nemo too and still keep Ellen DeGeneres on their roster cause they can record new scenes for Finding Dory! That's my wish list for Epcot!! (And yes, very sad about Maelstrom becoming Frozen but it's happening so we gotta move on and hope that they still respect Norway ' history, heritage and culture, even if it is all under the guise of Arrendelle. Sorry so long, thanks for reading! :)

Disney has lost direction experimental community dropped for continously run world's fair now world fair losing focus corporate Disney looks at demographics & Hispanics wanted rides rides rides they did not want education however rides do not endure education is timeless so short term profit gets the money , Frozen was a BIG suprise so it gets attention and earns money. Demographic 2 parents 5 children translates to lots of tee shirts & cheesy toys no quality souvenirs excepting the hundred dollar purse's & jewelry the mommy buys! Disney core fans have been left behind too bad so sad now selfie sticks thank god have been banned next eliminate tablets used as camera at night ruining photos for anyone behind the bright blinkey screens.
Thinking learning educated adults are not part of the money demographics again to bad so sad in this case for Disney because demographics says this year's people are going to universal next year.

Wonders of Life lost its corporate sponsorship as did many pavilions at Epcot right after 9/11. That crisis was a huge economic blow to Epcot and the entire resort. Do you know that some resort hotels closed entirely for a time?

You made no mention that Cranium Command used several celebrities to portray the brain's components,just like Inside Out in theaters now.

You failed to mention that the building during its vacancy had some severe structural problems like leaking rainwater.

And you make it sound like its repurposing as a Festival Center is a bad thing. For both Epcot festivals it serves as a grear welcome center and a venue for all the very popular seminars and demonstrations.

Love theme park tourist, but you guys need to do your homework.

I think they should turn it into Stark Expo and have Iron Man simulator ride. You could incorporate educational interactive stuff about robotics, computers, etc and have that movie tie in which attracts people. I agree, right now a waste. Universe of Energy needs an update as well. Use the same theme but just with an older Ellen and Bill Nye!

This is a very sad story. But WDW makes a lot of money through ticket sales, food and merchandising. This should not have occurred.

The Maelstrom needs to stay! Put Frozen or Inside Out in the Pavilion. Let Norway be Norway and stop taking away Norwegian heritage!

Sadness. This ride was a family favorite.

I loved Cranium Command!!!!

Unlike Frozen in Norway, this would actually make sense for an Inside Out inspired attraction.