Wonders of Life

Image: Jennifer Lynn, Flickr (license)

When Epcot opened in 1982, it didn’t quite look like the Epcot we know today. One now-famous pavilion didn’t open until 1987 — Wonders of Life.

Wonders of Life was, during peak edutainment Epcot, a must-see attraction. Beneath its large dome were attractions designed to thrill guests, entertain them, and help them learn all about the human body and how it functions. Some attractions, like Body Wars, shows how science might function in the future. Others, like The Making of Me, showed how reproduction actually works. Still more, like Coach’s Corner or the famed fitness bikes, were designed to help guests understand how healthy living and eating contribute to overall happiness.

Wonders of Life’s bright county fair theme aged it fairly quickly, and the tech that made it seem cutting edge in 1987 rapidly grew obsolete as the personal computing age started to mature. As a result, Disney shuttered the pavilion officially in 2007, but it had long been a husk of its former self.

Sadly, Wonders of Life was fairly ahead of its time. It’s midway of linked video bikes presaged popular modern technologies like Peloton. Its virtual sports coaching showed how modern platforms like YouTube use video and digital instruction to teach athletes how to grow. Health and fitness are, today, multi-billion dollar industries with huge cultural cachet and importance. Fitness studios are more popular than ever. Healthy eating isn’t just a fad anymore. Wellness products and consulting have become a career for a handful of Instagram influencers and celebrities.

Wonders of Life’s missed opportunity was, sadly, that it came along about 10 years too early. Now, the building itself has been gutted and replaced by the Play! pavilion. That’s a shame, because if there’s one element of 1980s Epcot that has only grown in relevance, it’s a commitment to health and fitness.

Discovery Island

Image: aloha75, Flickr (license)

It’s insane to think about now, but for roughly a decade, Disney would put guests onto a boat, ferry them across Bay Lake, and strand them on an island to explore and meet wildlife.

That island, called Discovery Island, largely became redundant when Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened — guests didn’t need two places to meet wild animals. So, Disney closed Discovery Island in 1999 and, rather famously, allowed it to rot away.

But here’s the thing: Disney owns a private island in the middle of a lake — all of which, they have total control over. Why has this area remained closed for 20 years? Why has nothing been done with it?

There have long been rumors of rethemes — from a Myst-video-game adaptation to an imagining of the island from the hit TV show Lost. But why haven’t they come to fruition? Escape rooms are still fairly popular — why didn’t Disney capitalize on that burgeoning industry with a highly-themed escape scenario on Discovery Island? Why haven’t they crafted some sort of immersive up-charge experience on the island?

Discovery Island remains a relatively undeveloped piece of Disney property with a unique history and ideal geography. It’s bizarre that it’s remained empty for 20 years. It’s time to change that.