What’s old appears to be new again in the World Nature neighborhood of EPCOT as changes continue to be made to the exterior of The Seas Pavilion. We noted in a mid-September update that a portion of the building had been painted a light khaki color; that hue now engulfs nearly the entire pavilion and the attached Coral Reef Restaurant, allowing the building to look quite similar to how it looked on its opening day in 1986.
Exterior Work Continues on The Seas Pavilion
Exterior work has been occurring at The Seas Pavilion for nearly one month; on September 13, we noticed that the seagull animatronics that sat in front of The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction sign had been removed. Painting work started a few days later, with a section at the top of the building receiving a layer of beige paint. That shade now encompasses nearly the entire pavilion.
Some remnants of the previously present ocean-inspired blue paint are still visible; interestingly, a strip of blue paint remains along the top of the first section of the building that the khaki-colored paint was applied to.
Remnants are most visible atop the roof of the Coral Reef Restaurant, which opened alongside the rest of the pavilion in January 1986. It looks as though the fresh layer of paint got wet before it was able to dry entirely (likely via rain), causing it to drip down the sloped roof.
An entire wall on an attached building remains the previous shade of blue.
The remnants of previous paint visible atop the building would indicate that exterior work at The Seas Pavilion is not yet complete.
The color, however, is close to the one that adorned the exterior of The Living Seas pavilion upon its grand opening in 1986, as pictured above courtesy of RetroWDW.com. The roof and exterior walls were painted their previous shade of light blue as part of the pavilion’s “Finding Nemo”-inspired overhaul in the mid-aughts.
Additional non-paint work is also taking place on the exterior of the building. A decoration depicting Squirt that previously appeared on the mural in The Sea with Nemo & Friends attraction queue has been removed, joining the list of “Finding Nemo”-themed cutouts that have been removed from the mural. For reference, below is a photo from mid-September. The green Squirt decoration is visible on the left side of the frame.
The Squirt cutout is missing as of October 7. While general fish decorations still remain, the previously present decorations depicting Dory, Crush, Bruce, and other “Finding Nemo” characters are missing. The pegs from which they once hung are still visible; these decorations were also missing during our mid-September update.
For reference, below is a photo from 2021 with all of the “Finding Nemo” decorations visible.
Their removal perhaps indicates that refurbishment work for the mural itself is planned.
There was one addition amongst the decorative subtractions at The Seas Pavilion, however; a festive Dory pumpkin has been added in celebration of the Halloween season.
Keep an eye on WDWNT, as we will have updates on the exterior of The Seas Pavilion as more changes are made.
What do you think about the updated exterior color of The Seas Pavilion? Do you hope the “Finding Nemo”-themed decorations and seagull animatronics return? Let us know in the comments.
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