Dr. Mark Penning, VP of Disney’s Animals, Science, and Environment, had previously teased a 40th anniversary celebration on Instagram of The Living Seas. In a new Instagram post, he shared some fun facts about the iconic EPCOT Pavilion.
The Living Seas Facts
The first fact is that Spaceship Earth can comfortably fit inside the main environment at the Seas, as it is 203 feet across. There would still be enough room to drive a Disney bus around the perimeter. The Living Seas was planned for EPCOT years before the park’s 1982 opening. It was at one point scheduled to open in 1984. After delays, it ultimately opened on January 15, 1986. It was sponsored by United Technologies until 1998.
The second fact is that the main environment is 35 thousand square feet and holds 5.7 million gallons of water, while also maintaining 793 thousand gallons for storage and additional habitats. Upon opening, The Living Seas had a movie about the oceans called The Sea, followed by an “elevator” to the ocean floor called the Hydrolator and the Caribbean Coral Reef Ride. The experience concluded in the SeaBase Alpha aquarium.
The third fact concerns sea turtles, in that over 350 sea turtles have been rehabilitated in collaboration with the ASE Conservation team and organizations like the Florida Fish & Wildlife. Turtle Talk with Crush opened in November 2004 to overwhelming popularity. The pavilion closed in August 2005 and began to reopen in November 2005. Turtle Talk was moved to a larger area, and the entire pavilion received new Finding Nemo decorations.
The fourth fact is that construction took 22 months, and 27 truckloads of non-iodized salt were used to fill the environment. There are 9 species of sharks, those being blacktip reef sharks, sandbar sharks, sand tiger sharks, and Hali, its only scalloped hammerhead shark. He concludes by writing that the 40th anniversary of the pavilion will be on January 15. See the full Instagram post here.
The Caribbean Coral Reef Ride actually closed in late 2001 amid declining park attendance. It was updated and reimagined into The Seas with Nemo & Friends, which opened in early 2007.
Over the past few years, Disney has made a few design updates to The Seas. New signs were installed for the SeaBase aquarium and Coral Reef Restaurant. The façade was updated with a new color scheme and lighting in late 2023.
Last year, the aquarium switched from a long-term care residence to a short-term rehabilitation center. The diver lock-out chamber demonstration also returned after five years.
Watch our 4K multi-cam POV video of The Seas with Nemo & Friends below.
Will you be at EPCOT to celebrate 40 years of The Seas? Let us know on social media.
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