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| Although Wonders of Life at Epcot closed forever on New Year’s Day 2007—almost ten years ago—the golden domed pavilion has had a new life since then as the Festival Center. In this newest edition of an article originally published in 2007, we’ll look at how it has changed over the years. |
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 , Curator of Yesterland, November 12, 2016 |
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| Wonders of Life opened in October 1989 in the Future World section of Epcot Center (now Epcot). Originally sponsored by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife), Wonders of Life included a collection of attractions, interactive exhibits, a restaurant, and a shop: Body Wars — a simulator like Star Tours, but with a higher queasiness factor Cranium Command — a very clever show about the functions of the human brain Sensory Funhouse — interactive kiosks about touch, sight, and sound The Making of Me — a film that answered the age-old question, “Where do babies come from?” honestly, yet in a way that was suitable for all ages Goofy About Health — a multi-screen presentation, promoting health using clips from old Goofy cartoons AnaComical Players Theater — live improvisational comedy show Other interactive exhibits Pure & Simple — a healthy counter-service restaurant Well and Goods Limited — the pavilion’s shop MetLife dropped its sponsorship of Wonders of Life by June 2001, but the pavilion remained open daily. That changed in 2004 when the pavilion became seasonal, opening only during busy times of the year when Epcot needed additional guest capacity. After the 2006 Christmas season ended, Wonders of Life once again locked its doors on January 1, 2007. But this time, the pavilion would never again reopen as Wonders of Life. The golden domed pavilion welcomed guests in Fall 2007 for the wine seminars of the 2007 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival as the Festival Center. There was still plenty of evidence of the pavilion’s former use. Over the years, that evidence has been largely erased. Let’s take a look at several parts of Wonders of Life, how they have evolved. Notice how the color palette changed over the years. |
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| The Pavilion |
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 2004 Photo: Wonders of Life double-helix and sign |
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 2011 photo: Temporary sign for the 2011 Food & Wine Festival |
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 2013 photo: Temporary sign for the 2013 Food & Wine Festival |
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 2016 photo: Temporary sign for the 2013 Food & Wine Festival |
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| The double-helix sculpture drew attention to the Wonders of Life, a structure that, despite its golden roof, never had the physical presence of other Future World pavilions. The sculpture would have made no sense in front of the Festival Center, so it disappeared. |
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| Entrance to the Pavilion |
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 2004 Photo: Entrance to Wonders of Life |
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 2011 photo: Entrance to Festival Center |
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 2013 photo: Entrance to Festival Center |
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 2016 photo: Entrance to Festival Center |
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| All references to Wonders of Life have been removed or covered up. Walt Disney World’s artists come up with fresh graphics for each festival, so the entrance sign keeps changing. |
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| Body Wars |
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 2002 photo: Body Wars entrance |
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 2007 photo: Bookshop and wine seminar queue—with the old Body Wars sign |
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 2009 photo: Wine shop and wine seminar queue—with no Body Wars sign |
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 2011 photo: Wine seminar queue, 2011 edition |
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 2013 photo: Wine seminar queue, 2013 edition |
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 2016 photo: Wine seminar queue, 2016 edition |
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| Before the 2007 Food & Wine Festival opened, Disney painted over the old Body Wars mural—but guests waited for wine seminars below the prominent Body Wars sign. It was the same way in 2008 (not shown). For 2009, the sign came down. All traces of it have disappeared. But even in 2016, the flooring still looks familiar. |
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| Cranium Command |
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 2002 photo: Cranium Command entrance marquee |
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 2007 photo: Old marquee as part of a wine seminar stage |
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 2008 photo: Old marquee in culinary demonstration area |
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 2009 photo: New colors and no more marquee |
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 2011 photo: Designers’ Stage at 2011 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival |
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 2011 photo: Culinary demo area at 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival |
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 2013 photo: Culinary demo area at 2013 Epcot Food & Wine Festival |
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 2016 photo: Culinary demo area at 2016 Epcot Food & Wine Festival |
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| In 2007, the former Cranium Command marquee became part of the stage for one of two wine seminar spaces in the Festival Center. Guests who didn’t know that it had once been an attraction marquee might even have thought it was designed to draw attention to the wine speaker at the front of the space. In 2008, culinary demos moved into the space, with the audience oriented differently, making it obvious that the marquee was an odd remnant of the past. For 2009, the space was again used for culinary demos. With the marquee gone and a new demonstration kitchen, the space looked better than before. By 2011, the eradication of Cranium Command was complete. The squares on the wall were used for festival-specific graphics, and a new wooden framework served to define the space and to support lighting and video cameras. |
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| Sensory Funhouse |
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 2002 photo: Sensory Funhouse |
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 2009 photo: Former Sensory Funhouse area as retail space |
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 2011 photo: Former Sensory Funhouse area as retail space |
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 2013 photo: Former Sensory Funhouse area as seating and retail space |
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 2016 photo: Former Sensory Funhouse area as seating and retail space |
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| The Sensory Funhouse was one of several interactive areas meant to educate guests about health. (Did you notice the “Wondercycles” in the Body Wars photo from 2002?) During the 2007 Festival, there were still remnants of some interactive exhibits. For 2009, all evidence of interactive devices was gone, but the wall still had the old circus-like graphics. By 2011, the wall became a simple beige wall. |
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| The Making of Me |
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 2002 photo: The Making of Me marquee |
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 2007 photo: The hidden The Making of Me marquee |
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 2008 photo: Return of The Making of Me marquee, but not the movie |
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 2009 photo: New colors and Seasons of the Vine |
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 2011 photo: Seasons of the Vine and Start the Party with HGTV |
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 2013 photo: Seasons of the Vine |
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 2016 photo: Seasons of the Vine |
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| The Making of Me, starring Martin Short, ran in a small theater near the back of the Wonders of Life pavilion. In 2007, an awkward curtain hid the marquee. In fact, it hid the entire front entrance to the theater. Guests could enter the theater through the exit doors to see a promotional film about Disney Vacation Club. In 2008, there was no effort to hide the original movie, even though the theater was showing films about food. During Food & Wine Festivals since 2009, the theater has been showing Seasons of the Vine, with music by Bruce Broughton and narration by Jeremy Irons. Yes, it’s the same movie that was an attraction at Disney’s California Adventure until March 2008. In 2011, an HGTV video alternated with Seasons of the Vine. Notice how the paint schemes on the theater have changed. |
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| Some Disney fans on web forums complain that the old Wonders of Life pavilion now sits unused, a sign that Epcot isn’t what it used to be. It’s true that the closing of Wonders of Life meant the loss of two fairly major attractions and several minor ones. But the pavilion is hardly unused! The Festival Center is open to the public every day of the 62-day Food & Wine Festival and 39 days of the 90-day Flower & Garden Festival That adds up to 101 days—a significant part of the year. And if you’re interested in holding a large corporate event inside a theme park, you might want to call Disney Meetings and ask them for a price. |
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 2011 photo: Greenhouse stage at 2011 Flower & Garden Festival |
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 2013 photo: Beverage seminar area at the 2013 Food & Wine Festival |
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 2016 photo: Beverage seminar area at the 2016 Food & Wine Festival |
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| Each year since the closing of Wonders of Life, the Festival Center has looked a little less like a defunct attraction pavilion and more like a real event space. By removing many remnants of the past, repainting everything, and installing event-appropriate graphics, Disney has made the Festival Center look quite good. In the photos above, take a look at how the vertical images behind the stage were sunflowers for the Flower & Garden Festival and vineyards for the Food & Wine Festival. |
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 2011 photo: Circus-striped roof of the old Goofy about Health |
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 2013 photo: No stripes on the former Goofy about Health |
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 2016 photo: Festival Stage, showing videos from The Chew |
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| Despite the revised paint, the three theaters in the center of the pavilion still look like remnants of the pavilion’s original use. Perhaps the transformation of the pavilion will continue in future years. All these changes make it clear that Wonders of Life is gone forever. |
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| Click here to post comments at MiceChat about this article. © 2007-2016 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated November 12, 2016. Photos of “Wonders of Life is Closed” sign: 2007 by Werner Weiss.All other photos of Wonders of Life and Festival Center: Werner Weiss (year shown under each photo). |
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