The Lost History of The Living Seas

I remember going when it opened. My mother HATES elevators. Getting in the "Hydrolator" she had the death grip on my dads arm. She dreaded having to go back thru the hydrolator again. We even explained that all it was is a room with moving side panels to make it look like we were going down. She asked a CM how to get out of the attraction. She escorted my mom thru a door and up some steps. She said she felt so foolish.

the thing that bothered me most about the Nemo theme, is the clam shell omnimover closed off an entire aquarium. You used to be able to see right and left aquariums, but the clamshell ride vehicle pointed you to the right and that was all you could see. I still love the living sees and last time I was there a cast member took me back stage of the manatee area, simply because I said it was our favorite. A little disney magic goes a long way.

The hydrolators were very convincing to my young self. I went several times as a young Floridian, and they totally sold me on the illusion of descending down to the sea floor. The attraction is greatly diminished by their removal.

If there's one thing that I've always wanted to experience it's Epcot as it was conceptualized in its' early years. Growing up I always felt so inspired getting off of Spaceship Earth - I wanted to make an impact on the world. I realize now that the entire park was meant to inspire future generations that way. It was a calling to deeper understand science, history, art and the human experience. I only ever got to experience one shred of what it once was. Unfortunately, it seems it is only becoming a secondary Magic Kingdom. Hollywood Studios is suffering the same thing, and it seems Animal Kingdom will be next. I long for a time where we dreamed greater dreams...

Man seeing the footage of the Hydrolators unlocked a memory for me. It was a very convincing effect for an 8 year old me in 1998.

As a kid my parents would frequently have to pry me out of Seabase Alpha. I’d stay there for hours because I had wanted to be a marine biologist and thought it would be so cool to work in an underwater research facility. And the pavilion gave me a chance to live that as kid. As an adult, I got to work at the Living Seas as an attractions CM. The animal care team and dive team were amazing and would invite us up to the catwalks from time to time so we could interact with the dolphins, manatees, and other animals. I didn’t become a marine biologist but value my time as a CM there.

I went scuba diving in the living seas around 2001. Messing with people on the old ride and eating in the restaurant are core memories for me. Probably my favorite pavilion at EPCOT.

Worked custodial on epcot during the summer for the DCP, every time i got assigned to work on the seas area I knew it was going to be a great shift. Such an underrated area.

I grew up going there in the 80s and early 90s. I rode the Hydrolators quite a few times. The first time I remember riding them I thought it was real. Of course, I was probably 8 years old and didn't understand much about perspective. As I grew up and figured it out, it was still pretty easy to trick your brain into thinking you were moving. What broke it was the realization that the floor wasn't connected to the wall, so while the floor moved (it wasn't just a vibration but a very slight side to side motion like an elevator bouncing off the tolerances of its track), the walls didn't move at all and that slight variance was enough to take you out of it. Staring right at the rotating rocks helped. Cool video. Thanks for sharing. Lots of great memories there.

Love these history videos. How about exploring the history of the fireworks shows and history of Disney's food options over the years? How about a look into the seasonal parades? It looks like they actually use a lot of the same floats year after year.

This original version was really fun. But the Sea Cab was ridiculously short. If I’m not mistaken they gave you the option of walking after a couple years

I've been going to Epcot since it opened, and going into Sea Base Alpha is so nostalgic and brings me back to my childhood like few other places in the part can anymore. So easy to lose track of time in there. I love it.

Having just come from Defunctland's musical history journey through EPCOT's development, I guess today is just a day to learn all about this one land 😙

On regards of old Epcot. Given current technology now. Its completely possible to recreate the old rides and structures using programs such as the Unreal Engine, and indeed possible to create the original concept ideas as comparison. This is something someone should try to do.

The Sea Cabs disappeared before they rethemed for quite a long time. There was a rumor at one time where some lady sued Disney because she claimed she had damage to her ears because of the pressure caused in the Hydrolators. The entire judge and jury had to make a field trip to EPCOT to check out the Hydrolators only to stand in front of the door as it opened and the door in sea base opened so that you could see straight through I assume while running the hydrolators thus showing that they didn't move and were on ground level. I don't know if it is true but it was pretty popular a few years ago.

Back in 1982 Disney spent an enormous amount of money on EPCOT as the ride systems wore out they were replaced with cheaper versions to what we have today, a shadow of it's former self.

I miss the old stuff so bad. Hope in the future with the technology of VR. We will be able to experience these once again.

You forgot to mention The Reef restaurant that they have there! Some of the best food at disney! With a spectacular view as well.

The hydrolaters were cool, but the queue of the current ride does thematically cover how we got under water into sea base alpha. The queue starts out on the beach and in each room of the queue you slowly go farther and farther under water. We then board our magical clam shell, learn about everyday life for a school of fish, and finally our magical clam shells take us right into sea base alpha

Some of my favorite memories of my many childhood visits to WDW were from The Living Seas. I LOVE the little movie and the hydrolators.