BY MELISSA RICHESON
In front of The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion at EPCOT , the Audio-Animatronic seagulls from Finding Nemo beckon you inside : " Mine ! Mine ! Mine !". A whoosh of water punctuates their call . But once you step inside the pavilion , you quickly realize that cries of “ Ours ! Ours ! Ours !” would be more appropriate .
With oceanic edutainment at every turn , The Seas is a fantastic celebration of our global connectedness through water . Breathtaking marine life and a sweetly themed dark ride combine to make this area a must-do for guests . Let ’ s dive in to see what ’ s beneath the surface at The Seas .
THE ORIGIN STORY The Living Seas — the original version of the pavilion — opened in 1986 . With a 5.7 million-gallon tank , the aquarium at The Living Seas was the largest in the world at the time , making the attraction a highlight for guests from day one .
The Seas aquarium now ranks third in size after Singapore ’ s SEA Aquarium and the Georgia Aquarium .
Like everything at a Disney Park , The Living Seas was designed as an immersive experience with a thoughtful backstory . Guests entered into hydrolators , which took them to the depths of the sea where they could explore Sea Base Alpha . Of course , the fictional elevator to the seafloor was only a simulation , but the animal encounters were always very real .
Once inside the pavilion , guests were treated to a film about ocean formation before boarding a sea cab that took them through the middle of the tank . This slow-moving dark ride was the predecessor of the Nemo ride guests can experience today .
FOUNDING NEMO In early 2007 , after several years of phased renovations , the pavilion reopened with a new Finding Nemo theme . Now , instead of hydrolators , you enter The Seas from the beach — or at least that ’ s what it looks like from the queue ! Your journey into Nemo ’ s world happens as you make your way into the constantly moving ride vehicles called clamobiles .