Epcot's Weirdest Pavilion | The Wonders of Life

The history of Epcot has quite a bit of depth, but having covered both classic Epcot, it's post-modern era and "New" Epcot, that leaves one pavilion that doesn't really fit. The Wonders of Life opened in 1989 and focused on the body and health, not really fitting any era of the park aesthetically, but also being just one of the strangest creations to ever come out of Disney. Between an attraction that teaches about reproduction, a simulator that shrinks you down to navigate the body and various interactive exhibits that were all incredibly superficial, the Wonders of Life was just... weird.

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[oliver]

The fact that Goofy used to be a heavy smoker and drunk driver is my new favorite Disney trivia knowledge.

[ttintagel]

"I don't wanna have The Talk with the kids. Let's just take them to Disney World and have Martin Short do it."

[Gads]

I wonder how much money Disney would've saved if they just remodeled the inside of the WoL pavillion to be the epcot festivals building rather than demolishing and rebuilding the communicore halls.

[patrickdaly]

Brought my kids to WDW for the first time in 2023. I distinctly remember at one point in Epcot, just having to stop myself constantly explaining how much better Future World was back during my first visit in 92. How it all used to make sense. What that closed Pavilion was. How we played for 2 or 3 hours with all the cool stuff in the Imagination Pavilion, while they struggled with the 30 years old remnants of something much bigger. I will say, thematically appropriate or not, we all loved Guardians.

[TheAlo]

Cranium Command will always be special to me. My dad generally doesn’t do Disney but humored us a lot in the late 80s/early 90s. He’s 78 and my sister and mom and I still go often with my own kids while he skips it. But he taught HS Biology for almost his whole career and he really got a kick out of Cranium Command. It’s one of the few Disney attractions that he actually liked. He especially liked Hans and Frans, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Charles Grodin. It was a super clever show that I would definitely love to see again. And the missing Buzzy animatronic is my Roman Empire.

[witheandstone]

My wife and I were invited to test-ride Body Wars just before it opened. At first, the heart's pumping action pushed and pulled the ride vehicle so much that people were getting sick. By the time we rode it, they had dialed it back, but it was still pretty intense.

[alexmurphy]

I love how Disney has let it rot in the public for like 18 years without really caring

[ThatOldSWDude]

I'm surprised the writer doesn't know the cast of Saturday Night Live from back then, especially Arnold's cousins, Hanz and Franz. They were gonna PUMP... you up!

[ezrashort]

this was my favorite pavilion as a kid, I can still remember riding those dumb bikes that would take you around the parks. Thank you for this amazing video and all the others

[_dh]

In my opinion, Classical Epcot is the best version of Epcot. I directly attribute Epcot Center for my love of engineering and shaping my future into becoming a software engineer. I basically left Epcot in 1992 with the message "Computers are the future" ingrained into my 12 year old brain. Now all Epcot teaches people is to most famously stated "'Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next product"

[Sir_Tanooki_Dookie]

16:38 This is SNL’s “Pumping Up With Hans & Franz.” They are making fun of late 80’s Gym Culture and their idol is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Their famous catchphase is, “We just want to pump… You Up!” Making them perfect to be the heart.

[Phantomsangel]

I like how brutally honest he is about all this actually. Not just wonders of life but Epcot as a whole lol. Most people will over hype a topic or talk about how bad but I like how he brings up the pros and cons of it.
I do feel that Wonders of life did fit the theme though with the post modern era. I mean it was educational and had a 90s aesthetic like you said that the other attractions had. I really miss that era lol. The pavilion reminds me of this museum I used to go to as a kid called JFK health world which also focused on health (obviously). So idk maybe I just have an attachment to it because of that.
Sorry I think I'm rambling now lol

[gbrading]

I definitely remember watching the Cranium Command show when I went to Epcot in the early 2000s. Funny to think how it basically is the inspiration for Inside Out.

[kensoup]

Its always bizzare to just see it fenced off in the distance or look at it on the map in the app where its strangely still there just unlabled

[Anynom]

January of 1990 my family did a WDW trip and this pavilion was so amazing back then. Really felt cutting edge, especially Body Wars a rough ride. Kept going back over the years and enjoyed it, especially Cranium Command. Man, I feel old and sadder remembering how amazing classic EPCOT was and wish Disney had kept this in some form.

[smalls]

I worked at Magic Kingdom back in 2015, and before my first day I was visiting EPCOT, and I managed to sneak into a Cast Member only event inside the WoL pavilion. To my shock it looked almost exactly the way it did the day it closed for good. All the signage and exercise equipment and games were removed, but you could still easily tell where the entrance and exit to Body Wars was, as well as the making of me theater. Cranium Command was a little harder to spot. Overall, very cool and very surreal. I had taken pics but can’t seem to find them :( On a more personal note, I always preferred Body Wars to Star Tours, and rewatching vids of it, I have to still agree with young me.

[Floridapanthers]

I hope and pray everyday that they would revive this pavilion with inside out and big hero 6. It fits perfectly into what they are trying to do with Disney parks right now with IP but also the throwback to old Epcot like test track, and somewhat with Moana. Make it happen Disney!

[David-srtz]

I don’t often disagree with you Poseidon, but I do a bit here. I think the Wonders of Life fit beautifully into the Epcot educational theme. While I was never a giant fan of Body Wars, I thought the Making of Me was brilliantly done. Good for Disney for courageously taking on the top - and in such a sensitive way. I also thought Cranium Command was about as good as it gets.

[igelkott]

I LOVED Cranium Command! It was a fun fun fun attraction. It definitely was dated though by all the comedy stars doing their 90s era iconic characters. It was vastly better than other shows of the time like Kitchen Kabaret, and certainly better than anything from recent years. I was very sad when it closed down.

[TweetsieRailroader]

Honestly, I think you could totally revive the Wonders of Life pavilion, keeping the educational aspects, but making it more relevant for modern audiences through relevant IP. Imagine a dark ride where you help Bemax care for patients, or a revised version of Cranium Command, featuring the characters from Inside Out. Using those IPs, you could allow the pavilion to have equal focus on both physical and mental health.