Wonders of Life to be gutted

[Horace Horsecollar]

Guess nothing is coming true with the rumor that Dole or Nabisco was a rumored sponsor?

Nabisco is part of food conglomerate Kraft Foods, Inc., the former sponsor of The Land -- and a direct competitor of food conglomerate Nestlé, the current sponsor of The Land. I can't see Nabisco (or its parent Kraft) as the sponsor of the Wonders of Life.

Dole Food Company, Inc. is a smaller company, but it's also a food company. I can't see Dole as the sponsor of the Wonders of Life either.

 

[Disney Padawan]

I have been in the building a few times in the last few months and nothing is being "gutted." I don't know anything about the future plans, but as of a week or two ago everything is in tact.

I've been told that the rides are boarded up and the inside looks to be under construction. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[StephaBabe50]

Just an update: It seems that WOL has been put on the fast track to be gutted. Disney plans to use the interior space as the welcome center and merchanside location for this year's Food & Wine Festival which begins on Sept 28.

That would probably be a good idea..

 

[Brian_WDW74]

Since this is all still a rumor, I thought I'd add this little item posted on Screamscape:

Park News - (7/27/07) Despite rumors last month that the Wonders of Life pavilion may be gutted to make way for a new special events area, there are still rumors suggesting that new attraction ideas are still in discussion for the structure. This has led some to wonder if the earlier rumors were a cover story.

Make of it what you will.

 

[Disney Padawan]

Since this is all still a rumor, I thought I'd add this little item posted on Screamscape:


Make of it what you will.

One can only hope, but that's about it.

 

[Another Voice]

Disney economics is based around the idea of "perceived value". It’s a game between how much value you think you get for your admission price, and how much money Disney wants to spend giving it to you.

Disney has decided that a “full day” is when you see 9 to 12 attractions. Anything less than that and you will feel that you didn’t see enough to justify the price of a ticket. And anything more than that is “extra value”, meaning you’d be happy without it.

So Disney’s goal is to only operate enough attractions to make sure most people get their 9-to-12. Each ride costs money to operate, yet you pay the same amount if you ride one attraction or thirty. Disney doesn’t get any benefit from ride number 13, you’d be happy not having ridden the thing yet it costs Disney bucks to run.

At a park a huge as EPCOT Center (the wand’s down, time to go back to the park’s real name too) has lots and lots of attractions – rides, shows, films, exhibits…plenty of places for your 9-to-12. Naturally, Disney is going to steer you to the cheapest to operate, highest capacity attractions it has. That means attractions with sponsors (who pick-up the operating costs of the attractions) or the ones inherently cheap per person (a movie theater holds a lot of people yet only needs a couple people to run the entire show).

‘Wonders of Life’ lost its sponsorship and became, in Disney’s fetid mind, too expensive to operate. ‘Body Wars’ is high on maintenance, the dome overall costs a lot just for lights and air conditioning. There are also lots of other places to fill your quota – so no one is going to feel “less value” because a whole pavilion is closed. In Disney’s mind, wandering through the museum space in Japan is just as “value” as watching ‘Cranium Command’.

So don’t look for anything there until the building gets a sponsor or a whole lot of other rides are shut down. Remember – seeing more than 12 attractions in a day is just the same stealing money from Disney.

 

[figment1986]

from what I have seen on other forums, The sign and DNA strand is down.. only the base of both remain... unless they too have been removed really recently.

 

[karrit2000]

The brochure that was mailed out to people who have the DDE card Says that the F & W Welcome Center, Gift Shop, Wine Shop and Seminars will be held in the Wonders of Life Pavilion. They are also holding some of the Wine Schools there.

 

[jfap]

The brochure that was mailed out to people who have the DDE card Says that the F & W Welcome Center, Gift Shop, Wine Shop and Seminars will be held in the Wonders of Life Pavilion. They are also holding some of the Wine Schools there.

That just seems so off the beaten path from the rest of the F & W venues.

 

[toaster6.54]

No matter what board you are on, WoL was universally liked by all posters. Cranium command is an all time classic. So many cool hands-on attractions. Nobody disliked WoL.

So where were the people ? Personally, I visit WDW 3-4 weeks per year, yet before WoL went seasonal, it wasn't a "must do" for me. If I spent 30 days a year in WDW, I'd probably visit Epcot Center ( thank you AV ) at least 10 of those days at least for a few hours, but I probably would stop in at WoL maybe once a year.

I haven't been in WDW during any of the seasonal openings so its been a few years since I've been inside WoL so maybe that is why for the life of me I can't think of why I didn't visit the attraction more often. Thinking back I'd have to say it was one of my favorite pavilions, yet I - like apparently so many others - stayed away.

I don't know what prompted Met Life to pull out - probably just bad economic times - but possibly it was because they saw fewer & fewer turnstile clicks and figured their money would be better spent elsewhere.

As for AV's theory of perceived value: Not really buying into it. To my knowledge Disney never put much of their own money into Epcot Center, the pavilions & countries were always built,operated & maintained by sponsors. To say that Disney only wants 9-12 sponsors in Epcot center is a little far fetched. I doubt Bill Gates would have to beg Mr Iger for the opportunity to throw a couple hundred mill at the big golden dome.

 

[Another Voice]

I don't know what prompted Met Life to pull out - probably just bad economic times...

And Exxon left because oil companies aren't making money either?

 

[tink2020]

I am always interested in rumors about WOL. It is hands down my favorite pavilion anywhere in all of Walt Disney World history. It breaks my heart to think it's really going away! DH and I can't for the life of us believe that Disney "can't" find a sponser in a time where - despite being the most overweight, etc country on the planet - we are obsessed with at least the IDEA of "healthy" living. It seems that we can only believe they just didn't try

 

[flowerpower]

We always loved WoL Pavillion and Innoventions, for that matter. We would spend close to 1/2 day in these areas just taking everything in. I was so excited in December that it was open and I got to see Cranium Command again (or was that last August?!?!)

Not a good thing when the mind goes, but at least I have happy memories.......

 

[toaster6.54]

And Exxon left because oil companies aren't making money either?

Didn't realize we were talking about Exxon.

Metlife was severely hurt when the market burst in the late '90s and didn't rally until 2002. IIRC, Met dropped sponsorship sometime in 2001. Disney kept WoL open for 3 more years until making it seasonal.

But as I stated earlier, I don't know why Metlife pulled out.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Didn't realize we were talking about Exxon.

I think the point that AV is making is that fewer companies want remain Disney attractions sponsors or to sign up to be a new sponsor -- even highly profitable companies.

For companies, Disney attraction sponsorships represent a costly advertising expenses. There are many other places to spend their advertising budget.

At one time, attraction sponsorships where considered a great way to build a positive image, build customer goodwill, and gain a competitive advantage.

There are many reasons why this seems to be changing. Some would blame the Disney parks and their perhaps diminishing reputations. But there are other reasons too, such as other sponsorship opportunities (such as sports venues) and new advertising media (such as the Internet) that may be perceived as superior use of advertising money. Also, mergers mean that there are fewer companies and more "conflicts" with Disney and other sponsors; for example, long-time sponsor General Electric owns NBC, but Disney owns competitor ABC.

 

[Sabres2008]

from what I have seen on other forums, The sign and DNA strand is down.. only the base of both remain... unless they too have been removed really recently.

Here's a picture of the exterior from Sunday 8/5:

 

[crazy4wdw]

It's being reported that Wonders of Life has officially been re-named Wonders Retreat. Wonders Retreat will host the 2007 Epcot Food & Wine Festival, serving as the Welcome Center, merchandise location, and wine tasting location.

 

[des1954]

It should be turned into another attraction, and not a convention arena. They still have the old international showcase between Canada & UK that is just sitting empty...why not use that instead?

 

[Brian_WDW74]

It's being reported that Wonders of Life has officially been re-named Wonders Retreat. Wonders Retreat will host the 2007 Epcot Food & Wine Festival, serving as the Welcome Center, merchandise location, and wine tasting location.

Wonders Retreat is the lounge inside the Wonders of Life Pavilion where they've held F&W events for the last couple of years. Are you saying they're giving the entire pavilion the lounge's name?

 

[crazy4wdw]

Wonders Retreat is the lounge inside the Wonders of Life Pavilion where they've held F&W events for the last couple of years. Are you saying they're giving the entire pavilion the lounge's name?

Yes, that's what I'm saying. The name of the entire pavilion has been changed from Wonders of Life to Wonders Retreat. We may have to wait until the F&W Festival to find out if the rumor is accurate.