By Beth Skarp
I
always enjoy going into the Land Pavilion. If nothing else, the
ability to get in out of the sweltering summer heat and humidity is
enough to make a vist to this building something everyone has done a
time or two. Add in the benefits of visiting woderful eateries like The
Garden Grille or Sunshine Seasons or taking a ride over California in
Soarin, well, the Land Pavilion gets its fair share of visitors each
year.
Did
you know that the Land Pavilion as we know it today had a whole other
idea behind its conception? Back when the Pavilion was on the drawing
board, the original idea ws to make an Ecology and Mineral Pavilion?
With
anything that comes to Disney, Disney looks for a sponsor—someone to
help defray the cost of building an attraction. When the Ecology and
Mineral Pavilion was the focus, a logging company was willing to sponsor
this attraction. The idea was to showcase natural habitats and the
environment.
The
original plans for a ride through the Ecology section was to be called
Blueprints in Nature. Guests were to board a balloon that would run
along a track, similar to the Peter Pan in Flight ride. The balloons
would then take you high up into the clouds, showing you a simple
snowflake and the importance or value that this frozen piece of water
could bring to the land and its environment. With Frozen being as
popular as it is today, can you just imagine what such a ride would be
like if it had come to fruition? But I digress.
The ride would follow the life of a simple snowflake that was formed,
how it floats to Earth and is melted. The water from this simple
snowflake would have a profound effect as it flowed through various
ecosystems. The point was to educate and enlighten the guests on the
value of water, and how to protect our land and resources from
pollutants or contaminants that would alter or harm the water. As you
well know, this particular attraction never did come about.
In
1978, the logging company, for whatever reason, decided not to sponsor
this Pavilion. Oh dear...now what does Disney do? Thankfully, Kraft
Food Company said they would be willing to step in and take over
sponsorship of the Pavilion. The emphasis was still to be on the Land
since the outside structure had already begun construction along with the mural that I spoke about in my last article.
Instead,
the emphasis was to be on agriculture, the environment, and innovative
ways of cultivating food from a variety of sources.
Disney
never wastes anything. The balloons that were to be used for
Blueprints in Nature were used, just in a different fashion. Ever
notice the balloons that are hanging over your heads in Sunshine
Seasons? Yep, these were the prototypes for Blueprints in Nature.
WOw. I had no idea about those balloons. I always enjoyed seeing them.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating history of that attraction.
Glad you liked the article. I always enjoy learning about the little known things in and around Disney World.
ReplyDeleteWow. That's fascinating. And that original concept sounds enticing!
ReplyDeleteDid you why the Imagination Pavilion is also glass?
:)
Jud
I love learning new WDW facts. Thanks for this great article.
ReplyDelete