The Seas with Nemo and Friends

The Seas with Nemo and Friends is EPCOT’s first attraction based on a Disney movie. It’s also a working underwater research facility. Bottom line is it’s a fun way to spend time at EPCOT.

There are a several educational exhibits and a couple of diversions for the little ones. Turtle Talk is an interactive, real-time conversation with Crush the turtle from the Finding Nemo movie.

The Seas with Nemo and Friends

This pavilion has two levels of exhibits. The top level is where you can actually see and talk to researchers at work including one of the holdovers from the Living Seas. The Manatee exhibit is where you can get an up close look at how a sea cow really lives.

This is a huge walk through attraction. You can spend a few minutes or a few hours here. Children that like fish will have a great time in here.

The Preshow

Climb aboard a giant clamobile for a trip under the largest man-made aquarium in a theme park. (The largest anywhere until a few years ago.) This is one of the coolest rides anywhere. You can see divers working, fish swimming and water being water. The characters from Finding Nemo start making appearances looking for Nemo himself.

Turtle Talk with Crush

The Attraction

The Seas with Nemo and Friends is a collection of attractions.

• Turtle Talk with Crush – settle in dudes and dudettes and talk to Crush. Disney Imagineers have developed amazing interactive technology that allows an animated version of Crush to have a conversation with air breathing humans. Crush is his usual surf talking self. It’s very California, dude.
• Mr. Ray’s Lagoon – watch sting rays swim
• Bruce’s Sub House – a hands on play area for kids featuring the more menacing characters from the movie. Climb inside the mouth of a shark and have your picture taken.
• Sea Base Alpha – watch divers go through the air lock into and out of the tank. There are artifacts used in diving that you can see and touch.
• The Manatee Exhibit – see how Disney nurses rescued Manatees back to health.

Eating with the Fishes

The Coral Reef Restaurant is one of the most unique restaurants anywhere. It may be a little unnerving (at least for the fishey’s) to eat sea food while watching fish swim in the aquarium. It’s a really good show. Kids love watching the fish swim by.

It’s a really beautiful setting for both adults and children.

Dad’s Coral Reef Restaurant page

Crowds

For years you could walk right in to this attraction with no waiting. Crowds were never a factor. When Nemo and Company were introduced, the lines came back. You can expect a line for the clamobiles for most of the day.

Now that crowds are a factor again, you will want to have some sort of plan for avoiding them. Dad has lots of help. The best resource comes from Dad’s friends over at Touringplans.com. They have over 100 plans that will help you deal with just about anything the crowds in EPCOT can throw at you.

Dad’s TouringPlans.com page

Dad also has a dedicated page for dealing with both EPCOT crowds and even crowds at The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

Dad’s EPCOT Crowds page

The Seas …

Fun Facts

Here are some interesting tidbits –

• The glass windows are 8 inches thick
• The tank holds over 5.7 million gallons of water, is 200 feet in diameter and 27 feet deep
• Spaceship Earth would fit inside the tank

History

When this attraction first opened in 1986, guests would ride Hydrolators (elevators) down to the attraction. You would then get in a seacab for a short (very short) ride through an underwater tunnel. In 2001 the seacabs were removed and guests walked through the underwater tunnel.

In 2006 this became the first EPCOT attraction that had characters from one of Disney’s movies prominently displayed. EPCOT was designed to be different from The Magic Kingdom and not be character based to the point that Imagineers “hid” Mickey in EPCOT.

• The Hydrolators never actually moved. Special effects were used to simulate motion.
• When the seacabs were removed, an optional movie was added prior to the Hydrolators.
• Nemo was introduced in 2006.

Peach from Finding Nemo

Dad’s Ride Information Table

The Fine Print

Here’s some small print information

• Handheld Captioning is available with this attraction
• Guest must transfer from wheelchair, motorized scooter or ECV to enjoy this attraction.

Dad’s Bottom Line

This is one of the best attractions at Walt Disney World. Adding the Nemo theme has resurrected a dying attraction.