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NOTE: This
attraction is no longer in operation.
Body Wars
This attraction, located deep inside the Wonders of Life pavilion in Epcot, is a fun way to get some easy
thrills without having to endure anything really "stressful" in the process.
In this attraction, you're loaded into a vehicle (which looks like a small theater-like affair with several rows of
seats), then that vehicle is reduced in size until it's small enough to be injected into a medical patient
suffering from a splinter of wood. The point is to research how the human system protects itself from invading germs
and other foreign materials which find their way inside the body.
Predictably, something goes awry--in this case, a white blood cell "mistakes" your vehicle for an
aggressive enemy, and attacks with all it's got. The white blood cell causes damage to the vehicle's power supply,
but the quick-thinking crew manages to solve the problem with a series of maneuvers which takes the
passengers through the patient's body, including the heart and the brain. Finally, after several
minutes, power is restored and and the vehicle is extracted and enlarged.
The "thrill" here is the wide range of sweeping motions the vehicle can produce, all of which are (more or less)
synchronized with the goings-on in the film that's being shown on the large screen at the front of the vehicle.
The entire vehicle moves quite a bit during the performance, making the use of seat belts a requirement
with good reason! You'll be holding on tightly to the arms of your seat as the entire theater pumps, gurgles, and
sloshes around in the splinter patient's body.
This is actually one of two attractions at WDW which uses the same motion-simulator technology.
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Star Tours is the other. Both attractions use the same vehicles--dressed up differently to suit the
theme of the ride, of course. The vehicles are actually small enclosed rooms suspended on hydraulic
legs, allowing them to tilt, bounce, and move about. When coupled with the movie, these motions produce all
of the light-thrill effects you experience in the attractions. If you're interested, notice that while boarding
and disembarking the vehicle that the walkways can swing out of the way after the vehicle is
loaded, freeing it to move about in the larger room in which it's situated.
As of the past several seasons, Wonders of Life has opened only rarely at Epcot, so Body Wars may be
unavailable during your visit, unless you're touring at peak times (like over the December/January
holiday period). If Wonders of Life is closed, Body Wars will be inaccessible, but you may still wish
to check out Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
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