The Walt Disney World Resort has lots of hidden nooks & crannies. Places that are damn near impossible for members of the general public to visit. But among the toughest areas to access are WDW’s corporate lounges.
Unless you’re an employee of one of the corporations that actually sponsors WDW’s rides, shows, attractions or pavilions and/or you somehow managed to score a pass to one of the lounges …
Image courtesy of Jeff Lange
… you’ve probably never seen the inside of one of these rooms. Which are typically pretty plush in a 1980s sort of way. By that I mean: Check out all of the leather chairs & sofas inside of Kodak‘s corporate lounge (which is located inside of Epcot‘s “Imagination” pavilion).
Photo by Jeff Lange
Each corporate lounge has its own individual style and decor. Take — for example — the room that MetLife set up for its employees at the now-defunct “Wonders of Life” pavilion. Which featured a Country Fair theme.
Photo by Jeff Lange
The reason that I’m bringing up this topic today is … Well, members of the public rarely (if ever) have access to these areas. Particularly at pavilions where participants have pulled their sponsorship. Which usually then forces the Mouse to mothball these spaces.
That’s why I want to call your attention to what the guys behind WDWCelebrations are to up. As part of their upcoming “World Wide Weekend” event (Which will be held at the WDW Resort September 26th through the 28th), they persuaded Mickey to re-open the corporate lounge at Epcot’s “The Seas with Nemo & Friends” pavilion. Which has basically been off-limits ever since United Technologies pulled out of that theme park back in 1998.
The decor of this particular Disney World corporate lounge is a weird mix of the sort of elements that you’d expect to find at Epcot’s “Seas” pavilion (i.e. large ornamental sculptures of fish) …
Photo by Jeff Lange
… as well as items that clearly come out of left field (Check out that clear acrylic piano).
Photo by Jeff Lange
Speaking of acrylics … This corporate lounge’s enormous clear-plastic windows offer a spectacular view of the “Seas with Nemo & Friends” ‘s 5.7 million gallon saltwater aquarium.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Mind you, at the World Wide Weekend’s “Dive, Dine, Discover” event, there’ll be a lot more to see than just the sharks, seat turtles and dolphins that currently swim around in that tank. Though the guys behind WDWCelebrations aren’t really at liberty to say just yet who they’ve lined up, they’re working to bring in a guest speaker. Someone that Disneyana fans are sure to know.
And did I mention that this event also features a buffet lunch? Where you can nosh on Three Cheese Lasagna, Penne Pasta with Alfredo Cream and/or Tomato Braised Chicken with Mushrooms, Peppers, and Onions as you listen to the guest speaker or ogle the fish. And afterwards … You and the rest of the registrants will head on downstairs for a group-exclusive private showing of “Turtle Talk with Crush.”
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“Dive, Dine, Discover” sounds like a pretty spectacular way to spend an afternoon at Epcot. Especially when you take into consideration that the WDWCelebration guys just dropped the price of this World Wide Weekend event from $69.99 per person to $49.99 per person.
So if you’ve been dreaming of exploring one of WDW’s corporate lounges, here finally is your chance. Just keep in mind, though, that space is limited. And given that 500 people have already signed up to take part in WDWCelebrations’ World Wide Weekend event, those remaining open spots for “Dive, Dine, Discover” are sure to go fast.
For further information on World Wide Weekend, be sure and check out the WDWCelebrations website.
Special thanks to Jeff Lange of JeffLangeDVD.com for providing most of the photos & images used to illustrate today’s article.