EPCOT Remy's Ratatouille Adventure coming to Epcot

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
Another question, was the blank wall an issue before? Hasn’t that building has always been there?
It wasn't attractive before, but it was hidden in the most tucked-away, rarely-visited corner of the Pavilion and obscured by trees from the International Gateway.

Now it's the entryway to what will undoubtedly be the most sought-after attraction in World Showcase, if not the whole park.


View from the Gateway prior to the Skyliner and Ratatouille expansion:
1610561081827.png


EDITED to Add: Apparently there used to be a Tree tucked in that corner, too, blocking the bare wall from even the France-side pathways. That tree is now gone and more needed than ever:

Screen Shot 2021-01-13 at 1.15.26 PM.png
 
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HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
Objectively its the perfect park for an attraction that takes place in France. People here are constantly clamoring for the WS pavillions to have ride attractions. Well we've got one now, so Mexico and Norway finally have some company.

*CoughJapanCough*

Rat would have been a perfect addition to a Pixar Place land at DHS. Heck, import Crush’s Coaster as well and have a decently fleshed out land at DHS that would have eaten a lot of people in a park desperate for the capacity.
 

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
*CoughJapanCough*

Rat would have been a perfect addition to a Pixar Place land at DHS. Heck, import Crush’s Coaster as well and have a decently fleshed out land at DHS that would have eaten a lot of people in a park desperate for the capacity.
The oft wished for Fuji coaster would be wonderful in Japan.

Pixar Place isn't a land, it's a glorified cookie shop, and there isn't any space for Rat in there. And DHS's Pixar IP is focused on Toy Story (again with the mild Incredibles themeing at Pixar Place more like an afterthought to seel num num cookies. Also is the Lightning McQueen expereince still a thing?)
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
It wasn't attractive before, but it was hidden in the most tucked-away, rarely-visited corner of the Pavilion and obscured by trees from the International Gateway.

Now it's the entryway to what will undoubtedly be the most sought-after attraction in World Showcase, if not the whole park.


View from the Gateway prior to the Skyliner and Ratatouille expansion:
View attachment 523925

EDITED to Add: Apparently there used to be a Tree tucked in that corner, too, blocking the bare wall from even the France-side pathways. That tree is now gone and more needed than ever:

View attachment 523926
Here’s a photo I took a few years ago for no reason:

2F3E1F2A-25E4-44F1-9E26-D678B1D74BD2.png
 

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
It wasn't attractive before, but it was hidden in the most tucked-away, rarely-visited corner of the Pavilion and obscured by trees from the International Gateway.

Now it's the entryway to what will undoubtedly be the most sought-after attraction in World Showcase, if not the whole park.


View from the Gateway prior to the Skyliner and Ratatouille expansion:
View attachment 523925

EDITED to Add: Apparently there used to be a Tree tucked in that corner, too, blocking the bare wall from even the France-side pathways. That tree is now gone and more needed than ever:

View attachment 523926
Dont get me started on awkward floating chimney lol

when the Main Street bypass was created and required tree removal they eventually added some theming to a bare wall on the side of the Plaza Restaurant, maybe this will happen here too once they see how bad it looks. I’ll be happy to remind them at guest relations anytime I visit the park.
 

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
Objectively its the perfect park for an attraction that takes place in France. People here are constantly clamoring for the WS pavillions to have ride attractions. Well we've got one now, so Mexico and Norway finally have some company.
It's fair enough to say that it's tonally an odd fit. Even if the France Pavilion is a bit more on the Romantic side than the Authentic side, there's never really been an element of caricature to it, which Ratatouille certainly introduces. Aesthetically, Remy's Paris and EPCOT's Paris are really not the same Paris.

Not to mention that the Cartoon Properties existing in the Mexico and Norway rides are basically just as tonally inconsistent with their respective Pavilions. That's fair to say regardless of how you feel about "toons" being introduced to EPCOT at large.
 

Giss Neric

Well-Known Member
June seems super late to me. With Marni’s timeframe I think we are looking at the early March time but even that seems late to me.

Are we talking grand opening or soft openings? I could see a soft opening in February.
Well, if the entrance is just covered with those bushes and they are putting in plants and flowers right now it seems it will be weeks and not months away. Valentines opening would be great.
 

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
Aesthetically, Remy's Paris and EPCOT's Paris are really not the same Paris.
Actually this is not really true. The film is beautifully animated and none of the settings or places have any degree of caricature to them. Paris in the film Ratatouille looks like it does IRL. The only thing given caricature in the film are the people and the rats. The making of docs even discuss how the kitchen is modeled to be identical to an authentic French restaurant kitchen.

As for the "toons in Epcot" debate. The fab five have been there for a long time so precedent was always established (also Figment). That argument simply boils down to whether you like it or not. And I think it's fine that people would prefer to not have as much toon presence in Epcot. But at the end of the day, it's a Disney park, and Disney gonna Disney
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
Actually this is not really true. The film is beautifully animated and none of the settings or places have any degree of caricature to them. Paris in the film Ratatouille looks like it does IRL. The only thing given caricature in the film are the people and the rats. The making of docs even discuss how the kitchen is modeled to be identical to an authentic French restaurant kitchen.

As for the "toons in Epcot" debate. The fab five have been there for a long time so precedent was always established (also Figment). That argument simply boils down to whether you like it or not. And I think it's fine that people would prefer to not have as much toon presence in Epcot. But at the end of the day, it's a Disney park, and Disney gonna Disney
To me, the argument against animation IP in Epcot isn’t so much about “can you find characters in the parks/on merch” as it is “is Epcot supposed to represent real places or imaginary ones?“ World Showcase was always realistic (if scaled down) representations of real places. This was changed with the addition of Arrendelle (making the Norway pavilion a caricature) and now Ratatouille, which is making the French pavilion a caricature).

Ratatouille the film definitely does not try to present a photo-realistic Paris, but rather a romantic, timeless, surrealistic one with exaggerated textures, diffused lighting, and muted colors.

You can see this represented in the pavilion—in the front, scale, colors, proportions, lines, and angles are realistic. As you move around into the new Ratatouille courtyard, the design gradually changes—colors are more saturated, lines are softer. As your eye moves from street level up and to the “distance” of the 2D facades, the design becomes much more “cartoony”—chimneys become bent at extreme angles, lines skewed in the unrealistic forced rat-perspective from the film, textures are exaggerated, and uneven lines.
 

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
Ratatouille the film definitely does not try to present a photo-realistic Paris, but rather a romantic, timeless, surrealistic one with exaggerated textures, diffused lighting, and muted colors.

You can see this represented in the pavilion—in the front, scale, colors, proportions, lines, and angles are realistic. As you move around into the new Ratatouille courtyard, the design gradually changes—colors are more saturated, lines are softer. As your eye moves from street level up and to the “distance” of the 2D facades, the design becomes much more “cartoony”—chimneys become bent at extreme angles, lines skewed in the unrealistic forced rat-perspective from the film, textures are exaggerated, and uneven lines.
Romantic as it may be, the settings in the film are not caricatured. I have no idea why they may have caricatured the expansion area of the pavillion, but that is not reflective of the film. Again, the only thing that is caricatured in the film are the people and the rats
 

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