News Morocco Pavilion redevelopment

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
Wow, I really like what I'm seeing of the new concrete, but it's weird seeing something that's not salmon-colored on a main thoroughfare. I know they're eliminating a lot of it at the entrance and in World Celebration, but I'm curious how far they intend to take it now that it's showing up in Morocco, unless this will be more contained than it appears. Handling transitions could get wonky.
 

LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
nothing wrong with an honest mistake as long as you fix it
My view isn't quite so forgiving, and I say that as a professed Pixie Duster who thinks people here are generally far too critical of Disney. In a pavilion dedicated to a specific country's culture, and at a time of increased cultural sensitivity and awareness, it is bordering on inexcusable that such a mistake could have got to the point of actually being painted and unveiled. We're not dealing with an obscure language here, and it would have taken nothing more than a quick email to someone familiar with Arabic to confirm the accuracy of the design. An Arabic speaker must have been consulted at the start of the process (as I said, the words themselves were correct), so why no-one thought to check back in with that person is beyond me. I'm also disappointed that the disjointedness of the letters didn't strike anyone at Imagineering as out of keeping with all the other Arabic texts at the pavilion. One doesn't need to be able to read or understand a language to recognise its "look", and Arabic written with separate letters just isn't a thing. I wouldn't expect the casual observer to notice anything off, but I expected more of those whose jobs centre on design, artistry, and visual research.

End of rant!

ETA: On the plus side, I'm glad they took action quickly to fix the mistake.
 
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castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
Wow, I really like what I'm seeing of the new concrete, but it's weird seeing something that's not salmon-colored on a main thoroughfare. I know they're eliminating a lot of it at the entrance and in World Celebration, but I'm curious how far they intend to take it now that it's showing up in Morocco, unless this will be more contained than it appears. Handling transitions could get wonky.
I’m trying to think of any other area of the promenade that has its own concrete and I can’t. As you said, interesting how far it’ll go.
 

J4546

Well-Known Member
Lets say they build out the Morocco pavilion with an agrabah/aladdin ride in it, what would you like to see?

also I always imagined if they made an egypt pavilion, they should use that kinda spongey material ive seen at a lot of parks arounds kids play areas. Use that in a sand color to give the feel of ... not necessarily sand but i think its be a neat touch
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
Lets say they build out the Morocco pavilion with an agrabah/aladdin ride in it, what would you like to see?
I would really rather they didn't. You could get away with it if the Showcase country in question were actually on the Arabian peninsula, but putting an Aladdin ride in Morocco would be akin to putting it in a hypothetical Spain pavilion just because of the Moorish influences on their architecture.

They also simply don't need to. If they want to infuse IP, there are plenty of other countries where it actually makes sense without stretching. Germany could have a montage of Grimm-inspired fairy tales, the United Kingdom can obviously still get Poppins, Mulan actually takes place in China, etc.
 

LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
I would really rather they didn't. You could get away with it if the Showcase country in question were actually on the Arabian peninsula, but putting an Aladdin ride in Morocco would be akin to putting it in a hypothetical Spain pavilion just because of the Moorish influences on their architecture.
The architecture of Agrabah has far more to do with Egypt, North Africa, Iran, and even India than it does with the Arabian Peninsula. In the context of the title Arabian Nights—and reflecting historical usage—“Arabian” refers to the Arab world in general rather than to the Arabian Peninsula specifically.

None of this is to say that Morocco is the appropriate venue for Agrabah—it isn’t—but it’s no worse a fit than a country in the Arabian Peninsula would be. Personally, I am fine with an Aladdin presence of the type that’s already established at the pavilion (a character meet-and-greet) but would object to anything more substantial.
 
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GimpYancIent

Well-Known Member
The architecture of Agrabah has far more to do with Egypt, North Africa, Iran, and even India than it does with the Arabian Peninsula. In the context of the title Arabian Nights—and reflecting historical usage—“Arabian” refers to the Arab world in general rather than to the Arabian Peninsula specifically.

None of this is to say that Morocco is the appropriate venue for Agrabah—it isn’t—but it’s no worse a fit than a country in the Arabian Peninsula would be. Personally, I am fine with an Aladdin presence of the type that’s already established at the pavilion (a character meet-and-greet) but would object to anything more substantive.
Good. It's a slow process but the Aladdin concept is being accepted. No huge neon sign out front saying ALADDINS, at least not for the near future.
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
The architecture of Agrabah has far more to do with Egypt, North Africa, Iran, and even India than it does with the Arabian Peninsula. In the context of the title Arabian Nights—and reflecting historical usage—“Arabian” refers to the Arab world in general rather than to the Arabian Peninsula specifically.
Totally, and fair enough from an architectural perspective.

Regardless, my problem with Agrabah is the same as my problem with Arendelle. They both represent vague fantasy versions of real-world regions and don't teach us a tremendous amount about the culture of any country in particular, which is part of the purpose of the World Showcase. I think that to be a candidate for inclusion, an IP should at a bare minimum explicitly take place in the country in question and ideally act as a stepping stone to learn more about a specific aspect of that country's culture.

Given those criteria, Ratatouille, Mary Poppins, and Mulan would be "okay", but an ideal IP-infused lineup would include something like:
  • Coco in Mexico, with content and accompanying educational information about the Day of the Dead and other traditions that mix Catholicism with folk religious practices
  • Hercules in a hypothetical Greek pavilion, with content and accompanying educational information about the Greek pantheon
  • Anastasia in a hypothetical Russia pavilion, with content and accompanying educational information about the fall of the Romanov dynasty (don't @ me; it's on D+ now and I want my "Once upon a December" Haunted Mansion-esque dark ride regardless of who animated it)
 

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
Totally, and fair enough from an architectural perspective.

Regardless, my problem with Agrabah is the same as my problem with Arendelle. They both represent vague fantasy versions of real-world regions and don't teach us a tremendous amount about the culture of any country in particular, which is part of the purpose of the World Showcase. I think that to be a candidate for inclusion, an IP should at a bare minimum explicitly take place in the country in question and ideally act as a stepping stone to learn more about a specific aspect of that country's culture.

Given those criteria, Ratatouille, Mary Poppins, and Mulan would be "okay", but an ideal IP-infused lineup would include something like:
  • Coco in Mexico, with content and accompanying educational information about the Day of the Dead and other traditions that mix Catholicism with folk religious practices
  • Hercules in a hypothetical Greek pavilion, with content and accompanying educational information about the Greek pantheon
  • Anastasia in a hypothetical Russia pavilion, with content and accompanying educational information about the fall of the Romanov dynasty (don't @ me; it's on D+ now and I want my "Once upon a December" Haunted Mansion-esque dark ride regardless of who animated it)
I'm with you on all bolded points could not agree more,,,, and major yes to that Once Upon a December dark ride, could be incredible. :)
 

DoleWhipDrea

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, no matter how any of us feel about forcing IPs in World Showcase and it's appropriateness, I think Disney is going to continue on with it if they feel that it will make them more money.

The 2019 live action film did well at the box office, though it had "lukewarm" reviews. I love the animated 1992 Aladdin and would prefer to see it get a highly-themed dark ride in Adventureland (IMHO the flying carpets are a pretty lackluster offering in respect to the film), but I don't see how it could fit from my lack of knowledge to the feasibility of pushing it past the berm.

WDI doubling-down on the Moroccan touches recently tells me that putting in more IP in this area isn't really on their radar. If anything, I think the most we might see is a character dining location.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know when the name changed from Oasis Slushies to Oasis Sweets and Sips (It's also been called Oasis Sips and Sweets).
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
Really, really disappointing and embarrassing: the Arabic on and above the spice cart is backwards and unconnected. The word written on the wall as ت ا ي ر ط ع should be عطریات. My Arabic isn't good enough to be certain of this, but even the meaning seems off: as far as I know, عطریات means "perfumes" rather than "spices".
While I can't share the picture from the site, the text on the wall has been updated to look exactly like that.
 
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LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
While I can't share the picture from the site, the text on the wall has been updated to look exactly like that.
I thought the only forbidden site here was the one ending in "Today", and I just went over there and couldn't see any new pictures. Could you perhaps PM me the link, or else find another way of alluding to it here?
 

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