Morocco Pavilion facing financial troubles

[celluloid]

Aladdin has nothing to do with a Morocco. Frozen fits better in Norway than Aladdin fits in Morocco - at least it was inspired by a story based in the same geographic region. Aladdin was based on a story set in the Middle East, not even the same continent. Jasmine meeting there is the only connection - clearly Africa was considered “close enough” to Asia, given there is no Asian representation in WS.

So yep, you’re probably right.

edited to add: obviously there’s Japan and China - I would advocate that China is a better fit for Aladdin than Morocco, from both the story and the original animated Disney movie. But China has Mulan.

They fly over Africa in A Whole New World.(and other major continents as evident by landmarks in montage) I know it is a small piece,but that is how the current Disney minds work.

 

[castlecake2.0]

I hope this doesn't set a precedent, where we see more and more countries start to be run by WDW...

A lot already are:

Pavilion food, merchandise, and attractions fully owned and operated by Disney
Canada
UK
Germany
Norway
American Adventure
(Soon) Morocco

Pavilion merchandise and attraction venues owned and operated by Disney, food operated by third party
Mexico
Italy
France

Attraction venues operated and owned by Disney, merchandise and food operated by third party
China
Japan

Edited for clarity

 

[MrPromey]

... I guess it takes a certain type of intellect to truly appreciate the intricate storytelling that happens in World Showcase outside of the attractions. Just wow.

Not the least bit pretentious and condescending towards those with a differing opinion or way of doing things, are we?

 

[Mesmer92]

Not the least bit pretentious and condescending towards those with a differing opinion or way of doing things, are we?

I guess I'm old fashioned but calling out a lack of appreciation for architectural excellence isn't condescending. But to each their own , just makes it easier to put people on ignore

 

[MrPromey]

I guess I'm old fashioned but calling out a lack of appreciation for architectural excellence isn't condescending. But to each their own , just makes it easier to put people on ignore

It's the "... takes a certain type of intellect... " part which creates a fairly obvious implication. Maybe you didn't mean it like that but it sure reads that way.

Personally, I don't spend a whole lot of time in Morocco (after nearly 35 years of visits, there isn't much left for me to see) but I do consider it the most beautiful pavilion and knowing the story of how it was completed, my heart would be broken if they tore it down or tried to somehow make it someplace else.

That said, I can understand how a family, especially one with kids, would pass by it pretty quickly, especially if unlike me, they weren't there with an AP most of the time.

 

[UNCgolf]

Boathouse is run by Gibson’s of Chicago...but the idea came from Steve Schussler who had developed rainforest and other nonsense for Landry’s

Yeah, Landry's runs a restaurant called the Boathouse in Vancouver. Just saw the name and didn't realize it wasn't the one at Disney Springs.

 

[Bocabear]

let's face it, families with kids will pass by most pavilions unless there is a ride or similar attraction to visit... They really should have added an attraction over the years if they are wanting to make the park more family friendly...It would have made more sense to give each showcase pavilion without an attraction, a full real ride that is appropriate for it's location than start adding superheroes to Future World...
Ratatouille fully works... A Coco overlay in the Mexico pavilion is another example of something that would work...I would even think an Aladdin attraction in Morocco would be technically acceptable as long as they don't retheme the whole pavilion to Agrabah...lol

 

[MrPromey]

let's face it, families with kids will pass by most pavilions unless there is a ride or similar attraction to visit... They really should have added an attraction over the years if they are wanting to make the park more family friendly...It would have made more sense to give each showcase pavilion without an attraction, a full real ride that is appropriate for it's location than start adding superheroes to Future World...
Ratatouille fully works... A Coco overlay in the Mexico pavilion is another example of something that would work...I would even think an Aladdin attraction in Morocco would be technically acceptable as long as they don't retheme the whole pavilion to Agrabah...lol

Personally, I still clutch to the original idea of EPCOT Center like Charlton Heston (I must assume) still holds onto his guns so tons of what's going on with the way this generation of management is handling things rubs me wrong but I have to say Coco would make perfect sense to me. I think Ratatouille a little less so* but again, it's at least kind of in the ballpark.

Aladdin as a permanent resident of Morocco feels like pushing things a little too far just like Frozen in Norway seems to be (for me) but I think each pavilion should have had some form of attraction all along. A ride, a theater with a show or movie - something.

Thing is, they built it with partial setups for these things in at least a few pavilions during initial construction (Germany and Japan come to mind) so clearly, this is something even the original designers of the park thought were necessary. I still wonder what happened here; If the original sponsor model didn't pan out to begin with in some places or if they decided they could fill in those gaps with street entertainment and avoid/delay that investment or what?

*Obviously, this is not a real story about French culture and if anything, what they show of actual French culture is (lovingly) taken to sort of characterture-like extremes and neither of the main two characters are even shown as being French but yeah, it takes place in Paris, at least.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Personally, I still clutch to the original idea of EPCOT Center like Charlton Heston holds onto his guns so tons of what's going on with the way this generation of management is handling things rubs me wrong but I have to say Coco would make perfect sense to me. I think Ratatouille a little less so but again, it's at least kind of in the ballpark.

Aladdin as a permanent resident of Morocco feels like pushing things a little too far just like Frozen in Norway seems to be (for me) but I think each pavilion should have had some form of attraction all along. A ride, a theater with a show or movie - something.

Thing is, they built it with partial setups for these things in at least a few pavilions during initial construction (Germany and Japan come to mind) so clearly, this is something even the original designers of the park thought were necessary. I still wonder what happened here. If the original sponsor model didn't pan out to begin with in some places or if they decided they could fill in those gaps with street entertainment and avoid/delay that investment or what?

The over shot the construction by about a billion bucks...the operational cost are higher than anticipated...the sponsorship models assume everyone would want to support that park forever...and the world has gotten “smaller” with the internet and digital media (harder to “wow”)

 

[MrPromey]

The over shot the construction by about a billion bucks...the operational cost are higher than anticipated...the sponsorship models everyone would want to support that park forever...and the world has gotten “smaller” with the internet and digital media (harder to “wow”)

The world has gotten smaller argument I understand today but not in the 80's... Also, for the first decade or two, they were managing to make that sponsorship thing work so I still kind of scratch my head a bit. I mean, I know a little of the story with why the Japan show was alegedly delayed initially even though the space for it had been built but it's hard to imagine they'd have had that hard of a time getting a sponsorship from someone in West Germany back in the days of the wall, in particular.

 

[Fable McCloud]

let's face it, families with kids will pass by most pavilions unless there is a ride or similar attraction to visit... They really should have added an attraction over the years if they are wanting to make the park more family friendly...It would have made more sense to give each showcase pavilion without an attraction, a full real ride that is appropriate for it's location than start adding superheroes to Future World...
Ratatouille fully works... A Coco overlay in the Mexico pavilion is another example of something that would work...I would even think an Aladdin attraction in Morocco would be technically acceptable as long as they don't retheme the whole pavilion to Agrabah...lol

I love the Three Caballeros, but Coco would be such an impressive overlay to that boat ride. I wish that would happen, since so many people loved Coco.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The world has gotten smaller argument I understand today but not in the 80's... Also, for the first decade or two, they were managing to make that sponsorship thing work so I still kind of scratch my head a bit. I mean, I know a little of the story with why the Japan show was alegedly delayed initially even though the space for it had been built but it's hard to imagine they'd have had that hard of a time getting a sponsorship from someone in West Germany back in the days of the wall, in particular.

The original deals long since expired. Each re-up brought “today’s realities” into play.

Disney should have done longer deals (at perhaps lower costs), but with mandatory reinvestment projects padded into them.

I love the Three Caballeros, but Coco would be such an impressive overlay to that boat ride. I wish that would happen, since so many people loved Coco.

Disagree...to each their own

 

[WEDway Inc & Company LLC]

Idea time!

 

[UNCgolf]

I still don't really buy the world has gotten smaller argument with regards to the World Showcase. Looking at pictures/videos of something on the Internet isn't fundamentally different than watching something on TV (whether live TV or on a video tape) or seeing it in a book. It's more easily accessible, but it's still different than being in a physical space. I also don't think the availability of food from different culture has had any kind of noticeable increase over the past 30 or so years. It's still mainly limited to people that live in relatively large urban areas -- although this has also been hurt by Disney and their vendors deliberately dumbing down the food that's available to try to sell it to more people.

Beyond that, the vast majority of Americans don't ever leave the United States. It's not like there's been a huge increase in the number of people who have been to those countries in real life.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Adding characters costs money. Disney would have charged the third party operating participant of Restaurant Marrakesh to incorporate IP and the cost of talent into their restaurant, if they even permitted them to have access to do so.

The company that operates Chefs de France had to pay Disney for the Remy animatronic, performers, and rights. It was far too costly and that was why it was ended in 2013.

Either way this is one of my favorite Disney memories. It felt like true Disney Magic. I’m so sad that the living character thing apparently got budget cut. Remy, Muppet Mobile Labs, Talking Mickey.... they were on to something really special. :-/

Looks like many places in my city would be reported if anyone cares to report. Chicken rolls, pizza slices with meat or chicken toppings in the local pizza places are stored behind a glass case in room temperature. When one orders something from the case, the staff member just takes one and reheats in the pizza oven. I've had no issues eating reheated food.

Obviously I don’t know your cities health codes but cooking food and leaving it out at room temperature is usually not allowed. I’ve seen lots of questionable food handling practice in New York City though. Part of the charm of the place! Ha.

Not sure what the typical practice was. In my experience, they had been overcooked (fried), sitting out for an extended period, and served room temp.
And you're right, no excuse for this.

The falafels were often overcooked in my experience as well. They did fry them up regularly, luck of the draw how fresh they were. Same with the gyro chicken and lamb. If it was freshly carved off the rotisserie that chicken could not be beat!

 

[techgeek]

Also, for the first decade or two, they were managing to make that sponsorship thing work so I still kind of scratch my head a bit. I mean, I know a little of the story with why the Japan show was alegedly delayed initially even though the space for it had been built but it's hard to imagine they'd have had that hard of a time getting a sponsorship from someone in West Germany back in the days of the wall, in particular.

The original deals long since expired. Each re-up brought “today’s realities” into play.

Disney should have done longer deals (at perhaps lower costs), but with mandatory reinvestment projects padded into them.

I'm not sure from what level these deals were typically inked at... it's hard to imagine Iger taking a personal interest in such negotiations, but if they weren't originating at the executive level then perhaps the issue has been that there hasn't been the right individual(s) in place to really land them on the Disney side of things.

It's not like you can just fill out the web form for "one pavilion sponsorship package", although it's all to easy to imagine modern Disney thinking that every sponsorship deal should be that easy.. take their money, 'one size fits all'... and neglected the 'partnership' aspect of the transaction.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I still don't really buy the world has gotten smaller argument with regards to the World Showcase. Looking at pictures/videos of something on the Internet isn't fundamentally different than watching something on TV (whether live TV or on a video tape) or seeing it in a book. It's more easily accessible, but it's still different than being in a physical space. I also don't think the availability of food from different culture has had any kind of noticeable increase over the past 30 or so years. It's still mainly limited to people that live in relatively large urban areas -- although this has also been hurt by Disney and their vendors deliberately dumbing down the food that's available to try to sell it to more people.

Beyond that, the vast majority of Americans don't ever leave the United States. It's not like there's been a huge increase in the number of people who have been to those countries in real life.

My point is and always has been prior to 1995 you had to go to your public library or National Geographic to see some of these things. Not only where internet browsers not available...but neither was on demand tv.

And it’s not that people may not be interested in the Epcot pavilions...but rather potential sponsor may not see the value in dumping cash into physical showpieces due to diminished returns.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm not sure from what level these deals were typically inked at... it's hard to imagine Iger taking a personal interest in such negotiations, but if they weren't originating at the executive level then perhaps the issue has been that there hasn't been the right individual(s) in place to really land them on the Disney side of things.

It's not like you can just fill out the web form for "one pavilion sponsorship package", although it's all to easy to imagine modern Disney thinking that every sponsorship deal should be that easy.. take their money, 'one size fits all'... and neglected the 'partnership' aspect of the transaction.

I think if they tried to do it now it would have to be a profit share instead of sponsorships. That’s DOA

 

[_caleb]

it's hard to imagine Iger taking a personal interest in such negotiations

This. Lots of us like to blame the Bobs for stuff they're not really part of. I get they they are ultimately responsible, but they're super-rich business execs. Except for the occasional photo op or random micromanaging for show, they don't deal with creative or legal or parks operations, or any of the majority of stuff we give them blame/credit for.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This. Lots of us like to blame the Bobs for stuff they're not really part of. I get they they are ultimately responsible, but they're super-rich business execs. Except for the occasional photo op or random micromanaging for show, they don't deal with creative or legal or parks operations, or any of the majority of stuff we give them blame/credit for.

They don’t touch much of any of that stuff

What they do ...since late 90’s...have is an authoritarian stranglehold on the money...and those beneath have honestly no say...and If they push that idea...they are cast out and replaced.

So “corporate culture” does dictate production or lack
Thereof