News New Crêperie restaurant coming to Epcot's France Pavilion as part of Ratatouille expansion

lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
castlecake2.0 said:
Curious what would make it look more like it was in France? What were you hoping it would like? (In non argumentative way) It looks very similar in design/style to the bakery and ice cream parlour.
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It looks like a bunch of stuff glued to a box instead of crafted with materials. There’s no sense of tectonics. It’s all just flat. The column bases are stone on top of wood. Why would you put heavy stone on top of wood? Why would you build your stone base so that the very bottom is narrower that the rest can line up with a piece of wood wrapping the bottom? The ceiling beams are too slim for such large spans and they connect in a way that doesn’t make sense if they were actually load bearing. The walls are all sorts of different stone-ish materials instead of something consistent. Green Exit signs would have also been a nice touch.
 
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UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
It looks like a bunch of stuff glued to a box instead of crafted with materials. There’s no sense of tectonics. It’s all just flat. The column bases are stone on top of wood. Why would you put heavy stone on top of wood? Why would you build your stone base so that the very bottom is narrower that the rest can line up with a piece of wood wrapping the bottom? The ceiling beams are too slim for such large spans and they connect in a way that doesn’t make sense if they were actually load bearing. The walls are all sorts of different stone-ish materials instead of something consistent. Green Exit signs would have also been a nice touch.
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This is a much better/more in-depth description of what I was trying to get at when I said the ceiling beams don't seem like they match the exterior and that the whole space looked poorly designed.

Almost everything about the interior just feels off. Not solely in terms of evoking Paris (or elsewhere in France) but in general. It would still feel off if it was at Disney Springs or in the suburbs somewhere.
 
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castlecake2.0

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
It looks like a bunch of stuff glued to a box instead of crafted with materials. There’s no sense of tectonics. It’s all just flat. The column bases are stone on top of wood. Why would you put heavy stone on top of wood? Why would you build your stone base so that the very bottom is narrower that the rest can line up with a piece of wood wrapping the bottom? The ceiling beams are too slim for such large spans and they connect in a way that doesn’t make sense if they were actually load bearing. The walls are all sorts of different stone-ish materials instead of something consistent. Green Exit signs would have also been a nice touch.
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We’ve seen two photos of the interior so maybe it looks nicer in person. I also think when we only have a photo to go off of it gives us more time to critique rather than if you were experiencing it in person. I’m sure if you were sitting there having a crepe and cidre with friends you’re not going to be focusing on the colour of the exit sign. At least it resulted in a tacky cart being removed from the promenade?
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
This is a much better/more in-depth description of what I was trying to get at when I said the ceiling beams don't seem like they match the exterior and that the whole space looked poorly designed.
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Yeah, it is a big, contemporary open plan space that makes no effort to look like it is occupying the different buildings of the interior. Some amount of disconnect between exterior and interior has long been part of themed design (the stores of Main Street, USA have long had ceilings too heigh) but lately the sense of different buildings and spaces has also been removed. It’s very much like a contemporary strip mall with a bunch of broken up facade parts that have zero relation to the interior.
castlecake2.0 said:
We’ve seen two photos of the interior so maybe it looks nicer in person. I also think when we only have a photo to go off of it gives us more time to critique rather than if you were experiencing it in person. I’m sure if you were sitting there having a crepe and cidre with friends you’re not going to be focusing on the colour of the exit sign. At least it resulted in a tacky cart being removed from the promenade?
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How does anything I mentioned change by seeing it in person? The alignment of the stone and wood base isn’t going to change. Tiny unsupported beams aren’t going to change in person. The idea that people won’t pay attention completely undermines the entire premise of a themed experience.
 
Flynnwriter

Flynnwriter

Well-Known Member
THIS IS BEYOND UGLY AND ORDINARY. The interior (and partially exterior) is a JOKE! Ordinary, pedestrian, no theme, Contemporary off the shelf crap that looks like your local chain restaurant! Who is in charge of WDI?!
 
castlecake2.0

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
Yeah, it is a big, contemporary open plan space that makes no effort to look like it is occupying the different buildings of the interior. Some amount of disconnect between exterior and interior has long been part of themed design (the stores of Main Street, USA have long had ceilings too heigh) but lately the sense of different buildings and spaces has also been removed. It’s very much like a contemporary strip mall with a bunch of broken up facade parts that have zero relation to the interior.

How does anything I mentioned change by seeing it in person? The alignment of the stone and wood base isn’t going to change. Tiny unsupported beams aren’t going to change in person. The idea that people won’t pay attention completely undermines the entire premise of a themed experience.
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I think it looks nice and you dont, that’s ok, we can have different opinions. Part of themed experiences is extending a bit of disbelief. For example, Le Cellier’s dining room is much larger than the footprint of the building it’s supposed to be the basement of. Or a tent facade in fantasyland leading into a giant warehouse size loading area for small world. Sometimes things just don’t make sense in a theme park. we’ve got different opinions on it and that’s ok.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
castlecake2.0 said:
I think it looks nice and you dont, that’s ok, we can have different opinions. Part of themed experiences is extending a bit of disbelief. For example, Le Cellier’s dining room is much larger than the footprint of the building it’s supposed to be the basement of. Or a tent facade in fantasyland leading into a giant warehouse size loading area for small world. Sometimes things just don’t make sense in a theme park. we’ve got different opinions on it and that’s ok.
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My criticism wasn’t about “looking nice”. Suspension of disbelief isn’t an action, it is a reaction. Everything is better if you just pretend it is better.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
castlecake2.0 said:
I think it looks nice and you dont, that’s ok, we can have different opinions. Part of themed experiences is extending a bit of disbelief. For example, Le Cellier’s dining room is much larger than the footprint of the building it’s supposed to be the basement of. Or a tent facade in fantasyland leading into a giant warehouse size loading area for small world. Sometimes things just don’t make sense in a theme park. we’ve got different opinions on it and that’s ok.
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This is the biggest thing, ignoring anything else -- it doesn't look like they even tried to theme it to me. As someone else alluded, it looks basically indistinguishable from a restaurant space designed to go in the suburbs. It reminds me a bit of what they did to Beaches and Cream in terms of turning it into something relatively generic.

I also think it's ugly, but that's not really the issue since that's relative. A highly themed space could still be ugly.
 
castlecake2.0

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
rkleinlein said:
This is a discussion forum.There's no need to get all up an arms when someone voices their opinion or disagrees with you (especially after you disagreed with them). That's why we're here. Sheesh.
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I tried to have a discussion and respect their opinions but kept being told my opinions were wrong
 
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
Modern, pedestrian and lazy on the interior. It should feel Parisian and charming....You know the way old WDI did things, not this latest pack of generic hospitality designers...
It looks like a Marriott breakfast lounge. What happened to the "story"? We are supposed to be in the middle of Paris...
In the heart of France... Where is the charm?
Big BOO to the team on this. Love that they have a crepe shop... and that parts of the new section are opening. Happy to have Ratatouille joining World Showcase, but they really need to do better on the theme follow-through.
 
aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
Bocabear said:
Modern, pedestrian and lazy on the interior. It should feel Parisian and charming....You know the way old WDI did things, not this latest pack of generic hospitality designers...
It looks like a Marriott breakfast lounge. What happened to the "story"? We are supposed to be in the middle of Paris...
In the heart of France... Where is the charm?
Big BOO to the team on this. Love that they have a crepe shop... and that parts of the new section are opening. Happy to have Ratatouille joining World Showcase, but they really need to do better on the theme follow-through.
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it should have details and it doesn't, Im not even sure Imagineering had a hand in this at all? Was it outsourced to some third party firm that didn't know where they were designing it for? and if Imagineering did you would never know it, but one could say the same for gelato icecream shop in the france pavilion too..bland and generic. This is the new generation of clueless that is now taking over the parks.
 

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