Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks (Part II)

PhilharMagician

Well-Known Member
To me it doesn't seem logical to build a Brazillian pavillion to attract people from Brazil. Why would you go see a reproduction when you have the original thing?

My first trip to Epcot I had the see the American pavillion. I was curious as to how my country was represented.

I can see that a Brazillion pavillion would strike interest in many from Brazil.
 

invader

Well-Known Member
My first trip to Epcot I had the see the American pavillion. I was curious as to how my country was represented.

I can see that a Brazillion pavillion would strike interest in many from Brazil.

They've recently added Duffy the Disney Bear into the American pavilion's shop. Nothing says America like Duffy the Disney Bear! :ROFLOL:
 

HMF

Well-Known Member
My first trip to Epcot I had the see the American pavillion. I was curious as to how my country was represented.

I can see that a Brazillion pavillion would strike interest in many from Brazil.

I personally think "Mexico" should be re-themed as "Latin America". One of the 3 cabs is Brazilian.
 

alissafalco

Well-Known Member
make Greece a country in Epcot!

I would love to see Greece as one of the countries to visit...They could squeeze it in somewhere...With the Metropolis, the white washed buildings, windmills, and donkeys...It could be a great addition to Epcot!!
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
My first trip to Epcot I had the see the American pavillion. I was curious as to how my country was represented.

I can see that a Brazillion pavillion would strike interest in many from Brazil.

Seems logical that you'd want to visit your home country to see how they did it.
"South America" or something all inclusive might be better than Brazil alone,
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
One of the main take-away messages of the speech is that Walt Disney World should soon be seeing more international visitors, perhaps especially Brazilians (who were mentioned by name).

Is it your sense that WDI would therefore target them expressly (with something like a Brazil pavilion in World Showcase)... or that as a desiring audience, they are exactly the ones who DON'T need something just for them, since they are coming anyway? (The same arguments kind of apply to locals and annual passholders, now that I think about it).

I would imagine that getting the Brazilian Government on board with a pavilion of it's own is good, in that it becomes a tourism win/win for both sides. They would no doubt promote the USA/Disney if the USA/Disney promoted Brazil to outsiders. Just a thought.
 

Jeanine

Member
To me it doesn't seem logical to build a Brazillian pavillion to attract people from Brazil. Why would you go see a reproduction when you have the original thing?

While it doesn't seem logical, I remember going to Europe on tour with a large bunch of Asian folks, and the minute we hit any town, they made a beeline for wherever the Chinatown was, so they could get Chinese food. Similarly, I think I've read that some Japanese tourists actually get a psychological condition called "Paris Syndrome," from the shock of being around unfamiliar surroundings. Consequently, I can imagine that tourists from a given country might find an area devoted to their culture reassuring.

What seems even less logical, however, is putting up an recreation of given area in the area. (DCA--I'm looking at you...)
 

Bolna

Well-Known Member
To me it doesn't seem logical to build a Brazillian pavillion to attract people from Brazil. Why would you go see a reproduction when you have the original thing?

In a certain way, I agree with you. Being German, the fact that there is a German pavilion in Epcot was not at all a motivation for me to see Epcot. Of course out of curiosity I did check it out in detail once there (just as a previous poster said about the American pavilion).

But I think, if Epcot would add a new Germany pavilion now, it might be something that gets covered by media here and would bring Epcot and WDW a lot of publicity which it normally does not get here.

In that sense I could see that building a Brazilian pavilion might actually be a good thing from a marketing perspective while it is being built, especially at a time when perhaps more people there are going to consider travelling to the US because it has become easier to go there. I just can't see it being something to motivate people to take a trip for a long time in the future.
 

KevinYee

Well-Known Member
Ah, how I'd love such a hypothetical Brazil pavilion to have a miniature Foz do Iguacu - these waterfalls go way beyond words. They could make it like the old Disneyland Hotel waterfall area, only even better.
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Ah, how I'd love such a hypothetical Brazil pavilion to have a miniature Foz do Iguacu - these waterfalls go way beyond words. They could make it like the old Disneyland Hotel waterfall area, only even better.

Good ideas. Why not a hotel or hotels? To me, this all speaks toward having mini hotels, themed to each country in the upstairs and behind the pavilion. Try making it less mass oriented too, like a B&B type of personal attention where you stay and live as that culture does or did. You feel a bit like a local or the host "family of the Inn" knows your name. I'd have a radio in the room with Brazilian broadcasts and even channels on the TV from there. That could be insanely cool and fun. Staying in Brazil would be awesome. The exchange students would work those places so you really get the feel of that type of hospitality and customs. I'd do a family style meal where the guests all show up for buffet breakfast Brazil style, hosted by the Brazil CM "family". Imagine staying in an artist's loft in France? or a pad from 1960's Avengers TV show in the UK (for that matter build the village from "the Prisoner!")? or attend a Bratwurst making class with the chef in Germany? I'd love the Casablanca feel of staying in Morocco. The guests over at China get to build iPhones and Nike Airs as a family fun activity. (Maybe not). You'd need to find the right number of rooms overall and it could all be serviced as one big hotel (by WDW) with many "wings" so it made operational/financial sense. How fun would that be?? When do they open? I wanna stay in Norway and go to the Troll Breakfast!
 

ob1thx1138

Member
Good ideas. Why not a hotel or hotels? To me, this all speaks toward having mini hotels, themed to each country in the upstairs and behind the pavilion. Try making it less mass oriented too, like a B&B type of personal attention where you stay and live as that culture does or did. You feel a bit like a local or the host "family of the Inn" knows your name. I'd have a radio in the room with Brazilian broadcasts and even channels on the TV from there. That could be insanely cool and fun. Staying in Brazil would be awesome. The exchange students would work those places so you really get the feel of that type of hospitality and customs. I'd do a family style meal where the guests all show up for buffet breakfast Brazil style, hosted by the Brazil CM "family". Imagine staying in an artist's loft in France? or a pad from 1960's Avengers TV show in the UK (for that matter build the village from "the Prisoner!")? or attend a Bratwurst making class with the chef in Germany? I'd love the Casablanca feel of staying in Morocco. The guests over at China get to build iPhones and Nike Airs as a family fun activity. (Maybe not). You'd need to find the right number of rooms overall and it could all be serviced as one big hotel (by WDW) with many "wings" so it made operational/financial sense. How fun would that be?? When do they open? I wanna stay in Norway and go to the Troll Breakfast!

And you could do it all underground behind the countries to maintain access and just use large format HD displays for views of the "destination" You could even pipe in ambient noise and smells. Guests would not even need to know that they are underground if done properly. Have all the floors numbered as if they were going up instead of down. Heck you could even have them arrive by people mover or monorail style transportation that is enclosed with video displays for windows. Of course this would be a super deluxe resort (price wise) but I think there is an audience for it.
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
And you could do it all underground behind the countries to maintain access and just use large format HD displays for views of the "destination" You could even pipe in ambient noise and smells. Guests would not even need to know that they are underground if done properly. Have all the floors numbered as if they were going up instead of down. Heck you could even have them arrive by people mover or monorail style transportation that is enclosed with video displays for windows. Of course this would be a super deluxe resort (price wise) but I think there is an audience for it.

I booking a room for 2013, get started!
 

KevinYee

Well-Known Member
As always, this thread is exciting for watching a real Imagineer spitball ideas. Every time you trot out such a blue-sky idea, Eddie, I realize that your ideas have a quality that most "armchair Imagineers" (including myself) lack: a to-the-core freshness. In other words, to use my own poor example, having a stunning waterfalls feature is pretty "obvious" when imagining a Brazil pavilion. What you imagined is far less "obvious" in terms of leaping to the mind immediately (this is meant as a compliment).

How critical is it that a designer for theme parks must use this kind of thinking, to deliver not "what is expected" but rather something that makes the whole enterprise something else? Is there any danger to it (such as: the client might dislike it as "too" creative)?
 

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