Watching Martin’s complete ultimate tribute videos made me wonder, was there a golden era of the World Showcase? While WS is still magnificent and beautiful there are a lot of changes over the years that many have been critical of. Between EPCOT becoming a near year long rotation of festivals to the erosion of lagoon front spaces when do you feel was the best time frame for WS and why?
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Golden era of World Showcase
- Thread starter Fsunolekrw
- Start date
WondersOfLife
Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
I guess any time pre-3 Caballeros. Basically WS IP-Less.
Worldlover71
Well-Known Member
I would say 1988-1998. Norway opened in '88 and the original version of Illuminations (with some modifications) played through '98. The festivals began in '94 but they were still relatively small in scale compared to today when WS is packed on weekends. There were also fewer, if any, dessert parties and no lagoon-side restaurants taking away prime viewing areas.
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
Personally I would say now. While the IP invasion is unfortunate they have more rides than ever before. There’s less stereotyping than say the merchants in El rio deal tiempo or the original O Canada, and good restaurant additions like Via Napoli and Spice Road Table.
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UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
It really is very authentic these days -- princess dining is a big part of Norwegian culture. And I'm pretty sure Anna and Elsa are the current royal family of the country, right?
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
I didn’t say it’s character free. I said it’s less reliant on blatant stereotypes than before. Even as a kid I was surprised they showed Mexican culture as people chasing you trying to get you to buy merchandise.
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Overhearing guests calling things by the wrong name never bothered me.
That was until I overheard someone call the Norwegian Pavilion ‘Frozen land’.
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
Just incase you weren't aware, using the laugh emoji in response to serious posts is against the rules here now. I've been warned by @The Mom about this. I'm sure you didn't know.
You used it on so many of my comments in the past I wondered how you’d like it. I’ve amended it to something more forum friendly now, even if I do find the thought that present day Showcase is the best as laughable.Just incase you weren't aware, using the laugh emoji in response to serious posts is against the rules here now. I've been warned by @The Mom about this. I'm sure you didn't know.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
It would be pre 1999...my reason is bizarre:
It was merchandise integration. If you’re gonna run your parks off giftshops - as they did in those days - then you can’t sell sweatshop issue junk from your pals in Shanghai in every location. Prior to that date...there was more variety to it. It was themed moreso than mass produced.
Not coincidentally...it was also when the better quality/value of restaurants started to go downhill...that was a lost concept by 2005.
It was merchandise integration. If you’re gonna run your parks off giftshops - as they did in those days - then you can’t sell sweatshop issue junk from your pals in Shanghai in every location. Prior to that date...there was more variety to it. It was themed moreso than mass produced.
Not coincidentally...it was also when the better quality/value of restaurants started to go downhill...that was a lost concept by 2005.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
"El Gran Magnifico"
Mr Flibble is Very Cross.
Pre "Drinking Teams". Meaning before getting hammered and speed drinking around the world were a thing at EPCOT. And when you had entertainers like the World Showcase Players wandering around. And the food was better.
I've seen those drinking teams at Food and Wine. They wore the same t-shirts with their drinking team name on the front of their shirt.
Heppenheimer
Well-Known Member
Tend to agree here. It actually seemed like the people who designed and ran the pavilions back then had actually visited the countries and legitimately tried to bring a taste of things that weren't widely available in the US at the time. At age 12, I found the Norwegian pavilion so compelling that it gave me a lifetime desire to visit the actual country (since accomplished several times as an adult).
Now, I can't imagine that any young guest would learn anything at all about Norway from Epcot, much less be intrigued enough to want to travel there.
Other examples.. The food at the Italian pavilion is now more similar to Olive Garden than anything you might actually encounter at a restaurant in Italy. It's meeting peoples' homogenized expectations, rather than expanding them, as Walt probably originally intended.
My wife, who grew up in Germany, was actually asked this by someone who knew little about the country besides what she saw at Epcot and WWII movies: "Oh, you're German, you must love caramel!" Not that caramel doesn't exist in Germany, but it probably isn't any more popular there than anywhere else, but because of a licensing deal with Werther's, caramel now becomes emblematic of German sweets at Epcot. It would be like others assuming that Americans must have a particularly fondness for red licorice candy if Twizzlers sponsored an American-themed desert booth at an international expo.
And still no Tim Horton's at the Canadian pavilion?
More than 20 years ago there was a food stand in front of Canada at Epcot called Beaver Tails. It was sugary goodness deep fried . Beaver tails seems to be popular in Canada.
Heppenheimer
Well-Known Member
It's an actual Canadian chain:
Home | BeaverTails
Makers of world famous Canadian pastries and snacks since 1978. Everything tastes better on a BeaverTails pastry! Find your nearest shop or food truck.
beavertails.com
I wonder why they pulled out of Epcot?
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Ah yes...the legend of the beaver tail
It's an actual Canadian chain:
Home | BeaverTails
Makers of world famous Canadian pastries and snacks since 1978. Everything tastes better on a BeaverTails pastry! Find your nearest shop or food truck.
I wonder why they pulled out of Epcot?
Along time ago...
Fun fact...there was a couple of them on one of the boardwalks in New Jersey about 5 years ago...they lasted a couple summers
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
They're basically tourist food -- the kind of thing you find at zoos, theme parks, etc. That doesn't mean they don't exist elsewhere, but I've been to Toronto many times and the only place I've seen them there are in tourist spots.
So although they are definitely delicious, they're probably not all that different than the aforementioned caramel in Germany example. They just sponsored a stand at EPCOT.
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