Trip Report MILESTONE TRIP! First Orlando Visit, Final Disney Park!

THE TIME HAS COME!

In just about a week, I will be starting my very first ever trip to Orlando…and all therein that may be explored.

As the title suggests, among other milestones, this trip will see me visiting my 12th and final Disney Park – Magic Kingdom itself! I have traveled extensively, with all the other Disney Destinations worldwide under my belt, yet somehow I have so far resisted the allures of the Vacation Kingdom. In this week days leading up to my departure, I’ll be going over “why not yet,” “why now,” my itinerary, maybe even soliciting some travel advice.

But for now…Who’s going?

Me after a hike at Bryce Canyon (the real Big Thunder). My beard is much calmer now.​

Just me. Doug. Typically I’m a regular of the Imagineering forums, but I'm just a dilettante on these Trip Report boards. Traveling solo, as is my wont.

Where? Universal’s Endless Summer Resort for three nights, then the Walt Disney World Swan for like a week.

When? September 21st – October 1st.

The broadest plan is to see as much of Orlando as I can (both Disney and beyond) in the week+ prior to Magic Kingdom’s 50th. That means plans to see Walt Disney World, Universal, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, even the Fun Spots.

Over ambitious, perhaps? Sure it is, but I’ve done my research, and I know my travel style and what I'm capable of! Let’s do this!

 

[spacemt354]

I wish you got to experience Spaceship Earth 1994-2006. It's the edition of SSE that made me fall in love with imagineering

The narration by Jeremy Irons elevated the scenes you were passing through and the finale was an emotional swell with a musical score to match

While this edition's ascent has superior AAs and an additional few scenes, the finale is a swing and miss compared to what once was

 

[D Hulk]

I spent a little more time admiring Epcot's entry plaza, with most of my focus remaining on mighty Spaceship Earth. Since I never entered Epcot the "proper" way, the rest of this area remains a confusing blur - a miasma of plain, white, nondescript concrete structures in a vintage modernist style, none communicating their functions. At least the former, much derided Monoliths of Death were long gone, seemingly replaced with smaller, sleeker ornaments.

It was time to check out Future World West. That meant The Seas with Nemo & Friends was next.

Most of these pavilions have been endlessly tinkered with over the decades, as new rulers exert their iron grip on the Disney empire, imposing their wildly divergent visions onto Epcot. This place has become the proverbial "camel," an elephant designed piecemeal without any coherent vision. The former Living Seas pavilion clearly suffers from this. The Finding Nemo overlay is a prime example of how awkward it can be wedging cartoon characters into places which weren't designed for them.

The centerpiece omnimover is not a good Finding Nemo ride. It barely communicates any story or message or imaginative placemaking; it's just projections of Pixar characters shouting "Nemo!" again and again, until building space runs out. Whatever the omnimover ride was originally, whatever utopian vision it communicated, I got no sense of that in the current incarnation. Suiting neither Epcot nor Nemo, and unable to find the common ground between them, this felt pandering. If you're satisfied with merely seeing cartoon characters you've seen before, just existing in front of you, then boy has Disney got your number! This does Finding Nemo, arguably one of Pixar's best works, a great disservice, and it dilutes whatever Epcot is nowadays.

The aquarium exhibit to follow was absolutely superior to the ride. The aquarium itself seems to have fallen on hard times. Once the world's largest, the main tank seemed dingy, murky, sparsely populated, and not especially clean. The ride's intended "wow" moment of projecting Marlin & Dory up against real fish totally fell flat.

Even so, I grasped a degree of immersion - a fleeting sense of occupying the onetime SeaBase Alpha fathoms below the ocean's surface - which was a rare sensation indeed in Epcot. I've heard tale of the old "aquavators," so brilliantly repeated as Journey to the Center of the Earth's "terravators," which would contribute so much more eye-opening wonder to this pavilion.

This was the post-ride exhibit where I spent the most time, by a wide margin. Even in its present state, the main aquarium and its supporting tanks were all immediately inviting. Not a big "ask" to enjoy. There was a Turtle Talk in here which I didn't bother with, since after DCA and DisneySea, I doubt it would offer anything new.

Back out in the midday sun afterwards, I lamented Epcot's overly open design. There's precious little shade, contrasted against big totalitarian expanses of heat-reflecting concrete. Views are unchanging, like in a desert. Nooks & crannies are replaced with acre-large mowed lawns, serving no functional purpose, never to be developed as expansion pads, simply sitting there mocking you with their ugly, vacant purposelessness. This place is dystopian...that it thinks it's a utopia, with its Stepford smiling happy exterior, made it all the more unpleasant.

Did I mention that I don't care for Epcot?

As I continued to draw closer and closer to Magic Kingdom, I increasingly got a sense of Disney World's traditional family demographic. While families flock to all of Disney's resorts, somehow it's amplified here. The multiday vacation touring pace, probably, plus the greater unending distances and the sunup-to-sundown schedules, make this a hotspot for strollers. Disneyland is jam-packed with prams thanks to its extremely narrow walkways, but I've never seen the sheer volume of perambulators as I did in Florida!

I moved along towards The Land. The Future World environs were dead and lifeless. The sun was relentless. The Monorail tracks, a promise of so much delightful movement, only came to life every 20 minutes or so. Otherwise, they were just more concrete. The rigidly straight-laced landscaping stood as a testament to man's contempt for nature. Could the eventual reopening of Future World's central core bring joy to this sterile, mirthless mausoleum? Let's hope so!​

 

[Suchomimus]

Back out in the midday sun afterwards, I lamented Epcot's overly open design. There's precious little shade, contrasted against big totalitarian expanses of heat-reflecting concrete. Views are unchanging, like in a desert. Nooks & crannies are replaced with acre-large mowed lawns, serving no functional purpose, never to be developed as expansion pads, simply sitting there mocking you with their ugly, vacant purposelessness. This place is dystopian...that it thinks it's a utopia, with its Stepford smiling happy exterior, made it all the more unpleasant.

Did I mention that I don't care for Epcot?

I hate how stagnant Disney left Epcot until recently. Especially with how they made a massive revitalization to C.A. to near perfection in '12, which just makes me wish that they gave Epcot the same treatment around that time. We could've gotten finally gotten a people mover, or more countries for W.S., or extensive renovations to existing F.W. and Innoventions, or even a slew of new rides.

 

[D Hulk]

Please excuse my absence yesterday. Hulk was tired.

The Land's exterior charmed and welcomed me like little else in Future World. Just as I was mentally lamenting the untextured manmade surfaces and the overly regimented landscaping, along comes an answer to both of those issues. The Land's planting feels a little more naturalistic, without sacrificing Epcot's stylized approach, like a perfect union of man and nature. The surfaces have these fascinating tactile mosaics, especially in the walls flanking the entry. Nice to look at up close, like so little else in Future World. There are some gorgeous murals here which I highly recommend you slow down and enjoy if you haven't before.

The Land's interior brought me right back down to Earth (ironically?). Once again we're back to plain surfaces and a cavernous sense of the void. With the echoing din and the dining space directly below, I couldn't help but think...mall food court. Not an original critique, I'm sure, but when the shoe fits. Imagineers have made a valiant effort to slap some extra decoration on top of this - from certain angles, those hot air balloon figures look alright - but it's a lipstick on a pig situation.

Living with the Land came next on the touring path, with only a brief switchback queue before boarding. This is one of the precious few old school EPCOT Center attractions to survive 'til today in something resembling its original incarnation. This might well be ground zero for the timeless "Epcot is boring" argument. Living with the Land was dull as dishwater! Sadly, Future World West's rides were almost uniformly either uninspiring or Soarin'.

Living with the Land starts off OK enough with a few biome float-through dioramas. In the moment, this seemed like stage-setting, like the ambient caverns of California's Pirates, a quiet meditative lull to get you psyched before the good stuff begins. Nope, this was the highlight! The ride's final 80% was just greenhouses! Yuck!

Greenhouses, structures designed specifically to concentrate the sun's energy into a single pocket of physically uncomfortable heat and humidity. This was worse than being outdoors. This completely ruins the cooling purpose of a boat ride. It's boring to look at too. Just more regimented rows of plantlife, presented as is, no imaginative designer interpretation, no engaging visual moments.

There's no earthly way of knowing in which direction we are going...

And, but of course, there's the narration! A droning, monotonous lecture to do all the heavy lifting. See a plant, hear facts recited about it. How is this meant to be rerideable?! Some of the information conveyed is admittedly interesting material in and of itself - hydroponic agriculture, among other techniques, is fascinating - but the presentation is as close as a theme park ride gets to being an undergraduate auditorium lecture. It's impersonal, unimaginative, bland, and the boats moved like oozing molasses.

I crossed the mall food court floor afterwards to wait 10 quick minutes for the world's worst version of Soarin'. That "worst" status is mostly thanks to the queue, which is one of the lousiest efforts I've seen out of Disney. Sleek, empty blandness, it's oh so very predictable. To think that this could sometimes see multi-hour waits! There's nothing whatsoever to see or do in here, other than a row of screens connected to something on the app. It felt most like a dated airport terminal, which while unpleasant is at least thematically accurate. By accident, maybe?

But Soarin' itself is forever top notch! This is one case where I barely even mind the pre-show, which doesn't try to be anything it isn't, plus Patrick Warburton is a class act. I was fortunate to get a front row center seat - the only 1/9th of Soarin's seats which are flawless - meaning I got to sail over the world without any dangling legs or distortion effects. And thankfully without any droning narration to endlessly ruin the reverie with pap like "This is the Eiffel Tower. It is in France and it is 984' tall."

Nope, I had fellow guests to do the idiotic narration! And so horribly misinformed too! Flying over the Matterhorn (note the Disney connections, folks!), they audibly declared it to be Mt. Everest. Flying over the CGI Taj Mahal, they decided it was someplace in China. Y'know, if this represents Disney World's average visitor, I can see why World Showcase is so dumbed down.

Beautiful mural!

Back out into the day's cruel heat afterwards, which was only slightly more unpleasant than Disney's consistently poor air conditioning. Such a simple, major fix that would be! Some quick-moving rides, just for the airflow, that would've helped too.

I resumed the march across Future World's final stretch, witnessing '80s industrial park landscaping no different from anyplace else in this entire half of Epcot. For a fleeting, rare moment, the Monorail glided past. I was fortunate to get this rare in-the-wild photo of the elusive beast.​

 

[meggo819]

Living with the Land was dull as dishwater!

Shots fired!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Sorry had to give a sad face to your last update. The Land, specifically Living with the Land boat ride is one of my favorite things to do at Epcot. I am not very good at gardening or keeping plants alive so the greenhouses fascinate me. And when I visit in the middle of winter, from snowy Wisconsin the greenhouses are a refuge of sorts.

 

[D Hulk]

This one is gonna hurt...

Among Disney's major rides (not counting spinners & such), Journey into Imagination with Figment is near the very bottom of the barrel. It's down there with the likes of Rocket Rods and Superstar Limo (yeah, I rode that). It is so bad. To think that this is an improvement over its immediate predecessor is just staggering. The entire experience was painfully embarrassing. Figment in this incarnation rivals Scappy Doo for awfulness. The visuals are studiously UNimaginative The color scheme garish, the noises irritating, the content lacking, the ride system meh. It's not worth dwelling on. I get no joy from disliking attractions which others appreciate (see: Living with the Land).

But let's get this straight. Tony Baxter's original Journey into Imagination, based simply on the grainy YouTube videos that I've seen, that was a straight-up masterpiece! If Baxter's Imagination still existed, it could been a contender for my Top Ten Disney Rides. (So too could Horizons.) The complete loss of these former wonderments - and to a slightly lesser extent, the loss of stuff like World of Motion or the original Seas - is a permanent scar on Epcot which was apparent even on my first-time visit. It's obvious that the Imagination Pavilion was meant for something greater than the wretched C-ticket which anchors it today.​

I thought they were forced to get rid of this!

EPCOT Center's original sponsorship model seems to have damned them from the very beginning. Even so, it's flabbergasting that Disney was so anxious to trash their park's best elements (and I'm thinking Horizons & Imagination here), presumably just to make room for a middling thrill ride and a Honey I Shrunk the Kids franchise tie-in, respectively. There's so very much vacant space; why not use that?! Add, don't replace! GRRRR!

The post-ride exhibit space was an empty shell. This falls beneath what Chuck E. Cheese's used to belch forth. There wasn't a single rainbow tunnel in sight. Not one shred or hint of what used to be. Among the very few guests enduring this overall experience, very few paused in here. Imagination's systematic dismantling doesn't only make me sad, it makes me
ANGRY!

Well, with that wet fart of a whimper, Future World was polished off.

In the past few days, I've watched a few retrospective EPCOT Center videos on YouTube, and I've read some articles detailing what the park once was. These cemented was a loss Future World is today! While I might take issue with some of the underlying design choices, particularly the pervading sterile emptiness and the uninspiring use of on-ride narration, there's no denying EPCOT Center's fundamental ambition. This place wasn't once simply utopian, it was optimistic.

So much nothingness!

Fans of the past describe the emotional effect they felt when exiting EPCOT's best past attractions, this sense that in our real future anything could be possible. That feeling of wonderment is gone now. In its place, there is cynical use of IP, there is cheapness, there is a thorough selling-out of the park's message. Perhaps original EPCOT was too perfectly constructed. Altering a single opening day pavilion put EPCOT off its axis, and an ongoing "death by a thousand cuts" has further eroded it.

No matter, Future World is only half of Epcot. World Showcase awaited. With it, there was the International Food & Wine Festival. Apparently, it's rare to visit Epcot nowadays without stumbling upon one of their many, seemingly interchangeable festivals. Guess these things are major moneymakers. Like with the 50th Anniversary stuff, I was disinterested in Food & Wine. It's extra glitter on top of something I wanted to see in its most pristine form, so mostly I'd be exploring the "world" on its own terms.

There's nothing to see here.

I chose a clockwise tour of World Showcase, because I wanted to begin with the only Epcot ride which remained undone. This sent me directly to the most creative international pavilion of them all, the Mexico Pavilion. There's a strict formula to most of these pavilions, and Mexico alone breaks most of the rules which I was yet to discover.

Apart from that pyramid façade - which looks only okay, to be honest, looking a whole lot smaller and faker and cheaper than, say, the equivalent Mesoamerican pyramid in DisneySea - all of Mexico is indoors. That gives Mexico a fantasy flair, which gets the imaginative synapses firing.

I was wholly ready for Epcot to turn a new leaf at the start of this second half. Will the Three Caballeros be the start of that redemption? Will World Showcase stand on its own as a worthwhile theme park? Wait and see!​

 

[Suchomimus]

This one is gonna hurt...

Among Disney's major rides (not counting spinners & such), Journey into Imagination with Figment is near the very bottom of the barrel. It's down there with the likes of Rocket Rods and Superstar Limo (yeah, I rode that). It is so bad. To think that this is an improvement over its immediate predecessor is just staggering. The entire experience was painfully embarrassing. Figment in this incarnation rivals Scappy Doo for awfulness. The visuals are studiously UNimaginative The color scheme garish, the noises irritating, the content lacking, the ride system meh. It's not worth dwelling on. I get no joy from disliking attractions which others appreciate (see: Living with the Land).

But let's get this straight. Tony Baxter's original Journey into Imagination, based simply on the grainy YouTube videos that I've seen, that was a straight-up masterpiece! If Baxter's Imagination still existed, it could been a contender for my Top Ten Disney Rides. (So too could Horizons.) The complete loss of these former wonderments - and to a slightly lesser extent, the loss of stuff like World of Motion or the original Seas - is a permanent scar on Epcot which was apparent even on my first-time visit. It's obvious that the Imagination Pavilion was meant for something greater than the wretched C-ticket which anchors it today.​

I thought they were forced to get rid of this!

EPCOT Center's original sponsorship model seems to have damned them from the very beginning. Even so, it's flabbergasting that Disney was so anxious to trash their park's best elements (and I'm thinking Horizons & Imagination here), presumably just to make room for a middling thrill ride and a Honey I Shrunk the Kids franchise tie-in, respectively. There's so very much vacant space; why not use that?! Add, don't replace! GRRRR!

The post-ride exhibit space was an empty shell. This falls beneath what Chuck E. Cheese's used to belch forth. There wasn't a single rainbow tunnel in sight. Not one shred or hint of what used to be. Among the very few guests enduring this overall experience, very few paused in here. Imagination's systematic dismantling doesn't only make me sad, it makes me
ANGRY!​

I’m never going to understand the thought process behind the alteration of the Imagination Pavilion. The original pavilion needed a touch up for both cosmetics and mechanics, and to have Imageworks brought up to code with OSHA’s recent safety standards, and yet Disney and the attraction’s sponsor thought that a replacement; which required a new script, a redone layout, a new set of ride vehicles, new special effects, props, and screens, a new score, a new cast, a new Imageworks that was built in the annexed attraction space, and taking out all of the old stuff from the ride; was somehow less expensive than the former option.

 

[Suchomimus]

I thought they were forced to get rid of this! ​

They were supposed to move it into the Haunted Mansion in time for the 50th anniversary, but it’s been delayed indefinitely until they can find a good spot to set it up.

 

[spacemt354]

Oof - Living with the Land hit hard. Though I can't help but think, aside from the current construction zone known as Future World, perhaps the touring speed was a factor.

The lively pace that has been successful throughout the trip now had you weaving through static post-show exhibits or the extended vistas of 'nothingness' between attractions. Every time I've experienced Epcot it's always been at a much slower pace, like senior-citizen pace (my grandparents loved it) which if there is a future visit (after the construction) I think that mindset going in might make some of the narrations more tolerable and the vistas more enjoyable.

 

[D Hulk]

The Mexico Pavilion's interior expands on a neat design trick perhaps first perfected at Disneyland's Blue Bayou: An enclosed, perpetual nighttime patio, complete with restaurant overlooking a boat ride. This is the most "Disney" moment in all of World Showcase.

It was a little tricky discovering the entrance to Gran Fiesta Tour across the mercado floorplan. I had to squeeze past the narrow walkways in between vendor carts. Only the smallest, most tucked away signs even advertised the ride. It's as if Disney's trying to keep it a secret! I dunno why, either, this one isn't an embarrassment.

To be sure, Gran Fiesta Tour isn't some undiscovered masterpiece or a headlining super-attraction, either. When I first learned of an indoor Mexican boat ride, I imagined something epic on a Pirates scale, covering the whole of Mexican history from the ancient Olmecs up through the Zapata Revolution and beyond, warts and all. Which would be amazing! Instead, Gran Fiesta Tour is decidedly a C-ticket vintage travelogue, not unlike how I picture the old Delta Dreamflights. (Is this a fair comparison?) There is a more recent Three Caballeros overlay which neither adds nor detracts from the experience. There isn't a dramatic spine or any larger atmospheric ambition beyond a casual glide past some "small world"-esque scenes of Mexican tourism. It's alright.

With that, I'd completed Epcot's rides. This is, I am very sad to say, Disney World's most underwhelming ride collection. Nothing at present day Epcot can match the top 2 or 3 headliners at the other three parks. There's a middling average quality to most of Epcot's offerings, while the park's worst rides were...well, I'm not getting into that again. But it's a common Disney fan mantra that parks are more than just their rides - it's an opinion which I somewhat agree with, while still maintaining that a solid ride foundation can elevate even the prettiest park (DisneySea has the perfect ride-to-sights balance!). Epcot's World Showcase was about to put this adage to the test, with virtually no attractions to com, but with a whole lot of pure theme park sightseeing...

I began this World Showcase downshift while still in Mexico. At least, I tried to; as @spacemt354 observed, I had a hard exiting top gear. (Relaxing is easier for me when I'm someplace inexpensive, such as abroad, rather than someplace pricey, such as Orlando.)

I crept around those same vendor carts which I'd previously squeezed past. They presented a lovely assortment of Mexican textiles and artisanal creations. Colored calaveras y tecalotes y pajaritos! Among other things, World Showcase is known for its better-than-average retail, with an emphasis on authentic-ish cultural creations over the standard Mickey tchotchkes. This was a good start to that...not a great start. There are Mexican ethnic communities at home in L.A. which do this stuff better. There are ethnic neighborhoods all over which do their respective cultures better. Y'all should visit those! Try as it might, Epcot is still merely the theme park version of the world.

Beyond retail, World Showcase is also famed for its dining and drinking. Since I was still super full from breakfast, I wouldn't be snacking, but since I was full from carbohydrates, I figured I might attempt drinking. But only if I could do the WHOLE Drinking Around the World circuit. It was Mexico or bust! No half-measures!

So I joined the queue for Cava de Tequila, then 20 parties deep. In the 5 minutes which I waited, that line didn't budge an inch. If this sort of interminable waiting was gonna be typical - and Food & Wine observations suggested it would be - then this was far too huge a degree-of-difficulty just to get intoxicated. Sobriety it would be! I proceeded on my grand World Showcase tour, sober as a priest on Sunday.
​

Besides, let's face it, eating & drinking is an upcharge. World Showcase would have to itself prove worthy without those crutches. It also didn't have the benefit of cultural representatives from the various featured countries. Nor did it have streetmosphere. That's a lot of strikes against World Showcase! However, a great theme park space ought to work even without all of these various niceties, without rides or food or drink or entertainment, IF it really is that brilliantly executed. The hallowed opinion surrounding World Showcase suggested it was up to that task.

It wasn't.

I'm trying to be honest here. I'm trying not to be mean or unfair. World Showcase was my least favorite thing inside all four Disney World parks.

My thoughts about World Showcase are...complex. The biggest problem is...Pre-pandemic, I was a massive fan of world travel. I was visiting an average of 5 new countries each year. I'd already been to 9 of World Showcase's 11 featured nations - everything but Norway or Morocco. My tastes refined the more I traveled. I grew to cherish authenticity and genuine cultural experiences.

World Showcase is wholly inauthentic. It's kitsch, but it thinks it isn't...that's the worst kind of kitsch.

The way World Showcase depicts its chosen nations is consistently safe, sanitized, stereotyped, and surface level. I would return to Epcot on a later day, where I'd do the food & drink thing the proper way; World Showcase's food is equally uninspired. This is in comparison to the world as a whole, mind you, not in comparison to the rest of Disney World with its chicken nuggets. For most guests, World Showcase might be their only exposure to the greater world, so I can see why it is so much more effective for most visitors.

Let's plow through some more all-purpose World Showcase critiques right now so we don't have to dwell on them later. Things I didn't like: The choice to do discrete national pavilions. The specific ultra-safe country choices. The seemingly random progression of nations. The omnipresence of World Showcase Lagoon, a lake the size of Disneyland with roughly 35 fewer rides, which at all turns prevents immersion and offers poor sightlines. (The hideous Harmonious barge surely didn't help.) The dead end layout of nearly every pavilion, usually only anchored by a restaurant where 98% of guests won't be eating. The 1.2 mile schlep, mostly unshaded. And, yes, the utter lack of rides.

Common Disney fan opinion doesn't agree with me in the slightest! However, I get the sense that some Imagineers would agree. The proposed WestCOT plans directly address most of my World Showcase problems. So does Animal Kingdom! Africa and Asia perfectly represent world travel as I've experienced it. Animal Kingdom does everything World Showcase purports to do (food, culture, immersion, edutainment), only better. Bless you, Joe Rohde!

SIGH! Now that all that is off my chest - believe me, I've been agonizing over this for days - we can now resume trip report exploration of World Showcase.​

 

[meggo819]

World Showcase was my least favorite thing inside all four Disney World parks.

Not future world (what’s left of it)?

Honestly though, for someone as well-traveled as you are, I’m not surprised by this.

 

[Suchomimus]

My thoughts about World Showcase are...complex. The biggest problem is...Pre-pandemic, I was a massive fan of world travel. I was visiting an average of 5 new countries each year. I'd already been to 9 of World Showcase's 11 featured nations - everything but Norway or Morocco. My tastes refined the more I traveled. I grew to cherish authenticity and genuine cultural experiences.

World Showcase is wholly inauthentic. It's kitsch, but it thinks it isn't...that's the worst kind of kitsch.

The way World Showcase depicts its chosen nations is consistently safe, sanitized, stereotyped, and surface level. I would return to Epcot on a later day, where I'd do the food & drink thing the proper way; World Showcase's food is equally uninspired. This is in comparison to the world as a whole, mind you, not in comparison to the rest of Disney World with its chicken nuggets. For most guests, World Showcase might be their only exposure to the greater world, so I can see why it is so much more effective for most visitors.

Let's plow through some more all-purpose World Showcase critiques right now so we don't have to dwell on them later. Things I didn't like: The choice to do discrete national pavilions. The specific ultra-safe country choices. The seemingly random progression of nations. The omnipresence of World Showcase Lagoon, a lake the size of Disneyland with roughly 35 fewer rides, which at all turns prevents immersion and offers poor sightlines. (The hideous Harmonious barge surely didn't help.) The dead end layout of nearly every pavilion, usually only anchored by a restaurant where 98% of guests won't be eating. The 1.2 mile schlep, mostly unshaded. And, yes, the utter lack of rides.

Reading this just makes me wish to see your own concepts of WS; even if it was just artwork and cartography.

 

[D Hulk]

With designed sights such as this, there's no denying the artistry which went into places such as the China Pavilion, even if I wasn't onboard with the overall goal. (I mostly passed by the Norway Pavilion without pausing, since it's just Frozenland now.) The first generation Imagineers who were tasked with realizing World Substitute did their best with the assignment.

An uncanny feeling grew as I approached the pavilion's signature temple. Something felt so familiar. I whipped out my phone, took the photo above, then dove into my archives to find the photo below.

It's Beijing's Temple of Heaven! But where one is a centuries-old religious complex and a gem of world heritage, the other is a tourist attraction housing a movie. Epcot's recreated Temple of Heaven had a disquieting effect, similar to the effect from DCA 1.0's remade California landmarks. It was distracting.

For curiosity's sake, let's compare the ceiling of Epcot's temple -

- with that of the Beijing original.

Within Epcot's version was a lobby area preceding the Reflections of China CircleVision film. While awaiting the next showtime, I checked out the adjoining gallery space. Each WS pavilion ought to have a rotating cultural gallery. On display in China's gallery? Why, only the greatest ever Chinese contribution to world culture...

Shanghai Disneyland!

Ha ha! That's pretty tacky, Disney. This wasn't even a good sales pitch for Disney's newest theme park...which admittedly, works a whole lot better in person than in previews.

Reflections of China is a travelogue covering a nation that's larger than the United States, in a mere dozen minutes. It's possible that I found it to be more interesting than the other patrons did. About 40% of the footage was from places I've visited, mostly in China's north, and the rest was of places I'd really like to visit. I should find this on YouTube and make notes. Hopefully I'll get a chance to revisit China before my travel visa expires.

It was especially striking to see Shanghai's skyline circa ~1983. Boy has that city grown by leaps and bounds since then!

The theater exits out into a U-shaped series of interiors leading (via shops) back out towards World Showcase lagoon. The view outdoors from the furthest recess was a rare one - the lagoon and Spaceship Earth were nowhere to be seen! The building detailing was a little too perfect and clean to be convincing as a genuine Chinese street - idealized cleanliness is a common feature or flaw in first generation Imagineering. While World Showcase likely pioneered this sort of cultural placemaking in 1983, since then a lot of similar surface-level sort of décor has been applied to so many outdoor malls at least where I live. This diminishes Epcot's novelty.

China's extensive shop space was of mild interest. It offered what I'd expect to find in a mainland Chinese airport store...basically, Chinese-themed trinkets for foreigners. Which makes sense, that's Epcot's market. Some of the other pavilion shops had more fun with the format. They sold unique national brands, had artisanal displays, really lived up to WS's promise. Could international trade issues make it harder to stock mainland Chinese merchandise in Florida?

Moving along...World Showcase hypothesizes that our globe is comprised of approximately 50% Western Europe. In contrast, Equatorial Africa takes an entire multi-national region of the African continent, and concludes that it consists of a straw hut and a few canoes. Plus a Coke stand. This is staggeringly reductive!

Disney created an entire theme park to apologize for this. (Animal Kingdom.)

These weird things were everywhere!

I took about half an hour looking through the China Pavilion. The movie helped stretch my China time. My intent was to do a proper slow burn tour of each "nation," peeking into each shop and inspecting each façade all along the way. I really didn't want to shortchange World Showcase, or myself. Next up would be Germany.
​

Reading this just makes me wish to see your own concepts of WS; even if it was just artwork and cartography.

This could be an interesting challenge. I've only just begun contemplating this. The proposed layout for Disneyland's WestCOT (which eventually became California Adventure instead, GRRR!) offers a great starting point. I would likely reorganize World Showcase using the world's 5 cultural regions as defined by the UNESCO World Heritage list (Sub-Saharan Africa, The Arab World, Asia & the Pacific, Europe & North America, and Latin America & the Caribbean). Holistic, flowing, blended, without national boundaries or individual country pavilions, more like Animal Kingdom's Africa & Asia (which I believe derived from WestCOT). Using weathered textures and genuine cultural artifacts, more heightened realism, following Animal Kingdom's example.

Also, rides!

 

[Suchomimus]

These weird things were everywhere!

They're called shadows, Hulk. Everyone and everything has them. Even you.

 

[Suchomimus]

This could be an interesting challenge. I've only just begun contemplating this. The proposed layout for Disneyland's WestCOT (which eventually became California Adventure instead, GRRR!) offers a great starting point. I would likely reorganize World Showcase using the world's 5 cultural regions as defined by the UNESCO World Heritage list (Sub-Saharan Africa, The Arab World, Asia & the Pacific, Europe & North America, and Latin America & the Caribbean). Holistic, flowing, blended, without national boundaries or individual country pavilions, more like Animal Kingdom's Africa & Asia (which I believe derived from WestCOT). Using weathered textures and genuine cultural artifacts, more heightened realism, following Animal Kingdom's example.

Also, rides!

If you do decide to go through with, I'll throw in the suggestion of a little railway going around your W.S..
But with W.S. as it stands, I'm not sure what can be done about the lagoon and its views or about restructuring the pavilions so they could offer more in with the limited parcels of land, but if Disney had poured $1.2 billion or so around the same time as DCA's overhaul, I'd like to think that transitions between walking through each pavilion would be not jarring and abrupt, with walled arches, gateways, rock formations, and foliage (and covered bridges crossing the canals) in their respective countries' styles.

 

[Suchomimus]

Holistic, flowing, blended, without national boundaries or individual country pavilions, more like Animal Kingdom's Africa & Asia (which I believe derived from WestCOT).

On the subject of A.K’s Asia, I just want to say that I wish it had more space. Not just for animal attractions and rides but because I also think it is unfortunate that there is not much space for a true, sprawling bazaar, with winding corridors past colorful displays.

 

[D Hulk]

I next arrived at Disneyland's Fantasyland the Germany Pavilion. No joke, though, these two areas are extremely similar: Both Bavarian villages which opened in 1983 and bear elaborately dimensional façades. This might be the spot in World Showcase where Disney's classic forced perspective technique is most apparent. The Germany Pavilion was cute, but as will all the pavilions it seemed lacking in substance...made all the most acute in contrast to Disneyland's utterly jam-packed Fantasyland.

(Incidentally, Germany has a lot more going for it than simply Bavaria - automotive industry, Bauhaus architecture, Kantian philosophy, etc. - not that you’d know that from here.)

I kept expecting a Snow White dark ride behind one of these façades.

I did indeed roam the interiors of most buildings. The interior architecture alone offered up few new discoveries; it simply continued the exterior style. Rather, the interiors were neutral backdrops for merchandise. My memory of these shops is fuzzy now...think there was a glassware spot, and a Christmas Shoppe. There were some fooderies, too, which didn't really seem conducive to exploration unless you meant to buy something. The most interesting sights in Germany were the colorful statue of St. George, and the mechanical clock tower with occasional movement.

Lots 'n' lots of people drinking, too! That was interesting. Food & Wine kiosks lined all available real estate along the lagoon promenade. Nary a child in sight, save for those poor wretches accompanying their drunken, messy parents.

There was a cute model train along the walkway just beyond Germany. It seemed a little random, like the kookier small details at Disneyland. I liked it.

Afterwards I reached another Axis Power: the Italy Pavilion. (Is that the organizational principle?) While some pavilions create a collage of their nation's most familiar sights, Italy opts to recreate a singular location: St. Mark's Plaza in Venice. The original is one of the greatest public spaces in the world, with finely measured proportions balancing the plaza's widths, the buildings' heights, and the intricate, finely-carved stone detailing throughout. It is the vibrant, living pulse of its city.

The wedge of land given over to the Italy Pavilion made it impossible to successfully duplicate this masterwork. The proportions here felt awkward. One whole edge of the piazza simply gives up where space runs out. The rectilinear building footprints create counterintuitive crowd flow in the now-familiar cul-de-sac format. This is one of the less aesthetically successful pavilions.

Disney has since then revisited the Italian theme with DisneySea's Mediterranean Harbor, which is one of the best themed lands they've created. With more space to work with in Tokyo, they did Venice justice...in addition to Portofino and elsewhere. DisneySea boasts textured detailing akin to Animal Kingdom as well, which does a lot to sell the illusion of authenticity.

The shop interiors do Italy's heavy lifting. This Venetian mask retailer made a strong impression. I can't imagine it's an especially profitable shop, but it's absolutely the sort of enriching, illuminating, imagination-broadening space which shows World Showcase at its best potential.

I do appreciate seeing Spaceship Earth from all over the place.

I roamed all the way to Italy's dead end, where I was greeted with a restaurant. So I turned around and left. The breadth of Epcot's dining seemed redundant on a first-time - and a presumed only-time - visit. Like, I'd only be eating at one of these places (Teppan Edo for dinner), so what good do the rest of them do me? Not unless I adopted a Roman culinary approach and emptied my stomach in between dozens of meals throughout the day. Hmm, I might have a touring strategy for next time...

 

[D Hulk]

Halfway through World Showcase, I came to The American Adventure. This pavilion breaks all the WS rules: From the atypical name, to the disproportionately large show building, to its focus on period-set patriotism in favor of a broader cultural exploration. Though exploring U.S. culture within a U.S. park might've been a silly idea - COUGH! - California Adventure. Viewing American Adventure through a World's Fair prism, where this would be the host country's pavilion, this break-with-tradition makes sense. (Though I cannot think of a single noteworthy World's Fair in my lifetime.) Otherwise, America's placement at the center of the "World" feels gauche and culturally naïve.

Which, hey, that's World Showcase in a nutshell!

The American Adventure houses an animatronics show which is also called The American Adventure. This could get confusing! Since there were 20 minutes until the next showing, I sought another activity. I discovered the American Gardens Theater, which became the sleeper hit of World Showcase and Epcot as a whole. Yes, better than any ride or scenery!

Under the maple tree shade, with a cooling breeze coming off from World Showcase Lagoon, with Harmonious' ominous Eye of Sauron nowhere to be seen, I finally discovered someplace that was comfortable. Disney World's horrible air-conditioning couldn't compete with this! "Epcot is simply a nice place to be" goes a common argument. I would quote Aladdin lyrics instead - "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense. It's barbaric." - but for one of those brief shining moments the curtains drew back and I experienced the Epcot which everyone else is always crowing about.

The Voices of Liberty acapella group took to the stage within 5 minutes of my arrival. Shows seem to happen here near constantly. Y'know, I've seen tons of these basic theme park amphitheaters in countless interchangeable Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks, but this is the first time where one was properly staffed and functioning. What a difference it makes!

Voices of Liberty was boisterous and entertaining. I feared at first that their medley of patriotic songs would lean too nationalistic, but they towed a middle ground so as not to implicitly offend the other World Showcase countries. This was the day's shocking highlight!

I excused myself between songs to attend the American Adventure show, passing through an extensive, massive colonial structure to get there. The theater featured these Spirits of America statues. I knew 'em as tiny figurines at Disneyland's Mr. Lincoln - a show which shares plenty of DNA with this - so it was interesting to see 'em in their original home. They've always inspired my imagination. "Spirit of Progress!" "Spirit of Discovery!" It suggests a S.E.A.-level mythos!

Before the show started up, a cast member asked all active and former military members and first responders to stand up for applause and attention. I'm a former first responder (Forest Service wildland firefighter, way back when), so I stood.

The American Adventure is surely the most ambitious animatronic show in existence! It's generous 20 minute duration successfully mixed education and entertainment in a way which neither dragged out nor felt insulting. This is a 1982 original that's somehow dodged the Disney execs' blade, far as I can tell. The park's other surviving edutainment attractions felt compromised in contrast. This was also the only place in Epcot where I learned stuff.

American Adventure's pavilion design left me cold, but it had the strongest content in all of World Showcase. I didn't even get to check out the Soul jazz exhibit...feared it'd be too IP-driven.

The next stretch of World Substitute is its best...which is good, because I was starting to grow fatigued with the general repetition and redundancy of these international pavilions. (If you already know what countries look like, there's no sense of discovery.) The Japan Pavilion was my favorite of the entire bunch.

This could be because I'm a Japanophile. Plus, I lived in Tokyo until I was two-years-old...My father was actually employed as a lawyer with Disney, so our family was out there arranging the Tokyo Disneyland licensing contracts with the Oriental Land Company. Japanese culture is a warm, cozy blanket to me.

It also helps that the Japan Pavilion is amazingly well-designed. It's a collage of the nation's culture as a whole.​

I found a U-shaped touring route through Japan which included no dead ends, no wasted space, and an impressive variety of cultural details. This route began to the left along a quiet Japanese garden, beginning at the foot of a pagoda. After all the concrete of the preceding pavilions, this greenspace was a godsend.

Leafy framed views towards the imperial fortress were the one and only moment when World Showcase genuinely felt transporting. Immersive. For a snapshot moment, I could've believed I was in Japan!

Looking outwards towards the Lagoon (and seeing cheap mall versions of other countries) broke that spell, but immersion would return in fits and starts when turning around again and exploring the tranquil koi ponds and the gurgling creeks.

Where the other pavilions would've anchored their big table service restaurant, Japan instead has accessible public space. What a concept! The eateries are wisely placed upstairs & out-of-the-way, opening up more space explorable space on the ground level. Such efficient use of limited space even rivals mighty Disneyland!

A gateway lead through protective stone battlements and over a moat into the fortress. I broke to the left to check out a neat-looking gallery space. So far the focus has been on traditional feudal-era Japan. Everything to come will concern modern Japan. I'm grateful for that variety, so lacking in the other pavilions.

The gallery housed an exhibit on kawaii - Japanese pop cultural cuteness. Now we're talkin'! If you're just learning about Japanese culture on your Epcot visit, this stuff is fascinating. If you're a seasoned cynic like myself, this remains fun, accurate, authentic stuff. It was a trip seeing Doraemon & Hello Kitty in a Disney park. I'm impressed that they avoided the temptation to wedge in Duffy the Disney Bear. If the rest of World Showcase worked as well as the Japan Pavilion has so far - and will continue to work in the next post - I would've loved WS a whole heckuva lot more.​

 

[D Hulk]

The kawaii gallery led into the Mitsukoshi Department Store. Whether intentionally or by happy accident, these spaces flowed together brilliantly. This shop - honestly maybe my favorite of any Disney shop anyplace - successfully contributes to the pavilion's edutainment message. It is cleanly divided into section covering a multitude of Japanese topics: modern pop culture, traditional home goods, crazy IPs like Mario & Godzilla which I never thought to discover inside Disney. There is a wide assortment of intriguing Japanese candies...with apparently the most Kit-Kat flavors of anyplace in the U.S. Merchandise, which is often generic from shop to shop, was truly unique here. The department store architecture leaned a little bland...authentic, but bland...but it was completely bolstered by the most interesting retail selection I've seen in a theme park. Worthy enough to be called an attraction.

I didn't buy anything.

At last, with the Japan Pavilion, I've run out of things to say before I've run out of photos. That's usually a very good sign. Please enjoy this visual journey through the rest of Epcot's most excellent pavilion...