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

rkleinlein

Well-Known Member
I'm not so sure they're trying to show something ugly or generic. Maybe this is what a Crepe shop actually looks like in France? 🤷‍♂️
But we're not critiquing crêperies in France. We're critiquing the crēperie (sic) Disney just opened. Crêperies in France have all kinds of looks--some are stylish, charming and classy; some are generic, dull, and tacky. So what? Disney's theming should be stylish, charming, and classy. This isn't.

And, again, this is not just about the design of the crēperie (sic) or its error-filled menu; it's about the ongoing trend of mediocre theming, indifference to details, and conspicuous cheapness. Universal now does Disney better than Disney.
 

WDWTrojan

Well-Known Member
Everyone is ok that Via Napoli just looks like a Cheesecake Factory though right? Also the inside doesn’t match the structure at all. And the sliding automatic doors at the front? *chefs kiss*.
View attachment 582952

Via Napoli looks nothing like a Cheesecake Factory except in the color palette and the fact its large. I actually think Via Napoli is just built on such a large scale that you rarely see in France. That decor but shrunken to the size of what you'd actually find there would be a bit more reasonable.

This is actually a good interview about the interiors of the Cheesecake Factory:
 
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Missing20K

Well-Known Member
I just dislike the ticky-tacky quality of the design and execution. I feel it’s below the standard set by the company in the past.

They wanted a “modern Parisian crêperie”?

Fine.

Then execute it to the highest standards of interior finish work. This is not an odd or overly critical commentary. I’d think most people would be dissatisfied if they just moved into a custom built home and there was a gap between the base trim and the flooring. Simply shouldn’t happen on new construction built by contractors who care. I’d like to meet the Imagineer and/or Design Professional who did the punch list.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
I just dislike the ticky-tacky quality of the design and execution. I feel it’s below the standard set by the company in the past.

They wanted a “modern Parisian crêperie”?

Fine.

Then execute it to the highest standards of interior finish work. This is not an odd or overly critical commentary. I’d think most people would be dissatisfied if they just moved into a custom built home and there was a gap between the base trim and the flooring. Simply shouldn’t happen on new construction built by contractors who care. I’d like to meet the Imagineer and/or Design Professional who did the punch list.
Just stop. Seriously. You’re not an Imagineer so you can’t criticize them. They want it this way on purpose because it ties into the backstory of Jacques Mandelbaum Jr., propriety of La Crêperie de Paris and landlord of the Mâison Bleùe across the street. Jacques father, Jacques Mandelbaum Sr., was renowned for his lifting strength. To honor his father, Jacques Jr. decreed that elements of his buildings, like bases and doors, are to be lifted up off the floor.
 

Epcot82Guy

Well-Known Member
Just stop. Seriously. You’re not an Imagineer so you can’t criticize them. They want it this way on purpose because it ties into the backstory of Jacques Mandelbaum Jr., propriety of La Crêperie de Paris and landlord of the Mâison Bleùe across the street. Jacques father, Jacques Mandelbaum Sr., was renowned for his lifting strength. To honor his father, Jacques Jr. decreed that elements of his buildings, like bases and doors, are to be lifted up off the floor.
But did he visit Epcot as a child?
 

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
A better look at the interior design.


Creperie_Full_43930.jpg
 

bpiper

Well-Known Member
In Panera, "You Pick Two" only costs $8.59 and gets your choice of a sandwich and soup or salad.

In EPCOT, "You Pick Two" costs $15/person and gives you your choice of Living with the Land, Journey Into Imagination, or The Sea with Nemo and Friends.
My local Panera's charges $11.98 for the pick two....

Only $3 more and I get Living with the land and Imagination.... What a deal.
 

hpyhnt 1000

Well-Known Member
A better look at the interior design.


Creperie_Full_43930.jpg
It is depressingly generic. It's also a lot of brown. And there really are some baffling architectural incongruities with the ceiling beams.

The exterior forced perspective is laughably bad, too.

Suddenly the new Poly entrance structures don't seem so bad...
 

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
It's not just that the styling is bland and uninspired, but even the basic building systems are done sloppily. In addition to the nonsensical faux-architectural details that have already been discussed in this thread, the air conditioning vents are plainly visible and distracting on the flat ceiling.

One of Disney's classic tricks that they've used in countless buildings throughout the parks is how they "hid" its HVAC vents in the faux wooden beams:
d36f57c0b66effa4310bb8ed7c7ead44.jpg


It%27s-All-Over-My-Head-038.jpg


It%27s-All-Over-My-Head-024.jpg


As an alternative, Tangerine Cafe "hid" them along the border where the white sloped parts meet the blue flat ceiling:
tangierine-cafe-epcot-2.jpg


None of these examples truly hide the vents from view, but instead they do that magical thing that tricks your eye into looking beyond the obvious and seeing something that isn’t really there.

Meanwhile, the new creperie just sort of places them randomly all over the place. They're not incorporated into the theming, nor are they evenly spaced between the beams. They're just sort of there, taking up space.
Creperie_Full_43934.jpg


In this area, they don't even seem to run between the beams, but are oriented perpendicular to them:
Creperie_Full_43930.jpg


It's not like this building has unique structural constraints that wouldn't allow a solution like this; it’s new construction and a simple box of a building. They clearly cared enough to make them the long linear vents, rather than the standard square or rectangular vents found in most commercial construction, and then just sort of gave up after that.

Yes, of course it's more difficult to incorporate things like that: it takes the foresight to anticipate where the utilities will be located, coordination to obscure them from view, and detailed work to install and maintain them. It takes designers who are experienced enough to know in advance that it will be an issue, creative enough to find a solution, and dedicated enough to ensure it is done.

It's not the easy thing to do, but it's literally the Disney Difference that set their parks apart from their competitors. The Disney Difference was never truly about the characters or the flashy shows, it was the way that they concealed the necessary-but-ugly infrastructure in a way that tricked your eye into ignoring it and focusing elsewhere. That was Disney's bread and butter for so very long that it came to define the brand.

And now they're not even getting the most basic elements of it right.
 
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lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
It's not just that the styling is bland and uninspired, but even the basic building systems are done sloppily. In addition to the nonsensical faux-architectural details that have already been discussed in this thread, the air conditioning vents are plainly visible and distracting on the flat ceiling.

One of Disney's classic tricks that they've used in countless buildings throughout the parks is how they "hid" its HVAC vents in the faux wooden beams:
d36f57c0b66effa4310bb8ed7c7ead44.jpg


It%27s-All-Over-My-Head-038.jpg


It%27s-All-Over-My-Head-024.jpg


As an alternative, Tangerine Cafe "hid" them along the border where the white sloped parts meet the blue flat ceiling:
tangierine-cafe-epcot-2.jpg


None of these examples truly hide the vents from view, but instead they do that magical thing that tricks your eye into looking beyond the obvious and seeing something that isn’t really there.

Meanwhile, the new creperie just sort of places them randomly all over the place. They're not incorporated into the theming, nor are they evenly spaced between the beams. They're just sort of there, taking up space.
Creperie_Full_43934.jpg


In this area, they don't even seem to run between the beams, but are oriented perpendicular to them:
Creperie_Full_43930.jpg


It's not like this building has unique structural constraints that wouldn't allow a solution like this; it’s new construction and a simple box of a building. They clearly cared enough to make them the long linear vents, rather than the standard square or rectangular vents found in most commercial construction, and then just sort of gave up after that.

Yes, of course it's more difficult to incorporate things like that: it takes the foresight to anticipate where the utilities will be located, coordination to obscure them from view, and detailed work to install and maintain them. It takes designers who are experienced enough to know in advance that it will be an issue, creative enough to find a solution, and dedicated enough to ensure it is done.

It's not the easy thing to do, but it's literally the Disney Difference that set their parks apart from their competitors. The Disney Difference was never truly about the characters or the flashy shows, it was the way that they concealed the necessary-but-ugly infrastructure in a way that tricked your eye into ignoring it and focusing elsewhere. That was Disney's bread and butter for so very long that it came to define the brand.

And now they're not even getting the most basic elements of it right.
Are you saying you don’t like the very shiny gold sprinkler cover plates on the faux beams?
 

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