Possible Attraction in France pavilion (Epcot) Update - new Attraction Greenlit

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Batb can be cloned unless japan paid for exclusivity for a certain amount of years. But I am guessing if they did then this entire thread wouldn't be a discussion and given Magic Feathers comments on "clone wars" this would indeed appear to be just that. A clone.

One thing I am confident about... if BatB could be cloned and MK build the same ride in the relatively near future (open by 2021) then Tokyo would rightly demand for Disney to cover their share of the R&D costs. This would thus ignore the entire cost saving "value" of using a cloned attraction.

Meanwhile, Ratatouille is already build and paid for. Cloning that would not require additional R&D costs. So, I think that is a point in the Rat's favor in terms of what could be chosen and is quite possible why it might be "in the lead" per insiders. Also, the ride might just be generally cheaper to build.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The BATB ride would be much better suited for MK, plus hypothetically they could use the space behind small world for the show building and make the space by the bathrooms by Gastons the entrance. That's hypothetical and I don't see it happening because using the space behind IASW would require moving certain buildings and paving over the little retention pond (depending on how much space they need/how much there is to use.

Getting off topic, but there's no way you could use the space directly north of IASW from around Gaston's -- they aren't close. That being said, there is plenty of unused land directly north of the BatB village in MK -- albeit across a major access road -- that could theoretically be used but is not considered a planned expansion pad. Some have theorized that you could re-route the access road.

You could remove the Gaston bathrooms and/or Gaston's tavern itself to create a queue and loading for a BatB ride and then have the ride vehicle travel enclosed over the access road to a show building. I think that would be the most practical idea to ad a BatB ride to MK in that area but still seems like it would be very far fetched.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
France is probably the 2nd busiest pavilion at Epcot currently (Norway is busier I believe). But France has very narrow walkways in the rear of the pavilion making it seem very crowded at times. If they were to place such an attraction here they would have to do some major planning on space behind the pavilion as there isn't much there already. The newer kitchen facilities for the 4 food services locations in France also has to make space for deliveries and maintenance vehicles. So that makes me think that if they were to do any attraction if would be some type of VR attraction rather than moving through a building on a path. Ratatouille was a lower grossing movie, merchandise wise, in the US. I would hope they would maybe do Beauty and the Beast since it's already proven it's staying power.

So separate from France then? Because there is a major maintenance/delivery access between those two areas. Also that area in the back between those two pavilions has always held the many festival booths when they are not in use.

There's quite an ingenious layout planned. Not the first thing I would have thought of. Including guest access and backstage access (and the two don't mix)

It's also the WDSP ride.
 

P_Radden

Well-Known Member
There's quite an ingenious layout planned. Not the first thing I would have thought of. Including guest access and backstage access (and the two don't mix)

It's also the WDSP ride.
Ok let me try to understand...

Ratatouille clone from WDSP being placed on the expansion pad between Morocco and France... But your comment about the layout has me intrigued. Will guests access it from the WS promenade or somehow from within France pavilion?

Aerial pic for general discussion reference:
asdfsadfsdfa.png
 

edutrainer10

New Member
Really surprised to hear about the idea to add Beauty and the Beast (B&tB) to France. I figured if they truly added an attraction to the pavilion, it would be Ratatouille. I realize after the recent announcement to add the B&tB to Hong Kong, this may make more sense. It is still fresh in the Imagineer's minds and molds and plans may be able to be duplicated easier.

Fascinating...
 

Princess Leia

Well-Known Member
Ok let me try to understand...

Ratatouille clone from WDSP being placed on the expansion pad between Morocco and France... But your comment about the layout has me intrigued. Will guests access it from the WS promenade or somehow from within France pavilion?

Aerial pic for general discussion reference:
View attachment 184347
upload_2017-1-13_15-30-3.png
Aerial of the French attraction.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Really surprised to hear about the idea to add Beauty and the Beast (B&tB) to France. I figured if they truly added an attraction to the pavilion, it would be Ratatouille. I realize after the recent announcement to add the B&tB to Tokyo, this may make more sense. It is still fresh in the Imagineer's minds and molds and plans may be able to be duplicated easier.

Fascinating...

Fixed FWIW
 

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
There's quite an ingenious layout planned. Not the first thing I would have thought of. Including guest access and backstage access (and the two don't mix)
If I'm not mistaken, isn't the back of the France pavilion essentially on the 2nd floor? I have no idea what is beneath ground level, but the significant slope up from the promenade makes me think it was done for some clever old-school-Disney reason

It would be pretty easy to replace the current ice cream shop with a path on the upper level that connects to the expansion pad, while maintaining vehicular backstage access at ground level below. This would keep traffic to both areas separated, but uninterrupted. They could even build a new ice cream shop on the bridge structure to help it feel less like a bridge, similar to

I know Google's 3D Buildings feature isn't perfect, but the emergency egress stairs seem to confirm that there is substantial clearance between "ground level" at the ice cream shop and the actual grade behind the pavilion
France.jpg
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
They mostly still have it in DLR. They just don't seem to care in Florida, I guess figuring that there is always more land.

Pretty much spot on. They have turned the "blessing of size" into a curse in Florida. That being said...

I would hope for Ratatouille over BatB in WS. But, since they have to push their "synergy" BS 1500% of the time, guess what will probably win out?
 

MagicHappens1971

Well-Known Member
Pretty much spot on. They have turned the "blessing of size" into a curse in Florida. That being said...

I would hope for Ratatouille over BatB in WS. But, since they have to push their "synergy" BS 1500% of the time, guess what will probably win out?
I don't think BATB will win out because they will have to split costs with Toyko if Toyko even allows them to duplicate the attraction in the U.S.
 

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