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

[doctornick]

Would it be possible to put the ride/additional area on the international gateway facing side? Less to move and you keep the expansion country plot open.

View attachment 184356

Good thought! Looks like a decent amount of space that could house a ride and would keep the France pavilion more isolated from Morocco and leave the other expansion pad open (who knows, maybe for a new country someday... ha!)

One downside to that location is it would be right next to the canal where the Crescent Lake boats pass but I think the show building could be easily themed or hidden with trees.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Would it be possible to put the ride/additional area on the international gateway facing side? Less to move and you keep the expansion country plot open.

View attachment 184356

There might be other stuff going through that space.

 

[larryz]

Description: Guests board enchanted serving dishes that dance in rhythm to the film’s well-known music and follow Belle on a romantic musical adventure inside the enchanted Castle where she dances her way into the heart of the Beast, just in time to break the fateful spell. Guests will feel like they have entered right into the film."

So this will be like Belle's Casa de Dishes?

 

[James Norrie]

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
View attachment 184353

Those are some funky looking stairs ;-P

 

[BrerJon]

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.

I find it hard to believe WDW would ever clone a Tokyo ride. They would *never* spend the kind of money needed for that level of quality. Far more likely is for them to do a knock-off, like Pooh's Hunny Hunt, where it's the same basic characters, style and story but a totally different level of experience.

France on the other hand... well Ratatouille is definitely in the 'is that it?' category of rides so beloved by Imagineering (see Dwarfs Mine Train), and would be cheap too... just a few screens and some plastic props, and a few generic LPS vehicles an a warehouse, so the temptation to go for that clone will be immense.

That said, I would love it if they learned from Paris and plussed things up with more live elements, some animatronics, and sell the size illusion better... that would be cheaper than cloning a Tokyo ride, but still offer something more than WDSP does.

 

[britain]

If there were ever a Disney IP that could be fit into World Showcase, I'd say Remy is it. It's contemporary France, and yet in an American's idealized form (like most of WS) and there's no real bad bad guys, which helps it avoid clashing with the optimistic outlook of Epcot.

And the Food and Wine!

 

[britain]

France on the other hand... well Ratatouille is definitely in the 'is that it?' category of rides so beloved by Imagineering (see Dwarfs Mine Train), and would be cheap too... just a few screens and some plastic props, and a few generic LPS vehicles an a warehouse, so the temptation to go for that clone will be immense.

That may all be true, but thematically, it doesn't clash with WS. One could argue that lotz-o-screenz is still quite World Showcasey.

I'd rather have a mediocre Rat ride and the vibe of WS be intact, than a mind-blowing BatB ride.

 

[Andrew C]

That may all be true, but thematically, it doesn't clash with WS. One could argue that lotz-o-screenz is still quite World Showcasey.

I'd rather have a mediocre Rat ride and the vibe of WS be intact, than a mind-blowing BatB ride.

I don't really think the Ratatouille attraction is that mediocre at all. It is a nice ride. Really fun. Good use of a trackless system.

 

[TiggerDad]

View attachment 184352 Aerial of the French attraction.

Do we know how much of this is showbuilding vs. restaurant? If the big rectangle at the back is all showbuilding, that looks like about 200'X160' which would take up a big chunk of the expansion pad especially if other theming or screening was needed. Wish Marni could tell us more about the ingenious layout they've come up with to help us with our armchair imagineering.

 

[marni1971]

View attachment 184352 Aerial of the French attraction.

Do we know how much of this is showbuilding vs. restaurant? If the big rectangle at the back is all showbuilding, that looks like about 200'X160' which would take up a big chunk of the expansion pad especially if other theming or screening was needed. Wish Marni could tell us more about the ingenious layout they've come up with to help us with our armchair imagineering.

Remember the ride building is only the left building. The brown roofed building on the right is not Rat, aside from a very small area that's part of the extended standby line.

The rides show building itself is the grey roofed building upper left. TSR is lower left, with a small queue area included to its right.

 

[P_Radden]

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
View attachment 184353

I think you may be on to something...

 

[britain]

I don't really think the Ratatouille attraction is that mediocre at all. It is a nice ride. Really fun. Good use of a trackless system.

Sure sure, I just mean if some are making the case that BatB is worlds better than Rat, still don't think it would be worth the disruption to World Showcase.

 

[PizzaPlanet]

If they go with Ratatouille, I wonder if they will retheme the restaurant into Gusteau's, or maybe Remy's restaurant.

 

[britain]

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
View attachment 184353

If they wanted to descend from the second level down to ground level, they could have some sort of Montmartre themed rampways.

 

[jt04]

Would it be possible to put the ride/additional area on the international gateway facing side? Less to move and you keep the expansion country plot open.

View attachment 184356

That has always been where I pictured a Hogwarts Express type add happening to take you to the Studios. Thought this up over 20 years ago. Yes, I have been armchair imagineering that long. And yes, Uni built my idea.

Your welcome potter fans.

 

[jt04]

If they wanted to descend from the second level down to ground level, they could have some sort of Montmartre themed rampways.

Love this idea.

 

[Clyde Birdbrain]

If they wanted to descend from the second level down to ground level, they could have some sort of Montmartre themed rampways.

Or the ice cream shop could be a Paris metro entrance, where you descend to where the rats live.

 

[PorterRedkey]

Or the ice cream shop could be a Paris metro entrance, where you descend to where the rats live.

I think the ride in Paris actually starts on the roof of the restaurant.

Edit: Yep

 

[21stamps]

Interesting point. I see the door you are talking about.

I now thing the most ideal thing would be to put in Ratatouille in the front of that space (between France and Morocco) with an extrance from the main guest path taking up the front half of the expansion plot....

...and then use the back half of the plot for a Morocco ride/attraction which you can access from said backstage door. That expansion pad is big enough to fit two attractions and that would at least avoid the annoying experience of the Frozen M&G using half of the plot and leaving the rest not accessible for guest expansion in the future.



We've had this pedantic argument before, but.... Aladdin (the original story) is actually set in China mostly, but involves travel to North Africa so Morocco kinda sorta could be argued to be appropriate if you really stretch things. That said, Agrabah in the Disney movie is sort of generically Arab and the Arab/Berber culture of Morocco and appearance of the country could be in Morocco as much as it could be in Saudi Arabia or Jordan or any other Arab country with deserts.

That said, the story of Aladdin does not come from Morocco so I do agree that it is a far from ideal choice for that pavilion. The M&G is bad enough.

That all being said, it's not really any more ideal for Morocco than Aladdin, but I'd love to see a copy of the Sinbad ride from Tokyo added to the Morocco pavilion.

Don't pounce.. this is a question,
Why are so many of you saying that Jasmine and Aladdin should not be in Morocco?

 

[PorterRedkey]

Don't pounce.. this is a question,
Why are so many of you saying that Jasmine and Aladdin should not be in Morocco?

I don't know. I would say ignorance. Morocco is on the African continent. Aladdin is set in a middle eastern country. Possibly, one of these: Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Or even Iraq