I've been to Norway, Germany (lived there for awhile), Italy, France, the UK and Canada (more or less unofficially lived there for a year).
I can't really say any of them are particularly "authentic", whatever that really means, but how can you really distill an entire country into a small pavillion?
Some random comments:
-I love Norway, but the country's food culture doesn't have particularly high standards, especially compared to their neighbors in Sweden and Denmark. I actually think the food at Epcot's Norway is substantially better than what you might find at a random restaurant in the real country.
-The building facades of Epcot's Germany seem to be based solely on the Franconia region of northern Bavaria. Not a bad choice, but hardly representative of the entire country. I like that they do include the coat of arms of all 16 states, though.
The Karamel Kuche is an odd choice, and probably only exists due to a marketing deal with Werther's. Caramel is probably no more common or popular in Germany than anywhere else. Something more typically German would have been a Gummi shop or a cafe bakery.
Germany's unique wine culture is far less well known than its beer-associated stereotype, so I'm impressed that Epcot built a little alcove to sample some of the country's wines.
Germans don't typically wear team-branded athletic gear nearly as casually as Americans, but I still think it's cool that Epcot sells Bundesliga gear. Kind of goes against the obvious Lederhosen and Dirndl stereotype.
The Biergarten restaurant is a decent facsimile of the experience at an actual southern Bavarian Biergraten or Bierstubbe, although the food at the real places tends to feature more roasted meats.
-The food at the Italian pavillion is almost entirely Italian-American and bears very little resemblance to modern Italian cuisine.
-I've eaten at Chefs du France twice and found the food inconsistent... which has actually been my experience eating in France, as well. You can get some amazing meals in France, but despite the country's vaunted reputation, the quality amongst restaurants varies greatly.
Les Halles is a pretty good approximation of a patisserie, though.
Impressions du France, although slightly outdated, is a fantastic and beautiful overview of the country. This film.was made by people who really know and love France.
-I haven't visited the UK in over 20 years, so I'll hold my comments on Epcot's version.
-Epcot's Canada has no Tim Hortons. Enough said.
Quite an interesting topic. I look forward to reading other well-traveled peoples' impressions.
