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Two Myths about World Showcase at Epcot |
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Disney hasn’t added any countries to World Showcase at Epcot since Norway in 1988—that was 22 years ago. On the Internet, two reasons are mentioned over and over. What’s the real story?
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The Claim: “Disney can’t add any more countries to World Showcase at Epcot because there isn’t any more room.” Status: False |
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The Claim: “Each of the World Showcase pavilions was paid for by a national government. Any new countries would also have to be paid for by a national government.” Status: False |
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As you walk around World Showcase, there are no gaping vacant lots or long stretches of plywood walls. But that doesn’t mean World Showcase is full. There are actually six available expansion sites, or eight if you remove the World ShowPlace pavilion (the former Millennium Village), or even ten if you include the space on either side of The American Adventure. |
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 There are six expansion sites and two more (marked with an asterisk) currently occupied by World ShowPlace. |
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World Showcase was designed with ten pavilion sites on each side of The American Adventure—21 sites in total. My map shows nine sites on each side—19 in total. I purposely didn’t show the sites immediately adjacent to The American Adventure as available sites on the map. The massive American pavilion, which uses a reverse forced perspective to look smaller than it actually is, is so different in scale from the international villages that it needs space around it. (What it really needs is a table service restaurant showcasing the best in regional American cuisine, but that’s another story.) Just because my map shows a site as available doesn’t mean it’s completely empty. It you look at World Showcase from above with Google Maps, Google Earth, or Bing, you’ll see numerous service sheds (and plenty of large trees). But that doesn’t make the sites unusable. |
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 The trees between Germany and Italy correspond to parcel 4 on the map. |
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Germany includes a large outdoor model railroad. There are always people watching the trains and admiring the German village and countryside with its miniature landscaping. It’s the closest thing to an attraction at the German pavilion. But it’s not really part of the German pavilion site. Think of the railroad layout as filler—ready to be bulldozed if the site is needed for another pavilion. |
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 Norway (left) and China (right) are the only two World Showcase Pavilions directly adjacent to each other. |
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Currently, there’s only one case of two international pavilions abutting. Norway and China are separated by only a service road. If more pavilions were added to World Showcase, this would be the rule rather than the exception. |
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 The World ShowPlace pavilion is a large space for private functions and Epcot Food & Wine Festival events. |
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Site 8 on the map is the entrance to the World ShowPlace pavilion, which stretches behind the United Kingdom pavilion, pushing access roads into site 7. From October 1, 1999 through January 1, 2001, it was Millennium Village, the focal point of Epcot’s Millennium Celebration. The pavilion is essentially a big, inflatable tent. It was put up quickly, and there’s no reason that it can’t come down quickly—except that it presumably makes money for Disney in its current form. Disney now promotes the 40,000 square-foot function space as “the world’s largest indoor group facility located within a Theme Park.” It’s used for “exhibitions, trade shows, receptions, banquets, conferences and meetings of virtually any size and shape.” The World ShowPlace pavilion is out-of-place between the beautifully designed pavilions of World Showcase. |
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 The Outpost (site 2 on the map) helps to fill the double site between China and Germany. |
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There’s enough room for two pavilions between China and Germany. Today’s Epcot Guidemaps identify this area as the Outpost, but the site just across the canal from China was originally going to be an elaborate pavilion about Equatorial Africa. |
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 The book EPCOT Center: A Pictorial Souvenir (1982) described three new pavilions. |
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In fact, early visitors to EPCOT Center encountered signs around World Showcase showing where three new pavilions would be built. Not only were all three eventually cancelled, but only two permanent pavilions were ever added. Having established that there’s plenty of room for more pavilions, we now get to the second myth. When Internet discussions arise about why World Showcase has not seen a new pavilion since 1988, it’s not unusual for someone to point out that World Showcase pavilions are each funded by the corresponding national government, but that Disney has been unsuccessful getting more governments onboard. |
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 The 1976 Annual Report of Walt Disney Productions included concept artwork for Venezuela. |
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EPCOT Center opened in 1982 with nine pavilions in World Showcase. Do you know how many were paid for by a national government? Zero. That’s right. Zero. That’s not how Disney originally envisioned it. |
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 The 1975 Annual Report of Walt Disney Productions showed World Showcase as two semi-circular buildings. |
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Here’s an excerpt from the 1975 Annual Report to the shareholders of Walt Disney Productions describing World Showcase: Beyond the scientific and technological aspects of EPCOT the project holds great promise for the advancement of international cooperation and understanding. The World Showcase, planned for opening In late 1979, will be devoted to this goal. An on-going international exposition, for which an admission will be charged, the World Showcase will communicate the culture, heritage, history, technology, trade, tourism and future goals of the participating nations. It will consist of a coordinated series of national pavilions housed side-by-side in two dramatic, semi-circular structures. These dynamic structures will face each other across a Courtyard of Nations, where there will be a major theater for performances by international celebrities and entertainment groups, and where parades, pageants and special events will be staged by entertainers from the participating nations. Although these national pavilions may vary in size, each will enjoy equal facade exposure to the guest. The entire complex will be tied together by a Disney people-moving system that will offer visitors a preview look into each attraction. Unlike a world’s fair, it will offer participating countries a permanent installation for such features as themed restaurants and shops, product exhibits, industrial displays, cultural presentations, a trade center, and even special facilities for business meetings. A major part of each pavilion will be a Disney-designed ride or attraction which will give guests a foretaste of an actual visit to the country. National musical groups or other performing artists could present special entertainment on a continuing basis. Yes, Disney wanted “participating countries.” And the countries would see value in spending money to participate, right? After all, countries around the world funded participation in world’s fairs—such as the huge Expo ’67 in Montreal—which normally run for less than one year. Here’s another excerpt from the 1975 Disney Annual Report: Each participating nation will be asked to provide the capital to cover the cost of designing, developing and constructing its attraction and/or ride and all exhibits, as well as the Pavilion itself. It will also have the responsibility for funding the housing for its employees in the International Village. Its land lease will cover the cost of maintaining the attraction for a minimum of ten years. The Disney organization will be responsible for area development, including the construction of transportation systems and utilities. We will also build and operate the internal people moving system, the Courtyard of Nations and central theater facility. World Showcase opened as part of EPCOT Center in 1982, not 1979. |
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 The San Angel Inn was one of the two original “participants” for the Mexico pavilion. |
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World Showcase was not entirely without financial participants—although some pavilions were. Instead of national governments, the participants were businesses—ones that hoped to sell merchandise, meals, beer, or wine to guests. Here’s the list from 1982:
The American Adventure: American Express, Coca Cola |
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 The Morocco pavilion is the only World Showcase pavilion funded by a foreign country. |
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Having now refuted that foreign governments paid for the World Showcase pavilions, we arrive at the one exception. In 1984, the Morocco pavilion opened. King Hassan II of Morocco saw an opportunity to share his country’s culture with Americans. He sent a small army of skilled artisans to create incredible interiors. The pavilion and its restaurant are still operated by an entity set up the Kingdom of Morocco. |
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 The waiting area between the Maelstrom ride and the film The Spirit of Norway still contains sponsor names. |
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At the time of the opening of the Norway pavilion in 1988, an article in the Orlando Sentinel (“Norway Pavilion Opens—Without Viking Ride” by Vicki Vaughan, June 2, 1988) provided a rare glimpse into the sponsorship details. Here is an excerpt: Norwegian Showcase USA A/S, also called NorShow, is a consortium of 11 companies established to pay for the pavilion and represent Norwegian interests. The Norwegian government also helped pay for the pavilion. NorShow president Gunnar Jerman said his company contributed $33 million for the pavilion. The figure includes a $2 million contribution from the Norwegian government and an $8 million government loan to NorShow. Disney would not reveal the total cost of the pavilion. The company incurred costs because Disney Imagineering designed and built the pavilion. Jerman said NorShow will share any profit from sales of food and souvenirs. The first $3.2 million in profit will go to NorShow, he said, and the next $400,000 to Disney. After that, NorShow will keep 60 percent of all profit and Disney, 40 percent. As you just read, the Norwegian government kicked in some money, but it was primarily a business consortium. |
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 The Japan pavilion has been sponsored by Mitsukoshi, Inc. since the opening of EPCOT Center. |
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In a way, the story ends in 1988. That was the last permanent pavilion. Over the years, I’ve seen artwork for Spain, Israel, Equatorial Africa, Russia, Denmark, Costa Rica, Iran (going back to when the Shah of Iran was in power), United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and probably some others. Supposedly, the Swiss-based multinational food conglomerate Nestlé S.A. was to have sponsored a pavilion about Switzerland (complete with a Matterhorn Bobsleds ride, but instead took over sponsorship of The Land in Epcot’s Future World from Kraft. We can also assume that Disney has tried to work out other business cases to expand World Showcase, without showing artwork outside a small group with a “need to know.” Apparently, they’ve never come up with a compelling business case when the capital cost and ongoing costs of a new pavilion are compared to the revenue from participant fees and rents, guest spending in the pavilion, increased Epcot attendance, and the potential for higher hotel yield when there are more reasons to visit Walt Disney World. That seems surprising. |
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 Helicopter view of World Showcase (2008) |
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You might be interested in these other articles about Disney myths:
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© 2010-2011 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated March 22, 2011.
Map of World Showcase sites: 2010 be Werner Weiss, using several sources as basis. |
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, Curator of Yesterland, June 11, 2010
