How authentic is World Showcase?

[lorraine31]

Does it really feel like you are IN the country? Or is it just a theme park interpretation of France, England, Japan, etc.

Sorry but this has been driving me crazy. After reading this thread and the one about the different sweets in Epcot, everyone keeps calling the UK Pavillion England. The UK (Great Britain) does not equal England. The United Kingdom is just that ,four different countries united. The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It's really infuriating, frustrating and completely and utterly insulting that everone forgets three complete countries. The UK pavillion represents all of these countries and has produce and culture from each e.g. from Scotland tartan and shortbread, from England lavander and tea. Even the people working in the UK pavillion are from various regions throughout the UK as their varying accents will tell.

Ok. Rant over for the day

 

[hogwartsdropout]

Sorry but this has been driving me crazy. After reading this thread and the one about the different sweets in Epcot, everyone keeps calling the UK Pavillion England. The UK (Great Britain) does not equal England. The United Kingdom is just that ,four different countries united. The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It's really infuriating, frustrating and completely and utterly insulting that everone forgets three complete countries. The UK pavillion represents all of these countries and has produce and culture from each e.g. from Scotland tartan and shortbread, from England lavander and tea. Even the people working in the UK pavillion are from various regions throughout the UK as their varying accents will tell.

Ok. Rant over for the day

Thanks for pointing that out, I guess people honestly don't realise that the pavillion represents the whole UK and not just England. I see it everywhere on the boards but never want to say anything!

 

[ireland_nicole]

lorraine31; just fyi: the word England is mentioned twice in the thread. The OP, and in one repeat one additional reply.

Hardly everyone, all the time, etc.

Perhaps one is being a touch oversensitive?

FWIW; My husband and children are Irish born, as is my Dad (ROI) and most Americans don't realize that ROI is not part of the UK. Do I get offended every time someone gets it wrong? No. Because I would become a very frustrated and unhappy human being.

 

[declansdad]

I can tell you that we don't dress like the CMs in Canada.

 

[ChrisFL]

I thought that Scotland, England, Wales were all one "country" now

 

[PrincessBelle39]

I might be the only one but was disapointed in WS. Although the buildings looked great, it had the feel of just one continuous gift shop to me. And yes, I know its Disney, and I expect gift shops, but apart from Italy with the street performances, I just didn't get a feel for the countries.

 

[briar_rose_59]

I can tell you that we don't dress like the CMs in Canada.

Speak for yourself!

 

[disneyfan55]

I don't think this was mentioned, but there are also shops selling items from the various countries as well as wines/beers.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Love, love, love World Showcase. I will never get to visit those countries so that is the closest I will ever get to them. I just love the atmosphere and seeing and trying things from different countries. Plus it is beautiful. One thing that was funny when we were there last week. We were in Canada going to see the movie. There were some Canadians in front of us and they commented on the phone booth in the pavilion. It is like the ones in the UK and they said they don't have phone booths like that in Canada.

 

[lorraine31]

lorraine31; just fyi: the word England is mentioned twice in the thread. The OP, and in one repeat one additional reply.

Hardly everyone, all the time, etc.

Perhaps one is being a touch oversensitive?

FWIW; My husband and children are Irish born, as is my Dad (ROI) and most Americans don't realize that ROI is not part of the UK. Do I get offended every time someone gets it wrong? No. Because I would become a very frustrated and unhappy human being.

I never said that it was 'all the time' and if you care to read to read my original post, I actually referred to another thread which is about 20 pages long and most people mention the chocolate from 'England'.

Oh and FYI, one is not oversensitive. One was simply informing people since as you say, a lot of people 'don't realise' which I think later replies will have shown.

Anyway I love the world showcase. I love looking at the authentic produce and items from each of the individual countries. I think it's really cool the way that have people from the country working there and have restaurants with authentic food from each country. People I know have said they don't like Epcot and find the world showcase boring, but I could spend ages in it wandering around all the different counrties. Plus it's great for meeting characters from each of the different countries like Beauty and the Beast in France, Mulan in China and Aladdin and Co in Morocco.

 

[Disney Ella]

I like this Dave Barry quote about Epcot:

"Epcot Center also features pavilions built by various foreign nations, where you can experience an extremely realistic simulation of what life in these nations would be like if they consisted almost entirely of restaurants and souvenir stores."

They have done some great work with the architecture, but I can't say I actually feel like I am in that particular country.

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I thought that Scotland, England, Wales were all one "country" now

Umm no lol, we are all seperate countries in one Kingdom.

 

[fla4fun]

I might be the only one but was disapointed in WS. Although the buildings looked great, it had the feel of just one continuous gift shop to me. And yes, I know its Disney, and I expect gift shops, but apart from Italy with the street performances, I just didn't get a feel for the countries.

One thing that helps with this is making sure you pick up one of the entertainment schedules, and try to see any live performers in each country. They have a lot of different entertainment around WS that helps add to the multi-cultural experience.

I've always felt like WS was a bit like a 3-D travel brochure. You go in, you get a feel for the people, the architecture, the food, the "stuff", and hopefully, it makes you want to see the real thing. I like to take a day and just spend a half hour or so soaking up the atmosphere of each country.

 

[monty]

I might be the only one but was disapointed in WS. Although the buildings looked great, it had the feel of just one continuous gift shop to me. And yes, I know its Disney, and I expect gift shops, but apart from Italy with the street performances, I just didn't get a feel for the countries.

My DH would totally agree with you.In fact next trip coming up in Dec. we'll only be in WS to eat and see CP.
If I'm "good" he may put up with another couple of hours of shopping time for useless cr*p as he puts it .

By the way, we're neighbours. We're from Melbourne too!

 

[Tink-aholic]

I can give you a little perspective:

When Alfredo's (the previous restaurant in Italy) opened, it was my favorite place to dine and I went there many times. A few years later on a trip to Rome, my family went to a little restaurant called Alfredo's (admittedly because it had the same name -- apparently, the chef there came up with Alfredo sauce!). When I walked in, I was AMAZED. It was IDENTICAL to the restaurant in EPCOT. Same furniture, same artwork...even the same crack on the WALL! After that, I figured that all of the WS restaurants had to be as authentic!

I just wish there was some other representation for Canada.

 

[OB1]

Having done both, for most of the European countries, Canada and Mexico anyway, I would say that Disney is really giving a taste of each country represented. They work really hard to evoke the ambiance of a country with use of architecture and other cultural representations (food, language, items in shops, etc.)

according to the Imagineering Fieldguide for EPCOT, this is exactly what Disney has done. Italy has buildings that we think of when we think of Italy, even though you do not find many buildings like this in Italy. Germany has a combination of archetecture that also show cases much of what we feel & know about Germany. The style & colors are very authentic, even though there are many blends across WS from different centuries. It is also fun to chat with the cast members since they are from the countries. You can learn a lot from them.

 

[declansdad]

Speak for yourself!

Yes but you live in the center of the universe.

 

[declansdad]

I just wish there was some other representation for Canada.

Can I ask what you don't like about the Canadian pavillion?

 

[DisDarling]

World Showcase is a great experience because you get to enjoy all of those countries in one place. No, I dont think its the same as being there, but it is a nice second.

 

[Tink-aholic]

Can I ask what you don't like about the Canadian pavillion?

Sure. As a Canadian living in the US, most people seem to think that Quebec is the only province we have! The restaurant they chose was French. The pavilion itself is modeled after a hotel in Quebec. It seems that most of the CMs I have encountered are French-Canadian. To me, they are not representative of "most" of Canada.

I do like the representation of the First Nations, however, but I think it could be more.

Until recently, the tallest freestanding building in the world was the CN tower in Toronto - and I wish that was the "icon" that represented the country.

I understand that Disney probably reached out to the governments of different countries, and they probably get what was given to them. It just seems to me that there could be a whole lot more shown of such a beautiful country than just Quebec.