Morrocco not lit up during Illuminations?

Rpsemont

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Jun 28, 2001
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2,067
Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or insight into this. We never noticed it before, but earlier this week noticed that Morrocco wasn't lit up during Illuminations, when they turn the lights on for the other countries

BTW - we've had great weather this week. 80 degrees plus every day. It's been a great week!
 
i have never noticed this....but before anyone says anything, i don't wan't people to think that morroco is in the middle east or has anything to do with recent political events. So that is not a reason.

speaking of which....why do aladdin and jasmine make appearances there....they live on the other side of the continent..

ah political correctness
 
From disneyworldtrivia.com:

"Because the buildings in the Morocco pavilion have great religious significance, the buildings are not highlighted by the spotlights of "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.""
 
DisneyGeek2000 said:
From disneyworldtrivia.com:

"Because the buildings in the Morocco pavilion have great religious significance, the buildings are not highlighted by the spotlights of "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.""
::yes:: The Morocco Pavilion is built to resemble a mosque, with the prayer tower, etc. It would show disrespect to their religion to string lights along a religious building.

I love strolling around the nooks and crannies of the Morocco pavilion after dark- so romantic and mysterious.
 

I had heard that, but isn't there another country that doesn't light up??? Maybe Norway??
 
While I wouldn't doubt the religious significance of lighting a building I believe the real reason has to do with the original Illuminations. Norway and Morocco are recent additions to the world showcase (they were not there when it originally opened) and hence did not get lit with lights.

The original illuminations lite of each section and played music from that land, it was very cool, I think better then the current Illuminations.

Jennifer
 
They don't have Christmas lights either during Christmas times. They put flags up instead.
 
jlovesee said:
...Norway and Morocco are recent additions to the world showcase

It was always my understanding that Morocco was one of the original Pavilions in the World Showcase.

I may be wrong (and someone will surely correct me if I am), but that's what I recall hearing.

Jared
 
I have always heard also that Morrocco is not lit up as it is a replication of a mosque, as a previous poster said. It would be disrespectful. This is the story I have heard, and I feel like I've heard it on a tour...but I'm not sure about that.
 
They talk about it on the Segway tour. It has to do with religious reasons. No one should be more grand than Allah. (I'm paraphrasing very loosely.)
 
When I took the guided tour of the Moroccoan pavillion, I know our guide addressed that question. Apparently, a lot of people have wondered. I think it does have to do with religion. However, I think that Morroco was built after Epcot was completed-maybe 1985?
 
It was always my understanding that Morocco was one of the original Pavilions in the World Showcase.
Morocco was the first new pavilion added. It opened on September 7, 1984.
 
Simba's Mom said:
When I took the guided tour of the Moroccoan pavillion, I know our guide addressed that question. Apparently, a lot of people have wondered. I think it does have to do with religion. However, I think that Morroco was built after Epcot was completed-maybe 1985?


It IS because Morocco and Norway where NOT built until years after Epcot was completed.
IllumiNations (and Laserphonic Fantasy, the show that preceeded Illum.) had been already "programmed" with only the original "countries" as part of the show.

They can say it is for any reason they want, but they just didn't bother with the expense of adding the bulit-in "trim-lighting" for these two "new" countries when they didn't need them for the established show.

Epcot Center opened on October 1, 1982.

Morocco was added to World Showcase in 1984.

Norway was added to World Showcase in 1988.
I remember when Norway was first opened and Regis Philbin talked about the new "Maelstrom" ride during the Christmas Parade.
 
Robo and others are correct. While it is true that certain Islamic beliefs were employed during the design of WS, lighting was not one of the areas in which it would be "appropriate" or "innappropriate."

If you are interested about the religious constraints, I will explain those now. 1) All of the tilework needed to be completed by those FROM Morocco (spelled properly with ONE r not two). WDI designers were not permitted to lay the intricate tiles themselves. King Hassan II actually reviewed the designs before they were completed. 2) You will not see any living beings depicted in any of the tilework or elsewhere. THIS is the issue that deals with respect, specifically with Allah. It is an tenet of Islam that "only Allah can create life." For those of you not aware, this is the same issue that is at the center of the cartoon depiction of Allah controversy.

Furthermore, for those interested, the tower in Morocco is not a "part of a mosque" per-se, but rather it is a depiction of Koutoubia Minaret from Marrekesh (the city that half of the pavilion is loosely based off of). Interestingly enough, the original Koutoubia minaret was at one time connected to a mosque, but the mosque needed to be destroyed because it was not perfectly alligned with Mecca. Today, pilgrims may visit the minaret and the surrounding gardens as well as the ruins of the mosque, but non-Muslims may not enter the minaret.

To address the statements about Norway: Yes, the tall brown building is a depiction of a Stave Church. These buildings are a rare item in Norway today and only 28 remain (from wikipedia). However, recall that Mexico, China and Japan feature representations of temples as well, and those ones are decked out with lights like it is their jobs.

Bottom line, WS is WAY, WAY behind on updating all of the pavilions to be full participants in Illumi.
 
Robo and Disney Dude are correct. Hubby is Moroccan and worked a the Pavillion about 11 years ago.
 
Robo said:
They can say it is for any reason they want, but they just didn't bother with the expense of adding the bulit-in "trim-lighting" for these two "new" countries when they didn't need them for the established show.

Epcot Center opened on October 1, 1982.

Morocco was added to World Showcase in 1984.

Norway was added to World Showcase in 1988.
I remember when Norway was first opened and Regis Philbin talked about the new "Maelstrom" ride during the Christmas Parade.

I’m sorry but that is not true. The lights were added to the pavilions for Illuminations, which started in 1988. The lights were not there when the park opened. They were only installed in 1988. Morocco was already there and Norway was under construction. The real reason they are not lit is because of Morocco. As others have stated it is disrespectful to put lights on those religious buildings, thus Morocco does not have them. As for Norway WDI decided not to light Norway in order to keep the balance during the show. That way there is 4 countries lit on either side of the AA.
 
My Birnbaum's 2005 states that you might notice the absence of lights from Morocco, and that it is because of the religious significance of the buildings, particularly because of the tiles that came all the way from Morocco. It does not mention Norway at all. So, no matter what the real reason, this is evidently the "official" reason.
 
I read somewhere that each of the pavilions had to finance their own lighting, and that Morocco and Norway simply chose not to. Not sure how accurate this is. :confused3

Charlotte
 




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