think i will be a little disappointed

[vwlfan]

if I read The Unofficial Guide correctly.

Reading the 2021 guide and realizing per its comments, that most of the shops / stores in The World Showcase appear to be closed.

We really enjoy shopping the countries and I guess I wrongly assumed that as things return to "normal", normal has different definitions, according to how anyone can define that word nowadays, that the stores may not be open yet.

The Guide points out that it was printed in mid February, four months ago. It also always provides updates on its touring plan website. I checked that this morning. And there is no notification that stores have opened.

So the last and likely best information source is here!

Has anyone toured WS very recently and seen that the stores are mostly closed?

We are going pretty soon! We understand that the unfolding of the unfolding is what it is and there is plenty to enjoy and to savor! We will certainly do that and be grateful for what is.

Thanks

 

[vwlfan]

open?

 

[amyadams1020]

We were there a couple weeks ago and it seemed like all the stores were open. Morocco was the only one that was limited bc of the remodel.

 

[gharter]

In April, about half of the shops were closed. I've read lately, that more have been opening.

 

[OKW Lover]

Yes, they are all open

 

[OKW Lover]

The shops are pretty much all open now.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I saw somewhere a report that a lot of College Program participants who just started were assigned World Showcase merchandise so I would expect anything not yet open to open soon ... but I think most is open. I do think there is a different "feel" without the international cast members. It's a little weird to see cast members in the "regular" festival or special events uniforms and not the country-specific uniforms. It's great to have everything open ... just different. Unrelated to shops or pandemic but related to atmosphere, I also really miss the Illuminations torches lit up at night. World Showcase is still my favorite, though. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[threeboyzdad]

We were there last week and many are still closed. Morocco is a ghost town. The main store in England is still closed. Japan closed early for some reason. France was only partially open.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

As long as beer is available in Norway and Germany pavs I think I will not be too disappointed.

 

[Heather07438]

There was a mass rehiring but I’m not sure if they’ve gotten them all fully functional yet. Staffing is most of the issue at this point. Most safety closures have reopened all the way to water fountains and interactive play areas. So it looks like getting everything staffed to the proper levels again is the hold up for what’s left. Almost every day we’re hearing more locations reopening. Like Casey’s should open any day now and the rest not far behind hopefully.

 

[WEDWDW]

I saw somewhere a report that a lot of College Program participants who just started were assigned World Showcase merchandise so I would expect anything not yet open to open soon ... but I think most is open. I do think there is a different "feel" without the international cast members. It's a little weird to see cast members in the "regular" festival or special events uniforms and not the country-specific uniforms. It's great to have everything open ... just different. Unrelated to shops or pandemic but related to atmosphere, I also really miss the Illuminations torches lit up at night. World Showcase is still my favorite, though. Hope you have a great trip!

Yes,we should begin seeing some impact from the first "wave" of CPs soon property wide.

Definitely agree that WS isn't the same without the Internationals.

We found Japan and Morocco to have most of their CMs from those Countries and in the traditional WS Costumes-especially Japan.

We miss the ACCENTS-especially at the United Kingdom Pavilion!!!!

 

[Bullseye]

We were there a couple weeks ago and it seemed like all the stores were open. Morocco was the only one that was limited bc of the remodel.

We were there in the beginning of June and just about everything was opened in WS. In fact. I can't think of anything that wasn't opened other than GB store.

 

[auntlynne]

It’s not just open v closed; it’s also inventory of items from those countries. The English tea shop looked fairly sparse compared to my memory. (visited Nov 2020)

 

[TeresaNJ]

We were there last month. The store in Canada was still closed, all of the shops in Morocco except for the one that sits separately on the side on World Showcase Lagoon next to Spice Road Table are closed as are all of the shops in Germany except for Karamell Kuche. Italy has their shops open, but it's no where near the same as what it was, more generic stock, Japan is open but no pearl show, China is open, Norway is open, as is Mexico. The ice cream shop and bakery are open in France, as is the store, but the store has very very limited items. Oh, only the tea shop is open in the UK.

 

[LSUfan4444]

If you set realistic expectations, there is no reason you should leave disappointed

 

[CarolynFH]

We were there first week of June. In Germany, all the shops on the left (the Karamell Kuche side) were open, the shops on the right were closed.

 

[SimonSez]

We were there last month. The store in Canada was still closed, all of the shops in Morocco except for the one that sits separately on the side on World Showcase Lagoon next to Spice Road Table are closed as are all of the shops in Germany except for Karamell Kuche. Italy has their shops open, but it's no where near the same as what it was, more generic stock, Japan is open but no pearl show, China is open, Norway is open, as is Mexico. The ice cream shop and bakery are open in France, as is the store, but the store has very very limited items. Oh, only the tea shop is open in the UK.

As long as Karamell Kuche is open

 

[MomOTwins]

One thing I have noticed is that some things in Epcot have been open only on weekends. So that may be explaining some of the inconsistent reports.

 

[Sarahslay]

I came back three weeks ago and we were in the parks only on week days, and were in Epcot on 3 of the days. Most of the shops seemed to be open, while they aren't all open, there are very few exceptions. Now, inventory is another thing, it's not like it used to be, but they are open. With the festivals going we never had issues finding things to do between riding rides, eating, and shopping. I'm still working my way through all the snacks I bought, and honestly it's pretty much the only place I bought anything on the whole trip. If it was as sparse as you are expecting we wouldn't have gone back to the park 2 more times after our initial park pass day.

 

[Sparkly]

I don't know how they could, in the current situation, possibly print a guide book seeing as we're still in a pandemic and things are still a bit up in the air.