It seems that after many years Disney will finally improve WS.
Update: Robert here, hijacking this post to make it our vote of the week. (By the way, here's the link to the original article, which is behind a paywall and in Portuguese. If neither of those stop you, read away!
I have to admit some skepticism, notwithstanding my personal history with Brazilian journalists. ;^) Talk is cheap. And it's not unusual for third parties looking for a development deal to throw around Disney's name. I hope that Disney expands World Showcase, but for all we know Disney could be talking to multiple countries, not just Brazil.
Which brings me to our question this week. Which country would you like to see Disney bring to Epcot? We have asked this question before. This time, I'm limiting the responses to the top countries which bring the most visitors to the United States, but that are not currently represented with an Epcot pavilion. (Plus, I'm adding Egypt, the winner of our last vote on this topic.)
Brazil leads that list, sending more than 1.7 million visitors to the United States last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. South Korea follows, with 1.1 million visitors. The final two slots in our ballot go to Australia, which sends more than 830,000 visitors a year to the U.S., and India, with about 650,000 visitors.
For context, Brazil ranks seventh overall among countries sending visitors to the United States. Canada leads the way, with almost 20 million visitors coming to the U.S. in 2010. Mexico's next and the United Kingdom is third, sending more than 3.8 million visitors a year our way.
I'm not suggesting potential attractions for each of these pavilions. But do think about attraction, and restaurant, potential when voting. (Personally, I'd love to see a Brazilian churrascaria or a great Indian restaurant in Epcot.)
Let's vote:
I'd love to hear your attraction and restaurant ideas for these national pavilions, in the comments. As always, thanks for reading Theme Park Insider, and for spreading the word to your friends via Facebook and Twitter.
Update 2: We've got two new attraction openings happening today. The new Shamu show, One Ocean, debuted at SeaWorld Orlando, and the renovated Texas Giant opened to the public at Six Flags Over Texas. Those attraction's pages are now open for your reports, ratings and reviews.
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Note to Ricardo: Thanks for making Orlando a regular destination. The people of Brazil have made a powerful contribution to our local economy. There are times I wish that the residents of Central Florida were more appreciative of the people of Brazil. Maybe the new "Showcase" will make that happen.
Although I appreciate all the recent upgrades to the Mexican and Italy pavillions, all that construction would have put the park half way to another country if it was concentrated on a new country expansion project. Still, it's great that those pavillions were improved upon AND now a new pavillion might be added as well. Here's hoping that this is the start of a new pavillion being added every 5-10 years instead of the long drought that's prevailed in this section of the park.
One word of advice to WDI though. Please no Brazilian circle vision :)
Brazil would have the edge with the restaurant, but for the rest of the pavilion it would not have the potential of Egypt.
Could they make this completely unique from the Moroccan pavilian? I mean, after the big building the attraction would be in (probably a sphynx replica, as Mexico already has a pyramid), would the shopping and food feel completely unique?
As such, I think the best bet would be Australia or Brazil. These are from areas Disney has not touched at all yet, with cultures that would be completely unique to Epcot. Now, I am not against an Egypt pavilion, it's just I think Brazil or Australia would fit better.
I think Brazil would make for a really great pavilion. As much as I love Egypt, I think the idea is a little cliche in terms of theming, especially since BGT already has an Egypt section and USO has a major Egyptian themed ride already.
Theme wise: Samba, Rio (Christ Rede./Sugar Loaf), Amazon Jungle, Futbol Stadium (Soccer), lots of possibilities plus I like "Robert's" food idea a lot.
Like the Egypt idea. But in honesty the whole concept seems a little over used. Australia? Not really seen it, I liked it for Animal Kingdom cause... Well, obviously Australian Animals and the Outback.
-Francisco
I'm Puerto Rican and visit Florida every other year, and I know about the "bad rap", we often get some by merit (I'll admit) but some by association... So, I would totally love to see a Brazil Pavilion.
@TH creative - I totally agree with you! Good looking out... I've read stuff around from Florida locals not speaking that great about some foreigners type travelers. Like I said I know some of it, is earned rep. But WE are not all like that!!
Glad to see your not one of those people!
-Francisco
I really want a Greek pavillion too. The food and the ancient history really appeal to me.
South Africa would be a good option too. But lots of people seem to think it's covered by Animal Kingdom.
The only country on the list that does not have strong connections to an already existing pavilion is India. For the sake of freshness that is the best of those options IMO.
Australia would be great though and I think Disney would do a wonderful job with Egypt as well.
They speak different languages, were colonized by different countries, and had diverse cultural influences (Spanish and indians in Mexico and Portuguese and African in Brazil, Italians playing also a big part).
Food couldn't be more unrelated! They share no common history.
Mexico is mostly desertic, with the exception of the south, while Brazil has mostly equatorial rain forests and savannas.
As for the vote, I picked Egypt, with which there is an entire theme park worth of attraction ideas just waiting to happen.
I would like to add that Dora Kramer is a respected journalist here in Brazil, and she certainly wouldn´t post any information she didn´t hear from very sound sources. Disney may be talking to several countries, but if Kramer says they´re talking to Brazil too, it´s probably true.
BTW, I voted for Brazil. I think Disney will bring a lot of visitors to Epcot if they make it right!
Perhaps he/she should do a little "Wiki Search" to see if in Brazilian history it says: "For the history of Brazil - look at Mexico's history, caused is about the same..." LMAO!!
-Francisco
I'm sorry if I came off the wrong way but I was really not trying to knock Brazil by comparing it to Mexico. I was already aware of the facts you stated about their differences. I should have been clearer but I was comparing the countries on a GLOBAL scale, so Brazil and Mexico, sharing the Latin American region, share some broad cultural and historical ties, the way that countries in the Western European region are broadly similar, or that the United States and Australia are broadly similar. They are different on a regional scale but if you would compare both Brazil and Mexico to, say, China, you will start finding a lot more similarities between the first two nations than with the last. These comparisons may be vague, but they are significant when you are discussing the WORLD Showcase.
IMO the WS needs a completely different country from a completely different region than the ones already represented, and for me India would be a good example.
No offense meant.
Mexico and USA shares much more history and culture than Mexico and Brazil. In terms of culture Brazil is closer to Italy or Africa than to Mexico. Beans and jokes about Argentineans aside, I don’t see any food or cultural connections.
About India, there isn’t any real opposition between one or other. It could be both. Disney always used other people’s money to pay their bills. But now, with corporate america (european, japanese) in the middle of an economic crisis, they can’t count with them for new investments. So the best alternative to add attractions without spending their own money is to look for sponsors to WS pavilions. And who are the candidates to sponsor a new pavilion? I should be a country with a sizeable economy, currently facing an economic boom, and without a presence in WS. The list is not very large, Brazil, India, Russia…
I don’t think Disney chooses to invest in WS. It hasn’t many alternatives. With all their money going to DCA and Shanghai, this is the only way to add new attractions to Epcot.
For Egypt, how could there NOT be an awesome ride there. Tons of fantastic possibilities. South Korea, couldn't really think of a ride type or what exactly could be done, but Theme Parks in South Korea are Top Top TOP notch, and could maybe see some things they have there and replicate it in a Disney way at epcot.
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In Singapore at the moment, the same company who owns Singapore Zoo and Singapore Night Safari are building another wildlife park called River Safari. It will basically be animal habitats but themed around river ecosystems of the world (Mississippi, Congo, Ganges, Mekong etc.). My point is, River Safari is basically World Showcase and Animal Kingdom combined but guests travel from section to section via boats, rather than walking. It has not been done before.
Why doesn't WDW pull its fingers out of its pockets and invest in something similarly unique, rather than merely adding a tacky pavilion to an outdated concept in what is arguably the worst major theme park in the state of Florida.
And why Brazil? It's not exotic enough to be in Florida, it's only like 300 miles away. What are they going to do, have a replica of Copacabana Beach face onto the Lagoon, with a few samba dancers run through the area with anacondas round their necks?
There is a reason why people are avoiding WDW and heading over to Universal Orlando, you know...