Who Really Owns EPCOT’s World Showcase
Today I’m going to clarify a popular urban legend about Epcot and give you an insider's look to see who’s really behind World Showcase. It’s coming up right now on…
If you’ve been to World Showcase at Epcot , you know that it’s made up of 11 nations, like Japan, France, Germany, and Norway, each featuring culturally accurate architecture, restaurants, imported merchandise, and even the employees imported to work there on 12-month contracts in hopes of creating an authentic experience for Disney guests.
Now the urban legend part is that each of the 11 nations sponsored their pavilions in hopes of promoting tourism to their country. Well, that’s not exactly true.
First, Disney owns World Showcase and in some cases, it leases out restaurant and retail spaces to other companies - similar to the way a shopping mall works.
See, the original plan The Walt Disney Company had was to get each government to pay for their pavilion in Epcot.
There was even a big convention held at the Contemporary Resort where Disney execs pitched the idea to various heads of state and dignitaries.
It didn’t work. Mexico was kind of on board, they at least saw some tourism potential, and a few others almost went for it, but in the end, Disney paid for everything.
So we’ll start our tour of World Showcase at the American Adventure pavilion.
But it’s a quick stop because Disney owns and operates it.
While it was at one time sponsored by Coca-Cola and American Express….that is no longer the case. Coke is still the official soft drink of Walt Disney World but Visa is now the official credit card.
At the Italy Pavilion in Epcot, guests have 2 options, either shop or eat. The shops present a range of items that include Italian leather handbags and unique Italian-themed Disney Parks merchandise, cookware, a few Italian snacks, and a large selection of wine.
The shops are operated by Disney but there are 3 restaurants, well 2 restaurants, and a wine bar that are not owned or operated by Disney.
Via Napoli, one of my favorite restaurants at Epcot, Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar, and Tutto Italia are all owned by the Patina Restaurant Group.
Patina not only operates the Italy Pavilion but many restaurants at Disney Springs as well.
The entire building housing Maria and Enzo’s, Enzo’s Hideaway, and Pizza Ponte are owned by Patina. You might think that Iron Chef Morimoto owns his namesake restaurants.
But nope. That’s Patina Restaurant Group too. And just for the record, The Edison and Space 220 - all Patina Restaurant Group.
If the Italy pavilion feels a little incomplete, that’s because it is. It was originally supposed to get a dark ride attraction that would have guests riding a gondola through Italy and a walk–through attraction featuring scenes of Rome.
When Epcot first opened it was sponsored by the Alfredo Restaurant Group.
This arrangement lasted through 2007.
When Patina took over, it converted Aflredos into Tutto Italia, added the wine bar and Via Napoli
The Germany Pavilion is a conglomerate of small retailers.
Goebel was an early sponsor of the pavilion, selling collectible Hummel figurines.
It was located in the former Glas and Porzellan shop which is now the caramel shop sponsored by Werthers.
Aribbas Brothers operates a glass and crystal shop here now.
But the reason Germany is important is that it was the first pavilion to get sponsors.
This is remarkable because while Germany was being built in Epcot, it was still divided by the Berlin Wal - uh the actual Germany, not the Epcot Germany.
Germany was at one time going to have a boat ride called the Rhine River Cruise but when Disney failed to get sufficient funding for the pavilion, the ride was tabled. We don’t know too much about the proposed ride but early concept art shows guests boarding a "boat" for a ride on the Rhine River.
The journey would pass through scenes of the Black Forest, the Oktoberfest, Heidelberg
In the early 80’s large wooden doors marked the entrance to the ride, but they later replaced this giant mural.
The China Pavilion shows off China’s amazing culture with colorful sights and sounds.
Home to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a large marketplace of indoor shops, an art gallery, 2 restaurants, and a tea kiosk.
The China Pavilion Exhibition Corporation, based in Orlando, FL is the operating participant of the gift shops where you can buy imported Chinese snacks, clothing, beverages, toys, and oddly enough, swords.
Now if you want to buy a sword, you can’t take it with you - it must be shipped to your home.
The Norway Pavilion was added to the World Showcase in May of 1988.
Early plans for the Norway pavilion included representation from Sweden and Denmark as well. That is until Norway made Disney an offer it couldn’t refuse.
The Norwegian government along with a group of 11 Norwegian companies, one being Scandinavian Airlines, would pay for two-thirds of the cost to make it all-Norwegian.
This was great news because Sweden and Denmark were not exactly on board anyway. But I don’t think the Norwegians knew that.
Plans called for retail space, a boat ride attraction (the classic Maelstrom attraction), a restaurant, and a convention space located on the second floor called the Norway Club (still there today).
In the first year of operation, the Norway pavilion generated millions of dollars. Profits from the pavilion were shared among all 3 stakeholders, not equally, however.
In 2002 Disney bought full ownership of the Norway Pavilion for an unspecified amount of money.
Mexico was an opening day pavilion in 1982 and was one of the few World Showcase countries to also have a ride. And since 1982, the entire pavilion, except the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride, has been operated by the Palmas Restaurant Group.
Palmas has its finger in every pie from the table service restaurants down to the margarita kiosk - even the Food and Wine booths.
And they do a good job, Mexico is one of the most popular pavilions in all of Epcot.
Palmas also has restaurant operations at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and one excellent restaurant at Disney Springs. Can you guess which one? Use the comments below.
The gift shops in Mexico are operated by the Arribas Brothers Company Incorporated, a retailer that started in Spain and now operates gift shops in Disney Parks around the world.
At the UK Pavilion, you’ll find a great collection of merchandise sponsored by several small retailers and one of Epcot’s most popular pubs - Rose and Crown.
On opening day Rose and Crown was sponsored by Bass Ale, but that later changed when Bass was sold to Anheuser-Busch.
Ad if you liked Bass Ale i’m sorry to say it isn’t even served at the UK Pavilion anymore.
Then there’s a not-so-secretive sponsor - Twinings Tea who operates the Tea Caddy and at one time it sponsored the Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian.
Twinings sells traditional tea plus special blends made just for Walt Disney World. And once in a while Mr Twining, one of the descendants of the Twiningt Tea empire, will visit Epcot and give autographs to guests on boxes of tea.
The France Pavilion has several small shops, all now operated by Disney, and holds contracts with individual suppliers in France.
Similar to the way a department store works. France’s 3 feature restaurants: Chef’s de France, which opened in 1982, Monsieur Paul, and La Creperie are all operated by Jerome Bocuse, son of the late celebrity chef, Paul Bocuse.
Morocco was the only pavilion in Epcot that was sponsored by the country the way Epcot leadership had originally intended. Morocco is one of the most beautiful countries in World Showcase.
In 2020, Disney ended its sponsorship with Morocco in what was said to be a mutually beneficial breakup. Since 2020 the Morocco Pavilion has been under various refurbishments and much of it never reopened after the pandemic.
Also featured in my Video on Abandoned Places in Disney World.
The Japan pavilion is one of my favorite pavilions in Epcot. It has a great design and it’s always fun to walk through Mitsukoshi Department Store.
Now Misukoshi is a real department store in Japan, having opened in 1673.
The Epcot version, which opened in 1983, some 310 years later, is a scaled-down version of the actual Mitsukoshi in Japan.
So you can probably guess by now who operates the Japan pavilion at Epcot.
Mituskoshi operates the department store, Teppan Edo - the hibachi restaurant, in fact, just about everything - right down to the small beverage kiosks.
They even own Yesaki, a quick-service sushi kiosk in Disney Springs, located across from Planet Hollywood.
Have questions about planning your Orlando vacation? I have answers! Contact me now to get more out of your vacation.
Since 2010, Darren has been making Orlando vacations easy! As an Orlando resident, he is able to provide insider, expert advice on Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Florida-based cruises.
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