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Did countries pay to be in Epcot?

Despite original intentions, most of the pavilions are not funded by their home countries. Walt Disney World intended for countries to pay for the construction and maintenance of World Showcase pavilions for a 10-year land lease period.



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Spain Pavilion There also would have been an additional attraction as well as shopping and dining experiences. The market place would have featured both the new and old of Spain. The pavilion was never built because Disney was not able to find a sponsor.

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Day 2 of My Epic 35 Days of Epcot: SPAIN! It's all about Spain A country I love and hope to return to someday soon. You know what I always say about someday… The Marketplace is located between Germany and Italy, around the World Showcase lagoon.

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Let's get one thing out of the way: there has never been a country that was removed from Epcot. All the countries that were originally there opening day — or added later on — remain in the park. The closest we get to a “removal” is perhaps Israel and Africa.

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The Soviet Union fell in 1991, leading to economic turmoil. The government of Russia decided not to move forward with sponsoring the pavilion at EPCOT.

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Another interesting fact about Morocco is it's the only country that does not light up during Illuminations. Morocco has a high Muslim population, and the main tower of the building in Morocco's pavilion is a replica of a prayer tower. Lighting the prayer tower at night would be against Muslim beliefs.

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On a recent visit to EPCOT's Morocco Pavilion, @ExpThemePark took to social media to note, “Inside Restaurant Marrakesh for the first time in forever. It is going to become the future home of the Florida Blue Medicare Lounge.” The sign in the tweet notes, “Future Home of the Florida Blue Medicare Lounge.

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Greece: 2023 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival.

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The Moroccan Pavilion at Epcot is the only Pavilion in the World Showcase where the country's government helped to design the space. The Moroccan Pavilion at Epcot first opened on September 7, 1984, and the pavilion is the only one at Epcot that was fully sponsored by a government and not by a corporation.

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Brazil returned to the Festival in 2013 and we're thrilled to see it back in 2023! The CHEESE BREAD is a must!

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Morocco and Norway were added in 1984 and 1988 after each of these countries lobbied for the pavilions to be built.

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As of writing this EPCOT World Showcase guide, the 11 pavilions are:
  • Mexico.
  • Norway.
  • China.
  • Germany.
  • Italy.
  • The American Adventure.
  • Japan.
  • Morocco.


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The final two “taco” barges have been removed from World Showcase Lagoon, signaling the end of Harmonious at EPCOT. Harmonious was originally designed to be a long-term replacement for Illuminations, but the unsightly hardware for the show proved to be its downfall.

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All of the Harmonious barges in the World Showcase lagoon at EPCOT have finally been removed, and the beautiful views are back!! Here is a multi angle video around the World Showcase during the day and evening timeframe. All the footage is from May 17th & 18th 2023 Thanks for watching!

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Unfortunately, after some research, I found that due to some contracts and agreements regarding the licensing of characters, The Walt Disney Company cannot use certain Marvel characters east of the Mississippi River.

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At Epcot's World Showcase, you can wander around 11 countries in Walt's vision of a permanent world's fair. But the age old question is: which pavilion is best?

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Over at Epcot, the Traveler's Cafe Starbucks near the Canada side of World Showcase has closed.

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2023 marks the end of its transformation with Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, opening Oct. 16. World Celebration will also be completed in December with a new statue of Walt Disney in an area called Dreamers Point and a new exhibition space called CommuniCore Hall.

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Disney intended EPCOT to be a real city, and it was planned to feature commercial, residential, industrial and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system, that would, he said, Never cease to be a living blueprint of the future.

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