Plus One, Minus One - World Showcase — Welcome to Disneyville

Today we decided to play a game called Plus One, Minus One! The premise is fairly simple, select a topic and give one plus and one minus…or one positive and one negative. Some of our negatives were less about things we disliked and instead were things we wish Disney would add! But we thought what better place to start than in Epcot’s World Showcase! We are going around all eleven of the country pavilions and sharing our plus one and minus one!

Canada

Tyler: I love the waterfall and the garden area, it is so so pretty! But there’s nothing there! Disney finally added that beer cart a few years back but that’s not enough. It kills me that when you walk up to the back of the pavilion to see the waterfall and you’re by these gorgeous buildings aaand that’s it. There’s nothing else there. A walk up window for quick service or something would be amazing.

Jessica: I think this is perhaps, the prettiest country of all of them. The gardens, the landscaping, the waterfall and even the buildings are just gorgeous! But they need to add something…there’s not much to the pavilion beyond the little shop, circle vision and Le Cellier. They’re our friendly neighbors to the north! There should be more! I think they should add a legitimate quick service or even a walk through attraction.

The United Kingdom

Tyler: I love that they sell swords in the gift shop in this pavilion! And I’ve always wanted to buy a sword but I have no reason to buy a sword. And I also can never decide which sword to get…like do I need a small sword for on the go swording? Or do I need a big Excalibur style sword if I’m going into battle? It’s hard to say. Now my minus one is that the Rose and Crown pub is always SO crowded! It’s nearly impossible to get up to the actual bar!

Jessica: I love the vibes of this pavilion. One of my favorite things to do is to grab a cool drink and just wander around taking it all in! It’s interesting because this pavilion doesn’t really have much to do either, no ride, no attraction but somehow it still feels so fun! But they do need something else and I think a walk through maze like the one in Disneyland Paris would be totally fitting!

France

*There’s nothing quite like the Eiffel Tower at night!*

Tyler: I love the ice cream place in this pavilion! It is the best ice cream, even better than the ice cream you can get on Main Street! One thing I don’t like though is the new Beauty and the Beast sing-a-long. I wish they had done something more about France, or even updated their previous film Impressions de France. They are bringing a lot of their Disney intellectual property into EPCOT which is understandable but I think there must be a way to do it while still focusing on the country itself.

Jessica: The new Ratatouille area is so cool. The ride itself is amazing, the creperie is great but overall the entire area is unbelievably gorgeous! But I wish they had a real gift shop in this area. And they do have plenty of gift shops in the pavilion but I think there needs to be a place to peruse in that back area because unless you’re going to ride the ride or get a crepe there isn’t much reason to go back there right now.

Morocco

Tyler: I love the area just to left as you enter this pavilion. I’m not sure of the name, or if it has a name, but it’s a room with a bunch of intricate tile work, there’s a little fountain and there’s hardly anyone ever in there so it’s a quiet area to stop and take a break. I do wish however that Restaurant Marrakesh would reopen! It is still not open but even when it was open we found that it wasn’t incredible food but it was an entertaining experience so I’d love for it to be refreshed and finally reopened!

Jessica: One of my favorite restaurants in all of Disney is Spice Road Table! You can usually find availability, it’s on the water and you can eat inside or outside and it’s delicious! My negative is that this pavilion currently feels a little stagnant. With the restaurant being closed and no attraction in this pavilion it doesn’t feel as vibrant as some of the other countries do right now which is such a shame because it’s a beautiful pavilion, there’s a great gift shop but it just needs a little more.

Japan

Tyler: I love Mitsukoshi, the gift shop, but also the landscaping is beautiful! The gardens leading up to the quick service dining are so pretty, there’s some seating up there, the stream, the bridge, it’s just so nice! Now two things I wish you could do here is go into the pagoda, it would be so cool to have a little exhibit in here similar to the church in the Norway pavilion. But my second thing is that because this pavilion doesn’t have a ride or attraction, it would be so cool to do a ride like the Matterhorn but make it Mount Fuji!

Jessica: The gift shop here is called Mitsukoshi and it’s one of my favorite shops in all of Disney! It’s huge and there is something for everyone there from clothing to snacks and everything in between. One of our favorite things to do is get dark chocolate Kit Kats and mochi from this pavilion! One thing I do think this pavilion would benefit from is live performances. I know they have the drummers but adding another kind of performance or a show of some kind because this pavilion largely feels like its just a gift shop and restaurants (which can be said about a few of them of course).

The American Adventure

Tyler: My plus for this one is the new craft beer area, I love this addition because craft beer is such a huge thing in the US that it makes sense and it’s cool to have those options. Speaking of options, I think that the spot where Voices of Liberty sing, there should be additional performers that showcase more styles of music specific to America like bluegrass, jazz etc.

Jessica: My favorite thing about this pavilion is the Voices of Liberty, they are so amazing! I love listening to them when we’re in Disney and they even have some music released under the band name Voctave that we love to listen to when we’re at home. The shop in this pavilion is just an art shop, which is understandable because we are in America…we don’t need a ton of American memorabilia in this pavilion because we’re already in the country but I wish that this space had been used in a different way. Something like the walk through in Hollywood Studios, “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream”, would be great here. Or even a ride through of Walt Disney’s life would be interesting and totally cool, don’t you think?

Italy

Tyler: I love the gondola area on the water in this pavilion. You can’t go on them but it’s such a beautiful spot and adds to the ambience of the pavilion! My minus for this country is that there’s no ride and I really wish there was. Something like a gondola ride going through Italy similar to what they have in the Mexico pavilion would be incredible.

Jessica: My plus for this pavilion has to be the food! It’s always amazing whether you go to Tutto Italia or Via Napoli or even the walk up window to grab a slice of pizza! (In case you didn’t know, there is a walk up window to the left of Via Napoli where you can get a slice of pizza to go and it’s never busy! It’s kind of a hidden gem.) My minus for this pavilion is that there aren’t Luca meet and greets! This is such a cute movie and of course it’s set in Italy so it would be a perfect fit! I also wish that there was an actual quick service restaurant here. As mentioned there is a walk up window but an actual quick service would be amazing.

Germany

Tyler: I love the trains in this pavilion. There’s a model train set with a little town and it just makes me so happy, I could watch for like half an hour! I do wish that there was a real quick service in this pavilion though. There’s a walk up window where you can get beer and pretzels and of course there is the table service Biergarten but a quick service would be great here. I’d call it Schnitzel and Spaetzel and guess what? It would sell Schnitzel and Spaetzel!

Jessica: My plus for Germany is the Biergarten Restaurant. I agree that the food should be more varied and it’s quite heavy but I love love LOVE the live performances. The atmosphere and vibe of this place is so fun and so entertaining! My minus is that there should be Snow Whites Scary Adventures in Germany. They took it away from Magic Kingdom and that was so sad, I wish they would bring it back and put it in Germany!

China

Tyler: My favorite thing here is the Reflections of China 360 video which shows an arial view of various parts of China. It was a little dated and definitely could use an update but I love it. Disney had announced previously that a new video with seamless screens titled Wonderous China was meant to be released a few years back but we’re still waiting on that one. But my minus one for this pavilion is very specific to me. In one of the gift shops they had bottles of beer that are shaped like Buddha called Lucky Buddha beer and a few years back we got one planning to take the bottle home as a souvenir but the cast member wouldn’t let us take it because it’s glass!

Jessica: My plus is a weird one that doesn’t exist anymore but I wish they would bring them back - the Jeweled Dragon Acrobats! These performers were SO spectacular and I really hope they come back! One thing I think needs a refresh though is the Reflections of China video, which sounds like it should be coming soon? We’ll have to wait and see!

Norway

Tyler: I love the giant troll in the gift shop here. It’s just so cool and I don’t think there’s a trip that goes by where we don’t take a photo in front of it. My minus in this pavilion is that in the Frozen ride, when they switched it from the Maelstrom to Frozen Ever After they took out the part where the boats come outside and I wish they had left that part in.

Jessica: Mine for this pavilion are kind of boring and all focused on the bakery. I struggled with this one because there is so much about this pavilion I love and enjoy. So for me a plus is definitely the bakery, it’s got some unique pastries and there’s a lot of options and everything is good! But I do wish that they would lean into offering more coffee options there because besides a couple Joffrey’s kiosks there aren’t too many places to grab a hot coffee or cold brew throughout World Showcase.

Mexico

Tyler: I love love love Mariachi Cobre! This band is so talented and they used to play inside the pyramid but lately I’ve seen them outside so maybe they’ve permanently moved location but they are always so fun to watch and listen to! My minus is Cava del Tequila. And hear me out, I used to love it and we talked about it often. But they’ve become a victim of their own success. It used to be less popular and the margaritas were made fresh in front of you but as they got more popular they started premixing and now the drinks are more sugary, they don’t taste as good and it’s not as good of an experience.

Jessica: I absolutely LOVE that Gran Fiesta hardly ever has a line. So if you are entering World Showcase and you’ve got a kiddo itching to get on a ride (or you’re itching to get on a ride) this is a great one to hop on as soon as you enter the showcase. However, even though I love this ride and have a lot of nostalgia attached to it, I can see that it needs an update. There are a few rumors going around that Coco would be taking over this ride but it appears that nothing is confirmed BUT wouldn’t that be amazing??

What are some of your plus ones and minus ones in EPCOT’s World Showcase! Let us know in a comment below or visit us over on Instagram @disneyvillepodcast!

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Plus One, Minus One - World Showcase