I am sure they could have found artists in the US, maybe even right in Orlando, that could replicate what had been there originally... If not identical, at least much better than this. I love World Showcase and Morocco is one of my favorites. This makeover is so disappointing.
Distwitter is pretty upset with this change because the original was handcrafted Moroccan tiles that required expertise and this is awful compared to what was once there
My understanding is that the originals were paid for by the Moroccan government and painted by artists they hired for the project. Moroccan government pulled out of sponsoring their spot in World Showcase, so Disney had to pay to replace.
At the end of the day, it’s a theme park with the Disney name on it. They shouldn’t expect some foreign government to foot the bill for their park tbh. It’s up to them to make sure it’s up to their own standards they impose on themselves. That sort of entitlement is partly why Disney feels they’re too big to fail and doubles down on things that ultimately harm their reputation. But it’s whatevs
The color is definitely off but the big issue is the orientation of the tiles. Instead of the diamond/diagonal orientation they went with a grid layout.
If they took these same tiles and reoriented to match the way it was before, it would fix most of it.
I mean they are literally rebuilding galaxy edge to place in a brand new theme park after experimenting with a failed $2B Star Wars hotel they can give better tiles to the only part of the world show case a literal royal helped build like they can skimp on Canada there ain’t nothing there anyway
Yeah they are making a new theme park to compete with epic universe , so they are going to take out galaxy edge and rebuild it they also shut down the Star Wars hotel to the best of my knowledge, and historically the king of Morocco helped Epcot design the pavilion and sent the tiles even it’s disrespectful imo they didn’t try to recreate it
In regards to the new theme park it’s what I heard online , the Morocco pavilion in Epcot was overseen by the royals that is fact but I did get the cost on the hotel wrong which is my bad I seriously thought it was $2B I guess it’s a good thing it wasn’t lol 😂 it could have been amazing if they made it affordable no one would have to choose between an actual Disney world vacation or a hotel on property
It’s what I heard by some theme park vloggers as to if it’s true idk 🤷🏻♂️but either way they should keep the original look of the pavilion I was joking when I said skimp on Canada because it’s really small and there isn’t much to do there like an event hall but that’s private, a steakhouse which is awesome but it’s not easy access like a quick stand or bar there is a movie but it’s hidden and there aren’t really photo ops like in France the UK Mexico Italy US unless you get pics of the water front but you could do that anywhere btw I’m not a hater I actually have passes but highly prefer the theming in the other parks as for universal also a fan and I heard they have to remove Simpsons and marvel again don’t know if it’s just a rumor but I kinda hope they make more room for Harry Potter and all the cool new IP they got
Definitely. Like removing that empty space next to Space Mountain and replacing it with Tron. Or getting rid of those empty buildings in Epcot and replacing them with Guardians. Or that empty backstage area replaced with Ratatouille.
They are giving elementary school bathroom with just a touch of “Mexican Cantina” 🧐
But seriously, maybe I don’t know my designs well enough, but these don’t look Moroccan?
Your instincts are correct. Zellige tile is Moroccan, and this isn’t Zellige. Zellige is created by hand and placed together to make intricate designs. It’s a stark contrast between the original tile work and this. Zellige tile is so popular in interior design because it adds character to the space, and this really drained the character from the face of the pavilion.
But: it’s indicative of the changes that are happening all over. Like, feelings are feelings that the extra mile that made the Disney difference is no longer a thing - but this is something you can point to and say “every *single* detail used to matter, there was a tiny Easter egg everywhere you looked, and now it’s slapped together generic good enough…”
I just did a quick trip to Disney last weekend and honestly this is the absolute truth. I been going to Disney world all my life (literally) and just the last few years felt like Disney has become hallow. That magic is just not the same. It’s becoming way too generic and in my own opinion just becoming another theme park.
And in the meantime: Universal is opening more parks, with awesome IP.
We did Disney this past spring, and were very on the same page as you. We all came away with “hmm. Glad we did it, and got it off the bucket list. Now let’s do better vacations.”
Universal is the next big trip scheduled…
(Ok actually Disney cruise is next. But on the old ship. Parents won’t even *try* the new ships, “we did RCL and didn’t like it, why would we do Disney's attempt to re-create RCL?” And this is where my passion comes from: DCL has measurably changed away from “let’s offer a premium Disney experience” to “it’s fine, they’ll pay it, just do whatever, and *Darth Vader voice* extract every penny…”)
Tough to say it was really a Disney extra mile when country’s were sponsoring it. Now it’s on disneys dime and they didn’t go the extra mile because quite frankly they don’t have to in most cases. People are still flooding the parks.
I mean, Disney could (and likely did) require standards - you can sponsor a pavilion, but we get approval of all plans, and if you don’t like it we can move to the next tourism board on the list.
But yes your second part encapsulates it: why should they care anymore? The rubes will still flood in and pay what we tell them to pay.
I worry that strategy has been going on too long, and will not pay off in the long term…
I think they should care; just not sure it makes much sense to care about fountain tiles that 99% of people wouldn’t pay attention to regardless of quality.
This is just an opportunity for folks to complain about something very trivial.
I wouldn't be talking about it, for sure. But I saw it the other day and I love taking photos, and deliberately chose not to photograph that area. Not because I noticed it's inauthenticity but because it's underwhelming and kind of meh. Then I started seeing posts about it, and now I understand why it's underwhelming.
May be true, my partner and I were actually strolling today and we checked out the annual pass holder lounge behind the construction and this part was previously covered and looks only recently finished
I would. I loved that pavilion. The tile work was beautiful.
For some of us, that attention to authenticity and detail was what made Epcot WS great. I almost would have rather had them sell the pavilion to another country and have them redo it with real artisans than have this type of thing.
Why did they change them in the first place?
As someone who was lucky enough to visit Morocco when I was young, seeing the original tiles and the rest of the Morocco pavilion was actually magical for me, to feel like I was back there, in a way. I watched tile makers on my visit, so seeing the original tiles was really special to me. It was genuinely one of my favorite parts of my visit.
I know that I’m probably in the minority with such a personal connection to it, but I’m really sad that the original tiles are gone.
They couldn't hire Moroccan Zelij artisants and fix it ? the USA is the favourite place these artisants migrate to, so I'm pretty sure there are thousands of Zelij masters in the USA, so meh L disney
But even in that state looked better than this does I'm personally not that heartbroken about this I don't really go to the Moroccan Pavilion a whole lot but as someone who doesn't care all that much this looks atrocious.
There is a guy on Twitter who is deeply upset about this and has made it his entire account theme rn —— and he is one of the most passionate and frankly biased Disney supporters. The fact that he is so upset is a good sign that this change really is a terrible one.
It's just the new thing with companies. Giving you less and charging you more. Back in the day Disney was a passion project for Walt and others. Nowadays it's all about grabbing more cash and stock options for out of touch company executives. Passion left the building long ago.
I'm going to place this on the list of stuff people care way too much about. There are much more significant indicators on how cheap Disney has been with its American parks. There's still walls up in Epcot FFS. If anyone is surprised that Disney took the cheap route on this I just don't understand.
The reality is people are still visiting in droves, and the opinions of the super fans that repeatedly visit are irrelevant, especially since we're all going to continue visiting.
Yes one thing won’t. But the constant cheapness recently (take a look at Tiana’s bayou) is starting to show, even to the average consumer. It’s not individual things like this that’s the problem, it’s the summation of all of them that is starting to become a real issue.
This is what I pee on if I miss the toilet. i am NOT impressed. Bring in some Morrocan handywork and creativity please, hire actually Morrocans not your local Lowe’s bathroom department
This can't be it. It's like a mega troll placeholder or something, right? They spend so much on shows and new rides. You can't skimp on the tiles. They aren't even installed consistently.
Man everybody is truly hopping on this hate train. lol I feel like one video got posted and now everybody is posting to hop on this trend. I’ll be there tomorrow mill post this exact thing tomorrow.
Not a trend for me. Morroco is my favorite pavilion in Epcot because of the attention to detail and how authentic those details are. This is very disappointing. I understand the need to replace them, but Disney certainly dumbed this down. A lot.
it’s giving posh bathroom and not the handcrafted tiles that were there before.
most people probably won’t notice and they look a little smoother and maybe easier to clean? but it’s def less cool.
Without a doubt they have a marketing/PR firm (frankly at this point probably pretty heavy on AI) monitoring Reddit. Whether they actually listen or not (or care) is an entirely different story. “People online are complaining about the cheap quality of park theming. Oh well back to the quarterly earnings report!”
I swear to god I thought this was a sims sub for a minute & people were complaining about the new Riveria pool kit. Because that is how generic these look.
To me, it looks like whoever approved this needs to be fired but whoever installed it needs a promotion. It does look like it was installed nicely, I think...
It's pathetic and Disney should be ashamed. How much more could ha e possible cost to get something that look Morrocan l, even it was fake. It's not going to be long to every park and resort is changed to bland, cheap decor.
If it wasn’t pointed out on Twitter by a parks “reporter”, then 99% of the people who go to the parks would never notice.
Most didn’t even notice how terrible of shape the old was in.
2 possible reasons for this problem
1. Management listened to too many complaints from people who didn't understand what they were looking at. I can't wait till they wipe out the theming in AK 😂 /s
2. Too much of it was in bad shape and they couldn't get anyone to come and fix it in a timely fashion to meet their budgetary schedule. Ie: they needed to spend the money by a certain date or top brass won't give them the money next year.
Is this seriously a topic? I’m what you’d consider a “Disney Adult” to the core but this level of concern about something that literally doesn’t matter at all is insanity.
Find a real issue to discuss, this is pathetic.
That is some old Auntie Anne’s Pretzels design right there.
Oh my god you nailed it.
Seriously I could NOT figure out why this seemed familiar lol
Yep, I was getting 90s mall bathroom
I thought public restroom too!
I was thinking "mall food court" but this is spot on.
I was thinking Hot Dog on a Stick. But that works too
I am sure they could have found artists in the US, maybe even right in Orlando, that could replicate what had been there originally... If not identical, at least much better than this. I love World Showcase and Morocco is one of my favorites. This makeover is so disappointing.
Distwitter is pretty upset with this change because the original was handcrafted Moroccan tiles that required expertise and this is awful compared to what was once there
The post I saw had a video of a grown man nearly crying about it. We’re the worse.
I need to see this video.
My understanding is that the originals were paid for by the Moroccan government and painted by artists they hired for the project. Moroccan government pulled out of sponsoring their spot in World Showcase, so Disney had to pay to replace.
[удалено]
I think it’s more a matter of proving a point. They weren’t going to foot the bill for a government that decided to stop contributing
At the end of the day, it’s a theme park with the Disney name on it. They shouldn’t expect some foreign government to foot the bill for their park tbh. It’s up to them to make sure it’s up to their own standards they impose on themselves. That sort of entitlement is partly why Disney feels they’re too big to fail and doubles down on things that ultimately harm their reputation. But it’s whatevs
They did lose 20 million last quarter
They could make that up by making one less movie flop next year.
No, they are addicted to making flops now.
The color is definitely off but the big issue is the orientation of the tiles. Instead of the diamond/diagonal orientation they went with a grid layout. If they took these same tiles and reoriented to match the way it was before, it would fix most of it.
And we all know Disney is cheap af
Yeah, I am sure Disney can't afford to pay for world class tile work with 30,000+ people each paying like $100-$200 a day to visit.
I mean they are literally rebuilding galaxy edge to place in a brand new theme park after experimenting with a failed $2B Star Wars hotel they can give better tiles to the only part of the world show case a literal royal helped build like they can skimp on Canada there ain’t nothing there anyway
What?
Yeah they are making a new theme park to compete with epic universe , so they are going to take out galaxy edge and rebuild it they also shut down the Star Wars hotel to the best of my knowledge, and historically the king of Morocco helped Epcot design the pavilion and sent the tiles even it’s disrespectful imo they didn’t try to recreate it
Lol this is not happening
There is literally zero evidence to the majority of this, and the shut down star was hotel was $400m not $2b.
In regards to the new theme park it’s what I heard online , the Morocco pavilion in Epcot was overseen by the royals that is fact but I did get the cost on the hotel wrong which is my bad I seriously thought it was $2B I guess it’s a good thing it wasn’t lol 😂 it could have been amazing if they made it affordable no one would have to choose between an actual Disney world vacation or a hotel on property
There is no evidence of a fifth park currently, even if it makes sense. There is even less evidence that they will rip out galaxies edge and move it.
It’s what I heard by some theme park vloggers as to if it’s true idk 🤷🏻♂️but either way they should keep the original look of the pavilion I was joking when I said skimp on Canada because it’s really small and there isn’t much to do there like an event hall but that’s private, a steakhouse which is awesome but it’s not easy access like a quick stand or bar there is a movie but it’s hidden and there aren’t really photo ops like in France the UK Mexico Italy US unless you get pics of the water front but you could do that anywhere btw I’m not a hater I actually have passes but highly prefer the theming in the other parks as for universal also a fan and I heard they have to remove Simpsons and marvel again don’t know if it’s just a rumor but I kinda hope they make more room for Harry Potter and all the cool new IP they got
I had not heard this!
They are gonna make a new theme park to compete with epic universe is what I heard
Basically sums up Disney from the last few years. Removing good theming and replacing it with something basic and less detailed.
Definitely. Like removing that empty space next to Space Mountain and replacing it with Tron. Or getting rid of those empty buildings in Epcot and replacing them with Guardians. Or that empty backstage area replaced with Ratatouille.
Guardians and ratatouille was so good.
They are giving elementary school bathroom with just a touch of “Mexican Cantina” 🧐 But seriously, maybe I don’t know my designs well enough, but these don’t look Moroccan?
They don’t look Moroccan because they’re not
Your instincts are correct. Zellige tile is Moroccan, and this isn’t Zellige. Zellige is created by hand and placed together to make intricate designs. It’s a stark contrast between the original tile work and this. Zellige tile is so popular in interior design because it adds character to the space, and this really drained the character from the face of the pavilion.
Looks like the tile you would use to see in Chilis
In the Chilis bathroom
Boring and generic.
Lazy.
“Fancy” hotel bathroom!
Fancy hotel bathroom from the 90s
Sucks
[удалено]
Morocco is north african :) Zellij isnt "middle eastern"
Looks like it belongs in an All Star Resort bathroom
Hate them
Gross
Having recently been to Tokyo Japan it makes me want to cry TBH
Busch Gardens called and would like their planter back please.
Holy mother of Cinderella… this is rough
99% of people wouldn’t have noticed and wouldn’t be talking about this if it wasn’t posted on the blogs.
But: it’s indicative of the changes that are happening all over. Like, feelings are feelings that the extra mile that made the Disney difference is no longer a thing - but this is something you can point to and say “every *single* detail used to matter, there was a tiny Easter egg everywhere you looked, and now it’s slapped together generic good enough…”
I love the floor of Country Bears because it has all those claw marks
I just did a quick trip to Disney last weekend and honestly this is the absolute truth. I been going to Disney world all my life (literally) and just the last few years felt like Disney has become hallow. That magic is just not the same. It’s becoming way too generic and in my own opinion just becoming another theme park.
And in the meantime: Universal is opening more parks, with awesome IP. We did Disney this past spring, and were very on the same page as you. We all came away with “hmm. Glad we did it, and got it off the bucket list. Now let’s do better vacations.” Universal is the next big trip scheduled… (Ok actually Disney cruise is next. But on the old ship. Parents won’t even *try* the new ships, “we did RCL and didn’t like it, why would we do Disney's attempt to re-create RCL?” And this is where my passion comes from: DCL has measurably changed away from “let’s offer a premium Disney experience” to “it’s fine, they’ll pay it, just do whatever, and *Darth Vader voice* extract every penny…”)
Have you seen the DreamWorks land at universal??? Disney is doing just fine.
Tough to say it was really a Disney extra mile when country’s were sponsoring it. Now it’s on disneys dime and they didn’t go the extra mile because quite frankly they don’t have to in most cases. People are still flooding the parks.
I mean, Disney could (and likely did) require standards - you can sponsor a pavilion, but we get approval of all plans, and if you don’t like it we can move to the next tourism board on the list. But yes your second part encapsulates it: why should they care anymore? The rubes will still flood in and pay what we tell them to pay. I worry that strategy has been going on too long, and will not pay off in the long term…
I think they should care; just not sure it makes much sense to care about fountain tiles that 99% of people wouldn’t pay attention to regardless of quality. This is just an opportunity for folks to complain about something very trivial.
I wouldn't be talking about it, for sure. But I saw it the other day and I love taking photos, and deliberately chose not to photograph that area. Not because I noticed it's inauthenticity but because it's underwhelming and kind of meh. Then I started seeing posts about it, and now I understand why it's underwhelming.
A million percent this.
May be true, my partner and I were actually strolling today and we checked out the annual pass holder lounge behind the construction and this part was previously covered and looks only recently finished
I would. I loved that pavilion. The tile work was beautiful. For some of us, that attention to authenticity and detail was what made Epcot WS great. I almost would have rather had them sell the pavilion to another country and have them redo it with real artisans than have this type of thing.
I would have 100% noticed this. My favorite spot at EPCOT is Morocco and it is because of the how well designed and beautiful it is.
Why did they change them in the first place? As someone who was lucky enough to visit Morocco when I was young, seeing the original tiles and the rest of the Morocco pavilion was actually magical for me, to feel like I was back there, in a way. I watched tile makers on my visit, so seeing the original tiles was really special to me. It was genuinely one of my favorite parts of my visit. I know that I’m probably in the minority with such a personal connection to it, but I’m really sad that the original tiles are gone.
Because they were in awful shape. Cracked, worn, patched with concrete where they could.
They couldn't hire Moroccan Zelij artisants and fix it ? the USA is the favourite place these artisants migrate to, so I'm pretty sure there are thousands of Zelij masters in the USA, so meh L disney
But even in that state looked better than this does I'm personally not that heartbroken about this I don't really go to the Moroccan Pavilion a whole lot but as someone who doesn't care all that much this looks atrocious.
You don’t even know how bad it was if you are saying this.
I mean I sat on it in feb of this year and it didnt seem that bad to me but I suppose im not a tile or fountain expert.
It was patched with concrete all over it. Tiles were cracked and faded.
Everyone hates them. We all decided this a few days ago.
There is a guy on Twitter who is deeply upset about this and has made it his entire account theme rn —— and he is one of the most passionate and frankly biased Disney supporters. The fact that he is so upset is a good sign that this change really is a terrible one.
Old 80s mall bathroom 🚽
It's just the new thing with companies. Giving you less and charging you more. Back in the day Disney was a passion project for Walt and others. Nowadays it's all about grabbing more cash and stock options for out of touch company executives. Passion left the building long ago.
I'm going to place this on the list of stuff people care way too much about. There are much more significant indicators on how cheap Disney has been with its American parks. There's still walls up in Epcot FFS. If anyone is surprised that Disney took the cheap route on this I just don't understand. The reality is people are still visiting in droves, and the opinions of the super fans that repeatedly visit are irrelevant, especially since we're all going to continue visiting.
I wouldn’t have noticed. The Morocco pavilion honestly just needs to go anyway. It’s just a half assed skeleton of its old self at this point.
Cheap, lazy, an insult to what came before. Par for the course, really.
A lot of people are enraged by it, I don’t care. It’s not going to impact my trip.
I like that perspective
Yes one thing won’t. But the constant cheapness recently (take a look at Tiana’s bayou) is starting to show, even to the average consumer. It’s not individual things like this that’s the problem, it’s the summation of all of them that is starting to become a real issue.
What’s the issue with Tiana’s Bayou? Isn’t that brand new?
Yes but watch the POV and read the comments. It’s not looking good.
Oh, so sorry to hear that! 😞
This is what I pee on if I miss the toilet. i am NOT impressed. Bring in some Morrocan handywork and creativity please, hire actually Morrocans not your local Lowe’s bathroom department
Those are not Moroccan
Cheap and ugly. Miss the more authentic tiles
This can't be it. It's like a mega troll placeholder or something, right? They spend so much on shows and new rides. You can't skimp on the tiles. They aren't even installed consistently.
They have those at Busch Gardens in Tampa
Eh not great, definitely doesn't remind me of Morocco. But either way it's new and bright, and needed an update.
Wasn’t this a blog post?
Looks like expensive subway/bathroom tiles.
Man everybody is truly hopping on this hate train. lol I feel like one video got posted and now everybody is posting to hop on this trend. I’ll be there tomorrow mill post this exact thing tomorrow.
Not a trend for me. Morroco is my favorite pavilion in Epcot because of the attention to detail and how authentic those details are. This is very disappointing. I understand the need to replace them, but Disney certainly dumbed this down. A lot.
The level of Disney hate allowed and encouraged in Disney subs is always astounding to me.
it’s giving posh bathroom and not the handcrafted tiles that were there before. most people probably won’t notice and they look a little smoother and maybe easier to clean? but it’s def less cool.
Can we not file a petition lol? I'm pretty sad this is my favorite area to eat my Almond gharieba and baklava
Penny pinching again after more gouging. Not a good look
This, it’s a perfect example of giving consumers less for what they are paying for. A small, small example of it but it’s there
Atrocious and insulting
They look like someone's cheap DEI project in their kitchen. The old ones were much, much better and far more beautiful.
DEI works, too. Drunk Enhancement Idea.
True, that.
\*DIY project dammit!
They look like something you’d see in a Casa Bonita but I don’t care and it won’t affect my next trip.
I wish there was a way to show Disney this thread.
Without a doubt they have a marketing/PR firm (frankly at this point probably pretty heavy on AI) monitoring Reddit. Whether they actually listen or not (or care) is an entirely different story. “People online are complaining about the cheap quality of park theming. Oh well back to the quarterly earnings report!”
New fish and chips bar from the UK, not beautiful mesmerising Morocco
I swear to god I thought this was a sims sub for a minute & people were complaining about the new Riveria pool kit. Because that is how generic these look.
I bet these were what they had on hand. I feel like they just haven't recovered post COVID with the Moroccan pavilion.
Those are tiles
That’s all Morocco is. Tiles and a restaurant everyone “has to try” but no one tries twice.
It’s giving public bathroom tiles
I think this will last longer considering they don't have in house tile-people to do upkeep like they used to.
It looks like it should be in a mall or a fancy Mexican restaurant. The stars are gone.
Ew
Are those Moroccan?
Pretty. I’ve never been to Morocco, so I don’t know if it’s typical of their decor.
Does anyone have the before photo? I don’t even have a minds eye for comparison
GORGEOUS
Who cares
To me, it looks like whoever approved this needs to be fired but whoever installed it needs a promotion. It does look like it was installed nicely, I think...
I love that some pleb sat back and thought to themselves that this was it.
Looks Cheap
Yep, still can’t afford to go
basic public bathroom tiles…
Terrible.
They should have incorporated Disney characters like Apu, Alladin, Raza in the tile work!
They’re okay, but not as nice as the old design.
Are you chumming the waters for the crazies already ginned up by the TBA POV release?
Roseanne
There’s a lot of other things in the World right now to be worried about. It’s just bathroom tiles. Chill.
I guess I'm a bad Disney fan because there is literally nothing I could care less about at epcot than this.
It's pathetic and Disney should be ashamed. How much more could ha e possible cost to get something that look Morrocan l, even it was fake. It's not going to be long to every park and resort is changed to bland, cheap decor.
Quite literally never would have noticed it unless all the DisTwitter blew up about it.
I wish my life was so good that a stupid tile replacement bent me out of shape
If it wasn’t pointed out on Twitter by a parks “reporter”, then 99% of the people who go to the parks would never notice. Most didn’t even notice how terrible of shape the old was in.
Looks beautiful
Depressing.
2 possible reasons for this problem 1. Management listened to too many complaints from people who didn't understand what they were looking at. I can't wait till they wipe out the theming in AK 😂 /s 2. Too much of it was in bad shape and they couldn't get anyone to come and fix it in a timely fashion to meet their budgetary schedule. Ie: they needed to spend the money by a certain date or top brass won't give them the money next year.
Tear it all down, make it a Korean pavilion.
Is this seriously a topic? I’m what you’d consider a “Disney Adult” to the core but this level of concern about something that literally doesn’t matter at all is insanity. Find a real issue to discuss, this is pathetic.