Walt Disney World Resort has made a peculiar change, dropping support for multiple languages at its theme parks
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While the entire Walt Disney World Resort is intended to unify guests in various ways, no other theme park takes on this mission quite like EPCOT. Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom are all certainly fun theme parks that emphasize community, but EPCOT is special, with community and communication being a key component of its DNA.
EPCOT is an acronym that stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow and while EPCOT is still a theme park with rides and attractions galore, it is special in the ways it attempts to unify guests. Not only is EPCOT home to innovative roller coasters like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, but guests can also explore a variety of cultures and countries in the World Showcase.
Eleven different countries are represented in World Showcase, ranging from Norway to China. Employees who work in these areas are often hired from their home countries, making the World Showcase experience even more authentic.
This all makes EPCOT and the rest of Walt Disney World’s recent change perplexing, with the resort dropping multiple languages from its park maps.
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An update from WDWNT confirmed this change earlier this week, with Japanese, German, and French guide maps no longer being offered at the entrance of EPCOT. This later extended to the three other theme parks in Walt Disney World.
Traditionally, guests could find a guide map in their language at the entrance of every theme park. However, EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom have all inexplicably dropped these three languages.
These maps can still be picked up at Guest Relations, but they are missing from the entrance, meaning some guests may miss them entirely.
According to the original report, Disney World cast members working at Guest Relations stated this change was made due to low demand for guide maps in these specific languages. The change is temporary, though there is no estimated timeframe for when guests can expect to get a Japanese, German, or French guide map.
Guests can still find maps in English, Portuguese, and Spanish at the front, indicating that these are the most commonly used languages in the parks.
This change is temporary, allowing Disney to gauge how large the demand is for Japanese, German, and French maps.
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In other EPCOT news, Disney recently wrapped up its years-long transformation of EPCOT, officially opening CommuniCore Hall and CommuniCore Plaza, the last pieces of the park’s new expansion areas.
EPCOT’s transformation started several years ago, but the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 caused Disney to temporarily halt several projects. One of these planned projects was a renovation of Spaceship Earth.
Several experiences eventually made their way into the park, like Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, and four new lands known as World Celebration, World Discovery, World Nature, and World Showcase.
What’s your favorite country to visit at EPCOT?
