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It seems that EPCOT is Walt Disney World’s forgotten theme park. During this year’s D23 Expo announcements, every other Disney World park got an update, except EPCOT.
Credit: Disney
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Sure, EPCOT recently completed an unending renovation that created the new CommuniCore Hall and Plaza, but the reviews on those projects have been underwhelming, to say the least.
EPCOT is also getting a new Test Track, but that’s just improving an existing attraction.
Guests were hoping for something new at the old Body Wars Pavilion or maybe even a new country in World Showcase, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
Credit: Disney Parks
It’s been over 35 years since the last country was added to the World Showcase, and rumors swirled that Spain or Brazil could be added to the area.
Despite those rumors, it does not appear that the The Walt Disney Company had any serious plans to build an additional country. However, a new video reveals that in the early 1990s, Disney Imagineers began the process of adding an unlikely country: Russia.
The promotional video shows a new Russia Pavilion in the World Showcase, and it was massive. The pavilion would have included parts of Red Square, the Kremlin, and church spires.
Credit: Bioreconstruct, Twitter
Inside the Russia Pavilion, there would have been an 800-seat arena for a movie showcasing Russia’s history, and there were plans to include a dark ride based on the fairy tale Ivan and the Magic Pike.
The Russian Pavilion would have been nearly double the size of the other nations in EPCOT’s World Showcase and one of the few to feature both a film and an attraction.
According to the film, the Russian Pavilion would have been next to the Germany Pavilion, perhaps where the current Outpost is.
Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde, Marty Sklar, and Barry Braverman are featured in the film.
The video is from the early 1990s, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, a perfect time to show the Russian people the beauty of democracy by putting their country in EPCOT’s World Showcase. However, given Russia’s war in Ukraine, that pavilion would have caused geopolitical issues today.
There was no reason given as to why the Russian Pavilion never moved forward. Perhaps it was the geopolitical issues between the two countries or in post-Soviet Union Russia, they just didn’t have the money to buy an EPCOT Pavilion.
Walt Disney #Imagineering video presentation of #EPCOT's Russia pavilion, from June 1992. 🇷🇺 @SDiggins
This #WorldShowcase pavilion would've featured an 800-seat theatre and a DARK RIDE into the world of Slavic fairy tales (Ivan and the Magic Pike).
▶️ https://t.co/wfhphlMyvn pic.twitter.com/PZdH6S3wXk
— CafeFantasia 💫 (@CafeFantasia) September 22, 2024
Whatever the reason, the project, like so many others at EPCOT, was scrapped. Now, fans will have to wait until Disney decides to add another country to World Showcase. Maybe it will be another 35 years.
What country would you like to see added to World Showcase?
