Disney has just filed the first permit for the rumored new Ratatouille ride at the France pavilion at Epcot (that we told you about yesterday).
You can see from the aerial image that the area encompassed by the permit entails all of the empty expansion pad between France and Morocco (expansion pads were originally designated for the addition of countries to World Showcase), as well as some additional space directly behind the France pavilion. The show building will be built on the expansion pad, and the queue area will travel behind the existing France pavilion and connect to the existing guest area in front of the pavilion.
According to the permit (which can be downloaded in full here), the area inside the red outline totals 5.70 acres. Currently, 1.10 acres are paved, 0.31 acres are occupied by buildings (mostly trailers), and 4.29 acres are “pervious” aream which is either dirt or landscaping.
The plans are to pave an additional 2.94 acres of the current “pervious” area and build retention ponds on the other side of Avenue of the Stars (the service road that circles World Showcase) to hold the additional runoff from the added impervious area. Several buildings will also be removed, but some additional buildings will be built to replace them.
As you can see from the imagery, some of the expansion pad is used for storage of food kiosks from the Epcot festivals, which will easily be relocated.
I’ve analyzed the multiple drawings in the permit and additional documents filed and have drawn up the rough plan below which shows the extent of the work, where existing structures are located, and where many of them will be relocated. In addition the dark shaded area shows a new access road to be built to serve the back of the restaurants in the France pavilion, since the current access road will be blocked by either the show building or the queue area. (Note: If I’ve mislabeled any of the backstage buildings, please let me know so I can correct it. I’m only going by what I can see on the permits and don’t have firsthand knowledge! Email me directly at jason@wdwnt.com in case I don’t see it in the comments.)
The ride is rumored to be the trackless Ratatouille: The Adventure attraction from Disneyland Paris.
Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more information on this new construction. Once things get underway, we hope to have construction photos for you on a regular basis, as you’ve come to expect from WDWNT!
Holy Cow!
About dang time! Good job Diffendal.
This is excellent. It is a great attraction. Will the WDW version be a duplicate? Also will you post the permit? Great work.
Ride will go in the empty space between France and Morocco and then entrance/exit will wrap around behind the existing France pavilion and come out at the front corner. This should allow them to build this without much disruption to the existing pavilion.
This makes me so happy! Having ridden the incredible Ratatouille ride in Paris, I actually believe this will fit perfectly into EPCOT!
Would love to see this!
How many spaces does that leave for any more rumored future World Showcase pavilions?
Would love to see this too!
Wow!!!! This is exciting news
I wonder what kind of gift shop the ride will exit into, new or already existing?
The ride isn’t Paris takes up about 1.5 acres and this permit is roughly 6. This leads me to believe the new pavilion and ratitoulli will be added to this area though they may need some of this other acreage to go toward backstage and maintenance for the rest of WS
I also cant see how the ride will take up 6 acres. They are likely going to announce a new land. And frankly, its about time. They need a new country in World Showcase, another ride in the World Showcase, and about 6 ride updates in Future World to make up for how long they neglected Epcot. Its still my favorite park, but Food & Wine isn’t enough.
be completed in 2030
Am I wrong, or will this require them to dismantle (at least temporarily) the ‘Eiffel Tower’? That’s it on the left side of the outlined area, right?
It shouldn’t, the new construction is all outside the existing pavilion buildings.
This is just another shameless money grab…how dare Disney… Oh, wait. Nevermind.
C’est juste une autre prise de monnaie sans vergogne … comment osez-vous Disney … Oh, attends. Ça ne fait rien.
Easily one of the best Disney rides. Well worth the trip Disneyland Paris
The ride without the restaurant in Paris is about 44k sq ft. The space behind France up to the existing Avenue of the Stars is 58k sq ft. I’m excited for the ride but it would be a shame losing a potential entire showcase pavilion if the ride could sit in the existing footprint. Kind of like losing an entire showcase pavilion site for the Frozen meet n greet. Maybe there is something more going on here.
Looks like impressions de france may not be cut after all. I sure hope not as that is easily my favorite attraction in World Showcase (call me weird.). But an addition WITHOUT a subtraction in World Showcase is a win win.
You’re weird
I had the same reaction. The new ride would be great, but I adore Impressions de France, and it is the one must do for me in World Showcase. Yea!
Good for you. I really mean that.
It might have been cool if they place the Spanish pavilion between France & Morocco (which is also its geographical location. I can see the Eiffel tower as part of the Ratatouille attraction queue
I can’t wait to ride it! awesome news!
What about B&TB like they’re doing in Tokyo? Is Ratatouille confirmed?
Walt Disney World already has several Beauty and the Beast attractions, and Tokyo’s attraction will be unique for them (at least for a few years).
Wonderful news! Ratatouille is my daughter’s favorite Disney movie. I know we will plan a trip to just ride this ride when it opens!