Nothing quite sets the mood of a World Showcase pavilion (or any pavilion at EPCOT) like its background music, and for a legion of park fans, it makes up a big chunk of our own music libraries as we enjoy being transported to the parks even when we’re away. Today, new music has debuted at a number of World Showcase pavilions.
In the China pavilion, fans of the 1998 Mulan film will be delighted to know that a full roster of songs from the movie have been added to the new background music loop, including “Reflection”, “A Girl Worth Fighting For”, “Honor To Us All”, and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.”
We were able to get a clip of the new loop in the video below––”Reflection” begins at minute 10:00 PM:
All over EPCOT, it’s old meets new as pavilions are transformed and renovated for the future of the park. Just this morning, the France pavilion received a new music loop with various songs from Disney movies, like “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. Over in the Mexico pavilion, a new background music loop features songs like “Remember Me” from Coco.
While the new music loop does breathe some life and whimsy into these stoic old pavilions, it does come at the cost of potentially undermining their cultural significance. What do you think of the addition of IP-based songs to the background music loops at EPCOT?
I feel like as long as they are only PART of the loop (which they seem to be) you’ve retained the culture but still acknowledged that “this is Disney”.
The changes certainly match the direction the park is heading as a whole. I do worry that it undermines the original vision of EPCOT as a place to discover and celebrate different cultures, since each country has so much more to offer than the simplified stories and stereotypes depicted in a few movies. Hopefully Disney doesn’t completely do away with the old soundtracks.
My girl Mulan doesn’t get enough recognition so I’m pretty happy with this
I am completely upset at the new direction Disney is taking with Epcot’s World Showcase. Epcot started as a way to visit and interact with different countries’ cultures. Disney is NOT a country’s culture. The changes started years ago when they changed the Mexico ride by adding the Three Caballeros. It’s cute, it’s Disney, but it’s NOT Mexico. Then they started “Disney-fying” the merchandise they sold in the countries. It’s cute, it’s Disney, but again it’s not those countries. My real horror came when they took out the Norway ride to do a lackluster Frozen inspired ride. I no longer go into Norway. Now they’ve made the France movie into a sing-a-long during the day and only show Impressions de France after 7:30pm??, when I’m already back home?? I realize Disney wants to make changes in the name of progress and innovation, but these changes are not the way to go. Change what you want in the front of the park, but leave our culture alone!