Greetings from EPCOT! With the park officially reopened, we are thrilled to be back in the park, and have been busy taking note of all the new updates and health and safety measures which have been implemented throughout. We are over in the World Showcase now, so come and tour the France pavilion with us!
Before we arrived at EPCOT, we already expected that the World Showcase would be heavily impacted from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly due to the indefinite suspension of the Disney Cultural Representative Program. The World Showcase thrives from the work of Cast Members from all across the world, who bring culture and knowledge to each pavilion for guests to learn from and enjoy. With only local Cast Members available to staff each area, there is a risk of the park losing some of its charm.
Unfortunately, the main issue affecting the France pavilion right now is that many of the stores and restaurants are closed. Les Chefs de France, the popular table service restaurant, has a large “closed” sign displayed on its door.
A location which is open however, is L’Artisan des Glaces. We are very excited to get back to this sweet little ice-cream place, so let’s take a look at the new protocols inside.
Outside the door and leading through the location are new floor markers, which advise guests of where to stand in order to properly social distance as they wait for their macaron ice-cream sandwich, or whatever other tasty treat they order.
Cast Members at the counter are all wearing face masks, but not face shields.
At the back of the pavilion, we are saddened to see that Les Halles Boulangerie – Patisserie is closed. Seating still remains accessible for the counter-service bakery location, and floor markers show that queuing has been thought through, but for now the shutters remain firmly down. No croissants today, unfortunately.
The adjoining store is, however, still open as usual, with plenty of room for guests to social distance as they peruse the merchandise on offer.
Disappointingly, all the other shops and restaurants within the pavilion are completely closed.
Near the edge of the pavilion, however, the Ice Cream kiosk is also open.
A Plexiglas screen has been installed across the kiosk window to protect Cast Members, and a hand sanitiser dispenser is available for guests to use when they order.
Napkins and cutlery are still available via the dispensers.
In the way of attractions, the new Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along show and Impressions de France are still available for guests to watch. Don’t forget, the new Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure attraction and Le Creperie de Paris restaurant are still set to debut in the pavilion soon, so make sure you stay tuned to WDWNT for more information about that expansion as it progresses.
It is great to see that the Remy topiary from the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival is still present in the garden area of the pavilion, waving cheerily at us.
Will you be visiting EPCOT this summer? What do you think about the temporary closures affecting World Showcase?
I was there on Thursday, and there were a few cultural representatives. The two men at the Food and Wine both were both French, as was a trainee in the ice cream booth.
The number of cultural representatives is way down in EPCOT, but there are a few.
Hopefully Ratatouille opens soon, there’s no reason to visit France otherwise right now with the restaurants closed. Beauty & the Beast was disappointingly bad, and on my last trip (which was right when it opened), nobody even sang along, which defeated the whole purpose of the show. And the plot twist was contrived garbage. Just another instance of Chapek throwing in a Disney IP so he can sell more merch.