Signs and decorations near Refreshment Outpost, also known as the African Outpost in EPCOT, have been updated to be more culturally sensitive.
Village Traders and Wachongaji Wood Carvings are next to Refreshment Outpost. This old photo by Disney gives a glimpse of their old decorations.
Signage at both stands was updated last fall to no longer look like caricatures of African architecture made out of painted planks of wood.
Village Traders is also now Amani Village Traders. The inside of the store hasn’t been open for a while, but there are merchandise carts outside currently selling cooling products and the new CreativeSoul Photography Disney Princess dolls.
We noticed some new decorations on the side of Amani Village Traders, next to the closed doorways.
This poster advertises Amani Village Market Tours “all day most days.”
This new poster replaces some of the inaccurate tribal masks that were still displayed on Village Traders. Most of the tribal masks around Refreshment Outpost were removed in 2021 as similar cultural sensitivity changes were made in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom.
Above is a photo of the same spot from 2021.
This piece of artwork remains from before.
New woven bowls are now displayed above it.
Above the poster is a carved giraffe head below a shelf of cups and a plate.
On the other side of the doorways are two new sculptures of a rhino and a lion.
The poster beneath these sculptures reads, “See The Mara” and “Glorious river excursions by way of watercraft”.
It shows elephants visiting a waterway and a hot air balloon floating above. Maasai Mara (also known as The Mara) is a real wildlife reserve in Kenya and The Mara is a quick-service restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Above is a photo of the caricature carving that the sculptures and poster replaced.
Painted and carved wood walking sticks and staffs are also displayed on Amani Village Traders.
Next door, the Wachongaji Wood Carvings sign now looks like a carved piece of wood.
The small water tower above Refreshment Outpost was damaged during last fall’s hurricanes, but has been fixed.
Cultural sensitivity changes at Walt Disney World Resort also include replacing “Indian Camp” with “Never Land Tribe” on the “Peter Pan” mural and the overhaul of Jungle Cruise in 2021.
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