Pixar's Coco at Mexico Pavilion

I hope not, I love that ride(maybe a little outdated, but still beautiful).

Love the tradition of Disney characters across World Showcase. Adding Pixar would be awesome. A 'Coco' footprint would be great. A 'Ratatouille' attraction in France would be the outstanding!

I have already heard C.M. Talking about this change happening. I would love to see it. Epcot really needs more things to bring it up to date and this would be a refreshing update. Even if the movie isn't a big hit.

Turning the World Showcase into "Disney Foreign Character World" would be terrible. That's not what the World Showcase is about, and certainly not what Walt would have wanted. I don't have an issue with a little sprinkling here and there of characters to help guests understand the connections of popular Disney films with each individual country, but to anchor each pavilion with a ride/movie based upon a character or film that usually distorts the cultural significance of that country would be sacrilege. The 3 Caballeros work on Rio Del Tiempo because they're simply guides through the tour of Mexico. However, Frozen does not offer any insight into Norwegian/Scandinavian culture and co-opts the entire concept of the former Maelstrom. Bringing Ratatouille to France may work, but not at the expense of Impressions de France. Similarly, plastering Mulan over China 360 would destroy what is still a landmark achievement in film-making. Again, there's nothing wrong adding strategic characters to each of the World Showcase countries (I think you could probably pull a Disney character to represent just about every single country in the World Showcase), but to make those characters/movies become the centerpiece of the country is a HUGE mistake, and would ruin the entire World Showcase concept.

I'd be fine with this. I enjoyed Frozen a lot more than Maelstrom, and almost anything would be better than what sits in the Mexico pavilion now. I don't normally complain about screen rides, but sticking them on a boat with no motion is a really lame experience.

You know, Walt was a forward-thinking dude. There's no way we can know his thoughts on what's happening in the theme parks these days. Like anyone else, there would be some ideas that he'd adore, and others that he'd abhor. To say "Walt would be turning in his grave over this!!!"...we don't know that to be the case, at all.

He might be a big fan of Pixar's movies, and spearhead the integration of the characters into the parks as a way to keep the spirit of our imaginations active and alive.

He might hate Pixar's movies. We just don't know, and can never know.

I think that as long as the attraction with characters has a connection to the country's culture or history it works well. Mulan is based on a historical event and Coco is based around the Day of the Dead celebrations and music. The problem with Frozen in the Norway pavilion is that its only connection to Norway seems to be that it's cold.

Mr. Schroll writes 'To say "Walt would be turning in his grave over this!!!'...we don't know that to be the case, at all."

I Respond: He's not dead.

You gotta remember that World Showcase was a product of its time, when International Travel was exclusive to the Rich and Famous, unless you were a one-way immigrant taking a slow boat. The reason *why* it exists is no longer present... Why go see a small scale recreation of part of a country when you can go and see the real thing (Compare Norwegan Air's prices to DisneyWorld and you can probably fly over the atlantic several times over)

I can understand why they'd be looking to make ways to make it relevant in the modern world. Walt I don't think was afraid to change things up if they weren't working.

The Spirit of the World Showcase was to bring the world together in a "World's Fair" type setting. Each country has the flexibility to advance the narrative that they choose for their pavilion. By making Disney characters the anchor of the pavilions, you're eliminating the genuine interaction between the guests and representatives from each country. The people that work in the pavilions turn into normal cast members, not the world ambassadors they are.

I do think it's wise to leverage the Disney characters to help introduce the young and less traveled to places they would only see on TV, but to make those characters the cornerstone of a fantastical attraction is not what the World Showcase is about. If Frozen Ever After is the future of the World Showcase, then Walt's original concept is dead. He envisioned EPCOT as a very different theme park, and by introducing fantasy along with glossy portrayals and stereotypes goes against that vision. You can use fantastical devices, but it should always come back to the heart of the country being represented and the people that have really lived there.

@Chad H, Certainly the price of a WDW vacation is getting outrageous, but you can still walk around the World Showcase and experience cultures and people for far less than the tens of thousands of dollars it would cost to do it for real. Despite the accessibility of the world today, the conceit of the World Showcase still works.

EPCOT has never been what Walt envisioned, which was an actual living community. So I doubt he'd disapprove of anything done to improve the park.

It's not a "livable" community, but each of the pavilions is shaped and staffed by people that are from the representative countries. Going away from the culture, customs, and people of those countries in favor of animated, stereotypical or "white-washed" characters would destroy any drop of realism that the World Showcase presents. Again, I think utilizing carefully selected characters in subtle ways can be helpful for accessibility reasons (as they did with Rio Del Tiempo and the Three Caballeros), but to make those characters the foundation of the pavilion (as they've done with Frozen) is a big mistake. It might be popular (for the moment at least), but it destroys what the World Showcase is about - a tour around the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the world in a 1.2-mile stroll. I like to think of the World Showcase as the stepping stone for future world travelers inspired by the experiences Disney and their international partners create on a daily basis at each of the pavilions. Combined with Future World, EPCOT's core mission has always been about inspiration, and seeing Olaf, Anna, Elsa, and friends singing and dancing about doesn't inspire anyone to want to visit or learn any more about Norway/Scandinavia. Certainly, the original source material is about the land represented by the Norway pavilion, and was written by a Dane, but aside from a reindeer (a common food, not sidekick/pet) and snow, Frozen lends less to the Norwegian/Scandinavian culture than a stroll through an Ikea.