Controversy Erupts as ‘Woke’ Disney Faces Accusations of Building ‘Racist,’ ‘Stereotype-Filled’ Theme Park

When the World Showcase at EPCOT was initially conceived, the idea was to provide guests with an accurate representation of what it was like to be in those countries, including cast members, films, attractions, and food from the respective countries. The nine original nations, Norway and Morocco, were added after EPCOT’s opening day, with the intention of providing guests with a brief glimpse into what it was like to live in each country.

While most of the countries had corporate sponsors, Norway and Morocco were sponsored by the nations themselves, with the King of Morocco famously sending his personal craftsmen to Central Florida to help create the pavilion. While most countries have given up their corporate sponsors, remnants can still be seen today, such as the San Angel Inn Restaurant in Mexico and the Mitsukoshi Store in Japan.

While the pavilions have undergone drastic changes over the decades, as Disney incorporates more of its IPs into the park, the fundamentals of the park have remained the same: to allow guests to experience a brief interlude with the culture and food of a particular country. However, some guests have started to accuse Disney of turning those experiences into racist encounters with other cultures.

Guests have accused Disney of resorting to using “racist” stereotypes in the countries, rather than showing the authenticity of what the nation has to offer. One wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “in general, we just felt that each country was full of stereotypes in their merchandise, and it was more obvious in countries that we have frequented/are from. Same with Canada having maple syrup, moose, and flannel/plaid prints on everyone.”

This discussion on EPCOT’s apparent racism started when someone accused the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros of being racist. Others defended the pavilions as having “authentic slices” of each culture.

However, many people agreed that some of the food had been “Americanized,” especially at the Chinese and Japanese Pavilions. While there is a discussion to be had about the authenticity of some of the cuisine at these restaurants, the fact that the countries had a say in how they were constructed in some way allows Disney to say that they capture at least some authenticity of the countries themselves.

Whether or not they are racist stereotypes of these countries is up to the visitors to decide, and if they believe they’re racist, they can simply not return to EPCOT.

What do you think of the discussion of the countries at EPCOT being racist? Let us know in the comments.

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