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Ariellen
Scourge of the Desert
Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 708
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 Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:38 pm Post subject: Photo Tour of the Morocco Pavilion at Epcot |
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I'm posting this here because MOST of these pictures are not directly related to Aladdin, although they will probably inspire thoughts of Agrabah for a lot of people on here.
This is a tour of the Morocco pavilion in the World Showcase of Epcot at Walt Disney World. This is where the John Rhys-Davies narration scenes of "The Making of Aladdin: A Whole New World" were filmed.
Interesting facts about the pavilion:
The nation of Morocco paid to have the pavilion built. Their leaders liked the concept the World Showcase and wanted their nation to be represented. EPCOT Center opened in 1982; the Morocco pavilion was added later in the decade, although the exact year evades my memory at the moment.
The Imagineers were initially dead set against having the Aladdin characters appear in the pavilion. Their rationale was that Morocco was a real country, and the pavilion was based on the real cities of Fez and Marrakesh, but Agrabah is a fictional place. The problem was solved by decorating an area with carpets and other artifacts that alluded to Middle Eastern legends such as the stories of the Arabian Nights, providing a 'bridge' between fantasy and reality. A mural of Agrabah (filled with hidden Mickeys!) is located in a room behind one of the pavilion's giftshops to provide an indoor meet-and-greet location for days when the weather does not permit outdoor character greetings.
So here we go! Hop aboard your magic carpet!
^ Actually my mom's idea, not mine. Sign announcing times for character greeting times and performances by the band Mo'Rockin, who play Middle Eastern style music with a modern twist, complete with a belly dancer.
Aladdin storybook in the room with the mural.
"I've never even been outside the palace walls!"
Most of these were taken in August 2006, though a few of them are from December 2005.
Enjoy! |
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Jas
Cool Colonel
Joined: 19 Jan 2005
Posts: 12001
Location: Agrabah, Georgia
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| Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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Beautiful pictures. I can't wait to get back to WDW (parents sound like maybe next year *fingers crossed*).
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Syera
Cynical Scribe
Joined: 03 Jul 2005
Posts: 3441
Location: West Nenūvān
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| Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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So... pretty... 
There's one thing about it that breaks my suspension of disbelief - and that's that the weather and all-around atmosphere looks entirely non-deserty in a coastal kind of way. 
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Jafaria
Vizier's Handmaiden
Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 419
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| Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Even though I've been to the Morocco pavilion [in a fruitless search for Jafar] the pictures are still very, very cool. It's probably my favorite part of Epcot on an aesthetic basis alone. I did see Genie when I was there. I didn't even get to see Aladdin and Jasmine. Only Genie. And definitely not Jafar. I was thoroughly dejected. He wasn't anywhere. It's as if people don't like him or something. |
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AladdinsGenie
Genie of the Messageboard
Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Posts: 11856
Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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I swear to you, if I ever go back, I am taking pictures of me hugging everything in this section  |
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Syera
Cynical Scribe
Joined: 03 Jul 2005
Posts: 3441
Location: West Nenūvān
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| Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:53 am Post subject: |
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Everything? Then you'll be spoiling the view!
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Ariellen
Scourge of the Desert
Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 708
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| Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 11:36 am Post subject: |
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| Jafaria wrote: |
| Even though I've been to the Morocco pavilion [in a fruitless search for Jafar] the pictures are still very, very cool. It's probably my favorite part of Epcot on an aesthetic basis alone. |
I'm glad you liked them! I took a few pictures around each of the World Showcase pavilions, but I did take by far the most in Morocco. It wasn't originally so one-sided (I had about 7 Morocco pictures compared to 3 to 5 in every other pavilion), but then I got there for the purpose of meeting Aladdin and was told that he and Jasmine would be out in another 20 minutes or so. I wanted to use those 20 minutes well, so I met Jasmine and Genie who were currently there, watched them go for a brief respite back in Agrabah (or so I would presume!), roamed around, took more pictures, took more pictures, and then was 2nd in line to meet Aladdin and Jasmine when they returned.
| Quote: |
| I did see Genie when I was there. I didn't even get to see Aladdin and Jasmine. Only Genie. And definitely not Jafar. I was thoroughly dejected. He wasn't anywhere. It's as if people don't like him or something. |
The villains seem to have recently faded into character meet-and-greet obscurity. The only ones that I saw on a fairly regular basis during 7 months in WDW were Prince John and Captain Hook. Once in a while, the Sheriff of Nottingham would be out with Prince John, and Foulfellow "Honest John" from Pinocchio would rarely be out with Gideon, who was very easy to find but who I don't think of as so much a villain as being Foulfellow's flunkie. Captain Hook is scheduled to be in Magic Kingdom near Pirates of the Caribbean practically every day, often with Mr. Smee at his side, and he is frequently in "Epcot's Character Connection" near the big fountain in Future World.
Around August/September, the "Crossroads of the World" entrance area of Disney-MGM Studios was BRIMMING with characters, but for reasons unknown to me, they stopped using that area for meet 'n' greets. The Queen from Snow White, Jafar, and Frollo had all appeared there (I only saw Jafar there once and when it was as I was leaving MGM to get to work at Epcot, but I do know he'd been there!). That was an amazing mix of characters, including a lot that don't come around very much. I met Suzy and Perla the mice from Cinderella, Aladdin, Jasmine, Snow White, the Queen, Hercules, Megara, Mulan, Mary Poppins, Mr. Penguin (from the Jolly Holiday scene in Mary Poppins), Alice, and Frollo there, and between the two of us, my friend Katie who worked in outdoor foods at MGM and I had seen Cinderella, Prince Charming, Belle, Jafar, and Philoctetes (call me Phil!).
So...yeah, I don't know why the villains have been vanishing. Most of them have been tough to find for as long as I can remember, but Jafar and Frollo, at least, were out fairly regularly. Cruella De Vil shows up in spurts, too...I'd never seen her, never seen her, then around Christmas she was showing up quite a bit, and this summer, didn't see her once outside of a parade. They bring out a TON of 'rare' characters at Christmas time to try and ease the crowds a bit...Cruella, Little John, Scrooge McDuck, Darkwing Duck, Launchpad McQuack, and all 7 dwarfs together, for instance) |
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Iago
Ghost Hunter
Joined: 12 Dec 2004
Posts: 7324
Location: Los Angeles, California,USA,Earth
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| Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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I soo wanna go there and see this. Hopefully mom said maybe sometime next year...but if it affects me going back to the city I'll have to pass then 
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