Disney Ruined The Beautiful Fountain In The Morocco Pavilion At EPCOT

EPCOT is known for being the home of the World Showcase. Many countries have pavilions showcasing their architecture, food, culture, and more. Morocco’s pavilion is one of the more beautiful, featuring gorgeous mosaic designs.

These designs were so important to the government of Morocco that King Hassan II even sent artisans to craft the mosaics and parts of the pavilion to make it as authentic as possible. The designs are stunning—or at least some were. Disney had just changed one of the gorgeous mosaic pieces, and to say it’s a downgrade is an understatement.

Disney has removed the star-shaped fountain and replaced it with a garden that looks like it was tiled to look like a 1990s mall bathroom.

Before:

After:

Overall, the WDI refurbishment of the Morocco pavilion has gone well however we have our first misstep and it’s a big one.

The elaborate planters once handcrafted by the King of Morocco’s artisans has been dumbed down using tile which belongs on the restroom floor at DHS. pic.twitter.com/MAT6E1nzX7

— Belle (@FiBelleFi) May 27, 2024

Since the Moroccan government ended its sponsorship of the pavilion in 2020, Disney is now running it. They don’t seem to be as invested in the beauty and art of Morocco as the people of the country were.

Now Disney parks fans are chiming in.

Ripping out authentic Moroccan mosaics (at the Morocco pavilion) and replacing them with common bathroom tiles is just a few millimeters away from an actual Hate Crime. https://t.co/ibuQwKXVGM

— E82 | The Epcot Legacy (@EpcotLegacy) May 28, 2024

I *TRY* to refrain from negativity when I can, truly, but this egregious oversight on these details at the Morocco Pavilion are not in the realm of “it’s ok”, but instead abhorrently terrible. Check out the new look in the quoted post. https://t.co/3gUtEgilrL

— Tangaroa Joel (@TangaroaJoel) May 28, 2024

Morocco Pavilion is one of the most accessible examples in the US of expert Islamic craftsmanship. 21 Moroccan masters came to WDW to hand tile & carve the wood accents. It was my 1st introduction to this visual language and fostered my lifelong interest in it. This is a shame. https://t.co/0nJ1yHIXle

— ☠️villain medievalist☠️ (@medievalmal) May 28, 2024

Words can’t describe how upset I am right now.

The Morocco pavilion deserves more than Costco bathroom level tiling. It is seriously one of the most beautiful pavilions at EPCOT.

Please do the right thing @RobertIger @DisneyParks and fix this. pic.twitter.com/UAoTFbGAwR

— CosmicRewind🚀 (@TomorrowVenture) May 29, 2024

Let’s play a game called, “Morocco Pavilion or Hollywood Studios Restroom?”

— Ben (@pieps86) May 29, 2024

I usually try to not get bent out of shape by some changes made that seem to annoy others … But this is really bad and totally takes away from the authenticity the original rules brought. Hopefully they can change this

— TheDBCPod (@TheDBCPod) May 29, 2024

The Morocco pavilion planter tile situation at EPCOT is a total head scratcher to me.

I understand the idea of using materials you already have, to save money. But at the same time … were the existing tiles/planters really in that bad of shape they needed replacing?

— crazyparkguy (@crazyparkguy) May 29, 2024

It’s not even compatible in terms of quality. Given that Morocco isn’t sponsoring the pavilion anymore, it seems like a culturally significant loss.

Disney gets a lot of things right in the parks. This isn’t one of those things.

What do you think? Comment and us know!