When Epcot opened in 1982, the World Showcase featured 9 countries: Mexico, China, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, France, United Kingdom, and Canada. In the original designs, the World Showcase was to have 10 pavilion sites on each side of The American Adventure for a total of 21 nations represented. Since opening day, only 2 pavilions have been added. Morocco was added in 1984 and Norway in 1988. Over the years, there were plans to add additional pavilions, but they never came to fruition.
In the original plans, there was going to be an Equatorial Africa Pavilion, and Iran Pavilion, and an Israel Pavilion. The Equatorial Africa Pavilion was going to be an area that featured a treehouse, a live show, and focus on the countries of Equatorial Africa. The Iran Pavilion was actually proposed before Epcot opened and was going to have a ride that explored the Persian history and a bazaar style shopping area. The concept was discarded after the Iranian Revolution. The Israel Pavilion was going to have a recreated ancient Jerusalem with a stage and open-air restaurant and advertised on billboards when Epcot first opened. Due to budget problems and security issues regarding the state of Israel, the pavilion was never built.
In addition to the pavilions above, Disney was also going to add Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela Pavilions. It was rumored that these lands were never built because Disney required the national governments to fund the pavilions, but that has been proven false. Actually, the only pavilion that was funded by a foreign country is Morocco, and it is still operated by an entity set up by the Kingdom of Morocco. The remaining pavilions were initially sponsored by a companies from the home nation which helped to fund some of the construction.
If Epcot was to add another pavilion, what country would you like to see?
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