Change has been built into the concept of EPCOT from the start. After all, the theme park that opened in 1982 was itself vastly changed from Walt Disney’s original Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow.
Given that long history of change, it shouldn’t be a surprise that several pavilions, rides, and attractions have been announced and designed for the park, only to be canceled as the park’s identity continued to shift over the last 40+ years.
Let’s begin at the front of the park, currently made up of World Celebration, World Discovery, and World Nature, but always known as Future World in our hearts.
Hollywood Pavillion
In the early 1980s, Disney Imagineering began planning a Hollywood pavilion that would have been located near the Imagination Pavilion. The pavilion would have been designed to look like a small movie theater facade in front of a massive blue sky (actually a painted show building).
Hollywood was to be headlined by a massive e-ticket attraction as well as other exhibits that would celebrate the “magic of the movies.” If that sounds familiar, it should. Then-CEO Michael Eisner was so taken with the plan (and according to popular theme park urban legend, of a similar idea that Universal had pitched to him while he was working at Paramount) that he decided it deserved its own park, leading to the creation of Disney-MGM Studios. That park’s initial headline attraction, The Great Movie Ride, would have been the centerpiece of the EPCOT pavilion.
Space 2.0 Pavilion
To this day, the long-shuttered Horizons stands as one of the most beloved attractions in EPCOT history, with many fans still lamenting that the ride was closed to make room for the oft-derided Mission Space. However, in truth, Disney had been working on a replacement for years. During the 1990s, Imagineering drew up plans to renovate the beloved ride into a new Space Pavilion that would maintain many of the core elements of the original. Eventually, the idea was scrapped in favor of creating a completely new attraction, which became Mission: Space. We can only wonder what the reaction would have been had Disney stuck with the original plan to keep the pavilion similar to Horizons.
Play! Pavilion
The newest unbuilt pavilion on our list was first announced as part of the 2019 EPCOT reimagining. During the initial announcement of that major refurbishment, Disney announced that the long-abandoned Wonders of Life would be replaced by the Play! Pavilion, an “interactive futuristic city where guests would be able to interact with a variety of Disney characters.”
However, even as the rest of the reimagining went into construction after the park reopened from its COVID closure, work on the Play! Pavilion seemingly never began. In 2023, it was dropped from the park’s guide maps, and Disney said that the attraction’s concept was being reevaluated. In 2026, Disney removed the Play! Pavilion flag from the park’s central plaza, signifying that the pavilion was never coming. Meanwhile, Wonders of Life is still sitting abandoned.
Unbuilt World Showcase Pavilions
Let’s move over to the World Showcase, the collection of 11 pavilions that each represent a different country around the world. While the most recent country added to World Showcase was Norway almost 40 years ago in 1988, that almost wasn’t the case. In fact, over the decades, there have been a slew of other countries planned and/or announced as being added, only to never see the light of day.
Some of these scrapped nations include:
- A Costa Rica Pavilion featuring a large greenhouse filled with tropical plants and birds.
- The Equatorial Africa Pavilion, which would have been built around a 60-foot treehouse, and the “Heartbeat of Africa” live show. Remnants of this planned area can still be seen in the Outpost between China and Germany.
- An Iran Pavilion would have featured a dark ride exploring different parts of Persian history and a shopping area based on a bazaar. All Plans were scrapped after the Iranian Revolution.
- An Israel Pavilion was advertised on billboards when EPCOT opened, and would have recreated ancient Jerusalem and featured a courtyard stage and open-air restaurant. The concept was scrapped due to budget problems and security issues.
- A Puerto Rico Pavilion was once planned for EPCOT’s ill-fated “Phase II” expansion.
- A Spain Pavilion was advertised on billboards in the mid-1980s, with a design blending elements of Barcelona and Madrid. It was planned to feature a boat ride, a film on Spanish history, and a restaurant.
- A Switzerland Pavilion intended to bring a Matterhorn Bobsleds-style ride to EPCOT was slotted into plans at one point.
- A United Arab Emirates Pavilion was planned to feature a magic carpet ride attraction and a show detailing the cultural and scientific achievements of the Middle East.
- A planned Venezuela Pavilion would have replicated a waterfall, a high-rise built into a cliff, and an aerial tram ride.
- A Soviet Union or Russian-themed Pavilion was planned for the projected “Phase II.” It would have been based on the Moscow Kremlin and dominated by a replica of St. Basil’s Cathedral.
These unbuilt pavilions represent just some of the “roads not taken” in EPCOT’s evolution. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Disney history.
This World Showcase Pavilion Is ALWAYS Confusing People in EPCOT, And We Know Why
Which of these pavilions do you wish had come to EPCOT? Let us know in the comments below!
I’m not interested in any of the above pavilions.
I would like to see an Ireland or Scotland pavilion instead.