Do you like poutine, hockey fights, and/of accents that aren’t quite French but are the closest North American approximation? If you answered yes to any of these questions, 1) You are now my sworn enemy, as poutine is Satan’s personal cheese recipe and 2) I have the perfect spot for you! I’m of course talking about the Canada Pavilion at Epcot’s World Showcase, a place where America’s friendlier neighbors to the north host citizens of all nations, offering them a Labatt Blue and popcorn. Let’s take a look at six reasons why you’ll love visiting the Canada Pavilion.
The Style
Your gut instinct might be to question the natural style of the country of Canada. Since the entire nation has a well-earned reputation for kindness and generosity, the personality of the residents is probably the first thing that springs to mind, not the architecture.
As such, you’ll be surprised to learn that the Canada Pavilion has a distinct theme that defines the overall layout of the area. Canada has the nickname and reputation of the Great White North, and the Epcot pavilion embraces the woodsy nature of the country’s way of life. The great outdoors is on full display here with a canyon, a waterfall, and gardens built into the land here. There’s also the Hotel du Canada, which has a chateau inspired by Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier.
The most memorable aspect of the Canada Pavilion’s style is, of course, the totem poles. Artist David Boxley, a member of the Tsimshians, an Alaskan tribe, is one of the most talented totem pole designers in the western hemisphere. While not technically Canadian, he has vast knowledge of Northwestern art and built a totem especially for the Canada Pavilion’s Trading Post that reflected the culture and heritage of Canada.
Image: Disney
In early 2017, Disney chose to replace a couple of the aging totem poles. Boxley returned to take on this project, too. Each of the poles tells a specific story, with the latest one about a boy, an eagle, and the karmic nature of generosity. Each totem pole at the Canada Pavilion is a majestic work of art that you should study at least once when you’re at the World Showcase.
The Shows
Most theme park tourists enter the World Showcase from Future World. Once you reach this part of Epcot, you can either turn left and head to the Mexico Pavilion or turn right and go to the Canada Pavilion. Since you have a 50/50 chance of walking past the Canada portion of the World Showcase each trip, you’ve likely stumbled into one of the park’s shows at some point. They’re kind of hard to miss.
The most popular ones are now retired. Called the Canadian Lumberjack show, this performance included feats of strength such as rapid log-cutting and impressively accurate ax-throwing. And if you love to see men in plaid, well, you should visit Canada. Unfortunately, that’s the only place you can watch this sort of show now that Disney has stopped running these performances. Thankfully, they’ll live on forever in the memories of Epcot fanatics…and on YouTube.
People also loved the musical stylings of a band called Off Kilter. They were a Canadian group with a distinctly Celtic sound. The incongruity of roaring electric guitars and bagpipes made for an unforgettable music style, but they too ended their run. And they too live on forever thanks to YouTube.
The current show at the Canada Pavilion isn’t constant. Disney now hires performing acts to play a few months at a time at the venue. Past acts include Les Parfaits circus troupe and Bodh’aktan, and the one change Disney has made with each act is that unlike Off Kilter, all of the musicians are Canadian. Yes, the most beloved artists ever at the Canada Pavilion weren’t Canadian…although one was the grandson of a Montreal Canadiens hockey player, the equivalent of royalty in the country.
The live show you get at the pavilion is entirely dependent on when you visit…with one exception. Canadian Holiday Voyagers runs constantly throughout the holiday season.
The Attraction
Disney park planners didn’t spend much time coming up with the name for the Canada Pavilion’s attraction. It’s simply entitled O Canada!, a reference to the national anthem of the country. This attraction is one of the few places at the World Showcase that offers an informational film about the host country. It’s a Circle-Vision 360° movie travelogue of some of the finest elements of the Great White North.
The original version of O Canada! was a bit of an uncomfortable subject for a time. Filmed in the late 1970s, it used a lot of stereotypes about the Canadian people. The Canadian government went so far as to lobby Disney to update the story to make it less cliché, and park planners finally obliged in 2007. You can watch the current version here. Frankly, the most memorable aspect is the theme song, Canada (You’re a Lifetime)
The Shopping
Do you like Moose socks? Sweaters with curling references? Pajamas with Maple Leafs on them? Or is there a frontier living provision that will help you survive a harsh winter? Northwest Mercantile has you covered! Plus, they have real maple syrup, not that imitation stuff they sell in Vermont.
Shopping at the Canada Pavilion is actually a lot of fun, as long as you’re willing to embrace the cultural stereotypes. Many of my closest friends are Canadian, and I always enjoy texting them pictures of new hockey shirts here. The overall favorite among my Canadian brethren is, “Don’t Make Me Use My Hockey Mom Voice.”
In addition to the mercantile store, you’ll find The Wood Cart here. This is a fun place to spend some time, as the cart offers engraving services. You can find a leather product that you like, and add your name or initials to it for a modest fee.
Frankly, you’ll find better shopping opportunities at other pavilions, but Canada is still a fun place to browse, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time with Canadians.
The Food
The Canada Pavilion has exactly one food cart and one restaurant. What they lack in volume, they make up in quality. The former offering is the Popcorn Cart, and it will blow your mind. Canadian popcorn flavors are a special kind of spectacular, and you can pair your food with Canadian beers running on tap. When you need a quick pick-me-up at the World Showcase, the Popcorn Cart offers some of the best bang for the buck anywhere.
I have a special place in my heart for the Table Service restaurant at the Canada Pavilion. When my wife and I celebrated our 10th anniversary, we chose two Walt Disney World eateries. One was California Grill, and the other was Le Cellier Steakhouse. We chose the latter because it is one of the top five steak places on the Disney campus.
Image: DisneyReally, all I need to say about Le Cellier is that it’s one of the toughest places to get Advanced Dining Reservations at the World Showcase. It books up quickly because people know that the food is divine. It has a deep menu and ample portions, with a ride selection of cured, grilled, and roasted meats that all melt in your mouth. It also has what I’m told is spectacular poutine, although I question whether such a thing exists. And the desserts here…mon dieu! More than a year after the fact, I still fantasize about that Nanaimo Cake.
If you’re going to eat at Le Cellier, you need to know two other things. The first is that you should order one of the cheese plates. It’s a house specialty, and the chefs age some of the cheeses onsite for months prior to their serving. And the wine pairings, specialty alcoholic drinks, and beers are the pride and joy of the restaurant. Several of them embrace the Canadian culture with names like Winter Old Fashioned, The Toronto, Ottawa Apple, and The Montreal 75. You can get a taste of Canada at any random Tim Horton’s, but to get a drink of Canada, you need to visit Le Cellier.
The Drinks
Image: DisneyHoo boy. You can get sauced at the Canada Pavilion. Draft beer is on tap, and you can find all of the classic Canadian lagers on full display. As mentioned, Labatt Blue is available, as are the other three major brands, Moosehead Pale Ale, St-Ambroise, and Molson. If you have even a passing familiarity with Canadians, you know that they take their liquor as seriously as anybody in the world. The ONLY other place at the World Showcase that offers beers on a par with this pavilion is the Germany Pavilion. When you want to drink around the world some night, you should start with Canada. You may choose not to visit anywhere else.
