Right now, though all eyes are on the August opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney is hard at work at the reinvention of Epcot, which includes some major projects, including almost a dozen new attractions and restaurants. However, even though these projects vary largely in size and scope, there’s one corner of the park that will be almost unrecognizable after Epcot’s transformation: the France pavilion. Right now Disney is taking some massive steps to completely reimagine this part of the World Showcase including new places to eat, play and more. Here’s everything you know about the “new” France pavilion, which will currently doesn’t have an opening date, but is largely rumored to be coming next year.
1. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Image: Disney
Of course, the biggest new addition to the France pavilion will be Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure which is now under construction and is rumored to open sometime in 2020. This Ratatouille-themed 3-D dark ride (which will essentially be a clone of a ride that already exists at Disneyland Paris) will use trackless technology to “shrink” guests down to the size of a rat, and is being constructed in a massive expansion pad behind the current France pavilion. Disney hasn’t released a lot of information about this new attraction, but we expect that to change in the coming months as this is the next “big” new ride on the schedule after the phased opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge later this year.
However, as we get closer to the opening of the first newly-constructed ride in the World Showcase since the 1988 addition of Maelstrom in Norway (we’re not counting overlays like Frozen Ever After or the Gran Fiesta Tour), Disney will need to add some capacity to the France pavilion, which they will do with the following two new aditions:
2. New quick/table service Crêperie hybrid restaurant
Image: Disney
The most recently-announced addition to the France pavilion is a brand new unamed hybrid quick/table service restaurant that will feature the cuisine of celebrity chef Jérôme Bocuse, the mastermind behind the pavilion’s Chefs de France brasserie and its celebration of gourmet cuisine, Monsieur Paul. This new location will feature a menu inspired by the Brittany region of France, and will have savory crepes called galettes and sweet crepes. And though the France pavilion already has plenty of places to eat (this will be the fifth dining location in this pavilion), this new hybrid restaurant should be a nice addition to the lineup with a simple menu with familiar options.
No opening date for this new location has been announced, but considering this new location will be a part of the France expansion, we’re guessing that it will likely open in 2020, alongside the afroementioned Ratatouille attraction.
3. Beauty and the Beast Singalong
Image: Disney
Last year it was announced that a brand new new Beauty and the Beast sing-along attraction would be coming to Epcot’s France pavilion, and will play in the theater that is currently home to “Impressions de France.”This new show will play in addition to the French film, and is being created by Don Hahn, producer of the animated and live-action “Beauty and the Beast” film.
No timeline has been provided about when this new show might debut, and while we initially thought this new show would debut sometime this year, with Disney perhaps looking to make an “event” out of the full reboot of the France pavilion, we might have to wait until next year to experience this new live show.
Image: Disney
While Disney hasn’t released much about the total reboot coming to France as part of the larger Epcot reimagining, we imagine we will hear a lot more about this project (as well as more information about Epcot’s new nighttime spectaculars (yes there’s more than one!) and the highly-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy attraction later this year at the bi-annual D23 Expo, which will take place August 23-35, right before the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
