According to WDWNT.com Disney has filed permits for Ratatouille. BREAKING: Permit Filed for Rumored Ratatouille Ride in France at Epcot (with Update) - WDW News Today Maybe Disney is making it official at the upcoming D23 Expo.
Yep, there have been "strong rumors" of this for a while. It's supposed to act as counter programming for Star Wars, giving people a reason to visit Epcot instead. Hopefully it will help balance out the crowds, but I have my doubts, especially since the France pavilion is right next to International Gateway, only a 15 minute walk from the Studios Of all the potential character tie-ins for World Showcase, this isn't the worst one, but I still don't think it's a great fit. The film does a great job of celebrating French culture, but the ride hardly highlights it at all; instead, it's a zany chase through a kitchen featuring one of Pixar's least memorable bad guys. Especially without the attached restaurant (which is neither rumored nor needed for Epcot), it's hard to really say that the WDSP ride fits with World Showcase. I guess it's not quite as poor of a fit as the Frozen ride, but that's a pretty low standard
As long as it works better than it did on my trip to WDSP last year. It was out of action almost all day and then wasn't right when we did get to ride. I still want a ride in the UK pavilion, but I'm biased!
Allegedly there is a small ride (C ticket caliber) coming to the UK pavilion around the same time as Ratatouille opens, but details are vague at this point. It will be based on some existing Disney IP, but beyond that nobody seems willing to say too much yet. It will be small, but hopefully it will help balance out the crowds more, which have always favored the east side of World Showcase
I'm am glad to see that EPCOT is finally getting some real attention. I would prefer to see more original themes but I can understand the business decisions to stick with known IP.
I agree that more original themes would be great but that doesn't seem to be the way things are going. I often wonder if something like the Haunted Mansion would be greenlit if it were pitched today without a tie-in? And I'm having a hard time remembering the last attraction that was added that didn't have a tie-in to a Disney property.
Globally, I think it was Mystic Manor at HKDL in 2013, which serves as their Haunted Mansion-type attraction. That said, it borrows a lot from the Haunted Mansion concept and is tied into the SEA narrative, so it could also be argued that it's not truly "original", but I think it's different enough to count Domestically, it was Epsedition: Everest in 2006. You could also argue that DCA's Red Car trolley system in 2012 would count, but it's more a set dressing than a real attraction Seeing this trend, it's hard to think that Disney has any interest in building original attractions any time soon. I think a lot of this is a reflection of Iger, who seems hellbent on making everything related to a movie franchise, from the parks to merchandising to the movies themselves. I'm hopeful that he'll actually leave when his contract ends this time, but previous experience has taught me not to get my hopes too high
Ratatouille is also a GO at WDW. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ & ‘Ratatouille’ Attractions Coming to Epcot Can someone explain to me, if other buildings at the France Pavilion have to be demolished to make room for Ratatouille?
The other buildings will be able to remain; this is being built on the back of the expansion pad between the Morocco and France pavilions, which means that space won't realistically be used for a new country any time soon. In the concept art, the buildings on the left side are the backside of the existing pavilion (complete with mini-Eiffel Tower on the roof); there will be guest access to the new area along the west side of the pavilion, adding/expanding a path along the International Gateway waterway. Hopefully this means that Impressions de France will remain, since it's a simple but lovely film, and will provide a nice option to help break up crowds when this opens The concept art is kind of surprising to me. It looks like there will be a pretty large plaza in front of the attraction. I was under the impression that this whole area would be used for queue/exit space, and have a narrow footprint. Given how it will be physically detached from the rest of the pavilion, it will be interesting to see how it affects overall guestflow, and whether it feels integrated with everything else. It also doesn't really match the small-but-stylized design of the other World Showcase pavilions; this seems to take influence more from DAK/TDS-style lands and layouts
