A quiet retreat from the outside world

In 2007 Epcot celebrated twenty-five years of bringing the world and the future together. Yet, just as things will never be complete with the berms and borders of the parks and resorts, so too will there always be a birthday to celebrate, as attractions will continue to spring up and begin a set a new clock ticking. As such, the Morocco pavilion, the first addition to World Showcase after the opening of EPCOT Center, commemorated its twenty-fifth birthday this past September.

In September of 1984, after a variety of ideas, both those that were realized and those that were left in the Imagineers’ files, the work of the Moroccan artisans was unveiled for all the world, and World Showcase, to see. From the intricately crafted tile mosaics and fountains, to the complex sightlines and passageways, and the use of both sides of the World Showcase Promenade, Morocco exposed another part of the world to the guests of Epcot.

To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary Morocco rolled out festive and patriotic banners, bunting, and flags. While Morocco’s minaret has always served as a beckoning beacon along the walk around World Showcase, these additions drew in visitors who may have passed by this gem of a pavilion due to the fact that there isn’t a named attraction in the area or those guests who have not visited the marketplaces in a number of years.

While this outward celebration brought recognition to an underappreciated pavilion, it would have been fantastic to see the tilework throughout the pavilion receive the same care and repair. Never the less, Morocco deserves, as it always has, a few moments of guests’ time. That is all the time it takes to fall in love with the pavilion.


To date, Morocco is the only pavilion within World Showcase the represents the fifty-three countries (sixty-one territories) of the world’s second largest continent, Africa.