EPCOT

TOURING
Park Guide Map

Attraction Seating
   Photo Gallery
Basic Services
Calendar of Events
Character Meet and
   Greet FAQ
Epcot with Kids I
Epcot with Kids II
Extra Magic Hours
Fast Facts
FASTPASS
Kennels
Operating Hours
Overlooked
   Attractions
Rehabs and Closures
Restaurant Photo Gallery
Ride Restrictions
Smoking Policy
Special Needs Travelers
Ticket FAQ

WDW At Large

AT A GLANCE...
Attractions
Characters
Restaurants
Shopping

FUTURE WORLD
Club Cool
Innoventions
Journey into
   Imagination
Mission: Space
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
The Seas w/Nemo & Friends
The Land
--Soarin'
Universe of Energy

WORLD SHOWCASE
Mexico
Norway
China
Germany
Italy
American Adventure
Japan
Morocco
France
United Kingdom
Canada

ENTERTAINMENT
IllumiNations:
   Reflections of Earth
IllumiNations Boat
    Cruises
Innoventions Fountains
Live Entertainment
-- Off Kilter
World Showcase Entertainment

SPECIAL EVENTS
Flower & Garden
   Festival
Food & Wine Festival

HOLIDAYS
Candlelight
   Processional
Epcot Storytellers
Holidays Around the
   World

TOURS
-- Around the World on a Segway
-- DiveQuest
-- Dolphins in Depth
-- Epcot Seas Aqua Tour
-- Gardens of the World
-- Undiscovered Future World

SPECIAL REPORTS
AllEars®
Features
American Adventure - Experience It!
Chocolate Around the
    World
Far East Finds a Home
    in Florida - The     Japan Pavilion
Exotic Treasures Found
    in Morocco
Ice Dreams and Rice
    Creams at Norway
Mission: Space - To Boldly
Go Where I Will Never Go Again
Re-Discovering Future World
Shopping Around the World
Spaceship Earth: Re-Imagineering an Icon

ARCHIVES
25th Anniversary of Epcot
Captain EO
Cranium Command
Food Rocks
Hidden Treasures Tour
HongKong DLPreview Center
Journey into Imagination 1980s
Kitchen Kaberet
Kristos
Lord of the Dance
Millennium Celebration
Millennium Village
Muppet Mobile Lab
Person of the Century
Shockwave!
Skyleidoscope
Surprise in the Skies
The Power of Blast!
Tapestry of Dreams
Tapestry of Nations
Wonders of Life

1982 Guide Map

OTHER THEME PARKS
Animal Kingdom
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Magic Kingdom

Disneyland
Disney's California
    Adventure

Universal Orlando Resort

INTRODUCTION
As you leave the United Kingdom, cross over the English Channel (known in Epcot as the International Gateway Bridge) into France.  The Showcase reflects France from 1870-1910, a period known as La Belle Epoque, the beautiful time.  Here you will find a book shop, art, a perfume shop, theater, a sidewalk cafe, restaurant, and the busy garden marketplace of Paris.

ATTRACTIONS

Impressions de France - The Palais du Cinema is the home of the 200 degree airborne French travelogue set to classical music.  The score of Impressions de France was recorded in London by the National Philharmonic.  It was the first motion picture to have its soundtracks recorded digitally and then to be taken digitally through every step of editing, mixing and dubbing.  The movie is approximately 18 minutes long.

Scenes from Impressions de France include Normandy, Loire Valley, Cognac, Cannes, Paris, and many more.  

Click here for the full listing of scenes in order of appearance.
Click here for a listing of the musical selections.
Epcot Attractions At A Glance

DINING

Chefs de France - Located on the main level, the menu here features the creations of its three famous owner-chefs: Paul Bocuse, Gaston Lenotre and Roger Verge. Escargot, Coquilles Saint-Jacques, French onion soup, Mediterranean seafood casserole, and duck à l'orange are some of the flavors you will find here.

Bistro de Paris - located on the 2nd floor above Chefs de France is the pricier  Bistro de Paris which offers delicacies such as pan-seared foie gras, truffles, lobster fricassee, and roasted quail.

Boulangerie Paitisserie - a wonderful pastry shop so save room for dessert!  Get an IllumiNations spot and send one of your group here for coffee and pastries to bring back!  Be sure to get a good whiff of the baked goods smell that is piped out of the shop.

Epcot Restaurants At A Glance
Menus From Around the World
Vegetarian and Other Special Diets

ENTERTAINMENT

Serveur Amusant -

For more information on Epcot and WDW Live Entertainment, visit Steve Soares' WDW Entertainment Website.

TOURING TIPS

Impressions de France is a must-see on your Epcot Attraction List.  Relax in the air-conditioned theater and enjoy the wonderful music and scenery.  

Stop in Vins De France to learn about French Wines.  You can sample them for the price of a souvenir glass.

"There is a shop located on the right as you are facing the Eifel Tower with your back to the lagoon. It may be called "La Signature." Inside the shop near the back where it opens onto a passageway is a staircase to the second level of the shop. Up the staircase and around the open second floor are a collection of pictures and signed documents by famous people. For example, they have documents signed by Charles de Gaulle, Albert Schweizer, Jules Verne, Sarah Bernhard, Pablo Picaso and others. Each is framed with a picture of the individual or in the case of some of the artists, a miniature of one of their art works. They are all for sale, the most expensive being the Jules Verne at $6000. " (Bill Lund)

Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival - Springtime in Paris is the theme featuring fragrance container gardens, geometic and new Swan topiaries.

Holidays from Around the World features storytellers in each country.  France, Pere Noel (Santa Claus) makes appearances throughout the afternoon. 

Assistive Listening Devices from Guest Services Can Be Used Here.

Reflective Captioning Available for the movie.

KIDS AND CHARACTERS

Belle and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast have Character Meet and Greets in France.

Each of the World Showcase countries has a special "KIDCOT" area that provides an opportunity for your child to interact with a native of the country you are visiting.

Epcot PassPorts are great fun for kids as they have them stamped at each pavilion around World Showcase.

Epcot Characters At A Glance 
Character Meet and Greet FAQ!

SHOPPING

Art Fest  - Portrait artists
Galerie Des Halles - Parisian Impressionist souvenirs
La Casserole - Dinnerware, tabletops, decorative items from Southern France
La Signature - Personal accessories, perfumes. Guerlain cosmetics. 
Les Vins De France - B&G wines and accessories. Wine-tasting, cost includes souvenir wine glass. 
Plume Et Palette - Designer fragrances

(Exerpt from Shopping Around the World) With shops selling everything from designer fragrances, to wines and accessories, the Shoppers thought browsing for truly French SouvenEARS would be tres magnifique!

Of the many items discovered, the most highly regarded were the Mini-Eiffel Towers ($6.50-$13) and Perfumed Soaps ($7-$15). Other winners included a box of Fruit Bonbons ($8.50), and Wall Light Switchplates decorated with the words of famous French Impressionists like Degas and Monet ($12-$15).

The best find in France wasn't a SouvenEAR, though. It was the exquisite three-panel stained-glass window themed to the story of Beauty and the Beast. None of us had ever noticed this window before, and we all marveled at the artwork.

INTERESTING FACTS

The park bordering the canal along the right side of the pavilion was inspired by the famous painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by pointillist artist Georges Seurat.

The landscape here has a single objective:  to reflect an urban ambiance, particularly springtime in Paris.  Street trees along the central boulevard are positioned and pruned to enhance the illusion of distance.  Planters in this area reveal pastel mixes of flowers, lending an impressionistic flavor and reinforcing the theme.

The Eiffel Tower is an example of Forced Perspective.  The one-tenth replica of the Eiffel Tower was constructed using Gustav Eiffel's original blueprints.  If you looked at the Eiffel Tower today as it stands in Paris, it would have similar coloring to the Statue of Liberty in New York.  However, here in Epcot, the Eiffel Tower is more tan and pinkish.  The reason is the France Pavilion here represents the late 1800s and the Eiffel Tower is the same color it would have been then.

Epcot's France pavilion celebrated the opening of its redesigned La Signature shop on July 26, 2007 with a ceremony attended by executives of the perfumer Guerlain, Inc. La Signature has been remodeled as a Haute Perfumery patterned after the original La Maison Guerlain flagship boutique on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. As a Haute Perfumery, La Signature carries exclusive and limited-edition specialty fragrances for men and women, including the new L'Art et la Matière collection and the vintage Les Parisiennes collection.