5 Things Cast Members Wish You’d Stop Doing in the Italy Pavilion

The World Showcase’s Italy Pavilion is one of the park’s most popular, thanks to its Venetian, Florentine, and Roman architecture. Here you’ll find recreations of St Mark’s Campanile, the Columns of San Marco and San Todaro, the Ponte della Paglia, and the Neptune Fountain, which is reminiscent of Rome’s Trevi Fountain.

However, for as beautiful as the Italy Pavilion is, there are certain things guests do there that Cast Members really, really wish would stop.

Skipping Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar

Despite the fact that the Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar — which is connected to the Tutto Italia Ristorante — offers a shady, air-conditioned respite from the hustle, bustle, and — during the summer season anyway — heat of the park (along with an extensive menu of wines, cocktails, beers, meats, and cheeses), the lounge is often somewhat empty.

Occasionally, it even has a shorter wait than some of the pavilion’s outdoor dining carts!

Asking Where the Ride Is?

Italy is one of the World Showcase pavilions that doesn’t feature a ride or attraction of any kind, instead solely comprised of shopping, dining, and theming. However, that wasn’t always the idea. Original plans called for a Gondola-based dark ride, a massive “walkthrough of Roman ruins”, a second restaurant, and further shopping. In fact, this larger version of the land can be seen in the original Imagineering model of World Showcase.

However, like many EPCOT projects, the park’s MASSIVE budget overruns led to this half of the Italian Pavilion being pushed back to EPCOT’s second phase of construction, before it was canceled entirely. The portion of Italy that was earmarked for Phase II remained behind a fence for almost 30 years, before it was opened in 2010 and headlined by the Via Napoli restaurant.

Trying to Get in the Gondola

Speaking of Gondolas, while the ride was never built, there is one located in the pavilion. It’s located in the water outside the pavilion, with placemaking elements reminiscent of Venice. However, the boat is just a placemaking prop, not something that guests can ride or even get in for photos, no matter how much they ask.

Eating at the Italy Festival Booths

As good a reputation as some of the pavilion’s food has,  the festival booths in the pavilion generally don’t live up to that hype. Whether it’s Food & Wine, Festival of the Arts, Festival of the Holidays, or Flower & Garden, they’re usually close to the bottom of most rankings, including ours most years.

Using Fake Italian Accents or Other Gestures

Just don’t do it, period. This should go across the board for any World Showcase pavilions.

Next time you’re at EPCOT’s Italy Pavilion, keep these things in mind, and stay tuned to AllEars for more Disney World tips.

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