Morocco Pavilion
| Morocco Pavilion | |
|---|---|
| Park | EPCOT |
| Land / area | World Showcase |
| Type | World Showcase pavilion |
| Opened | September 7, 1984 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering
|
| Status | Operating |
Morocco Pavilion is a pavilion in World Showcase at EPCOT in the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, located between the Japan Pavilion and the France Pavilion. It opened on September 7, 1984, as the first pavilion added to World Showcase after the park's opening, and it remains distinctive for the way it was made: Morocco is the only World Showcase nation whose government sponsored its pavilion and took part directly in its design, sending artisans to Florida to carry out the tilework, carving and plasterwork on site.
History
When plans for a broader African pavilion did not proceed, Morocco's King Hassan II supported a pavilion representing his country, and a scale model was reviewed in Morocco for authenticity before construction. The king's daughter, Princess Lalla Meriem, attended the opening ceremony in 1984. Moroccan craftsmen hand-cut and laid the pavilion's zellige tile mosaics and carved its plaster and woodwork; in keeping with Islamic tradition, the decoration uses geometry, calligraphy and plant forms rather than images of people.
The Moroccan government's sponsorship continued for more than three decades. It ended in October 2020, when operation of the pavilion passed fully to Disney. The pavilion's layout and decoration have otherwise changed little, the main additions being the Tangierine Café in 1999 and the waterfront Spice Road Table in 2014.
Design and layout
The pavilion is divided into two districts modelled on Moroccan cities including Fez, Marrakesh, Rabat and Casablanca. The front section represents the Ville Nouvelle, the newer city, with broader streets and the pavilion's main restaurants. The tall tower at its entrance is a replica of the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh. Because the original is a place of worship, the replica is not lit during EPCOT's night-time lagoon shows, a courtesy maintained since the pavilion opened.
A replica of Fez's Bab Bou Jeloud gate, faced in blue tile, leads into the Medina, the old city at the back of the pavilion, where narrow winding lanes are lined with market stalls and shops. Within the Medina stands a replica of the Nejjarine Fountain of Fez, its mosaic and carved plaster copied from the original, and the Fez House, a recreation of a traditional Moroccan home in which rooms for an extended family open onto a central courtyard with a tiled fountain. High on one wall, a copy of the Dar al-Magana water clock of Fez recalls the fourteenth-century original, whose hours were marked by bowls dropping into brass receptacles.
Dining
Restaurant Marrakesh, deep in the Medina, is the pavilion's original table-service restaurant, serving Moroccan dishes in a dining room modelled on a palace interior, with carved ceilings and inlaid tables. The Tangierine Café, opened in 1999 in place of the former tourism centre, is the counter-service restaurant, serving shawarma, wraps and pastries. Spice Road Table, added on the lagoon promenade in 2014, serves Mediterranean small plates at indoor and terrace seating facing the water.
Shopping and entertainment
The Medina's bazaar is made up of small interconnected shops selling carpets, leather goods, brassware, ceramics, jewellery and clothing, arranged to resemble a market rather than a single store. Live music has been part of the pavilion since the 1990s; the band Mo'Rockin performed there from 1999 to 2014, and later acts have continued the tradition of Moroccan music in the courtyard.