Eleven nations surrounding World Showcase Lagoon: Canada, United Kingdom, France, Japan, The American Adventure, Italy, Germany, China, Mexico, Morocco and Norway.

The journey begins around a 40-acre lagoon beyond Future World. World Showcase nations, in all of their majesty, dot the shores of the lagoon as recreations of landmark architectures and historic scenes familiar to world travelers. Built with finite attention to detail, the villages have buildings, streets, gardens and monuments designed to give Epcot guests an authentic visual experience of each land.

A must is The American Adventure, a 108,000-square-foot Georgian-styled structure featuring perhaps the most impressive Epcot theatrical performance. Sponsored by Coca-Cola and American Express, The American Adventure presents a 29-minute drama of 350 years of our nation’s history, utilizing elaborate three-dimensional settings and a new generation of Disney Audio-Animatronics® characters. Host figures Mark Twain, who carries a smoking cigar, and Benjamin Franklin, the first Audio-Animatronics character to walk, narrate the progress of America from the era of the Pilgrims to the present.

World Showcase presents artisans, artists and performers dressed in traditional costumes. In the United Kingdom, Cockney buskers entertain with sidewalk comedy. Visitors can enjoy a strolling mariachi band in Mexico, a high-energy troupe of student acrobats in China and much more throughout the other World Showcase nations.

World Showcase is designed to entertain and inform visitors as well as provide a two-way cultural exchange for nationals working in the showcases. Each showcase is staffed with young men and women from that country.

The cultural ambassadors provide a unique opportunity for Epcot guests to become “caught up” in celebrations of holidays and festivals from around the world. An entire slate of “World Showcase Celebrations” let the ambassadors celebrate special days just as they do at home.

Each World Showcase experience is based on concepts chosen for their contributions to social, cultural and architectural heritages. Following is a summary description of the patterns involved in the design of each showcase.

THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE 

The American Adventure combines Georgian-style classic buildings in what is intended as a people’s mansion and includes examples from Williamsburg, Independence Hall, the Old State House in Boston and Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello.

CANADA 

The Canada showcase includes examples of buildings and scenes found throughout the nation. The romantic 19th-century French Chateau-style hotel is replicated in the Hotel du Canada which houses a gift boutique. A waterfront area is designed to reflect the look of the Eastern Seaboard, while Victoria’s Butchart Gardens were the pattern for a West Coast look.

UNITED KINGDOM 

Time, materials and styles were compressed into a single combination of city, town and rural atmosphere for the United Kingdom. Included is a pub in a building reflecting a cluster of periods and different facades. A city square with classic formal facades copies a look found in London and Edinburgh.

FRANCE 

The showcase reflects the ambiance of France between 1870 and 1910, a period known as La Belle Epoque, or “the beautiful time.” This was an energetic period of art and literature, grand exhibitions, inventions and science, and a time when a spectrum of styles formed the character of Paris boulevards and architecture. The one-tenth replica of the Eiffel Tower was constructed using Gustave Eiffel’s original blueprints.

MOROCCO 

Across a wide promenade, the Koutoubia Minaret (a detailed replica of a famous prayer tower in Marrakesh) stands guard over the entrance to this showcase. In the center of the rectangular courtyard is an ornate fountain lined with thousands of multi-colored tiles.

JAPAN

Architecture and landscaping meld exquisitely in this showcase. Rocks, which in Japan symbolize the long life of the earth, combine with water, symbolizing the sea, which the Japanese consider a source of life. These, with a variety of trees and other plantings, blend with the Japanese architecture to produce an authentic Asian experience.

ITALY 

Architectural elements of Venice stand at the showcase entrance, including the Doge’s Palace with elegant decoration, and a scaled-down version of the Campanile (bell tower) of St. Mark’s Square. Complementing these buildings are Venetian bridges, gondolas, colorful barber poles and a sculpture of the Lion of St. Mark atop a column.

GERMANY 

Building styles represent different periods and locales, but rely heavily on the romantic, fairy-tale architecture of Germany. The atmosphere of a biergarten is derived from the 16th-century town of Rothenberg.

CHINA

The gateway of the showcase is based on the beautifully styled main gate at the summer palace in Beijing, which also provided the inspiration for the half-size Temple of Heaven, the most visually prominent feature. The Temple of Heaven, through which Guests pass into a Circle-Vision 360 theater, symbolizes the Chinese universe.

NORWAY

Your first glimpse of the Norway showcase is that of a striking wooden structure. This stavkirke, or Stave Church, is styled after Gol Church of Hallingdal, built around 1250 A.D. It houses an exhibit of Norse artifacts.

MEXICO

Fronting the World Showcase Lagoon is a quaint, colonial-style building, reflective of architecture in Central and Southern Mexico. A Mayan pyramid dominating the entranceway expresses the proud pre-Columbian heritage of the country.