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WORLD SHOWCASE
Different lands and cultures are superficially recreated (for instance, nobody in France is actually rude) in the hopes that you will buy their merchandise, which includes travel packages. Allows you to seem worldly and shallow at the same time. It's a great place to listen to accents, relax and snack. It also has a nightly, massive laser and fireworks show called Illuminations, a spectacle not to be missed.
Perhaps oddly, interesting countries do not always offer interesting pavilions. But all are heartily reccommended, and anyway Disney laid it out so you pretty much have to walk past them all if you want to see one. All pavilions feature native food and drinks, and it would be pointless for me to point to any single one as superior. Stop and eat wherever you're hungry and take your chances. And no, they're not kidding about making reservations early in the day, if you want a sit-down meal.
RATINGS are for whatever attractions are within the pavilions. Since they are all by nature Thinly Veiled Ads, and therefore automatically Mixed Bags and feature Live Action, I have not applied those ratings.
MEXICO
Interesting interior featuring a live volcano
and cheesy trinkets. El Rio De Tempo is a knockoff of
It's a Small World, and if that doesn't stop you from going on
it, nothing will. Menu not surprising if you've had Tex-Mex,
and puzzling if you haven't. Had I never moved to Texas, this
might've struck me as quaint and imaginative.
NORWAY
Tiny little area
with big pleasures, though a bit heavy on gnomes. The Maelstrom
water ride ends too soon, moves a tad too quick, and is regularly
crowded. Nonetheless it is still an exceptional ride that comes
with a big warning: the ride is (poorly) timed to deposit you
in a waiting area devoid of entertainment, to be herded into
a theater to watch a film that is, well, sort of a bring down.
When those gates on the fishing pier swing wide, I urge you to
keep moving to the last seat of the row and keep going, straight
outside, where they will try to sell you gnomes and cruises.
Unless you love the cold, brutal, harsh life of the unforgiving
sea, me shipmate. arrrr.
I also believe this is the home of a superb buffet of seafoods,
cold meats and other excellent dishes, but I'll be danged if
I remember the name.
CHINA The
Temple Of Heaven is terrific to look at, and there is usually
a fine display in the museum. My weakness for big screen films
makes me a sucker for the gigantic travelogues in World Showcase,
and this CircleVision 360 film is mighty fine, delivering up
The Forbidden City and The Great Wall in fabulous detail.
GERMANY
Having been raised on German food, all I ever do here is eat,
buy alcohol and toys, which is what Germans do when they're not
making war. They never finished the ride part of this attraction,
probably because they finished the Biergarten first. Unlike other
pavilions, they don't talk much about their culture and history,
which is not too shocking if you think about it for a while.
Oddly, no bowling.
ITALY
I'm a complete blank. There's food and art, think. Oh, and street
entertainers. Yeah, that'll get me in there. I think the point
is, they drive you off the street into the shops.
AMERICAN ADVENTURE 
Thrilling and embarrassing: the magnificent
technological spectacle of scary robots building The United States.
Impassioned enough to bring a lump to the throat, dogmatic enough
to bring a roll to the eyes. Glossing over of unpleasant aspects
disturbing, and I have long been suspicious of superpatriotism.
Proud, boastful, wishful, nostalgic, corny, inspirational, obnoxious,
heartfelt, contrived. In many way, warts and all, a perfect slice
of Americana.
JAPAN
Quiet and beautiful place to relax, snack, find a bit of
peace at WDW. The 80 foot Pagoda is beautiful and the torii is
impressive, especially at sunset. And of course you can find
all sorts of candies with weird names like Bang Smile. A welcome
bit of calm sitting right next to the big, fat, hot-dog chomping
United States Pavilion.
MOROCCO
I walked through it once, and didn't register
a thing; if you don't want rugs or brass it's hard to see the
allure. No, wait. The tile work is beautiful and mesmerizing,
and the food is said to be fine. Maybe I'll take a closer look
next visit.
FRANCE
Ask me to name any store
or eatery in France and all I will do is stare. There's an Eiffel
Tower, I guess, and all sorts of flaky biscuit-things, but I
only care about one feature: the fantastic
widescreen Impressions de 'France travelogue. Sweeping vistas
and French composers, a dizzying aerial tour of the magnificent
landscape.
UNITED
KINGDOM A strange mutant land where Scotland, Ireland and
Great Britain exist side by side yet nothing explodes and people
brush their teeth. Cool shopping if you like chocolate, toys,
and tea, which I do. Unfortunately, street entertainers are quite
common here, and rarely entertaining at all!
CANADA
If you build a big movie,
I will come. But it's not just the stunning O Canada! CircleVision
film that keeps me coming back. This pavilion's got great
landscaping, great architecture, maple sugar candy, a gorgeous
waterfall and a huge garden of exotic flowers. Take off, hoser,
eh?
THE FIREWORKS
There is a new version of the show ILLUMINATIONS but it's still basically big lasers, bigger fireworks and great music. There are few good spots for viewing the fireworks, and there's no point in mentioning them because they're always packed beyond capacity, and half the spectators have wiggling two-year-olds balanced on their heads. You're on your own here; my recommendation is, keep walking and just stop when the parade/fireworks begin. Do NOT stand downwind of the fireworks, unless you can breathe sulfur.
THE PARADE
To my own astonishment, I highly recommend
the Tapestry Of Nations parade, running through 2001.
The parade is wonderful, but as in the Magic Kingdom, it makes
access all but impossible. Twice a night! Hunker down and hope
you don't get crushed.
It is the only parade at Disney I've ever deeply enjoyed. A breathtaking
display of color and motion and light, with a wonderfully infectious
rhythm. As unfortunately seen, in entirely the wrong context,
at the 2000 Super bowl half time show.
