Rare Concept Art: World Showcase in the Round

Imagineer Harper Goff's World Showcase own concept art and others' pieces from his collection looks quite a bit different than what was eventually built. Let's take a closer look at this fascinating rendering.

Imagine that Future World is at the bottom of this piece, with The American Adventure represented by the circle with spokes coming from the center. World Showcase Lagoon comprising the open space in the middle.

The model of Morocco.

The Republic of Costa Rica.

Let's start our tour as if it were a clock by beginning at the number 7. In place of Mexico, the first pavilion we'd encounter would be Morocco, followed by Costa Rica, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand, with Switzerland finishing off the first quadrant. All new and still unbuilt countries from what we ended up with at opening.

The German River Cruise- another unbuilt attraction.

Moving to the next segment around the clock-like image, the next set of pavilions are Holland, "West Germany", Brazil, Japan and Poland. Notice that there is an empty space where The American Adventure is currently found. Above is a photo of the model of Germany's Rhine River Cruise. Looks very immersive and therefore, very, very expensive. With cost overruns, it is not a surprise that the project was cut.

Upper and lower Japan.

Here's two floorplans for Japan, one for the first main level and one for the second level. I left these in their original form. (If you want to see the largest collection of concept art for the Japan showcase on the web, go to my blog post here: Part One and Part Two - The second part includes a look at the unbuilt Omnimover ride.)

The second half of World Showcase is no less interesting than what we've seen so far. The third segment begins with Italy, then Great Britain, "Safari Africa", France, and then Mexico. 

Morocco floorplan.

In the last quadrant, the one that brings us back to the border of Future World and World Showcase, we find Scandinavia, Israel, South Korea, Canada and Saudi Arabia. I find it very interesting that two countries with architecture influenced by Islam would flank the entrance to all the international pavilions once you pass the American showcase.

Noticeably missing are China and Norway. But then, so are the ones proposed in the future: Russia and Spain. Just goes to show how often the partnerships with foreign companies changed year to year. Wouldn't you love to see more of what was planned for these? Or even better, see them come to fruition?
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Special thanks to the History of Disney Theme Parks in Documents site for these images. 

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)