October 3, 2025

Images of Disney's Israel Showcase at Epcot

An Israel pavilion in World Showcase at Epcot? There's been talk for decades and images and plans and models. But it will never happen. Is world politics getting in the way? Are fans disinterested in this kind of edutainment? As far as politics go, unfortunately, this is no longer the kind of world where people can act sanely. I mean, if you sit in the Hall of Presidents, you get people who curse and vocalize their disdain to Audio-Animatronic robots. Not even real live people. I can only imagine how the same kind of folks would react to a pavilion based on Israel, Iran, or somewhere else that seems to be a hotbed of controversy.

The Millennium Village contained a small exhibit highlighting the country. That's a photo of it from the turn of the century. (That sounds funny to say as in Disney speak, it's come to describe Main Street U.S.A!)

Even though initial agreements for an Israel location in Epcot were signed in 1980, the tensions between this nation and the countries surrounding it in the real world became cause for concern. Some Walt Disney Company executives thought this new build could become a target for terrorism. They might have been right.


But what the Imagineers designed could have been really beautiful! There's a common thought that some of the very best work these artists have ever done still sits locked away in the vaults of Burbank. Never built but never forgotten.


Announcements and advertisements, concept art and billboards, even the beginning of construction means nothing these days. Can you list the projects that never materialized? Of course you can. That's what we fans do!

Will plans ever be considered in the future? Who knows? This is the company that builds theme parks in places we'd never imagine 50 years ago... like Mainland China (Shanghai Disneyland) and now in the Middle East with Disneyland Abu Dhabi. 

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)
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