I’ve written several pieces in the past about those Disney fan sites that publish articles with ridiculous clickbait headlines to nothingburger stories. They’re stupid sites, but I can’t look away because of the car-crash fascination that they bring.
I get plenty of mileage from these sites because they try to blame anything that goes wrong at Walt Disney World on Republicans. These are the sites that run headlines like “Reedy Creek Firefighters Will No Longer Answer Calls For Help From Disney World.” The reason Reedy Creek isn’t servicing Disney World is because Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) changed the name of the district. Authors at these sites headed for their fainting couches because the state government began inspecting the Walt Disney World Monorail System and tried to blame the cancellation of a Disney project on DeSantis when the company pulled the plug as a cost-cutting measure.
On Tuesday morning, I saw a headline at one of these sites that read, “Under President Trump, EPCOT’s Canada Pavilion Sees Permanent Change.” The featured image for this article is a collage of a smirking Donald Trump next to an image of Epcot’s Spaceship Earth attraction.
“As President Trump spurs heated conflict with Canada, Walt Disney World Resort is making changes to its depiction of the United States’ Northern neighbor,” reports Inside the Magic. “According to recent reports, mystery building and demolition are ongoing in the Canada World Showcase Pavilion at EPCOT.”
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Based on that lede, you might be tempted to think that Disney is building a 51st State pavilion, a tribute to the Freedom Convoy, or a dark ride called Justin Trudeau’s Scary Adventures in Authoritarianism. There’s always a chance that Trump could be building a wall to keep the Canadian cast members from sneaking over to The American Adventure, eh?
Inside the Magic waits until the third paragraph to tell the truth. The construction that’s taking place at the Canada pavilion began in 2023. Disney hasn’t announced any updates, changes, or new attractions, and the gossipy fan site writers can’t stand it. GASP! They don’t know what’s happening, so the construction must be Trump’s doing even though it began when [checks notes] Joe Biden was in the White House.
Disney is constantly changing its parks and resorts. That’s a mindset that began with Walt Disney himself. Guests don’t always like the changes, especially when a beloved attraction goes away, but the company always seeks to “plus” its theme parks, to borrow Walt’s term.
The second paragraph of the article is a non-sequitur that engages in more asinine speculation. It’s not related to Canada or Trump, which makes it even weirder.
“The latest updates come amid other unannounced changes at EPCOT, like the removal of two international soda flavors from Club Cool in the World Celebration neighborhood,” the article states, apropos of nothing. “China’s Sour Plum Tea and the Philippines’ Royal Wattamelon soda recently disappeared from the international tasting stations, leading some Disney Parks fans to wonder if Walt Disney World Resort is shifting focus from its landscape of global cultures and flavors.”
Coca-Cola features several of its international flavors at the Club Cool lounge, and the company cycles different flavors out of the rotation periodically. This has been the case as long as Club Cool has been a part of Epcot, so it’s stupid to say that Disney is “shifting focus from its landscape of global cultures and flavors” just because two flavors are going away.
Just because Canada is pouting over Trump’s rhetoric and tariff threats doesn’t mean that Disney is letting the Trump administration gut the Canada pavilion at Epcot. But I can’t help but wonder what will become of the pavilion when Canada becomes our 51st state.
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