The Norway Pavilion is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

-themed

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

that is part of the

World Showcase Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

, within

Epcot Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

in Orlando, Florida,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Its location is between the

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and China pavilions.

Layout

The Norway Pavilion is designed to look like a Norwegian village. The village includes a detailed reproduction

Stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ar ...

, with a statue of Olaf II Haraldsson out front, and the exterior of its main table-service restaurant, Restaurant Akershus, resembles its

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

in Oslo. The exhibit showcases 4 styles of Norwegian architecture:

Setesdal Setesdal (; older name: Sætersdal) is a valley and a traditional district in Agder County in southern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes. The Otra river flows through the ...

-style,

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

-style,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

-style and

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrativ ...

-style. Much of the pavilion is taken up by interconnected shops. These shops are decorated with large wooden

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...

s and sell assorted Norwegian goods, including clothing, candy, and statuettes of Norse gods and trolls. The courtyard of the pavilion contains the entrance to '' Frozen Ever After''. Kringla Bakeri og Kafé is a bakery, featuring assorted Norwegian pastries, such as cream horns and open-faced salmon sandwiches. The courtyard contains the entrance to Restaurant Akershus, featuring a hot and cold buffet and "Princess Storybook Dining." One former exhibit was a full-scale Viking ship, inspired by the famous Oseberg ship. Formerly a children's play area, the structure was removed in December 2008.

History

The Norway Pavilion is the most recent nation to be added to World Showcase. It soft-opened on May 6, 1988, but the grand opening did not occur until a month later, when

Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the li ...

(then Crown Prince) dedicated the pavilion in a ceremony that was broadcast live to Norway. The original idea was to create a Nordic Pavilion that would combine elements from various countries into one exhibit. Three countries were consulted, but it finally ended up with investors from Norway raising the US$30 million required to create an exclusive national pavilion. Disney contributed the other one-third of the construction cost. In 1992, the investors sold their stake to Disney. Since nearly as many people visit Epcot as live in Norway, the government felt it still was a good promotional tool for their tourism industry. The federal government continued to contribute US$200,000 annually for five years to help fund the exhibit. Renewed in 1997 for a further 5 years, the government stopped payments in 2002, against the recommendations from their American embassy. In September 2014, Disney officials announced that the

Maelstrom Maelstrom may refer to: * Maelstrom (whirlpool), a powerful whirlpool ** originally the Moskstraumen in English Amusement rides * Maelstrom (ride), a former log flume dark ride attraction in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort ...

attraction would be closed and renovated into a new attraction based upon the company's hit animated film, '' Frozen''. Frozen Ever After, which opened in 2016, features the same ride vehicles and basic course of the original attraction, but with scenes inspired by the film and the ''

Frozen Fever ''Frozen Fever'' is a 2015 American computer-animated musical fantasy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. A follow-up to the 2013 feature film '' Frozen'', the short follows Elsa as she at ...

'' animated short. Due to the popularity and immediate fan base ''Frozen'' drew, plans to add the "Frozen Ever After" attraction to the Norway pavilion were set with a very short construction time, this is a major reason why the attraction will so closely resemble the "Maelstrom" attraction previously in its place. The addition of "Frozen Ever After" is intended to bring more attention to Epcot, as well as the Scandinavian culture represented throughout the Norway pavilion.

Attractions and services

Attractions: * Frozen Ever After (June 21, 2016 - present) * Anna & Elsa's ''Royal Sommerhus'' (June 21, 2016 - present) * DuckTales World Showcase Adventure (Opening December 16, 2022 - present) Former Attractions: *

(July 5, 1988 - October 5, 2014) * Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure (January 28, 2009 - May 18, 2012) *Agent P World Showcase Adventure (June 23, 2012 - February 17, 2020) Dining: * Kringla Bakeri og Kafe * Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Disney Princess Character Dining) Shopping: * The Puffin's Roost * The Wandering Reindeer Entertainment: *

Stave Church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ar ...

Gallery houses an exhibit on Norwegian culture and Norse mythology.

References

External links

Walt Disney World Resort - Stave Church Gallery

Walt Disney World Resort - Frozen Ever After

Walt Disney World Resort - Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Norway Pavilion Photo Gallery
{{Epcot Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Epcot Norwegian-American culture World Showcase Amusement parks opened in 1988 1988 establishments in Florida

Layout

History

Attractions and services

See also

References

External links