Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
Walking around the 1.2-mile promenade of EPCOT’s World Showcase is a masterclass in architectural consistency. Ever since the Norway Pavilion made its grand debut back in May 1988, the permanent lineup of 11 international nations has remained entirely frozen in time. Despite decades of massive, multi-million-dollar transformations sweeping across the front of the park, the global promenade has stood as an untouchable historical time capsule.
But what if you were told that Disney actually broke ground on a 12th country—and that a piece of it has been sitting right in front of millions of guests every single year, hidden completely in plain sight?
To discover how Disney hid an entire nation, you have to look past the standard festival food booths and character meet-and-greets, tracing a bizarre path back to the park’s opening day in 1982. As theme park historians frequently whisper, a fabled piece of unbuilt Disney history is fully active right now, serving as a functional testament to an international expansion that never was.
The Legend of the “Lost Danish Potties”
The architectural mystery centers on a phenomenon affectionately known by insiders as the “Lost Danish Potties” of World Showcase. When EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982, a curious layout anomaly existed on the wide plot of undeveloped forest located between the Mexico and China pavilions. Sitting entirely alone against the tree line was a free-standing, highly detailed guest restroom facility.
These weren’t just standard, utilitarian theme park restrooms. They were meticulously crafted with intricate, rustic Nordic design flourishes and heavy timber elements. At the time, everyday guests simply assumed it was a standalone comfort station designed to break up the long trek around the lagoon. In reality, it was the opening infrastructure phase of a massive expansion plan: the unbuilt Denmark Pavilion.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Walt Disney Productions was aggressively negotiating with international governments and major global corporations to secure sponsorships for World Showcase. Denmark’s concept was so far along in the creative pipeline that Imagineers went ahead and installed the massive subterranean plumbing network, electrical mains, and structural foundations for the pavilion’s back end before the park’s opening day.
Original blueprints reveal that the Denmark Pavilion was designed to feature a miniaturized Tivoli Gardens (the historic Copenhagen pleasure gardens), exclusive flat rides like carousels and a Ferris wheel, and a LEGO Boat Ride developed in deep talks with the iconic Danish toy company.
The 1988 Norwegian Annexation
Unfortunately, the grand corporate and diplomatic partnerships fell apart at the eleventh hour. When negotiations with the Danish government and LEGO hit a financial impasse, Disney pivoted, attempting to patch together a multi-national “Scandinavia” pavilion to split the operating costs.
Eventually, Denmark dropped out of the conversation entirely. Norway, however, stepped up to underwrite the venture fully, culminating in the grand opening of the Norway Pavilion in 1988.
When Imagineers constructed the Norwegian village—including the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall—they didn’t demolish the lonely standalone bathrooms that had been sitting there since 1982. Instead, they cleverly built the new Norwegian facades right around them, effectively annexing the Danish plumbing into Norway’s modern borders.
To this day, when you walk to the very back of the Norway Pavilion to use the restrooms near Anna and Elsa’s Royal Sommerhus, you are stepping onto infrastructure physically engineered for Denmark over 44 years ago.
The Fan Ultimatum: Colombia, Greece, Australia, and Brazil
While the history of the unbuilt Denmark pavilion remains a legendary piece of park trivia, modern Disney guests are growing increasingly restless. It has been nearly four decades since a completely new country was added to the World Showcase promenade. With multiple blank expansion pads sitting empty around the lagoon, the fan community has issued a collective ultimatum, loudly demanding a true 12th nation.
Four specific countries consistently dominate the international conversation as the ultimate choices for a modern EPCOT expansion:
- Colombia: Fueled by the massive popularity of Encanto, fans envision a breathtaking, colorful village defined by a fully realized, kinetic Casita Madrigal housing a cutting-edge trackless dark ride, alongside an authentic coffee hacienda.
- Greece: For EPCOT traditionalists, Greece remains the ultimate dream. A Greek pavilion would offer striking, sun-bleached Cycladic architecture, an elegant Mediterranean taverna, and a high-tech attraction exploring ancient Greek mythology and history.
- Australia: Representing an entire continent that currently has zero permanent real estate inside the park, fans pitch a sweeping Outback wilderness exploration trail and a Great Barrier Reef interactive walk-through component.
- Brazil: Long considered the “holy grail” of rumored EPCOT additions due to the massive volume of South American tour groups that visit the resort, a Brazilian showcase would feature a festive Carnaval street show, a traditional churrascaria steakhouse, and an indoor Amazon Rainforest dark ride.
A World Waiting to Expand
Whether Disney ever breaks ground on a true 12th nation remains to be seen, but the canvas is laid out, wired, and waiting. Until then, the fabled “Lost Danish Potties” hiding in plain sight behind Norway’s stone walls will continue to serve as a fascinating reminder of the global worlds that almost were.
