Daily Figment 69 - Epcot Center History Morocco

Morocco is the most unique of the Epcot Center pavilions in several ways:

• It is the sole pavilion that does not have a corporate sponsorship,


• It has always carried sole sponsorship from the Moroccan government, and


• The King of Morocco sent his personal craftsmen to Epcot to do the tile work before the pavilion was opened in 1984.

The artisans followed strict religious tenets while working on the Pavilion. They ensured that every mosaic created had at least one cracked or damaged tile included, due to the belief that only Allah could create something perfect. Depictions of living creatures were also excluded due to Allah's sole responsibility for creating life. The royal craftsmen are are also responsible for the paintings and carvings guests see throughout the pavilion.

Another distinguishing factor is Morocco's exclusion from the Illuminations celebration. Because of the religious significance of the two prayer towers, the Chellah and the Koutoubia, which are replicas of the ones in the towns of Marrakech and Rabat, Illuminations does not spotlight the pavilion, nor does the barge in the lagoon spell out the name.

It is also one of the few places in Walt Disney World where you can catch Aladdin, Jasmine, Jafar and the Genie.

The images on this post are from pp. 156-157 of the Gardens of the Walt Disney World Resort: A photographic tour of the themed gardens of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center and other resort areas. Copyright 1988 by the Walt Disney Company.