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Hotel
du Canada is a towering landmark that leads guests to the Canada pavilion
at Epcot World Showcase. The distinctive building, modeled after Ottawa’s
familiar Chateau Laurier, also boasts a Rocky Mountain and waterfall
backdrop.
Near the entrance to the pavilion, guests are often seen snapping photos
in the brilliant flower gardens, inspired by Victoria’s Butchart
Gardens.
The Canada pavilion is a mixture of rustic Native Indian villages, an
ornate French-flavored chateau, the Scottish influence of the Maritimes
and the ruggedness of the Canadian Rockies.
It combines authentic architectural designs, and features thirty-foot-high
totem poles which mark the Native Indian village where a log cabin and
its nearby northwest trading post carry out the northwoods theme. Gift
shops display authentic Canadian crafts, boutique items and a Roots
clothing store.
The flowered pathway leads into a mountain canyon where a 30-foot
waterfall cascades into a rushing stream. Rocky, pine-studded slopes
surround the shaft opening to the Maple Leaf Mine, the entrance to the
theater.
"O Canada" is a splendid visual tour of Canada’s scenic
wonders. The CircleVision 360 film is a motion picture technique that
surrounds viewers with Canadian snow geese by the thousands on an autumn
stopover near the St. Lawrence River; a chuckwagon race in the Calgary
Stampede (filmed from the buckboard); pine-covered mountains at Banff
National Park; reindeer in the Northwest Territories; Toronto’s
CN Tower, and the northern midnight sun.
Le Cellier Steakhouse is located in a chateau wine cellar that celebrates
the Canadian provinces and territories, featuring the flavors of Midwestern
seasoned steaks and seasonal Canadian seafood paired with wines and
beers of Canada, the border states and Europe.
The showcase introduces visitors to the traditions, culture and atmosphere
of the places that are most attractive to tourists in Canada. Off Kilter,
a Celtic rock band, entertains live at the Canada outdoor stage on the
promenade.
Many young people from Canada work in the pavilion and help to explain
their country to the world. Those included are students participating
in the World Fellowship Program who study management and the hospitality
industry under the direction of Disney professionals. These and others
brought to Walt Disney World Resort through a unique cultural program
are replaced by a new group of "ambassadors" each year.
The Canada pavilion features the largest World Showcase garden and the
most labor-intensive landscape. It was inspired by the Butchart Gardens
in British Columbia that were built by Jenny Butchart to beautify the
limestone pits dug by her husband’s cement company. Many seasonal
displays take place in this garden, including the chrysanthemum show
each fall. During the winter months, all flowers blooming in this pavilion
are white, giving the appearance of a Canadian snowfall. Throughout
the year, 154 rose bushes bloom in this garden. Removing spent blooms
in the Epcot rose gardens requires more than 400 hours per year!
Canada's Le Cellier Steakhouse is welcoming guests to a cozy restaurant
featuring "Canadian steakhouse" fare -- favorites such as
wild mushroom-stuffed filet or buffalo rib-eye served with parmesan
"smashed" potatoes. For fish lovers, there's maple-glazed
Canadian salmon. And for dessert, a special butterfinger mousse with
raspberry sauce satisfies any sweet tooth.
Pros
More and more businesses are expanding their sites to accommodate Canadian
consumers.
Cons
There are some products and services that are unavailable to Canadian
residents on the internet.
The Bottom Line
Although the internet is dominated by American web sites, most companies
are realizing the importance of International expansion...
Canada!
Why am I so excited? (Even though one exclamation mark doesn't show
too much excitement...) I've finally found a great place to sit a review
about my home country. I'm not going to talk about Medicare, or travelling
vacations...
If you go through the other Epinions in the Canada category, you will
find points such as beautiful scenery, animals, and friendly people.
Sure, all of those things are here, but there is also the Canadian internet
community aspect.
Although I love to live in Canada, there are some downsides, as well.
For instance, a lot of programs and internet services don't allow Canadian
residents to participate, or at least they make it harder for them to
receive the service or payment. For instance:
-- Paypal.com For the largest part of Paypal's existance, it has disallowed
Canadians to register, quoting there was no way to get past all the
taxes, through the banks, legal issues, etc. Recently, realizing they
were losing 30 million potential clients, they now accept Canadian residents.
However, they give a horrible conversion rate, and you have to have
more money in your Paypal account before you can redeem. They also state
this: An International Transaction Fee applies on all funds entering
or leaving the PayPal system from non-U.S. sources and is assessed at
the time of the transaction. (This means they are allowed to keep part
of the money for all the trouble they are going through.)
-- Even Epinions! Say it ain't so. Even our beloved Epinions.com has
certain stipulations to Canadian members (and all other international
countries.) such as: Canadian members must have $100 accumulated in
their accounts before redemption is available. Yes. Do you know how
hard it is to accumulate $100 in penny-clicks? I guess we can really
see who likes to write because of this! It's ten times as hard for Canadians
to get a cheque, than it is for Americans, who only have to accumulate
$10 before redemption is available to them.
-- Yahoo.com offers a classifieds service. They also have Yahoo.ca which
is the Canadian version of the site, who also put Classifieds as an
availability. However, when you go to register, you find that you can
only search through American ads. So, for all the internet-relationship
seekers out there, you're going to have use a different site, unless
you're interested in travelling a great deal. But, Kudos to Yahoo! for
the attempt to extend to Canadians!
Great Canadian Web Sites!
-- Canada.com ... You can't get more precise than that! There are horoscopes,
Canadian lottery results, TV Listings, Weather information, Maps...
All Canadian information.
-- Canada411.com... Oh yes. This is creepy. You can look up any address,
postal code, and phone number of a person, as long as you know their
last name. I'm not sure of the American web page version of this, but
I know there is one.
-- Mybc.com... Here you can look through the Yellowpages (of companies
right near you!) and they even give you walking or driving instructions!
Vancouver sport team schedules and information, etc.
Since I'm not American, I haven't had to look up personal information,
nor have I browsed to see if small towns have movie listings. I believe
that in Canada's search for identity, we've covered a lot of ground
on web page information. British Columbia has an extensive YellowPage
resource, and you can look up your favorite restaurants, or get listings
and directions for anything that would be in the regular YellowPages.
Although American companies dominate the internet right now, more and
more companies are rising to accomodate Canadian consumers as well.
Although I wish that every country would be considered on the internet,
I know it's not always profitable to ship to Timbucktu, and I do know
there are bank related costs to send international users. However, I
hope that soon all American internet companies realize that they may
have to spend a little more, but will end up with a lot more business
and clients by expanding to International users.
Pros
great 360 film, beautiful architecture and scenery, good entertainment
Cons
mysterious restaurant
Canada is a nation still very mysterious to most Americans. When asked
to picture our neighbor to the North, most visualize a scene from "Northern
Exposure." Major kudos to the imagineers at Epcot for exposing
visitors to the cultural and geographic diversity of Canada- this presentation
in the form of a 360 film, in combination with some beautiful architecture
and scenery, makes Canada a great Pavilion at Epcot Center.
The general design of Canada consists of several large stone buildings
with tall, inclined roofs-this architecture is similar to that of the
castles in Ottowa. Taking a wide staircase up to a higher level, visitors
walk through a Pavilion which is magnificently secluded from the main
Epcot walkways. Beautiful blue waterfalls and a calm lake invite visitors
to the 360 film tucked away in the far corner of this Pavilion. This
area is particularly attractive at night when dim lights create shadows
on the walls of the castles...very mood-setting.
The 360 film, entitled "O Canada!" presents a 20-minute view
to the many regions and peoples of this nation. The film starts with
a procession of Mounties performing a formation, but then continues
with lesser-known images. Visitors see the Pacific Northwest as one
would see it on a train voyage, and sky photos of the beautiful Victoria
and Vancouver. Also filmed were the rivers and ice masses of Central
Canada and the plains of the East. We see faces of people from many
ethnic groups and cultures. Of course, one is introduced to the bilingual
city of Montreal. As a nice touch, the theme song played with the film
is sung in both English and French. This was beautifully filmed, and
one should take the opportunity to turn around often during the film
to enjoy the many angles. Please note that there are no seats, just
handrails, and sitting is discouraged. However, you will wait no more
than 20 minutes to see the film.
Scattered among the streets of the Pavilion are some interesting vendors
selling some stereotypically Canadian items. One stand sells some attractive
leather bracelets and anklets, which you can have personalized at no
extra charge. Other vendors sell caramel apples, apple cider, and roasted
chestnuts, peanuts, and almonds.
The Canadian Pavilion is host to interesting performance groups. Most
notable is "Off-Kilter", a Scottish-Canadian rock band. Yes,
you read me correctly. Imagine some hard rockers wearing kilts, playing
the bagpipes alongside an electric guitar and a drum set. What a unique
sound! This is a lot of fun and should not be missed.
The only bizarre part of this Pavilion is the restaurant, Le Celier.
This restaurant is a little difficult to find, and very few people ever
mention this eatery. Those who have eaten here don't recall distinguishing
features or remarkable food. That's too bad-the atmosphere of this Pavilion
would be inviting of a great steak house.
Regardless, this is a fine Pavilion which makes one eager to take a
trip to the North. Educational in the spirit of the World Showcase,
older kids will enjoy the Pavilion, but younger kids will most likely
be bored. As for adults, you'll be happy you stopped by!
Pros
Great outdoor waterfalls, cool movie
Cons
No seating where it could be enjoyed most
Looking at the picture above, I was just thinking how much it looked
like a giant golf ball on a strange shaped tee. Don't drive just yet,
though, because this part of Epcot is much fun and has some great photo
opportunities.
The really great outdoors
A substantial part of the fun here is outdoors - though the distances
to be walked are small as Disney walking goes. You start down the path
past several areas of decorative plants representing gardens of Canada.
These were nice, but I don't remember them nearly as vividly as the
waterfalls that followed. The waterfalls are not quite Niagara sized,
but they offer some great photo opportunities. If there had been a comfortable
place to sit I would have loved to stare at the falling water and listen
to the sound. One other great thing is that the gift shops aren't the
first thing you see. It was a bit of a letdown to finish climbing the
multi level stairs and find the reward of reaching the plateau was a
gift shop though.
Lights, camera, action!
The other fun thing to see in Canada is the three hundred sixty degree
movie. You don't sit down, which makes it easier to see what's happening
on the screen behind you, but may still disappoint less energetic viewers
who have been walking around Disney for some time. The movie itself
is very enjoyable. I have to admit I can't remember much of an educational
nature, but I vividly remember the image of men riding on horseback
in formation it starts off with. We saw busy Canadian cities and unspoiled
wilderness. There was much emphasis on winter sports, which made wonderful
film as well. Although a few scattered images is all I really took away
from this movie, like all the Disney country movies it packs a great
deal into a fairly short time.
Pros
Variety of areas represented, gorgeous gardens, thrilling film in Circlevision
360
Cons
No seating in the theater
Epcot's Canada pavilion in Walt Disney World is one of the most beautiful
among the 11 countries featured in World Showcase. When I visited Canada
it was the last country I went to, and I was not in the least disappointed.
Several different facets of Canada are represented. These include a
Northwest Indian Village, a 19th century French chateau, and winding
streets of Quebec City.
The "center ring" of Canada is its film presentation, "O
Canada!". This is a Circlevision 360 film of the various lands
of Canada. The movie screen is a complete circle, enveloping the audience
so that wherever one looks, the film can be easily seen. The screen
is quite large, and the cinematography was achieved so that it seems
like the viewer is flying through the clear sky, looking down upon the
natural beauty which Canada has to offer. The emotions and feelings
expressed in this "fly-along" film are amazing and memorable.
There is a lovely theme song entitled "Canada, You're A Lifetime
Journey", which is pleasant to hear while viewing the different
aspects of the country.
The only hindrance about the film is that there is no seating available.
If a case is extreme, one may sit on the floor, but it is preferred
that everyone stand (therefore it is a good idea to visit Canada early
in your tour of World Showcase, so tired legs and feet won't give way
while viewing the film).
After the film is finished, visitors get to actually appreciate some
of Canada's beauty. Outside there is a rocky wall with splashing waterfalls
cascading down, and a tiny cottage can be seen among exquisitely beautiful
"Victorian Gardens". These flawless grounds boast what seems
to be a rolling carpet of grass, wonderfully kept trees, shrubbery,
and other plants, and the colorful flowers are breathtaking. There is
also a quaint fountain, and a peaceful lily pond.
Take advantage of these relaxing, lazy surroundings which glorify the
beauty of summertime in Canada.
Most American citizens do not know a great deal about Canada (we just
think they have to pay more for everything). Touring the Canada pavilion
in Epcot will give a whole new outlook on this unique foreign country,
and give an appreciation for America's neighbor. |
