26 November 2008

In an orderly fashion

The current population of China stands at, roughly, 1.3 billion people. That number is not only staggering to try to imagine in one’s imagination, it is also impossibly difficult to understand how cramped a single person could feel in that environment if they have never visited the country. One challenge that Imagineers faced while planning the China Pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase was how to bring that sense of overcrowding to the guest experience.As guest exit Reflections of China, previously Wonders of China, they make their way back towards the entrance of the pavilion via Xing Fu Jie, or Street of Good Fortune. This passageway was intentionally designed to be smaller than the average number of guests leaving any particular showing of the film, thus recreating that claustrophobic crowding sensation found throughout the cities of China.

However, if one were to move through Xing Fu Jie at too rapid a pace, they just might find themselves overlooking a particular tempting place to spend the night in World Showcase.

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