During our trip earlier this year, I wanted to spend a little more time in World Showcase, and go a bit deeper into the pavilions. When mentioning some (or all) of the pavilions in World Showcase, one common park touring theme is “unless we’re visiting a specific shop or dining location, or maybe a show, we pass right by.” Or maybe it’s a quick stop, then keep going. This is certainly understandable, given all there is to do and see in EPCOT and how you have to budget your time.
But you probably know that you see very little of World Showcase from the promenade. I certainly found that out in May. This is a continuation of my previous EPCOT post, where I spent a little while in the China pavilion. Our next stop is Morocco.
If I had to guess, I’d say the Morocco pavilion is probably the most overlooked World Showcase pavilion. This is a purely un-scientific guess, based on our experience and watching other park guests walk right on by.
Each World Showcase pavilion brings something different to the table. The Morocco pavilion is stunning in detail. And some of the details are hiding in plain sight.
So I set out to soak in some of the finer details of World Showcase, and also look for places to shoot later that night. The Morocco pavilion didn’t disappoint.
the tile work throughout is stunning
Shooting in the World Showcase in the late afternoon, specifically in the Morocco pavilion, was a good move.
Later that night, at the end of Illuminations, I made my way around World Showcase, going against the traffic of everyone wanting to leave the park.The Morocco pavilion was empty – and really quiet.
chances are you’ll find this place pretty quiet during the day
a great place to sit a while, any time of day
This is something I’ll definitely do again if given the chance.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my setup wasn’t sophisticated at all. I had my Nikon D5300, a Promaster folding tabletop tripod, and a Nikon ML-L3 wireless remote.
In order to shoot long exposures (in this case 30 seconds), you have to have a tripod or something to hold the camera. Otherwise you’ll end up with a blurry mess. To avoid shaking the camera after getting setup on the tripod and getting dialed in, a wireless remote is a good idea, or you could wind up with just enough vibration to aggravate you.
Some cameras now work with iPhone and Android remote apps! Long exposures are easier at night – no filters or anything like that, unless you want to get really fancy. And long exposures will have the tendency to “ghost out” people who walk through as you’re shooting. I actually had that happen in one of these shots – let me know if you can spot which one.
I set my camera to Shutter Priority mode, let the camera pick the aperture, and set the ISO to 100 in the hopes of getting the cleanest pictures I could. I used Lightroom 5 to make all the edits, and it was pretty easy.
I didn’t take many shots here – the goal wasn’t to stay until security ran me out of the park. I wanted to shoot a few things, then get back to the resort. Maybe someday I’ll stay super late.
Here’s the bottom line: these shots from EPCOT were pretty solid, given my skill level. Getting these wasn’t hard since I’d practiced setting up and using the small tripod and remote.
Do you have some World Showcase photos you’d like to share? Send them in!
Since going to Walt Disney World and Disneyland at a young age, Chris has always enjoyed Disney music, TV shows, movies, and trips to Walt Disney World. But his appreciation of the overall Disney experience has greatly increased over the last few years. While waiting for the next chance to work on his Disney photography skills, Chris passes the time listening to Park/Resort audio, WDW podcasts, and checking out the work of other Disney photographers. To Chris, there are no bad Disney trip photographs or photographers.
Non-Disney pursuits include spending time with his wife and children, watching and listening to baseball broadcasts, and cheering for the Chicago Cubs and LSU. Chris is a third generation professional engineer in Louisiana, working mainly on asbestos, lead, mold and demolition projects. Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWhitePE and you can check out his Flickr photo stream: chris_white2323.
