Distinctly Unpatriotique Changes for “Impressions de France”
Walt Disney World has quietly made significant reductions to the showtimes of Impressions de France, while also scheduling it at about the most inconvenient time of day possible. This post will share details, our commentary, and a quick call to action.
According to Walt Disney World’s new operating schedule, Impressions de France now officially opens at 9 am and closes at 9:30 am each day. The Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along now runs the rest of the day from 10 am until 8:45 pm.
Interestingly, Impressions de France is also listed as operating during Early Theme Park Entry at Walt Disney World on its attraction page, meaning it’s open for on-site resort hotel guests from 8:30 am to 9 am. This update is not yet been reflected on the Early Entry page, but it stands to reason that this change is correct.
Prior to this change, Impressions de France had been shown from 7:30 pm until park closing each day. This certainly was not the ideal schedule, but it actually worked pretty well for us. We frequently caught one of its later showings and then exited in time to grab a spot for Harmonious in the Japan pavilion or back by the Remy topiary near the Metro entrance, which offers a surprisingly good view of the pyro.
With this, the 18-minute long Impressions de France should have 3 daily showtimes, with only 1 of those realistically being watchable by off-site guests. That would require arriving at park opening, and booking it to the back of the park to rope drop the France pavilion–but not do the headliner attraction, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, while its wait times are manageable.
This change is distinctly unpatriotique. To borrow another phrase from Sam Eagle, it amounts to “a salute to all nations, but mostly America.” Well, scratch the “all” nations part. It’s a minor salute to France (or major poke in the eye), plus a major salute to the American-made Beauty and the Beast.
There are several odd aspects of this story, and the first is giving even more showtimes to the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along. For those who are unfamiliar with it, see our post: We Ranked All 88 Attractions at Walt Disney World. This sing-along is #88, with those rankings concisely describing it as an “offensively bad piece of revisionist lore that spews forth the untold story of LeFou, which should have remained that way. Far worse than a direct-to-video sequel, and proof that fanfic authors might someday see their awful dreams turned into our painful realities.”
For the longer winded version, see New EPCOT Film Review: The Good & The Ugly. (Spoiler: it’s the ugly one!) This is not our bias speaking as diehard fans of Impressions de France. That sing-along is one of the worst things I’ve ever had to endure at any Disney park anywhere. I don’t say this lightly: it’s worse than Dino-Rama.
The Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along is also not particularly popular. It’s not like this is drawing huge crowds or lines, and I refuse to believe it’s scoring well on guest satisfaction surveys or families are clamoring to see it late at night. I might be cynical, but I have not lost complete faith in humanity. I realize young children like odd things, but even they have better taste than this. Playing in a cardboard box is exponentially superior to the sing-along.
As far as further commentary goes, this reminds me of what I wrote back in early 2020 when the reduced showtimes for Impressions de France were first revealed. For years, it has seemed like a foregone conclusion that Impressions de France’s days were numbered. At first, it was feared the theater would be consumed by the expansion of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. When it was granted a reprieve from that, many figured it was only a matter of time before that needed the space, either for a shop or supporting offering to help with crowds.
When the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along was announced, it was a shock that the new offering would alternate showings with Impressions de France. Even when that announcement was made, I assumed it’d be a year or less until a blog post with, “due to its overwhelming popularity and feedback from our guests, the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along will now have even more showtimes so more guests can enjoy this beloved attraction…”
Three years ago, I wrote that it was an “inevitability” that the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along would overtake Impressions de France at some point. Granted, I had not been subjected to the sing-along at that point, so I didn’t realize that it would make Stitch’s Great Escape look like a masterpiece of Imagineering.
When I first learned about the March 2023 showtime change for Impressions de France, my reaction was similar. Perhaps the late showtimes proved too popular and didn’t support the preordained conclusion park operations wanted to reach–that Impressions de France should be retired. Surely, moving it to first thing in the morning would do the trick.
That’s distinctly unpatriotique (are there even matinees in France? I cannot imagine the French getting up early for entertainment) and a death sentence for the film, as it cannot compete with Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure as rope drop attractions. It will be playing to empty houses. (On a related note, I’m surprised the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along even opened this early before–no other films in World Showcase do.)
Then I got thinking more about this, and started questioning the premise of my assumption that someone at Walt Disney World wants to kill Impressions de France. Disney finds ways to contort its guest survey and visitor data to reach predetermined conclusions all the time. Things happen “by popular guest demand” all the time that most definitely were not demanded by anyone, let alone a large chunk of guests.
There are thus two possibilities. The first is that there was simply no way to massage the numbers and guest feedback to reach a conclusion that ending Impressions de France is what guests wanted. This could be because it does stronger per show numbers, has higher guest satisfaction scores, or both.
None of that would surprise me. I’m not kidding or exaggerating with my criticism of the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along. It is atrocious. Even regular guests, who tend to be much more forgiving of anything with their favorite characters, likely recognize this.
The second possibility is that Walt Disney World can’t end Impressions de France without additional consequences. Back while researching our post about cultural representatives returning to EPCOT, I spent an inordinate amount of time reading legislation and law review articles about the work visas used in World Showcase. That research was overkill for the article, but I found it fascinating.
In any case, one of the things that stuck with me was that the purpose of the visas that Walt Disney World uses are for “sharing of the history, culture, and traditions of the country” of their nationality. This made me wonder whether Cast Members who are assigned exclusively to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure or the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along can qualify for that visa.
In other words, Impressions de France might be sticking around not because Disney wants to keep it, but because they need to keep it as a means of complying with the visas used for cultural representatives. This is purely speculative on my part–it’s something that I suspect might be true, and that would make sense to me, but I don’t have any insight one way or the other.
If the second scenario is accurate, Impressions de France is safe, albeit at an incredibly inconvenient time. If the former is correct, it can be “saved” with further feedback from guests. Either way, we strongly recommend that fans of the film share with Walt Disney World how they feel about this scheduling change.
Whenever appropriate, we recommend that guests respectfully express disappointment and explain how the company’s decisions and practices will impact your vacations with Walt Disney World by emailing [email protected].
If you’re going to visit EPCOT and were planning to see Impressions de France but are disappointed by inconvenient showtimes, address it when participating in guest satisfaction surveys, bring it up if you speak with managers or others in park leadership, or even proactively contact Guest Relations to politely let them know how you feel.
“Respectfully” and “politely” are the operative words here for a reason. While an irate rant might make you feel better, it’s not the route to take if your goal is effectuating change. We’ve seen and heard way too many guests offer snide or sarcastic feedback; venting can be cathartic, but that’s about it. “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” is a cliche, but it’s also one that a disturbing number of adults don’t seem to grasp.
Given all of the negative changes and guest unfriendly policies that Walt Disney World has enacted in the last couple of years, it might seem like the company no longer cares about guest satisfaction and feedback. It’s probably true that there are some at the highest levels of leadership who don’t, or focus more on objective KPIs, but there most certainly are leaders on the ground in Florida who care. In many cases, it’s simply a matter of them being able to show “support” when fighting for things, budgets, etc.
Ultimately, we know this is a lengthy post and odd standalone topic for a “simple” scheduling change. However, we felt it was worth writing about for a couple of reasons. First, because the last time we covered the schedule change–back in early 2020–that post garnered 65 comments, many coming from frustrated fans who love Impressions de France.
Clearly many of the bright and beautiful readers of this blog enjoy Impressions de France and would want to know about this news. It’s also possible that feedback from the community has helped Impressions de France stick around for the 3 years since.
Second, we’re sharing out of selfishness. We see Impressions de France more than we do literally any other attraction in EPCOT. We’ve made a concerted effort to visit every one of its filming locations in France (that’s us in the photo above, recreating the scene in the photo above that). We’re probably the closest thing Impressions de France has to super fans, and I will never hesitate to use this blog as a platform for pro-Impressions de France propaganda.
In my defense, our motives are pure of heart. Impressions de France is the best film-based attraction in EPCOT, almost completely timeless (only a couple of 80s outfits), as well as a beautiful and effective ‘sales pitch’ for visiting France. By contrast, the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along is an abomination to which no one should be subjected. So really, this post isn’t just selfish–it’s an act of community service, warning friends who might otherwise unwittingly see the sing-along. 😉
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the scheduling change for Impressions de France? Will this make it difficult or impossible for you to watch the best film in EPCOT? Worried that this means more guests will accidentally be subjected to the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m so disappointed by this and will definitely be sending a note to WDW about it. I love impressions de France and it’s truly what Epcot is supposed to be about!
I think a third potential scenario for why this is happening is that there’s internal politicking on the “Everybody plays LeFou sometimes” BatB sing-along. It’s someone’s baby, their passion project (likely an influential person), and management knows it needs to be killed or totally reimagined due to attendance and satisfaction issues. During this debate an argument was made that scores and attendance are lower because it doesn’t play all day long, so someone in charge said “fine, we’ll play it all day long for 3 months to prove it’s truly a failure”.
Or in a similar note, maybe they’re just doing this to prove to the execs that budget for a new/reimagined show – or a re-shoot of Impressions de France” – is necessary (imagine the internal meeting where they say “this old movie is playing at the worst time imaginable and still draws far more guests per show than the expensive-to-produce sing-along”).
Thus, I see this as the beginning of the end for the current iteration of the BatB show. If Harmonious can be (justifiably) quashed there’s no reason other than corporate politics that they’d keep this disaster going indefinitely.
Also, wait…Tom and Sarah, did you commandeer a French dog for that photo recreation above???
Color me skeptical, but I certainly hope your theory is correct!
“Also, wait…Tom and Sarah, did you commandeer a French dog for that photo recreation above?”
Good catch. Yes, we did.
Not only did a French woman we just met let us borrow her dog for the photo, but she invited us to her home afterwards for drinks. Ranks up there as one of our wilder travel stories.
And another thing that makes Impressions de France superior is its incredible soundtrack. I mean, sure, I can listen to Ravel and Debussy and Saint-Saens on my own time, but it’s just BETTER in the dark theater with the beautiful visuals and intangible Disney magic. Definitely writing in about this one!
It’s our must do attraction each visit. Honestly enjoyed it more than our actual visit to France and don’t get me started on how awful Disneyland Paris was!
I’m not normally big on the films, but Impressions de France was the best. I went multiple times the last time I was at Epcot.
I’ve sent off an email politely explaining why this is not a suitable showtime. We made a point of seeing the film on our last trip to EPCOT in Oct/22. (I will say that the theatre was largely empty except for us). We were disappointed on that trip not to be able to see the new Canada film because they were using the theatre as a food & wine booth, so I mentioned that as well. Odd that they spent the money for a new film & then close it down for months to serve food in the theatre – they could surely locate the booth outside! I mentioned that in my email as well. FWIW.
Tom,
I sent WDW a note, highlighting that this would mean it would be open only 4% of a 12-hour park day and asking that they consider opening it for at least 2 of the 12 hours, since it is one of the half-dozen EPCOT attractions that holds the most appeal to my family.
Your site is great. I used to love Josh Humphrey’s insights and wit and found your site after Josh sadly passed away. I think of your site as being an extension, of sorts, of his, at least in spirit.
Keep up the good work! It is much-appreciated!
Jeff
Your rants are so much fun to read, even if the news you’re bringing is most unwelcome. We have very few must dos in the parks anymore (we’re there 2-3 times a year), but Impressions de France is definitely one of them. It just makes me happy. I look for you every time we’re there just so I can tell you I enjoy your work. 🙂 I’ll be emailing Disney right now.
UPDATE:
In response to my email, I got the following response:
“Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort and for being one of our valued Annual Passholders!
We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and are sorry for the disappointments you mentioned in your e-mail regarding (***REFERENCE WHAT DISPLEASED THE GUEST***). . . .”
I feel so heard. Lol.
I remember liking Impressions de France the last time I saw it, but it wasn’t ever high on my list to catch. However, I really don’t get the hate for the Beauty and the Beast show. We saw it for the first time in 2021 and, while it wasn’t my favorite thing of the day, I don’t remember actively hating it. Maybe I just missed something and was napping in the middle of the day…
I guess on the bright side you no longer have to choose between seeing this movie and getting a good spot for the nighttime spectacular. If you’re a high information park visitor like the readers of this blog, maybe it’s actually better to be able to ropedrop Impressions de France and free up time for Harmonious. Your theory about Disney having to keep the film in order to keep importing employees from France is an interesting one, but it makes me wonder how closing Maelstrom and replacing it with Frozen Ever After might have affected the visa status of Norwegian cultural ambassadors. Without the Norwegian boat ride, I don’t think there’s much at Epcot anymore that conveys anything about Norwegian culture.
There might just be someone at Disney who really likes Impressions de France and keeps on fighting to keep it, just like how a couple of years ago Nintendo inexplicably released a full English remake of the late-80s point-and-click adventure series Famicom Detective Club, almost completely unknown in the US, without even bothering to give it a marketable name or update the old fashioned gameplay bound to frustrate modern players. As someone with experience with huge bureaucracies, it’s easy for me to see how the personal tastes of one influential person in the organization could have an outsized impact on operations.
I was struggling to find time for it even with the evening shows – I’d have loved for it to be a breather during the heat of the afternoon, as I could never manage to be in France after sunset with the way I worked my way through Epcot. I’ve been compiling a list of things I need to email Disney about, and this is yet another one. I wonder if it’d be better to send them individually or combine them…
It seems an email is necessary either way, because most of the surveys they send are so targeted – I spent 30 questions answering why I didn’t eat breakfast in the parks on my last one and didn’t get to say a thing about rides.
Seems like Disney is intent on destroying the things that made EPCOT so great, which were the educational aspects. Let’s turn everything into a flagrant promotion of a Disney movie, or another boring roller coaster.
I really miss “Impressions de France”, especially the scene at the end where Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony is played while ‘climbing’ the Eifel Tower. Current show times are really unusable. IMO, it is the best film in EPCOT. Since it is not so popular, we have never had to wait to get a seat. Always plenty of good seats available. Better than B&TB sing-along by far.
Those gorgeous pictures from inside the theatre reminded me of something I totally missed when it actually happened. Impressions de France was upgraded to 4K in 2020, but it got lost in the news of first the new schedule, then the pandemic closing down WDW. I only found out about it myself when doing some personal research into Circle-Vison 360 and related films.
That’s got to be one reason it’s sticking around; some awesome people remastered that film and it would be bad business to not try and get some return off of that investment. (Sometimes one hand not knowing what the other one is doing works out well!)
Impressions de France, along with the films in the other country pavilions are for me a must do on every trip to Epcot. Impressions de France, while it could use to be updated reminds me of my trips to Paris and makes me want to visit areas of France I haven’t had the opportunity to visit yet. While I love Beauty and the Beast as a film, I would like to see a better distribution of showings between the 2 films. I visit Epcot for the country pavilions. If I want character experiences, I head to Magic Kingdom.
I sent Disney an email with feedback that I hope they would consider adding back more times for Impressions de France. I’m not going to hold out hope, but perhaps if they get enough feedback they might reconsider.
As the World Showcase becomes more a showcase of Disney’s movies and less an opportunity to appreciate different cultures, this loss of Impressions de France showtimes was inevitable. Soon, China will be a Mulan sing-along, Mexico will dump the Three Amigos and be a showcase of Coco and Encanto, etc. When I worked with French international-program cast members, they would often joke about how the film didn’t depict the France they lived in. Even so, after my own numerous trips to France, I’ve always found the film beautiful, enjoyable, and relevant.
Having Impressions only be shown at almost unwatchable times (it was already difficult for me to get over there in the evening) is the opposite of what International Showcase was meant to do, educate guests on the culture of a country. Disney has made so many bad decisions in the last ten years. Another bad take by their corporate ghouls.
Interesting insight and thank-you! As someone who loves France and watched all changes to France Pavilion including doing a RunDisney run through back area as it was first opened I love that part of Epcot. However I really miss seeing the film and have no interest in the cartoonish sing a long. Every time I go we try to figure out how to see it and next time they send me a survey I am going to add it to my list of complaints…..along with not making it worth the money to be an annual pass holder anymore.
Impressions de France is one of my favorite attractions at Disney World (along with Soarin’). When I last went to Disney in March 2022, I was disappointed that it was shown only in the evening, but I watched it after dinner. Viewing the countryside and castles in the Impressions de France movie was what led me to book a river cruise along and Seine to Normandy and to visits chateaus of France. (In previous trips to France, we had only gone to Paris and to Versailles). I am extremely disappointed that Disney moved the Impressions de France attraction to early morning, when I try to get in a run at Soarin before the crowds. I also like the movies in China and Canada, but Impressions de France is my favorite.
How can we convince Disney to give us more hours to watch Impressions de France.
I have no interest in the Beauty and the Beast sing along.
“Viewing the countryside and castles in the Impressions de France movie was what led me to book a river cruise along and Seine to Normandy and to visits chateaus of France.”
Same–minus the river cruise, although that’s on our list!
I don’t think this is even on most people’s radar lol. Certainly not on mine. I assume more people like to watch the beauty and beast show, hence the change.
I doubt it’s on many fan’s radars. I’m certainly not claiming that “Impressions de France” is one of the most popular attractions at Walt Disney World…or even in the top 40. But I’m also skeptical that the sing-along is even remotely popular (it’s clearly not based on crowds alone).
You’re obviously welcome to your assumption. If you ask me, it’s pretty bold to assume, after everything that has happened in the last 3 years, that changes at Disney are motivated solely by popularity and demand. 😉
@Tom – lol very true- it’s definitely not all based on popularity. For the record I would much prefer the movie about france- my sons wouldn’t be caught dead in a beauty and the beast sing along .
Also are you suggesting that there wasn’t a high demand for a half broken fastpass app that is expensive? I dunno 😉