All About Norway in Epcot’s World Showcase
Norway is an Epcot World Showcase pavilion at Walt Disney World, which is home to the popular Frozen Ever After attraction. In this post, we’ll share some tips and info about shopping, dining, attractions, and entertainment at the Norway pavilion.
Our intention here is to mostly focus on shopping and architecture, since we cover the attractions, entertainment, and dining in other posts. We think shopping is one of the overlooked aspects of World Showcase, with many guests assuming that if they don’t want to buy anything, the shops don’t hold a lot of appeal.
To be honest, this described our mentality until our recent trip to Walt Disney World when we did a Figment World Showcase scavenger hunt (of all things). During this, we spent much more time in the World Showcase gift shops than we normally do, and took a harder look at the design and details.
The idea for this post was born there; I’m still not sure whether this is actually an interesting topic, but I figured I’d at least test the water…
Architecture
The Norway pavilion is the “newest” country in World Showcase in May 1988. It’s designed as pastiche of several Norwegian towns. The most notable architectural influences are from Gol Stave Church and Akershus Fortress & Castle both of which are located in the capital city of Oslo.
Going deeper into the pavilion, Kringla Bakeri og Kafe and Puffin’s Roost are both based upon traditional folksy styles of farmsteads found in the Setesdal Valley. (Really, similar inspiration could be found in just about any part of rural Norway.)
Continuing on, I believe the Fjording Shop entrance emulates a building from Old Bergen Museum, while the taller buildings next to that are based upon the famous Hanseatic League storefronts from Bryggen Wharf, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (also in Bergen).
The entrance to Frozen Ever After draws upon the gothic-meets-Art Nouveau style of Ã…lesund. Despite the range in the architecture, Imagineering managed to weave this all together to make it look like an intimate village in Norway.
Attractions, Entertainment & Dining
As mentioned at the outset, we’re going to be brief on attractions, entertainment, and dining…even though these are the reasons most people are going to visit the Norway pavilion. The most important thing to know on this front is that Frozen Ever After is one of Walt Disney World’s most popular attractions, and definitely worthy of a FastPass+ or (failing that) strategy to avoid waiting in line over 60 minutes.
In terms of attractions and entertainment, aside from the Frozen Ever After ride, the Norway pavilion offers the Royal Sommerhus Meet and Greet featuring Anna and Elsa, the Stave Church exhibit “Creating the World of Frozen, and a couple of roaming viking performers who entertain guests with bewildered facial expressions and doltish body language, which is funny because…Norwegians enjoy incredibly high quality of life and are well-educated?
Anyway, here are some of our other posts about Norway that will serve as helpful resources for experiencing Frozen Ever After and dining in Norway:
- Frozen Ever After Review & Tips – Our post with tips for experiencing Frozen Ever After with minimal waits by arriving at rope drop, doing a pre-park opening breakfast at Akershus, and other options. Page 2 of the post also offers a review, in case you’re in the market for ranting about thematic integrity. 😉
- Kringla Bakeri og Kafe Review – Ask a Walt Disney World fan which snack is the best in World Showcase, and there’s a 50/50 chance they’ll respond “School Bread.” Our review looks past this delicious snack to offer other suggestions for Norway’s bakery.
- Akershus Breakfast Review – Norway’s signature princess meal located inside the beautifully-designed Akershus Fortress and Castle. We found this meal disappointing and overpriced, but then again, we are definitely not the target audience.
- Drinking Around World Showcase Tips – Not “about” Norway, per se, but a primer for one of the most popular unofficial endurance events at Epcot.
Shopping
The Puffin’s Roost is the main shop in the Norway pavilion. This shop contains a series of interconnected rooms selling Norway-themed apparel, home goods, jewelry, and the world famous(?) fragrance of Norway: Geir Ness. Seriously, when we visited Norway, the entire country smelled like Laila! (Okay, so it was more like fresh grass and clean mountain air, but close enough.)
This sprawling shop also features Helly Hansen outerwear, hand knit Norwegian wool sweaters by Dale of Norway, and a variety of other authentic imported goods. If you’ve ever looked at the price tags on these items, you’ve probably come close to fainting, but it’s worth noting that these crazy-expensive sweaters are just as expense in Norway.
In fact, we’ve noticed very little markup on any of the real-world items throughout World Showcase. In some cases, Disney seems to stock items with shock-inducing prices (just what everyone visiting sunny Florida wants–a $300+ sweater!), which is a curious choice, but those prices are not adjusted for Disney inflation.
While these pricey authentic items can be really cool, I was particularly impressed with the Disney designs that highlighted aspects of Norwegian culture alongside Disney characters. During our scavenger hunt, I noticed many new-to-me pieces of Disney merchandise in World Showcase in World Showcase that I really liked.
The cool Disney merchandise throughout World Showcase is actually a big reason I wanted to do this series of posts. While Walt Disney World fans have (rightfully) gone bonkers over some of the retro-inspired EPCOT and other merchandise, the stuff available in World Showcase right now features exceptionally clever, original designs.
Let’s take a look at some of the merchandise currently available in Puffin’s Roost:
In addition to the main village of the OG Norway pavilion, there is another new village area that joined the region when the nation of Arendelle used its military might to annex Epcot’s Norway. This act that brought us the Wandering Reindeer shop and Royal Sommerhus.
While this Frozen-themed area has been criticized by EPCOT Center purists like me, it does feature authentic Norwegian architecture. It’s nice to see Imagineering make lemonade out of lemons with the design–and it’s good to know this could be repurposed at some point to a wholly authentic area if Frozen falls out of favor–but it’s disappointing that the entire area is dedicated to an animated movie.
Overall, the Norway pavilion is one of my favorites, even after part of it being Frozen into Arendelle. It features an engaging mix of architecture, has a great bakery, and Akershus would be an awesome restaurant for everyone if they ever decided to do a non-princess meal there (although we totally understand why they don’t). While its open layout doesn’t make it a pavilion you can truly get lost inside exploring, it’s a strong offering in Epcot’s World Showcase.
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Your Thoughts
Did you find this post interesting (be honest, because if most readers thought it was a snooze, we won’t do the entire series)? Anything else you’d like to see in subsequent installments about the countries of World Showcase? More about architecture or real-world inspiration? More merch photos? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m one of those guests who has always enjoyed exploring all of the areas of each of the World Showcase countries. Loved reading this article about the Norway pavilion (one of my favorites) and look forward to reading similar articles about each of the World Showcase countries.
Thanks for sharing
Love this! As a long-time Disney fan it’s always nice to be introduced to things I’ve missed. On a recent trip to Epcot with some friends who were visiting for the first time, I was so sad when we’d get close to a country and I’d say “This is Canada!” “Is there a ride?” “Well, no, but-” “Okay, what’s next?” So I’d love to be able to fill in some fascinating fact or some way to entice people to actually go in the countries that don’t have rides, since it’s basically all of them.
“but it’s worth noting that these crazy-expensive sweaters are just as expense in Norway.” I think you meant “as expensive”.
Nice article! I love Norway, and Puffin’s roost is my favourite store in all of WDW. To answer your question, us Canadians buy thick sweaters!! I have bought 2 jackets and and a hoodie from Puffin’s roost in the last year alone and I love them all.
I love that you love Norway!
And the fact that you have visited Norway means that visiting the World Showcase makes people want to travel to the countries they have learned a little bit about. And that is a good thing.
I enjoyed the article and would love for you to do an in depth article on each of the world’s thank you
Akershus was originally a true Norwegian smoresbord. Everything was true to the Norwegian concept, there were no princesses and the experience was wonderful. I truly wish they would bring that version back.
I would be ecstatic if they’d bring that (and the “regular” King Stefan’s Banquet Hall in Cinderella Castle) back, if only for one meal per day.
Sadly, I realize that’s not in the cards, as princess dining is far more lucrative for Disney.
I definitely liked the post. As part Norwegian, it’s especially relevant. But I also know how much back story there is to everything Disney and it’s a disservice to all that hard work if that back story isn’t told. Personally, I can’t get enough. Keep them stories rolling.
Thanks for your thoughts. Based on the feedback, I think that in future installments, I’ll focus more on architecture. Maybe if I do posts like this outside of World Showcase, I’ll also cover backstory.
Spectacular article, loved it from beginning to end. I’ll share it to my Disney Twitter. Thanks for putting it together!
Just enough architecture, culture and Disney talk. Reading this post felt like the moment I found the waterfall behind Canada pavilion (took 5 visits to Epcot to find this). It was a delightful surprise. Keep posting!
Yes, this was great! Thank you!
Tom! I absolutely love this. This is the sort of post that can make WS fresh for me again. Please continue this series. The details about the architecture specifically are right up my wheelhouse (mixed metaphor?). THIS is exactly what I come to DTB for – so I can sound more like a snooty Disney blogger when regailing my family while we eat school bread. Much love!
I love this idea! I know merch offerings change, but I like the merch photos to give an idea of neat things to look for on future trips. You could also highlight a few items that you and Sarah particularly like. The facts about the architecture are great. I think what I like best about this (potential) series is info that tells you what to *look* for when exploring the pavilions, whether it’s the inspiration for a building or just an interesting detail that you might not notice if you’re not looking for it. So, are you going to go in order? When can we expect the China post? =)
I started out with Norway because I’m most familiar with the architecture there versus in the real-world country (well, aside from Japan, but I forgot to take photos in there!). I’m not sure what’s next. Maybe China or Canada.
This was interesting. I love Norway but was disappointed by Frozen taking over. Please do more of these articles.
I also enjoyed this post and would like to see more. Norway is one of my favorites too. Morocco my absolute favorite! I’d love to see your perspective on it.
Love this! Our house is filled with unique items that we have found at the various shops from World Showcase, so this series of posts would be great to read about!
Ditto what they said ^^^
I like it. It’s easy to look at the architecture in World Showcase and go “That’s neat but we gotta be at Test Track in 30 minutes,” but I know a lot of thought typically goes into it, so I enjoy learning those details. And for those of us who can’t make it down there often enough, sure, I’ll take a look at the more interesting merch available.
I would love to see a post like this for each pavilion!
A series like this about each of the World Showcase pavilions is definitely something I’ve always wanted to see you write. Loved this entry and look forward to the next!