{"id":3226,"date":"2012-06-27T00:01:49","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T04:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2012-06-22T12:42:08","modified_gmt":"2012-06-22T16:42:08","slug":"disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney, eh? A Canadian Point of View"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Teresa Pitman\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Did you know that Walt\u2019s last vacation before he passed away was in Canada? He clearly had some affection for his northern neighbours (yes, that\u2019s neighbours with a \u201cu\u201d) and the feeling is returned: Walt Disney World is a top vacation destination for Canadian families. \u00a0In fact, a recent Toronto Star survey ranked it as the number two choice.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m one Canadian who has fallen in love with Walt Disney World. My family\u2019s connection with WDW was strengthened a couple of years ago when my two youngest sons both worked in the Canadian Pavilion through Disney\u2019s International Program. Both met lovely Canadian girls while they were there and are now engaged – the best kind of souvenir!<\/p>\n

For Canadians, much of the planning for a Disney vacation is about how to get there: drive, fly from a Canadian airport, or fly from a US airport. I\u2019ll skip that discussion for today, and offer you a Canadian perspective on some aspects of WDW.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First, the Canadian pavilion. Canadians naturally gravitate to this spot once we arrive in Epcot. You can\u2019t help but feel a little Canadian pride as you look at the large building with the totem poles in front and the lovely gardens that lead to Le Cellier, the full-service restaurant on the lower level. Canada is a big country, but the pavilion designers have done a good job of incorporating little touches from various places. For example, the gardens are meant to represent the lovely Butchart Gardens in west coast British Columbia while the tall building \"\"<\/a>represents a well-known hotel in Quebec (Chateau Laurier).<\/p>\n

The O Canada movie was re-done a few years ago and is much improved, although the prairie provinces in the centre of the country are sadly neglected. Martin Short is the film\u2019s host and narrator now and he tackles a few of the common myths about Canada as the audience is treated to scenic views and highlights of events such as the Calgary Stampede.<\/p>\n

Non-Canadian visitors to the pavilion, however, may be surprised to learn that we don\u2019t consider red-and-black plaid lumberjack shirts to be our national costume. I do feel a little sorry for the young \u201ccultural representatives\u201d wearing those long-sleeved and very warm uniforms in hot Florida summers.<\/p>\n

Le Cellier recently became a signature restaurant (two table service credits on the dining plan) at dinner; it is still a single dining plan credit at lunch. This steakhouse is fairly small in size but very popular, and the servers are genuine Canadians. So is much of the food. When you are seated at your table, you\u2019ll be told which Canadian province your section is named after (I\u2019ve been there so many times, I think I\u2019ve hit all of them).<\/p>\n

But Epcot isn\u2019t the only park with a little Canadian presence. In Magic Kingdom, the clean up around the Fantasyland construction is currently being done by a Canadian company called Construction Cleaners and founded by Toronto\u2019s John Radford.<\/p>\n

As well, from his offices in Animal Kingdom, Canadian Eduardo Valdes oversees the preparation and planning of food for all the animals in WDW \u2013 from the white ponies that pull Cinderella\u2019s carriage to the manatees in Epcot, plus all the animals in Animal Kingdom. He is a graduate of the University of Guelph, where I work part-time, and he\u2019s an expert in animal nutrition.<\/p>\n

There are also a few things about WDW that tend to annoy Canadians. One is the American Adventure. I know, Walt was a very patriotic guy. But we Canadians claim Alexander Graham Bell as our own (I\u2019ve even visited his home here in Canada) and sometimes we get a little exasperated by the suggestion that only Americans can create good things.<\/p>\n

Canadians also bemoan the lack of real maple syrup and Tim Horton\u2019s coffee. There are petitions going around to have a Tim Horton\u2019s outlet added to the Canadian pavilion; you would see long line-ups of Canadians there all day long if that ever happened.<\/p>\n

For me, living in Ontario, the trip to WDW is a lengthy one, but it\u2019s a journey worth making.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Teresa Pitman Did you know that Walt\u2019s last vacation before he passed away was in Canada? He clearly had some affection for his northern neighbours (yes, that\u2019s neighbours with a \u201cu\u201d) and the feeling is returned: Walt Disney World is a top vacation destination for Canadian families. \u00a0In fact, a recent Toronto Star survey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[417,289,369,416,30,323],"yoast_head":"\nDisney, eh? A Canadian Point of View<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By: Teresa Pitman Did you know that Walt\u2019s last vacation before he passed away was in Canada? He clearly had some affection for his northern neighbours\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RNiblett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"RNiblett\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/person\/3548dba6bbab1605a931cdad65bdd6ff\"},\"headline\":\"Disney, eh? A Canadian Point of View\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-27T04:01:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-22T16:42:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/\"},\"wordCount\":712,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Canada\",\"Events\",\"Teresa Pitman\",\"Touring from Canada\",\"Walt Disney World\",\"WDW\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Featured Article\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/\",\"name\":\"Disney, eh? A Canadian Point of View\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-27T04:01:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-22T16:42:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"By: Teresa Pitman Did you know that Walt\u2019s last vacation before he passed away was in Canada? He clearly had some affection for his northern neighbours\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Disney, eh? A Canadian Point of View\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/\",\"name\":\"Magically Speaking\",\"description\":\"An unofficial Disney newsletter about Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, & Disneyland\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Magically Speaking\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Castle.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Castle.jpg\",\"width\":211,\"height\":158,\"caption\":\"Magically Speaking\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/person\/3548dba6bbab1605a931cdad65bdd6ff\",\"name\":\"RNiblett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dd0b4d27a46c627290f5666ba115d5e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dd0b4d27a46c627290f5666ba115d5e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"RNiblett\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Disney, eh? A Canadian Point of View","description":"By: Teresa Pitman Did you know that Walt\u2019s last vacation before he passed away was in Canada? He clearly had some affection for his northern neighbours","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"twitter_misc":{"Written by":"RNiblett","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/"},"author":{"name":"RNiblett","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/person\/3548dba6bbab1605a931cdad65bdd6ff"},"headline":"Disney, eh? A Canadian Point of View","datePublished":"2012-06-27T04:01:49+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-22T16:42:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/"},"wordCount":712,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Canada","Events","Teresa Pitman","Touring from Canada","Walt Disney World","WDW"],"articleSection":["Featured Article"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/","url":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/","name":"Disney, eh? A Canadian Point of View","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-27T04:01:49+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-22T16:42:08+00:00","description":"By: Teresa Pitman Did you know that Walt\u2019s last vacation before he passed away was in Canada? He clearly had some affection for his northern neighbours","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/disney-eh-a-canadian-point-view\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Disney, eh? A Canadian Point of View"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/","name":"Magically Speaking","description":"An unofficial Disney newsletter about Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, & Disneyland","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#organization","name":"Magically Speaking","url":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Castle.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Castle.jpg","width":211,"height":158,"caption":"Magically Speaking"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/person\/3548dba6bbab1605a931cdad65bdd6ff","name":"RNiblett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dd0b4d27a46c627290f5666ba115d5e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dd0b4d27a46c627290f5666ba115d5e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"RNiblett"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}