Disney World Makes Distinctly Unpatriotique Cut to ‘Impressions de France’ Hours Again

It is happening again. Walt Disney World has quietly made reductions to the showtimes of international treasure Impressions de France starting in 2027, eliminating the evening hours and leaving only the morning showtime(s). The rest of the day will showcase the global embarrassment, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along. Here’s the latest details, along with our commentary.

According to Walt Disney World’s operating schedule, Impressions de France currently opens at 9 am and closes at 9:30 am each day, and again from 7 pm to 8:45 pm each. The Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along runs the rest of the day, luring in unsuspecting prey from 10 am until 6:30 pm. According to the Walt Disney World calendar, that will change starting January 1, 2027.

Regular readers might recall the Distinctly Unpatriotique Changes for Impressions de France from a few years ago. During what can best be described as an “international incident,” Impressions de France had its hours reduced to only that half-hour in the morning. After global outcry, the situation was de-escalated. Rumor has it that Disney+ is adapting the sordid saga into a feature film titled Fourteen Days, starring Kevin Costner and Bruce Greenwood.

Starting January, 1, 2027, Impressions de France once again only has hours in the morning, from 9 am to 9:30 am. In other words, the exact same change that Walt Disney World attempted over three years ago, back in March 2023, before reversing course (presumably) due to ‘feedback’ from fans.

As noted above, Impressions de France is currently shown from 7:00 pm until park closing each day. This actually works pretty well for us. We frequently catch one of its later showings and then exit in time to grab a last-minute spot for Luminous in the Japan pavilion, sometimes making a stop at Les Halles for the next morning’s breakfast if time allows.

With this change, the 18-minute long Impressions de France should have only one or two 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.

What follows is our commentary to this change and what should happen instead, much of which will sound familiar to long-time readers since this is now the third time that Walt Disney World has attempted to reduce the hours of Impressions de France, only to later reverse course…

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. 

As we’ve argued many times in past posts, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along should be retired entirely. No one should be subjected to that abomination, not even the people who say Dino-Rama was good because of its (allegedly) brilliant backstory.

As a reminder/words of warning, this sing-along ranks #88 on our Rankings of All 88 Attractions at Walt Disney World. We gave it 0/10 in our attraction review; the next lowest attraction score is 3/10. There are only a handful of attractions that are below 5/10, and nothing else at any park in the world scores 0/10.

Those rankings concisely describe the sad sing-along 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.”

With Walt Disney World killing off Dino-Rama and Star Wars Launch Bay last year, the gap between #88 and everything else has grown even larger. The extinction of Dino-Rama and reimagining of Animation Courtyard has actually given me optimism about Disney doing the right thing and replacing Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along instead.

That newer show is 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.

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…”

Thankfully, that still has not happened ~6 years later, but it’s nevertheless importance to exercise vigilance when it comes to protecting the international treasure that is Impressions de France. That is more or less why this post exists. Plus, both of the last couple times we’ve covered Impressions de France operational changes, readers have come out to voice their love for the underrated attraction.

The fact that the January 2027 cutback is now the third time that Walt Disney World has attempted to reduce the hours of Impressions de France suggests to me that someone in parks management or operations has a vendetta against the attraction.

Perhaps they realize reducing showtimes of Impressions de France to only the morning hours will result in fewer guests watching, which will provide the “proof” needed that it’s unpopular and can finally be retired. Maybe guest satisfaction surveys are insufficient as “evidence” that Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along is more popular. None of the above is an exaggeration; it really is atrocious. Even regular guests, who tend to be much more forgiving of anything with their favorite characters, likely recognize this.

It also wouldn’t surprise me if there’s internal in-fighting between individuals or teams within EPCOT management. This type of change doesn’t get proposed once every ~3 years (2020, 2023, 2027) by coincidence. Even though I strongly disagree with attempts to shorten showtimes, I almost respect the tenacity of whoever keeps pushing for the cut to Impressions de France. 

They’re clearly a hardcore hater to keep at it over the course of this many years. On the other hand, it’s really sad that someone would be such a strong advocate for Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along, of all things.

Another possibility is that Walt Disney World can’t end Impressions de France without additional consequences. A few years ago while researching the return of cultural representatives at 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. Of course, all of this is purely speculative on my part. Walt Disney World has not ever stated a reason for reducing showtimes of Impressions de France (or attempting to do so over the years), and it’s highly unlikely that they ever will.

Ultimately, we know this is an 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 two times we’ve covered the schedule change–back in early 2020 and March 2023–those posts each garnered over 55 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 Walt Disney World has heard fan feedback in the past (hence the previous backtracking and this being the third time this has been calendared), and that has helped Impressions de France stick around for the 3-6 years since. Given that, it might behoove the fanbase to mobilize once again, and respectfully share why Impressions de France is beloved in the first place.

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.

Finally, as an act of selflessness, I’ll recommend starting or ending your day with a great ‘meal and a show’ experience in EPCOT’s France pavilion. Head over Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie at the beginning of the morning or end of the evening, enjoy an excellent and cheap meal, and then a presentation of Impressions de France. 

You can even weave Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure into the mix for a more well-rounded experience. It’s the objective-best time to do both that attraction and the bakery for shorter lines, making this both a laid back way to slow down and savor World Showcase and also strategically-savvy. Win-win!

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YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of the January 2027 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? Agree or disagree with our theories for the change? 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!