LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Ever try to remember how large the world looked when you were a kid? The new Remy's Ratatouille Adventure ride at Epcot takes things a step further, creating a view of Paris from the point of view of a rat, as did the animated film the ride is based on, the 2007 Disney-Pixar feature "Ratatouille."
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Tom Stieghorst dined at the new restaurant in the futuristic World Discovery section of Epcot.
I had a chance to try the ride, open at long last after Covid-related delays, on a preview trip for Disney World's upcoming 50th anniversary celebration, which started Oct. 1. As a new ride, Remy will likely generate long lines, so be prepared for that.
Epcot has added an entire new street block to its French Pavilion area, which serves as a kind of thematic entry/queue area for the ride. There is a fountain festooned with cute Remy-like rats that spouts water from French champagne bottles.
The French Pavilion area features a fountain festooned with Remy-like rats. Water spouts from French champagne bottles. Photo Credit: Disney
Inside the darkened ride, guests enter a Parisian rooftop area with giant pipes, oversized windows and an enormous skylight. Riders are in trackless vehicles that seat six and are designed to resemble giant rodents.
As in the film, the ride soon plunges riders through the skylight down into the disordered chaos of a kitchen in a French restaurant preparing a meal for the toughest culinary critic in Paris.
Remy is notably 5-D in its execution. In addition to sights and sounds, riders sense the motion of the trackless Ratmobiles through the madcap kitchen, feel the heat from above when Remy hides under the gas stove, are doused by the spray when a bottle of champagne is uncorked and, most remarkably, smell the scent of fresh baked bread coming out of the oven.
Because of its rapid pacing, the ride seems to go by in a hurry. In talking with people about the ride, or overhearing conversations, I more than once heard it described as "cute," which I guess it is. I think what people mean is that Remy doesn't blow you away, but it is still a fun ride and worth doing.
Disney ultra-fans also like to say that Remy's Ratatouille Adventure is merely a duplicate of Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, which opened at Disney World Paris in 2014. Which is to say it doesn't break any new ground, but I don't think the vast majority of Epcot guests will care.
The ride might be a little scary and overwhelming for very young kids.
The La Creperie de Paris serves savory and sweet crepes, as well as four varieties of hard cider. Photo Credit: Disney
Dining on crepes, sweet and savory
Concurrent with the opening of Remy, the French Pavilion also gets a new restaurant, the La Creperie de Paris, which sits on the new street leading to the Remy ride.
Offering crepes both savory and sweet, the creperie also specializes in the hard cider produced in Normandy and Brittany, in four varieties. I had a glass of demi sec along with a dessert crepe made with fresh berries. Both were delicious.
Savory crepes are priced at $15.95, desert crepes at $8.95 ciders at $5.95, and there is a $33 prix fixe that bundles soup/salad, a savory crepe, a dessert crepe and beverage of your choice.