Go to https://buyraycon.com/felifromgermany to get up to 25% off sitewide! Brought to you by Raycon.
👉 A few weeks ago, I went to Disney World in Orlando for the very first time and of course, I had to stop by the Germany Pavilion in Epcot and check out how authentic it really is! 😅🇩🇪
Get your Bavarian beer mug or Servus t-shirt ▸https://felifromgermany.com/
Check out my PODCAST (with Josh)▸ https://www.youtube.com/understandingtrainstation or https://linktr.ee/Understandingtrainstation
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook▸https://www.facebook.com/felifromgermany (Feli from Germany) Support me on Patreon▸ https://www.patreon.com/felifromgermany Instagram▸@felifromgermany▸https://www.instagram.com/felifromgermany Buy me a coffee▸https://www.ko-fi.com/felifromgermany
▸Mailing address:
PO Box 19521
Cincinnati, OH 45219
USA
————————-
ABOUT ME: Hallo, Servus, and welcome to my channel! My name is Felicia (Feli), I’m 30 years old, and I’m a German living in the USA! I was born and raised in Munich, Germany but have been living in Cincinnati, Ohio off and on since 2016. I first came here for an exchange semester during my undergrad at LMU Munich, then I returned for an internship, and then I got my master’s degree in Cincinnati. I was lucky enough to win the Green Card lottery and have been a permanent resident since 2019! In my videos, I talk about cultural differences between America and Germany, things I like and dislike about living here, and other topics I come across in my everyday life in the States. Let me know what YOU would like to hear about in the comments below. DANKE 🙂
————————-
0:00 Intro
2:37 Clothing & First Impression
5:34 Beer & Drinks
8:09 Band
10:24 Food
14:28 Desserts
16:28 Germany Pavilion
18:10 Final Verdict
40 Comments
Who caught the hidden “Sound of Music” reference? 👀 Have you ever been to Epcot? What did you think? 🤔👇
➡ Go to https://buyraycon.com/felifromgermany to get up to 25% off sitewide! Brought to you by Raycon.
Where's that wheel where all the girls get on and it spins fast and one by one they all get flung off?
My wife and I went there about 8 years ago and enjoyed the experience. We thought the food was good, but I wasn't as educated on authentic German food then as I am now. I've made the Gurkensalat for my family and I made sure that the flavor was there.
On our visit I was most proud that I handled a short conversation in German with one of staff (sorry, cast) members and she said my pronunciation was pretty good for an Amerikanischer! I don't have too many people to speak with to keep my skills up.
I'm glad to hear you and Ben had a good time.
Oh my God, I almost fainted and fell out of my chair when I saw that Weißbier in a Maßkrug.
I got some type of microwavable Spätzle at Lidl in Berlin that was just herbs flavoured during Oktoberfest one year. Maybe they ordered it from their supplier. 😂
I love hefeweizen.
So my mom, who is German of course, worked at the German Pavilion custom painting Hummels for people in the late 80's. Goebel (the company who makes Hummels,) and Disney actually got together to make her position. I was stationed in Erlangen when she went to Coburg to learn how to do it. So I got to see her a couple of times there. Weird thing, but I left Germany in late spring of 1989, just a couple of months before the Berlin Wall came down.
I wonder if the cultural consultants hired by Disney tell the WDW executives what's authentic, but WDW, thinking that most people won't notice, does what it wants (even if it isn't authentic) anyway.
Part of the issue with the food is probably so the people (especially kids) who don't want to eat anything they don't recognize won't be disappointed and whiney.
I didn't like Becks when I had it in the USA. I think it was old and "skunked".
I'm curious, Feli, is there an authentic German restaurant in Cincinnati that you can recommend? I live near Indianapolis, and I haven't found a place here that's really German. Thanks.
Your comment about the pickle ornament made me laugh. My husband’s family is from Germany and he’s never heard of it either. 😆
Your drink with the ice and the Fanta probably tasted watered down, not because of the ice, but because fountain sodas (at least in the US) are mostly water. There's a lot of water coming through those lines and only a little soda.
Okay, first of all: Great video, as always! Thanks! 🙂 Second: "Über den Wolken" von einer "bayrischen" Band in Lederhosen – als alter Reinhard-Mey-Fan bin ich mal eben dezent umgekippt… 😉
It's germany with an american disney twist. Gotta have something for every taste.
German food in comparison to american is bland. American love their super sweet and salt pepered food.
The caramel.. is just because its sponsored by Wurthers.
I enjoy the beirgarten. If you sit more towards the outer edge.. its not so loud.
I wouldn't know being only partly of German heritage (great-grandparents from Hanover) and never having lived there, but somehow mein Deutcheradar must've been working — I've only eaten the stuff there that you said is good/legit. Excellent 😅
My favorite places in Germany are Cologne, Koenigs winter, Dusseldorf and Bonn, also Nuenkirken near Voorden. We have some good authentic places in Charlotte, NC as well! Disney, not so much!
Wish youd do more of these. Great video!
I live in Vienna (grew up in California) and have been to Epcot/Germany many times — it's fun, come on. She's nitpicking a bit. Can you imagine "America Land" in Munich, cowboys et al 🤦♂
Did she think they should wear modern clothes rather than "Trachten/Traditonal"? The land expericence is more mix of Austria/Germany with a "Sound of Music" tilt. Great video!
Like most but not all ethnic food establishments in the US, the Germany buffet at Disney World is American-Bavarian. Chinese, for example is mostly American-Chinese. My Chinese sister-in-law always asks the Chinese proprietors of a Chinese restaurant she is unfamiliar with whether it is "authentic."
As a trumpet player, sad to hear you're not a fan of brass.
I’ve never clicked so fast!
To answer the caramel question: it’s bc werthers sponsors the Pavillion so they give Disney money to put their caramel on everything and advertise their products
I seriously hope you did not go to Disney expecting anything to be authentic
Wow! It is so expensive!.
Have you ever been to any of the German theme Cities in America? Helen Georgia, Frankenmuth Michigan and Levanworth Washington. I have performed in Helen and Frankenmuth, I have been told that Levanworth is the prettiest. I have been performing in and Austrian band for many years,
Last time I visited EPCOT was decades ago. I was there several times because I went to college in Florida so I ate in all the pavilions. The German pavilion looks pretty familiar but then, meals were ordered with no buffet. I would've liked that so I could try a little of everything.
While you're checking places for authenticity, I'd love for you to visit the Christkindlemarkt in Carmel, IN – on the Northside of Indianapolis. It's a wonderful time with ice skating, "authentic" food stalls serving all things from Raclettebrot to Glühwein and many places with imported German crafts. They claim a lot of it is authentic and imported from Germany.
I'd love to hear your and Ben's take on it. It's open until Christmas Eve.
As far as the focus on Bavarian culture in America, on my last trip to Germany, I learned that there is a reason for this. When Germany was divided after WW2, Bavaria was in the American occupation zone. This is what returning GI's thought of when the thought of Germany. Also, the beer choices probably have more to do with what brands are marketed in the U.S., and who has the partnership with Disney. Beck's, being one of the major brands distributed in the U.S., is much more likely to make the cut that better German brands.
We're a huge Disney family and have gone many times. But we've actually never eaten at the Biergarten in the Germany pavilion. I've had the Schinkennudeln and sorry to say but they were disappointing. And I was so excited at first to see them on the menu. I also always love chatting with the German cast members in German and seeing where they're from. I love that Disney brings in locals for each pavilion. Even if their outfits are highly stereotypical. 😅
It looks like a nice place, well, it's something positive.
And many thanks for all your detailed testing, that's great!
And I like one detail, the Mickey Mouse, hugging a Teddy Bear 🙂
I mean, it's in Disney World after all, that's a nice cross-over, I like the idea – and I like the finfished statue of course!
Yes, it was dark inside, mimicking a night atmosphere… I guess, it was a compromise, make it look Bavarian, but also keep the people in there. Don't give the people the feeling that it might still be daylight out there, there might be other places to visit, no, keep the people there and let them spend a little more money there 🙂
Maybe I am wrong, I don't know 😉
But many thanks for your nice and very detailed video!
König Ludwig is very good beer.
Of course its a costume….YOURE AT DISNEYWORLD. Stop being such a snob.
It looks like eating Nathans hotdogs in Coney Island is more German than Epcot.
😄👍 The funniest part of this was at 9:30 when the guy started playing "Muss i denn" with cowbells, a song that in the U.S. is mainly associated with Elvis Presley (he sings it in the 1960 film, "G.I. Blues"). 😎
The beer companies “pay” to be on the menu, it’s marketing. They don’t care that it’s not Bavarian…
Since you mentioned the band's cowbell, you have to search for the "More Cowbell," SNL skit here on YouTube now. Thinking as a German native you might have missed that gem. 🤣
Been to EPCOT several times since just after it opened in the 1980s, but I don't think I've ever dined in Germany as an adult. We did Morocco twice (the first time being a dare from my newlywed wife on a honeymoon trip), Norway when I came back with two young Princess obsessed daughters, and America of course since they were both picky eaters. I appreciate World Showcase so much more now as an adult than I did as a kid, but that's just part of growing up. That, and the fact that the area once known as "Future World," has pretty much been taken over by Disney IP rides. EPCOT Classic was a much more fulfilling experience.
It’s supposed to be Disney and Epcot
My wife is Japanese, and she said the Japan Pavilion is lacking.
Most of the depictions of countries in EPCOT are about as real as the "Representations" of American Flags on Main Street.
Disney is an entertainment provider, driven by an ideology of "Family-Friendly" avoidance of any uncomfortable facts. And this rosy view persists–for many it informed from a very young age how they view "America." You could argue that few have had as much influence in creating that vision of American life–particularly the myth of "Small Town" Americana.
Yes, I have a scholarship in Film Studies. Why do you ask?
Something to think about, when each country was invited to add a country to EPCOT the only country that participated was Morocco. All the other country's have "sponsors" , those corporations often impact what is viewed as authentic. Also take in to account you have a courtyard to show off what a trip for a large country could be. Covid impacted the availability to bring in products so many things are less than authentic.
9:07 RICOLA!
Keine Currywurst ?? Entsetzlich !