We’ve all been there. You start a home improvement project with high hopes and enthusiasm, and then it sort of sits on the back burner for a while. Your summer enthusiasm turned into long fall days, and now you have to do Christmas shopping and can’t find time to get that summer project done. It happens to the best of us, even Walt Disney World. Of course, I’m talking about EPCOT, but not World Celebration (we’ve kind of lost interest there). Instead, we’re talking about the Hotel du Canada repainting, which has been ongoing since late May/early June.
The Hotel du Canada isn’t a shop or attraction at the moment, but is still notable in Disney’s description of the Canada Pavilion:
Your journey “north” to the Canada pavilion includes a spectacular tribute to the nation’s natural wonders, such as the majestic Rocky Mountains, a 30-foot waterfall, and beautifully landscaped grounds that are inspired by Victoria’s Butchart Gardens. But you simply can’t miss one of the more striking man-made landmarks in the pavilion: the Hotel du Canada, inspired by the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. The hotel was commissioned by railroad magnate Charles Melville Hays, who was extending his Grand Trunk Pacific Railway west, and envisioned several deluxe hotels along the route. The hotel was impeccably furnished within and boasted a façade that featured Italian marble, Indiana limestone, and a copper roof. One hundred and five years after its grand opening, the Chateau Laurier is still welcoming guests to this day.
We’re about 6 months into the project, which appears to be getting close to being completed(?). When it started, we theorized that it wouldn’t be a refresh, but rather a new color of paint for the building completely. Here’s a before photo from when the scaffolding was going up, but before any repainting began.
Here are the after photos. Not only does the brick color appear lighter (beyond just the gloomy lighting conditions), but the roof has a completely new, aged look.
Here are some more photos of the ongoing refurbishment from our recent visit to EPCOT.
While it’s a little difficult to see the true color of the bricks at times thanks to the scaffolding, you can really see the difference in the color scheme in the photo below where the lighter bricks on the bridge were the same color as the bricks on the building earlier this summer.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!