During the early development of EPCOT Center, one of the major attractions of creating a Germany pavilion, was that it presented Imagineers with the opportunity to create an Oktoberfest dining experience [1]. Sure enough, when the pavilion opened with the rest of EPCOT Center on October 1, 1982, Germany featured Biergarten, a table service restaurant set in perpetual Oktoberfest [2]. The restaurant was designed by Imagineers to give guests the feeling that they were in a 16th century town in Rothenburg. The building's interior is themed to look as if guests are dining outside, as an Oktoberfest celebration roars around them. Richard Beard's book Walt Disney's Epcot Center' describes Biergarten as:
Three stories high, with tables placed around a tiered semi-circle, the indoor garden miraculously conveys the feeling of an outdoor courtyard. In one corner is a tree, in another a full-sized, functioning waterwheel.
On the opposite side of the garden is a meticulous re-creation of the best of sixteenth-century Rothenburg, complete with its residences. In the center of the town square is a stage where live entertainers, including that inevitable and beloved oompah band, dance and sing and make German music.
Served with the best German beers are such traditional tidbits as bratwurst, sauerkraut, potato dumplings, hot pretzels, sauerbraten, smoked pork in aspic, sausage…everything that is Teutonic and tasty [3].
Since Biergarten opened, the restaurant has not seen any major changes, although its entertainment has changed over the years.