Changes

The history of what would one day be known as the Norway pavilion, actually began its development in 1978 as the Denmark pavilion<ref name="Martin"/>. One of World Showcases' original concepts, the Denmark pavilion was originally going to be Scandinavia's representative in the park. Before [[EPCOT Center]] opened in 1982 however, plans for the pavilion were dropped, reinstated, and then moved around World Showcase Lagoon (at one point the pavilion was to be located where [[China]] sits today)<ref name= "Martin"/>. Eventually, Disney decided that the Denmark pavilion would be built at a later date, as part of EPCOT Center's Phase II. Although not present on the park's opening day, a shortage of restrooms in World Showcase led Disney to create Danish themed restrooms on the plot located for the pavilion, with the idea that the rest of the pavilion would eventually be built around these structures. One year later, in 1983, the Washington Post reported that Disney was still in discussions with LEGO about sponsoring the pavilion <ref> http://progresscityusa.com/2010/01/27/neverworlds-lost-lands-of-lego/ </ref>.

By late 1983, however, plans for an autonomous Denmark pavilion where shelved in favor of a new "Scandinavian Showcase". On October 3, 1983, Disney announced that it had reached an agreement with Scanshow A/S (a subsidiary of the Norwegian company Selmer-Sande and Kloster) to create the new pavilion<ref name="Korkis"> https://www.mouseplanet.com/11423/The_Story_of_the_Norway_Pavilion_Before_Frozen </ref>. Scandinavian Showcase, which would represent Norway, Sweden and Denmark, was to be built in between the [[France]] and [[United Kingdom]] pavilion and Imagineers Claude Coats and Tim Brunner were tasked with heading the project<ref name= "Lou"> http://www.wdwradio.com/2007/04/lou-mongellos-walt-disney-world-wayback-machine-the-epcot-that-never-was/ </ref>. By 1984, plans for the pavilion were were nearing completion, with a planned opening date of 1987<ref name= Lou/>.

Aesthetically, the Scandinavian Showcase pavilion was to be made up of architecture from all three of the represented counties. Egeskov Castle and houses from Odense and Copenhagen would represent Denmark, Stockholm Stadshus and buildings from Gamla Stan would represent Sweden, and finally Bryggen i Bergen and Akershus Festning would represent Norway<ref name+ "Korkis"/>.

Of the three countries that were to make up the Scandinavian Showcase, only Norway provided the funding necessary to create the pavilion. Because of this, the focus of the pavilion shifted away from Scandinavia as a whole and solely to Norway. In order to fund the pavilion, an organization named NorShow as formed by the Norwegian companies: Aker, Norsk Data, Norway Foods, Den norske Creditbank, Det Norske Veritas, Frionor, Kosmos, Vesta Group, Selmer-Sande, SAS and VARD<ref name="Korkis"/>. Their funding, combined with contributions from the Norwegian government, raised $34 million dollars for the pavilion. This paid for more than two-thirds of the pavilion's cost, with Disney picking up the rest. The Norway pavilion was then designed and built by Walt Disney Imagineering, with the help of Scandinavian architects. One point of contention between Disney and NorShow, involved the pavilion's lighting. While the other World Showcase pavilions were wired to a grid that allowed them to light up during the park's nighttime firework show (at the time Laserphonic Fantasy, soon to be Illuminations). While NorShow believed that the spilled light from the [[Mexico]] and [[Canada]] would suffice, Disney knew better, but was unwilling to pickup the cost (assuming that NorShow would cave). With neither entity willing to budge, Norway was built without the nighttime lighting given to the other World Showcase pavilions.