Biergarten
History and Description
Biergarten opened on October 1, 1982 with the rest of EPCOT Center [1]. The restaurant was designed by Imagineers to give guests the feeling that they were in a 16th century town in Rothenburg. The interior of the restaurant is themed to look as if guests are dining outside, as a perpetual Oktoberfest celebration roars on. Richard Bear'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.
