Reflections of China

Reflections of China: attraction at EPCOT, Walt Disney World — live wait times, operating status, and planning data on MouseHub.

Wait time history

Historical wait patterns for Reflections of China accrete daily as MouseHub records waits every 15 minutes. Charts appear here once enough history exists.

Visitor sentiment

4.5· 608 Google ratings

The MouseHub take

Reflections of China plays inside the Temple of Heaven at the back of EPCOT's China pavilion, and the room is most of the experience. Screens run the full way around a dark, cold theater, and everyone watches standing up. Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai narrates, moving down the Huangpu River into Shanghai, past Nanjing Road, over the Huangshan range into the Sea of Clouds, through a night market in Xinjiang, across the Gobi Desert on the Silk Road, and into the Forbidden City. Tai chi and the Peking Opera Company's acrobats get their own stretch. The film runs twelve minutes and loops all day.

It earns its place as a break rather than a must-do. The theater clears and refills in one go, so the wait is usually the tail end of the showing already running, and the air conditioning does as much work as the film. Guests who duck in out of the World Showcase sun come out glad they did. The ones who regret it are the ones whose feet were already finished, because there is nowhere in the room to sit down. The footage is past twenty years old now, and the skylines show it.

At a glance

Best for
Anyone crossing World Showcase in the afternoon heat who wants twelve cool, dark minutes without waiting for them.
Skip if
Your feet are done for the day, since this theater gives you nothing to sit on.
Ride type
Circle-Vision 360 film in a standing theater
Intensity
Gentle, with no motion and no scares. The room is dark, the screens wrap all the way around, and guests stand for the full film.

The good

  • The theater runs cold
    It is one of the few places in World Showcase where you can stand still in air conditioning without buying anything first. Plenty of families are there for that as much as for the film.
  • You will not wait long
    The room takes a whole crowd at once and the film plays continuously, so the longest you wait is the back half of the showing already in progress.
  • Any height gets in
    Disney lists no height minimum, so nobody in the group ends up standing outside holding the bags.
  • Wheelchairs and ECVs roll straight in
    Disney lists this one as May Remain in Wheelchair/ECV. The floor is flat and there is no vehicle to board.
  • Audio description and captioning are on offer
    Disney lists audio description, assistive listening, and handheld captioning here. Worth knowing before you write off a narrated film for someone in your party.
  • Jeff Blyth reshot it in 2003
    This version replaced Wonders of China with new footage, picking up Hong Kong and Macau along with a Shanghai skyline that had changed beyond recognition in the years between.

The bad

  • There is nowhere to sit
    The theater is standing room wall to wall. Twelve minutes on a hard floor is the complaint that comes up most often, and it lands hardest late in the day.
  • The footage is showing its age
    Nothing on screen has been reshot since 2003. Chinese cities have put up a generation of buildings since, and guests who have been there notice the gap.
  • The screens do not quite meet
    Dark gaps separate the panels all the way around the room. Once you spot them the wraparound illusion stops working.
  • The wraparound makes some people queasy
    Turning to follow the action while the camera sweeps around you unsettles a fair number of viewers. Standing still and letting the film come to you helps.
  • Small kids see the backs of adults
    The floor is flat with no risers and the crowd stands shoulder to shoulder. Parents spend most of the film holding a child up.

Veteran tips

  • Save it for the hottest part of the afternoon
    Between noon and four it is the cheapest air conditioning in World Showcase. Spending a cool morning hour in here gives away the best touring window of the day.
  • Do not go looking for showtimes
    The film plays continuously through the day, so walk up whenever you are passing. If a showing is already running you wait for the next one to start, and that is the whole wait.
  • Take the middle of the room
    The format assumes you are standing in the center. From the edges, a third of the film is happening behind your shoulder.
  • Lean on a handrail
    Rails run through the room, and they are the only place to take weight off your feet. Head for one on the way in rather than after the lights drop.
  • Stand in the center and say something
    The round room inside the Temple of Heaven throws your voice back at you. Kids work it out in about four seconds, and it costs nothing.
  • The gallery next door is its own thing
    House of the Whispering Willows Gallery is a separate attraction in the same pavilion, and Disney describes it as an art exhibit about Shanghai Disney Resort. Worth five minutes, but it is not a preshow for the film.
  • Carry small kids or skip it
    On a flat floor in a standing crowd, a four-year-old sees nothing. If nobody in the party can hold a child for the length of the film, this one is easy to leave off the plan.

MouseHub editorial, written from visitor reports and official Disney sources. Last reviewed .

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