Realism of Reconstruction

In “The City of Robots,” Umberto Eco uses the phrase, “the realism of reconstruction,” to describe places like Disney World and Knotts Berry Farm and how they reconstruct things to look authentic and how they think people going to these places will see them. The best example that I can think of this happening is Epcot at Disney World. In the one theme park guests can visit America, France, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Italy, China, and Morocco for only the park fee of $60. Why ever travel to any of these places when you can just go to Disney and see all at once? In each “country” guests can sample authentic cuisine, shop for gifts from these places, see the main sites of the country, and interact with locals, or the costumed workers who hail from these countries. A lot of what each country is based on reinforce the stereotypes of these places. For example, if you went to “France” in a few hours you can see the Eifel tower, eat French cuisine, shop for French perfume, and see mimes. This creates the idea for some people that since Disney gives us these things, there must be nothing else to know or see in France? Eco says that “once the total fake is admitted, in order to be enjoyed it must seem totally real.” What I have to question to Disney is that they run a theme park whose majority guests are young and do not know the difference that these places are fake, and they reinforce the stereotypes of these countries for them. The idea that what they see in Epcot is really how this country is keeps getting perpetuated.