Connections Cafe and Eatery

Disone

Disone

Well-Known Member
solidyne said:
You didn't miss much. Tough and rubbery. Hard to cut, even with the surely short-lived "real" silverware.
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I had a different experience with the general Tao's chicken. I found a delightful and flavorful. A couple of friends and I ordered that, and two of the burgers and we shared all three entrees. We all agreed the general Taos chicken was easily the best of the three. Second place was the Mediterranean burger. The French bistro burger was a bit of a disappointment. Really Both burgers were but the Mediterranean still had a good flavor.
 
solidyne

solidyne

Well-Known Member
DonaldDoleWhip said:
Wow! Sorry to hear that, the presentation looked great.

I’m often more than satisfied with simple protein and veggies at this stage, and it’s great that there are so many workable options. Even the Flower & Garden Festival booths, particularly Morocco and Japan, were on fire this trip.

Some other standouts included the tuna bowl at Space 220 (no brown rice) and a tequila shot at La Cava (bro-sis tequila time haha). In DHS, we almost always try to get the Brown Derby Cobb Salad, too.

It’s a glorious time to eat the way I do at Disney. Making Connections work and finding a new appreciation for World Celebration (also finally hearing Tapestry of Nations in the loop) was a cherry on top!

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Yes, I chose the Tso, as it was the most attractive, but I do have to remember it is just counter service. I can't think of a counter service I really like except for desserts/snacks (or those with refillable drink stations), come to think of it. Well, Regal is decent, AND it has drink refills. (Yes, connections does, too, but the meal and the seating issue really disappointed. No biggie, of course! Just reporting.)

Your food booth and table service selections look amazing!
 
solidyne

solidyne

Well-Known Member
Disone said:
I had a different experience with the general Tao's chicken. I found a delightful and flavorful. A couple of friends and I ordered that, and two of the burgers and we shared all three entrees. We all agreed the general Taos chicken was easily the best of the three. Second place was the Mediterranean burger. The French bistro burger was a bit of a disappointment. Really Both burgers were but the Mediterranean still had a good flavor.
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Good to hear! The flavor was decent, I must say, but it was tough. I couldn't easily cut it and integrate it with the meager greens.

My son had the pizza, which was, well, it was ... pizza at Disney.
 
DonaldDoleWhip

DonaldDoleWhip

Well-Known Member
solidyne said:
Yes, I chose the Tso, as it was the most attractive, but I do have to remember it is just counter service. I can't think of a counter service I really like except for desserts/snacks (or those with refillable drink stations), come to think of it. Well, Regal is decent, AND it has drink refills. (Yes, connections does, too, but the meal and the seating issue really disappointed. No biggie, of course! Just reporting.)

Your food booth and table service selections look amazing!
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Cheers! I’m very dialed in with how I like to eat, and one of the highlights of coming back to Disney is continuously improving what that looks like (don’t even get dole whips anymore, embarrassing). 😬

So many great options these days: steak or chicken salads at Satu’li Canteen, of course the Derby Cobb, some small plates at Spice Road Table (e.g. chicken, lamb, shrimp), Grand Floridian Cafe’s lobster burger with no bun / sub fries for a vegetable, Polite Pig’s Caesar salad (no croutons) or Cobb with chicken or brisket (no corn). Steakhouse 71 has a very workable dinner menu, no surprise.

It’s truly a fantastic time to meet different lifestyle needs at WDW, just seems weird to me when the salads of all things are unworkable haha. Maybe with the next menu update!
 
Disone

Disone

Well-Known Member
solidyne said:
Good to hear! The flavor was decent, I must say, but it was tough. I couldn't easily cut it and integrate it with the meager greens.

My son had the pizza, which was, well, it was ... pizza at Disney.
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Our chicken was just fine. Normal Chicken Tender with appropriate texture, and sauced just right. Not tough at all.

We did not have the pizza, but your comment it odd. visibly it is a clear departure for the normal "Disney Pizza" of overly doughy frisbee like personal pizzas. These were two slices of a entire pie which by itself already made it look way more appealing. We have heard positive things about it being better then the norm on property, but still not amazing. We didn't try it ourselfs.
 
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MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Disone said:
Our chicken was just fine. Normal Chicken Tender with appropriate texture, and sauced just right. Not tough at all.

We did not have the pizza, but your comment it odd. visibly it is a clear departure for the normal "Disney Pizza" of overly doughy frisbee like personal pizzas. These were two slices of a entire pie which by itself already made it look way more appealing. We have heard positive things about it being better then the norm on property, but still not amazing. We didn't try it ourselfs.
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Connections pizza is awful. Connections burgers are good.

That is all.
 
solidyne

solidyne

Well-Known Member
Disone said:
Our chicken was just fine. Normal Chicken Tender with appropriate texture, and sauced just right. Not tough at all.

We did not have the pizza, but your comment it odd. visibly it is a clear departure for the normal "Disney Pizza" of overly doughy frisbee like personal pizzas. These were two slices of a entire pie which by itself already made it look way more appealing. We have heard positive things about it being better then the norm on property, but still not amazing. We didn't try it ourselfs.
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Funny you say this, because I originally wrote "Disney pizza" and changed it to "pizza at Disney." Didn't want anyone think it was Pinocchio-level!
 
wdwmagic

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
Here is a look at the CM controlled entry into the seating area during peak crowds.

www.wdwmagic.com

Connections Café and Eatery crowd control measures - June 2022

Connections Café and Eatery crowd control measures - June 2022
www.wdwmagic.com www.wdwmagic.com

Connections-Cafe_Full_47727.jpg
 
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Casper Gutman said:
I’m no big city theme park designer, but it seems to me that this is all a pretty good argument for another large quick service in the area, maybe attached to Test Track? Or how about in the other side of Communic… oh… nevermind
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Yeah, if only there was a nice cafe, and a pizza place on the other side of a fountain. And then an additional food court in the old wonders of life pavilion, man... if only. ;)
 
bpiper

bpiper

Well-Known Member
What I can't understand is where are all these customers coming from? Electric umbrella did not have as much seating nor as much customers. For this place to be mobbed then some other place has to be dead or their cannibalizing a little bit of business from each of the other food places in Epcot. How is sunshine seasons doing? Maybe they are cannibalizing business off the table service restaurants and world showcase.
 
Sir_Cliff

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
bpiper said:
What I can't understand is where are all these customers coming from? Electric umbrella did not have as much seating nor as much customers. For this place to be mobbed then some other place has to be dead or their cannibalizing a little bit of business from each of the other food places in Epcot. How is sunshine seasons doing? Maybe they are cannibalizing business off the table service restaurants and world showcase.
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I'm a little bit curious about this, too. Maybe they genuinely underestimated the demand for Connections based on the performance of Electric Umbrella and the other places in the Innoventions buildings. It could be just bad planning, but I didn't get the impression in the past that many people hung around to eat in this part of the park.
 
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MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
To me, EU looked horribly uninviting. And the burger I had was also horrible. So, I can see why EU didn't do gangbuster business.

Connections is open and breezy and inviting. It has a Starbucks. And the burgers are good (do *not* get the pizza!). So, I get why it's suddenly popular. It's a victim of being actually good.

They could put more outdoor seating with umbrellas on the Cosmic Rewind side.

At least the construction walls are preventing them from the temptation to put back more outdoor seating in the hub to increase its congestion.

Funny thing is people would say how that area needed a good food joint, even though EU was right there.
 
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Electric Umbrella was plenty busy during lunch time. I would often go in to refill my ice water since they had open coke machines. (I don’t drink soda so no I never stole any soda, put the pitchforks down!).

EU also had a very good amount of seating. There was the outdoor shaded seating, the indoor seating in the circle at the front, the rows of seating along the breezeway, and then the balcony seating above that.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
TrainChasers said:
Electric Umbrella was plenty busy during lunch time. I would often go in to refill my ice water since they had open coke machines. (I don’t drink soda so no I never stole any soda, put the pitchforks down!).
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The last time I was at Disney we ate lunch at Electric Umbrella (solely for nostalgia) and it was packed.

I also think Connections is getting a boost from being brand new. I'm sure it will always stay relatively busy, but I'm guessing the crowds will die down a bit after it's been open a while.
 

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