Connections Cafe and Eatery

[ToTBellHop]

Have we gotten so cynical on here that we have a zero tolerance policy for him to be passionate about the things he does?

I get it. Over-written paragraphs about details and backstory etc. can clearly become annoying to people on here, but isn't it possible that they're also just the byproduct of a guy who geeks out over what he gets to do on a daily basis?

Look, I'm not exactly the biggest Riddley fan (probably out of a misguided jealousy that he has the job he has), and yes, I've made a few cracks on his behalf here and there, but it's clear he has unfairly become this board's punchline/scapegoat for any and all disdain for Epcot.

It's all just a bit much sometimes.

He’s earnest. Can’t that be okay?

Yes, it can feel a bit excessive but since when is it a problem for someone to deeply care about his or her job. And I think that’s the case here. While we may feel some decisions are misguided, he clearly puts a lot into his work.

I get that as a similarly earnest person.

 

[dreday3]

I was excited to read about the tiles at Club Cool. Made out of Coke bottles.

Now I feel bad for some guy I wasn't even making fun of. I enjoy his posts.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I was excited to read about the tiles at Club Cool. Made out of Coke bottles.

I’m a theme park dork and find these details interesting, honestly. It’s not meant for mainstream consumption but I’m surprised at the blowback from obsessive people on theme park boards.

Surely we are all aware that our interest in theme parks is a bit unusual, no? We’ve written millions of words about a robot yeti.

 

[dreday3]

I’m a theme park dork and find these details interesting, honestly. It’s not meant for mainstream consumption but I’m surprised at the blowback from obsessive people on theme park boards.

Surely we are all aware that our interest in theme parks is a bit unusual, no?

What, I'm weird because I cry when I see a person dressed as Donald Duck waving at me?
Kind of cry, mostly just dab at my eyes.

 

[ToTBellHop]

What, I'm weird because I cry when I see a person dressed as Donald Duck waving at me?
Kind of cry, mostly just dab at my eyes.

Never let yourself believe it’s a person dressed as Donald Duck. Donald Duck lives and he showed up just for you.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

When they start showing the food items I have a big feeling we're going to be seeing a specialty burger where they burn the Epcot Logo on the bun...Or some salad called the "Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit."

 

[WorldExplorer]

When they start showing the food items I have a big feeling we're going to be seeing a specialty burger where they burn the Epcot Logo on the bun...Or some salad called the "Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit."

"We connect not only over food, but over memories. Cherished memories that are different for each of us, yet keep driving us to return to these same places. Gathered together again, we can all connect once more over these special things that are still alive in our hearts and minds."

(We are also connected via Instagram and Disney bloggers. )

 

[UNCgolf]

Have we gotten so cynical on here that we have a zero tolerance policy for him to be passionate about the things he does?

I get it. Over-written paragraphs about details and backstory etc. can clearly become annoying to people on here, but isn't it possible that they're also just the byproduct of a guy who geeks out over what he gets to do on a daily basis?

Look, I'm not exactly the biggest Riddley fan (probably out of a misguided jealousy that he has the job he has), and yes, I've made a few cracks on his behalf here and there, but it's clear he has unfairly become this board's punchline/scapegoat for any and all disdain for Epcot.

It's all just a bit much sometimes.

If they were his own words, sure, but they're edited by Disney PR (if not written entirely by Disney PR). It's essentially functioning as a Disney corporate account; it's not as though we are getting his personal unfiltered thoughts (i.e. it's not just him geeking out over stuff he loves, especially since he was almost certainly not involved in the design of at least some of what he posts).

Regardless, I wasn't saying that it's okay to hate him or attack him; I don't have any personal disdain for the guy. It's absolutely okay to make fun of the content of some of the posts, though. They're silly.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

"We connect not only over food, but over memories. Cherished memories that are different for each of us, yet keep driving us to return to these same places. Gathered together again, we can all connect once more over these special things that are still alive in our hearts and minds."

(We are also connected via Instagram and Disney bloggers. )

And Specialty food items during the Epcot International Festival of the Food, Arts, Flower, Wine And Garden.....

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Eh, we're just having fun with the names. I don't think it can be argued that I'm generally pretty positive about Connections, Creations, Moana...wait...MoNations?

"MoNations" is actually the name for the new World Showcase expansion that adds additional countries.

 

[vikescaper]

Instead of Creations Shop and Connections Cafe, they should have just gone with Connections Shop and Connections Cafe. After all, it’s Disney making connections with your wallet.

 

[Mac Tonight]

If they were his own words, sure, but they're edited by Disney PR (if not written entirely by Disney PR). It's essentially functioning as a Disney corporate account; it's not as though we are getting his personal unfiltered thoughts (i.e. it's not just him geeking out over stuff he loves, especially since he was almost certainly not involved in the design of at least some of what he posts).

Regardless, I wasn't saying that it's okay to hate him or attack him; I don't have any personal disdain for the guy. It's absolutely okay to make fun of the content of some of the posts, though. They're silly.

Just so I understand you, you don’t believe Zach pens his own captions and is provided them entirely beforehand?? Or, is it that he has to send a draft to a PR rep to get their approval before he can post their “approved” version? I could see the latter happening, but not so much the former. But even in that instance, they’re still his “words”.

Why would Disney need an Epcot-specific corporate account from one Imagineer’s perspective? I think that’s a bit of a stretch.

 

[James Alucobond]

Just so I understand you, you don’t believe Zach pens his own captions and is provided them entirely beforehand?? Or, is it that he has to send a draft to a PR rep to get their approval before he can post their “approved” version? I could see the latter happening, but not so much the former. But even in that instance, they’re still his “words”.

Why would Disney need an Epcot-specific corporate account from one Imagineer’s perspective? I think that’s a bit of a stretch.

We know they are copy edited at the very least. They accidentally left in parenthetical commentary from the content team when he was posting about the Three Caballeros.

 

[No Name]

I fear a future where imagineers are people who wanted/want to work on movies but didn’t get into that industry. While I scratch my head at more than a few blunders made with the Epcot project, and even the content of some of Zach’s IG posts, the engagement and enthusiasm behind it is absolutely not on my list of complaints.

 

[UNCgolf]

Just so I understand you, you don’t believe Zach pens his own captions and is provided them entirely beforehand?? Or, is it that he has to send a draft to a PR rep to get their approval before he can post their “approved” version? I could see the latter happening, but not so much the former. But even in that instance, they’re still his “words”.

Why would Disney need an Epcot-specific corporate account from one Imagineer’s perspective? I think that’s a bit of a stretch.

It's not a conspiracy theory -- as @James Alucobond mentioned above, he (or whoever runs it if it isn't actually him, although I assume it's him) accidentally posted a non-final version that included parenthetical commentary. I don't remember the specifics now, but it was something like "we shouldn't include this because it makes it sound like there was a prior problem".

 

[Mac Tonight]

It's not some conspiracy -- as @James Alucobond mentioned above, he (or whoever runs it if it isn't actually him) accidentally posted a non-final version that included parenthetical commentary.

As I said, I’m willing to accept that his captions go through an approval process before they go out. But having that happen is a different story than assuming he doesn’t even run the account that bears his own name. That sounds like a conspiracy, and there would definitely be a better solution for Disney marketing to share things on Instagram.

 

[Mac Tonight]

We know they are copy edited at the very least. They accidentally left in parenthetical commentary from the content team when he was posting about the Three Caballeros.

And I’m fine with that.

I guess the main point I was trying to make originally, is that I see Zach get dragged on this site quite a lot, and I just don’t think it’s always fair or warranted. But maybe it’s just me.

You may all resume discussing the topic at hand!

 

[UNCgolf]

As I said, I’m willing to accept that his captions go through an approval process before they go out. But having that happen is a different story than assuming he doesn’t even run the account that bears his own name. That sounds like a conspiracy, and there would definitely be a better solution for Disney marketing to share things on Instagram.

I think you took my comments differently than I intended. I wasn't suggesting it's somehow evil or wrong -- it's pretty standard for corporations to essentially co-manage social media accounts with someone in a front facing position like this. It's a way to put a personal face on something that's different than standard marketing.

His posts go through a process with more than one person editing the content. I found the exact language that was accidentally included in a post: "Think this takes away from the originality specially if we are getting into their history below. Now in pristine working order Makes it sound like they were not in good working order."

That's not simple copy editing; it's significant commentary on the actual content of the post and what they want to convey. No one should read his posts and think they are his personal, unfiltered thoughts. At best it's something he came up with and then Disney PR crafted it into what they want, but since it's incredibly unlikely he's actually made all of these design decisions himself, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the posts were written by other people and provided to him. He's signing off on design decisions, but there are whole teams coming up with this stuff. He's not individually designing everything in EPCOT.

And again, there's nothing wrong with any of that. It's normal for large corporations. And I agree there's no reason to attack him personally -- or really make any attacks at all. I don't think there's anything wrong with making fun of the individual posts when they're overly hyperbolic and full of purple prose, though.

 

[Mac Tonight]

I think you took my comments differently than I intended. I wasn't suggesting it's somehow evil or wrong -- it's pretty standard for corporations to essentially co-manage social media accounts with someone in a front facing position like this.

The point is that his posts go through a process with more than one person editing the content. I found the exact language, by the way: "Think this takes away from the originality specially if we are getting into their history below. Now in pristine working order Makes it sound like they were not in good working order." was in the middle of a paragraph.

That's not simple copy editing; it's significant commentary on the actual content of the post and what they want to convey. No one should read his posts and think they are his personal, unfiltered thoughts. At best it's something he came up with and then Disney PR crafts it into what they want, but since it's incredibly unlikely he's actually made all of these design decisions himself, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the posts were written by other people and provided to him. He's signing off on design decisions, but there are whole teams coming up with this stuff. He's not individually designing everything in EPCOT.

And I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying.

I’m fine with the copy editing. In fact, it means that everyone slamming him personally on here is just scapegoating him with their frustrations since he’s clearly posting with a corporate agenda in mind, if you will.

 

[UNCgolf]

And I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying.

I’m fine with the copy editing. In fact, it means that everyone slamming him personally on here is just scapegoating him with their frustrations since he’s clearly posting with a corporate agenda in mind, if you will.

Oh sure, as I said, I don't think there's any reason or justification for people to attack him personally. I edited my post as you were commenting, but it's just making fun of the purple prose itself that seems fine to me.