Yes!, I'm here at Epcot right now. I'm about done with these walls, they've been up for too long.
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Connections Cafe and Eatery
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
For the center area, I hear they're going to leave the walls up and use the white tents they set up for The Festival of Moana's Journey of Dirt. The walls will allow them to create a gate for the upcharge. But, you'll get your own bucket and shovel to help move the dirt. It'll be great!
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
I would pay money to use some heavy equipment in the dirt piles!
vikescaper
Well-Known Member
I wonder how long till Zack starts giving us instagram updates on this project….
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
I'm just some guy on the internet, but for years I've found you, far and away, the most intelligent, insightful, and good-natured Disney-related voice online. Get well very soon.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I actually enjoyed Creations Shop.
I will see myself out.
I will see myself out.
Poseidon Quest
Well-Known Member
I mean... it's fine. Just unthemed.... in a place where I expect to go and experience theming. The Epcot Target experience isn't bad, so much as it's out of place.
Epcot Target. That's... accurate. Sadly. I mean, if that was their goal? Great job. I still don't like it.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I agree with this in general, but it doesn't bother me as much in Future World (outside of the specific pavilions, at least) as it would anywhere else at WDW. There's not really a specific theme to go with in that area of EPCOT -- I'm not sure that Centorium or MouseGear were themed to anything in particular either. MouseGear looked different than a standard store, but I don't think it really fit Future World.
I dislike the bland, generic look Disney has been using recently, but I find it much worse at a store like World of Disney (or the Main Street Confectionary, or the creperie...) than I do at Creations.
mightynine
Well-Known Member
Creations is bland, but having that natural light sure makes for a more pleasant experience than MouseGear.
Poseidon Quest
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure that I agree. The theme or at least aesthetic of Future World should be all-encompassing of the different styles of the pavilions. It seems that Disney leadership mistook "generic" to mean the same thing. What frustrates me is that this is the aesthetic style with all the other additions to the front of the park and the spine. In a few years from now, all of these pointless refurbs are going to become a problem when people notice how lifeless and dull it all is, asking for a more interesting Epcot. For wanting to make the park "less boring", Disney sure put every effort into shooting for as boring as possible.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I don’t find the Rat area, Harm, or the new SSE lighting (or entrance plaza, in general) to be boring or bland. I doubt GotG will be, either. Nor Moana. Creative issues, perhaps. But they aren’t bland.
One gift shop is. On the other hand, it has park-specific products, which I applaud.
Epcot82Guy
Well-Known Member
This nails it for me. It feels like inspiration for creativity and just bland and generic. Even if it wasn't about the pavilions per se but something more abstract, I'd be ok with it. It just feels blah - much like Beaches & Cream, new Confectionary, etc. Plus, unless JoW ends up being something pretty awesome, these are the headliners of the central spine experience past SSE. So, they are pulling more weight than they should have had the overall plan been better designed.
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
The headliners of the spine have basically always been a so-so restaurant, a mall-like shop, and an interactive exhibit. The spine will pull as much weight as it always has, which one could easily argue is a problem given the state of other areas of the park and the wasted opportunity they had to better utilize an already built space, but familiar as I am with EPCOT, I don't expect headliners in the hub and won't "miss" anything from it other than all the money they threw into it that could've been diverted elsewhere.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I agree with your overall point, but I'm just not sure how to design EPCOT's main gift shop in a way that feels themed to EPCOT.
I don't think Creations looks very interesting, but I also don't think it's much different than Centorium or MouseGear. I liked Centorium (and prefer it to Creations), but it was pretty similar to other store designs of its era. As for MouseGear -- I never thought it fit well into EPCOT at all.
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Epcot82Guy
Well-Known Member
Oh I agree. I would argue the fountain and Club Cool (and maybe Starbucks) were the main draws since the 90s. And I think that speaks for itself. Arguably the symmetry of the 80's architecture (as so many called it) and the fiber optic sidewalks were the most impressive part.
My point is they literally tore down half of this, disrupted the symmetry and removed things - to arguably land at or worse than where they were in your (accurate) description. And, knowing the versions of this that could have been which would have been a more legitimate upgrade.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
Did they mention if this was to have a second floor seating area or were they just expanding the footprint of the seating area to the former Innoventons East up to where the smaller Mousegears was?
Nthderivative
Active Member
I took a whirl around the monorail last night to get a view on the interior build-out of this place. From what I could see, it looks like the space that was once the temporary Mouse Gear location may be a large seating area with the interior wall against the old Electric Umbrela being a massive bar. I could see the bar being framed out and signage going up over top of it. If I took a guess, I'd say its probably 4 times the size of bar in Baseline.
(Soft, reassuring voice)
“Here at Connections Cafe, consumers will share magical stories and connect their diverse backgrounds in a modern cafeteria style environment.”
“Here at Connections Cafe, consumers will share magical stories and connect their diverse backgrounds in a modern cafeteria style environment.”