Connections Cafe and Eatery

[Vacationeer]

Do they have plans to do anything with robotic servers -- or any other kind of tech?

That would be awesome! Even if they just started with the robots that can carry back the dirty dishes, then after working the finer details out change over to the ability to carry out orders.

 

[castlecake2.0]

A new costume was supposed to debut with this location, but surprise, supply issues have delayed it. Cast will be wearing the global “wear this if your costume is out of stock” option of navy shirt/ black trousers aka the BestBuy costume here for now.

 

[Casper Gutman]

The 64/65 relied more on corporate than any other fair because it wasn't sanctioned and a lot of nations refused to participate. (The 39/40 was also not totally sanctioned either). Compare corporate pavilions between 64/65 fair and the sanctioned Expo70.

I really don't agree with that distinction - corporations were always absolutely foundational to the fair and omnipresent throughout it. I suspect we all know how many ubiquitous corporate products made their debut at the 1893 fair, for instance.

And I was under the impression that 39 was fully sanctioned. It's expansion into 40 was more ambiguous, but to be fair, the international community probably had more pressing concerns at the time.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I honestly don't know how you could design a more boring space. Posters above seem to like it, and I just genuinely cannot understand that perspective. It is utterly characterless. If you want subdued and minimalist, why go to a theme park in the first place? I've been looking at theme parks in Europe, places like Phantasialand and Efteling, and the dedication to baroque, even excessive theming is invigorating. The twenty-year generification of WDW stands in stark contrast.

Everyone was complaining how they missed Epcots bold pre Epcot 94 look now everyone’s upset. What we have here is Stargate without the outdoor seating. Maybe if we all including me kept our mouths shut we’d have a refreshed Innoventions

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

At opening, what Stargate and Centorium had going for them is that they were surrounded by World Class attractions of a grand scale and scope.

 

[KenoGuy]

It kind of has a slight Star Wars vibe, with the graphic on the floor evoking BB-8 and the lights at the counters looking like Lightsabers. The cosmic colors also add to the effect.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Everyone was complaining how they missed Epcots bold pre Epcot 94 look now everyone’s upset. What we have here is Stargate without the outdoor seating. Maybe if we all including me kept our mouths shut we’d have a refreshed Innoventions

Corporation were always secondary to the country pavilions... the 64/65 flipped that. I bet without looking it up you could not name one corporate pavilion from '70.

 

[gustaftp]

I honestly don't know how you could design a more boring space. Posters above seem to like it, and I just genuinely cannot understand that perspective. It is utterly characterless. If you want subdued and minimalist, why go to a theme park in the first place? I've been looking at theme parks in Europe, places like Phantasialand and Efteling, and the dedication to baroque, even excessive theming is invigorating. The twenty-year generification of WDW stands in stark contrast.

If you think about the broad history of both EPCOT and Tomorrowland aesthetic, they are going by approximately what is vaguely considered modern and futuristic for the era.

While this new space is obviously lacking the substance of Communicore, I think they are doing the building fine, in some ways better than it ever was aesthetically. Much of this building had boring ceiling tiles most of its life for poops sake.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

If you think about the broad history of both EPCOT and Tomorrowland aesthetic, they are going by approximately what is vaguely considered modern and futuristic for the era.

While this new space is obviously lacking the substance of Communicore, I think they are doing the building fine, in some ways better than it ever was aesthetically. Much of this building had boring ceiling tiles most of its life for poops sake.

"Modern" and "Futuristic" are not interchangeable terms.

Similar to how people often use the words "Modern" and "Contemporary" interchangably, though they too refer to distinct and different styles and time periods. "Futuristic" implies a further distant future than Contemporary reaches for, and Modern lags behind both, representing the mid-to-later 20th Century - ending right about the time that EPCOT Center opened.

Half of the intention of EPCOT Center was to jump forward from that design ethos - to leave Modern behind and leapfrog Contemporary for something yet unseen.

The reason people confuse these with regards to Future World is because so much design took note of EPCOT Center's architectural notions - in defying Contemporary it became an influential basis by which the term was redefined. That so many designers attempted to copy it with their Contemporary works does not make Future World a Contemporary work itself. And it certainly was never Modern.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Corporation were always secondary to the country pavilions... the 64/65 flipped that. I bet without looking it up you could not name one corporate pavilion from '70.

This just isn't correct. First, you're focused very heavily on the later fairs. Yes, those are the ones Disney personally took part in, the ones with the most direct aesthetic impact on EPCOT, but they grew out of the much, much more culturally significant, earlier US fairs. Those are the fairs that laid the ideological and design foundation for what followed, including EPCOT. The Columbian Exposition in 1893 was the greatest of these and a pivotal moment in the formation of modern America, and shows the absolute centrality of corporations. The central court, the focus of everything at the fair, was surrounded by massive structures like the Electricity Building, Agriculture Building, Transportation Building, Machinery Building - this should all sound very familiar to anyone familiar with EPCOT, of course. The staggeringly huge buildings at the center of the fair featured some exhibits by foreign nations, but the dominant theme was human progress as a product of the American spirit channeled largely through corporations - "A tribute to all nations, but mostly America." The Transportation Building, for instance, centered on exhibits by various American railroad corporations, perhaps the most visible corporations of the era, with foreign (corporate) exhibits sprinkled throughout. It had exhibits by the B&O, Westinghouse, Pullman, and on and on. The foreign pavilions were much more peripheral (behind the Fisheries Building) and were themselves largely focused on corporate products. Other fairs of the era - Buffalo's Rainbow City, the St Louis Expo, etc - were very similar in their ideological and aesthetic design, which remained largely consistent through to EPCOT.

 

[Anteater]

This just isn't correct. First, you're focused very heavily on the later fairs. Yes, those are the ones Disney personally took part in, the ones with the most direct aesthetic impact on EPCOT, but they grew out of the much, much more culturally significant, earlier US fairs. Those are the fairs that laid the ideological and design foundation for what followed, including EPCOT. The Columbian Exposition in 1893 was the greatest of these and a pivotal moment in the formation of modern America, and shows the absolute centrality of corporations. The central court, the focus of everything at the fair, was surrounded by massive structures like the Electricity Building, Agriculture Building, Transportation Building, Machinery Building - this should all sound very familiar to anyone familiar with EPCOT, of course. The staggeringly huge buildings at the center of the fair featured some exhibits by foreign nations, but the dominant theme was human progress as a product of the American spirit channeled largely through corporations - "A tribute to all nations, but mostly America." The Transportation Building, for instance, centered on exhibits by various American railroad corporations, perhaps the most visible corporations of the era, with foreign (corporate) exhibits sprinkled throughout. It had exhibits by the B&O, Westinghouse, Pullman, and on and on. The foreign pavilions were much more peripheral (behind the Fisheries Building) and were themselves largely focused on corporate products. Other fairs of the era - Buffalo's Rainbow City, the St Louis Expo, etc - were very similar in their ideological and aesthetic design, which remained largely consistent through to EPCOT.

Absolutely LOVED looking at photos from the White City (Columbian Exposition). Read a great book on it a few years ago. Looked like such a wonderful place and I would really enjoyed seeing it in person. IIRC, the book had photos of it after a huge fire destroyed it. I think there's still a few buildings left in Chicago from the fair scattered around the mid-west. Thanks for the info. Now, off to work on my Time traveling machine...

 

[Casper Gutman]

Absolutely LOVED looking at photos from the White City (Columbian Exposition). Read a great book on it a few years ago. Looked like such a wonderful place and I would really enjoyed seeing it in person. IIRC, the book had photos of it after a huge fire destroyed it. I think there's still a few buildings left in Chicago from the fair scattered around the mid-west. Thanks for the info. Now, off to work on my Time traveling machine...

One of the most annoying aspects of history for theme park fans (though certainly not among the most serious) should be the fact that the US World's Fairs were torn down a year or two after they were built. Imagine if Chicago or St Louis or Buffalo or Philadelphia still had significant portions of their Fair structures. I may be mistaken, but I think the most substantial remnant of a US Worlds fair is in San Diego. The Field Museum is pretty substantial, of course, but its just one structure.

 

[dreday3]

One of the most annoying aspects of history for theme park fans (though certainly not among the most serious) should be the fact that the US World's Fairs were torn down a year or two after they were built. Imagine if Chicago or St Louis or Buffalo or Philadelphia still had significant portions of their Fair structures. I may be mistaken, but I think the most substantial remnant of a US Worlds fair is in San Diego. The Field Museum is pretty substantial, of course, but its just one structure.

We still have the Midway Plaisance from the World's Fair. It's by the University of Chicago (and hospital). I used to work there and it was right out my window! It's partly a park now.

 

[Casper Gutman]

We still have the Midway Plaisance from the World's Fair. It's by the University of Chicago (and hospital). I used to work there and it was right out my window! It's partly a park now.

We have a fair number of parks - Fairmont in Philly, for instance. And we have a few structures - Fields in Chicago, as I mentioned, or the Please Touch Museum in Philly. But when you really look at what those Fairs were... man, we have next to nothing. Its sad.

 

[Jon81uk]

There's a great track that plays as part of the Connections Eatery background loop. Have a listen

That is such a perfect Epcot background loop track.

 

[wdwmagic]

That is such a perfect Epcot background loop track.

It needs to be at the main entrance!

 

[HauntedPirate]

That is such a perfect Epcot background loop track.

It's... not bad, actually. I'd still prefer to hear "Papillon" and the rest of the Innoventions loop, but...

 

[gustaftp]

"Modern" and "Futuristic" are not interchangeable terms.

Similar to how people often use the words "Modern" and "Contemporary" interchangably, though they too refer to distinct and different styles and time periods. "Futuristic" implies a further distant future than Contemporary reaches for, and Modern lags behind both, representing the mid-to-later 20th Century - ending right about the time that EPCOT Center opened.

Half of the intention of EPCOT Center was to jump forward from that design ethos - to leave Modern behind and leapfrog Contemporary for something yet unseen.

The reason people confuse these with regards to Future World is because so much design took note of EPCOT Center's architectural notions - in defying Contemporary it became an influential basis by which the term was redefined. That so many designers attempted to copy it with their Contemporary works does not make Future World a Contemporary work itself. And it certainly was never Modern.

I know that there is a technical difference, but the reality is that while Spaceship Earth was futuristic, the Communicore buildings were modern. Pleasing, yes, but are they not dissimilar to airport terminal buildings from the same era? IE: Dulles (considered to be the most modern airport in the world when constructed, designed by a man who was considered a “neo-future modernist” — Saarinen)

And at any rate the very bare and basic ceiling tiles in there could hardly ever have been considered futuristic in 1982.

 

[James Alucobond]

“Modern”, “contemporary”, and “futuristic” are always going to be tricky because they have independent adjectival meaning outside of the specific movements that borrow their names. There can be contemporaneous structures that have nothing to do with Contemporary architecture. There can be modern and futuristic buildings that are neither Modern nor Futurist. I try to capitalize when I am referring to the movement specifically because it’s otherwise really difficult to talk about things “of a specific moment” or “of a generally forward-looking design” without using the generic forms of the aforementioned terminology.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

Am the only one who wonders how guest would have reacted to all these new additions back in the 80's? Like imagine the SSE lights existing when EPCOT first opened.

Connections would have looked crazy to some folks I'd imagine. Moana probably would have been considered an "EPCOT" character like a sorta educational figure teaching about the journey of water. Not a new edition now but current Test Track would have been WILD to guest back then.