A look at the 160ft long 'Global Gathering' mural inside EPCOT's upcoming Connections Cafe and Eatery

Mar 30, 2022 in "Connections Café and Eatery"

Posted: Wednesday March 30, 2022 4:00pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Following on from this afternoon's reveal of the Connections Cafe and Eatery menu, Imagineer Zach Riddley has taken to Instagram to offer another sneak peek inside.

The mural above is a hand-painted 160ft long piece of art and stretches along the back wall of the Connections Eatery.

Zach offered more details on the "Global Gathering" piece in his Instagram post.

This original piece, titled “Global Gathering," is a celebration of various food and beverage staples from around the world, and how we are all connected by enjoying a meal together. Highlighting eight distinct regions of the globe, this vibrant installation depicts people cultivating or gathering around food, such as potatoes from the Andes Mountains in Peru or black pepper from the Malabar Coast of India. The piece also evolves from sunrise in the east to sunset in the west across the full span of the eatery – culminating in one of the largest art installations Imagineering has created. That scale and stunning vibrancy celebrates global diversity with a simple, universal concept: the moments we have in common around food, meals, traditions and memories. 

The creative concept for this piece was developed over the last few years, with consultants from around the world. It was then hand-painted in a series of panels and recently installed by our site teams at EPCOT. Here we see Abdul from our Character Paint team, working alongside a team of artisans to provide final touch-ups in the field.

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Epcot82GuyJul 06, 2023

I think it's a cool idea and very in line with Epcot. I'm only confused by the large focus on just this. If this was part of a series of 4 or 5 bakery items kinda like this (with cross-border appeal and history), it would be a huge identify and selling point for Connections. And maybe this is a test run for that. In short, good idea - hope it goes bigger.

BocabearJul 05, 2023

I did not know that...I am glad to see them doing something unique. Yay on that.

dreday3Jul 05, 2023

I agree. It's one of the only places in the country where you can get this and watch it being made! It's pretty cool.

Haymarket2008Jul 05, 2023

So confused by the reaction too. I think they’re doing a great job with Connections.

Sir_CliffJul 05, 2023

I think it's supposed to be a unique offering, isn't it? The sign says it's one of the few baumkuchen rotisserie ovens in the United States and the idea behind the Connections motif is how food connects people, so a German cake that has been adapted in Japan seems like a nice example to highlight and offer for purchase. Kind of puzzled at the reaction. Isn't this the sort of thing we wanted at Epcot?

tcool123Jul 05, 2023

I assume prep for a Food and Wine offering 🤷‍♂️

solidyneJul 05, 2023

Also, the three panels would have made more sense in reverse order. Or maybe creation-sensation-innovation. Actually what is Epcot's "innovation" here, if the snack already has been created and sensationalized elsewhere?

BocabearJul 05, 2023

but.....why is that the main subject of the bakery area at connections? Are they now selling these exclusively?

Sir_CliffJul 05, 2023

I do remember these from living in Germany! This is the kind of thing I hope is not too unfamiliar for WDW guests to survive as it at least adds some variety and keeps things interesting. The new signage and presentation of the bakery also looks good!

Andrew CJul 03, 2023

Yep. That’s a thing. From Germany but very popular in Japan apparently

BocabearJul 03, 2023

so....a tree cake? huh?

DCBakerJul 03, 2023

Some new graphics have been added to the enclosed bakery.

lazyboy97oJul 01, 2023

Now I am obligated to rant about a place named Via Napoli serving Sicilian style slices. I guess they wanted people coming inside for the Neapolitan style pizza but it seems like it hamstrung the window by forcing it to offer a slice that requires more work to make. Many slice pizzerias in the US do offer Sicilian style slices, but Neapolitan style slices are the real volume product that people can grab and go.

Andrew25Jul 01, 2023

Bothers me that Via Napoli Pizza Window is closed most days. Haven't seen it open since April this year, unless they decide to close once they realize I'm in the vicinity. We need Via Napoli franchises at each park.