Circle of Parks Podcast: Talking all things Walt Disney World
Because there's far too much to see and do. We're here to help guide you through. We are a married couple with two boys age 9 and 6 talking all things Disney World. This podcast will cover the tips and tricks we've learned along our journey, history of the parks and attractions, and most importantly why and how Disney makes us feel how we do while in the parks and that it's ok to feel that way.
Circle of Parks Podcast: Talking all things Walt Disney World
Episode #205: Connections Eatery Live Dining Review
Disney's Epcot offers countless dining options, but is Connections Eatery worth your precious park time and dining credits? We're pulling up a chair to give you the unfiltered scoop straight from our family's lunch table.
Navigating the bustling atmosphere of this World Celebration eatery at 2pm (still surprisingly packed!), we put Disney's Quick Service Dining Plan to the test with a variety of menu items. The hand-breaded chicken sandwich delivered solid flavor without excessive breading, though the accompanying black garlic truffle fries proved divisive—enjoyable in small doses but overwhelming as a full side. Meanwhile, the Flower and Garden Festival's hot honey chicken sandwich hit the perfect balance of heat and sweetness, complemented wonderfully by pickles for a contrasting crunch.
The real star? Connections' pizza. With gigantic slices that practically count as double portions, the $11.29 cheese pizza stands as one of Epcot's best quick-service values. Our family debate about sauce levels (some wanting more, others preferring the lighter approach) highlights how this adaptable menu caters to different palates. All these options—plus alcoholic beverages like Oregon's Rainstorm Pinot Noir Rosé—were completely covered by our Quick Service Dining Plan credits.
Beyond food, we share our refreshingly laid-back approach to park touring. Arriving during Early Entry without the rope-drop rush, we walked straight onto Soarin', Figment, and Nemo before experiencing the "big party" atmosphere of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. This relaxed strategy sparked fascinating family discussions about park touring philosophies—are you Team Rope Drop or Team Take-It-Easy?
Ready to plan your perfect Epcot day? Subscribe now for more authentic Disney dining reviews and practical park strategies that help real families maximize every moment without the unnecessary stress.
Hello and welcome to Circular Parks Podcast episode number 205. Today we are bringing you a live dining review from Connections Eatery in Epcot. There's far too much to see and do. We are here to help guide you through. But before we do that, let me just tell you about some Disney merch I've been seeing in the parks already. There are some really cute new mini ears with all the park icons. There's a lot of cute mugs out right now Corksicle brand and others. Just a lot of new merch I'm happy to see. So come to the parks check it out.
Speaker 2:Thank you everybody for joining us. Episode number 205. We are live at Connections Eatery. We just finished eating lunch, we are on the quick service dining plan and a quick overview of this place. It's crazy. It is a madhouse. It's 2 o'clock and I thought this would be a little bit after the lunch rush. No, it's a really crowded day in the park too it is uh, but the atmosphere is great.
Speaker 2:we're looking at this beautiful mural with uh, different uh cultures and their food and and everything in the music here. You probably can't hear it because there's too many people, but it's that beautiful epcot world celebration music playing in the background. It's just. If it's not so crowded I think it would be a really beautiful place. Yes, but we're going to talk about what we got. Again, we're on the quick service dining plan.
Speaker 2:I had the hand-breaded chicken sandwich, which I have not had before. I've had the pizza and I've had the French Bistro burger. So I wanted to try something different and I got it with the black garlic, truffle and parmesan fries. Brittany, you got the hot honey chicken sandwich with french fries yes, it's a special for the flower and garden festival. Ryan got the pepperoni pizza and Nolan got the cheese pizza, and then I had a bud light and Brittany got a rainstorm pinot Noir rosé from Oregon. Again, this is all included on the quick service dining plan. So the chicken sandwich I thought was really good. It wasn't overly fried, it wasn't overly battered. I thought it had a good flavor. The black garlic and truffle and Parmesan fries a little much, yeah, which I'm always going to like that with truffle stuff Because it's such a strong flavor. I enjoy it, but not a whole lot of it Because it can get overpowered right.
Speaker 2:But it was good to have like a few here and there A few bites of it was good, but I wouldn't, unless you really love truffle and parmesan and garlic.
Speaker 1:Are you done?
Speaker 2:Then I would be wary of this Brittany. What did you think of your sandwich?
Speaker 1:My sandwich was really good but it wasn't too spicy, but the flavor was there and the pickles and all of that was good as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Nolan. What do you think of your cheese pizza?
Speaker 1:It was good, but two slices is really big.
Speaker 2:It is yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's giant.
Speaker 2:So it is really big, and so the pizza itself is 11,. The cheese pizza was $11.29 if you weren't on the dining plan, and it is huge. You're definitely getting your money's worth for the pizza, for sure, right.
Speaker 1:If you weren't on the dining plan. Oh for sure, because these pieces are huge pieces of pizza. It's almost like two pieces in one, so it's almost like a total of four pieces of pizza in the two slices right.
Speaker 2:Ryan, what did you think of your pepperoni pizza?
Speaker 1:uh, it was very good. Yeah, but needed more sauce so you're a sauce guy yeah um, I've had the pizza before.
Speaker 2:I think it's pretty good. I don't like a lot of sauce, that's why I think I like it. It's better than just typical puffy pizza, but I don't think it's better than the italy pavilion pizza. Window right, but it's really good for the price. The amount that you get you really can't beat it. Uh, the prices for the hamburger chicken sandwich was 13.19 and for your hot hunting chicken sandwich was $13.90, which are typical Disney prices. I would think, yes, yeah, so we are about to go to Remy's. We have a lighting lane for $2.55. It's currently $2.20. Me and Ryan just got off of Guardians and we had conga Great Love it. Everybody was just cheering and dancing and it's just a big party. It's just a big party, love it. Everybody was just cheering and dancing. It's just a big party. It's just a big party, love it. We've done most of the stuff on the non-World Showcase side this morning. We didn't rope drop, but we got here still within the time of the early entry, not because we wanted to, but it just kind of worked out that way.
Speaker 1:And it worked out, so we started with Soarin'.
Speaker 2:Yes, walk onren. Yes, walk on. Literal walk on, yeah. And then we literally walked on to figment and then, uh, we did nemo and then walked around the aquarium area, I did moanas and then moana and then nema.
Speaker 1:No, we already did nemo.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no it's been a good like we haven't rushed. We woke, I think, pretty well rested this morning. Yeah, took our time, had breakfast in Coronado Springs and I like this a lot better than having to like we have to get up at this time to rope drive. No, we've got to catch this bus and we've got to do this and we've got to do that to get here Like. This is a very chill morning. I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1:I did too. It's good not having that rush. We've also done Spaceship Earth as well.
Speaker 2:Living with the land. Ryan is thinking his head. No, he does not like the chill mornings.
Speaker 1:You like the rush of road dropping?
Speaker 2:He's shaking his head.
Speaker 1:yes, You're the one that couldn't get going this morning out of bed.
Speaker 2:He said he just likes doing stuff. We're about to hit World, the one that couldn't get Helen this morning out of bed. He said he just likes doing stuff. Well, we're about to hit World Showcase, which, surprisingly, the boys have been anxious to get to. We're going to be chilling in World Showcase the rest of the afternoon and evening. We're going to be doing dinner at La Cantina. Say, Dan and Helen, and get some snacks and yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So we will talk to you then. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you this evening.