Tribute To Jim MacPhee, Senior Vice President of Operations at WDW

It has been announced that Jim MacPhee will retired from Disney after 42 years.

He was warm, gracious, and generous with his time when I encountered him during Epcot's 25th Anniversary as part of Celebration25 group. We were having our walking tour of various attractions at Epcot when he stopped by to visit with us and chatted.

This was the day before the official Epcot's 25th anniversary.

He also revealed the park map that would be distributed the day of the celebration, so we all knew that we would have to get one (or more) when we showed up the next day.

The day of the celebration was centered over the fountain of nations (now gone).

At the end of the ceremony, he and the Disney Ambassadors at that time took a photo with our entire Celebration25 group.

We had a special area to watch Illuminations that evening. Even though it rained, we had a great time. The Disney parks people sent us ponchos and ice cream. And as a final surprise, Jim MacPhee actually came over to check up on us before the evening ended.

 

His presence and acknowledgement of us made the day even more special. Not many (if any) Disney executives would go out of their way to greet die-hard fans like that.

I did a short video on the that fun time:

Have a wonderful retirement, Mr. MacPhee. Thanks for giving us such wonderful memories!

Zz.

What Will Happen To The Morocco Pavilion?

 Disney had officially taken over the running of the Moroccan pavilion at Epcot's World Showcase after the previous company running it went into default. Yesterday was the last day that restaurants such as Spice Road Table was opened, and the area around the pavilion is now closed for renovations, including the bazaar area.

This was my most favorite pavilion at the World Showcase. For many of us, this was the most unfamiliar culture among the various nationalities represented there. While the food quality at both sit-down restaurants have gone down over the years (in my opinion), they were still not the familiar run-of-the-mill fare that most people know. Moroccan food and restaurants are not very common in many parts of the US, even though there is one amazing Moroccan restaurant in Orlando itself called "Moroccan Breeze" which we have been to twice during our last two visits.

This takeover and renovation can go well, or can go very wrong (what other possibilities are there?). I don't know what to make of it. The ONLY thing I wish for is authenticity both in the decor and in the food. Disney is a master at the former, but often skimp on the latter. We shall see.

In the meantime, here's one final tribute to the bazaar at the Morocco pavilion.

Zz.