Tempest in a coffee cup
By now, many folks have read on the official Disney Parks blog about plans to bring Starbucks to Disneyland’s Main Street. The idea is to replicate the success achieved across the Esplanade at the Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Cafe on Buena Vista Street of California Adventure.
Sadly, it does spell the end of the Market House and the Disneyana shop as guests now know them. In the days when Main Street was a recreation of the small towns across the country, individual shops such as these were what the area was all about. Now, they are just another place selling the same merchandise available all over the resort.
Opening up the building to a new and improved counter service for coffee and other treats is not as bad as one might expect. If the Imagineers hope to reproduce success, then providing more indoor seating along Main Street is a good start. Guests will likely look a bit harder for some of the merchandise sold there now. Knowing Disney, I do not doubt opportunities will still be close as hand. Miss the cozy days of the Market House all you want, but the line for coffee here can be a tough one. Expanded service is a good thing in my mind.
As for Disneyana, moving all of the shop to the bank location is a good idea. As much as I like the over-sized model of the US Capitol building, that is a lot of space to take up. Expanding the shop into this area makes sense. As it did with the opening of the space formerly occupied by the recreation’s of Walt’s offices at the studio in Burbank.
Often hard to recall, but Disneyland is not a museum. Change is as much a part of the place now as it was when it first opened. I will miss the way the shops used to be but I will welcome the new as part of the progress of the Park.
Would I like to see a return to the way Main Street used to be? Sure. But that is not going to happen and hoping it will seems silly, a waste of effort. The days of the small shops specializing in unique merchandise are gone now. Be thankful for what remains, but give props to the successes when they happen, too.
Is all this too close to the Jolly Holiday Bakery? Maybe. Will the same customers use both? Perhaps. Better guest experiences? You bet, and that is really the name of the game here.
As I said above, a tempest in a coffee cup. Sure to stir emotions and passions in the hearts of some. Just not enough to make things come to a halt and time stand still.