Communicore
Well-Known Member
Heh I would like for them to bring back the 70's version of "Mickey's Star Traders."
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Island Supply in the Magic Kingdom's Adventureland to close next week
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Daniel Johnson
Well-Known Member
I shared your exact thoughts when I read about memento mori weeks before our last trip. Hm is one of my all time favorite rides in MK, I was very excited just to see the store. You will be impressed.I am not a huge merchandise buyer. That being said, I cannot wait to see Memento Mori in Liberty Square as the photos of the unique, area specific merchandise are spectacular. And there are even props on the walls and the ability to have a photo taken that turns you into a ghost. Now WDW should pay attention here because they are turning someone not necessarily into merchandise into someone that can't wait until his 2014 Thanksgiving trip so that he and his family (3 young children that like to possess "things") can go and visit this store.
IMHO, this turns a shop into something more than just a shop...it becomes a small attraction in itself, something that people want to go see and experience. And aside from seeing it, to the pleasure of WDW, people will even spend MORE MONEY beyond what they spend on rooms, park tickets and food.
I hope that this is indeed what is happening here, and that the Marketplace Co-op and Memento Mori are just the beginning.
I hope they do the same sort of specific store more around the kingdom. As I'm not a huge fan of jungle cruise, it would probably give me a reason to at least be in near the ride as opposed to just walking by to PoTC. I never ride it, but we rode it as the jingle cruise last trip and it was exciting again.
I don't wear sunglasses, so, I have no need to venture into sunglass hut, much like I don't like sand, so I've never bought "surf" clothes
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ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
Or a Brookstone
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
I think it speaks more to the thought process that WDW is a 'Mall with Rides' which seems to be ascendant at TDO, I think we will see more of this rather than less. Look for Wet Seal or Marie Claire coming soon to a main st near you.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
You are correct about it being a mall with rides, but, when was it ever not that. Since the day the DL opened in 1955 it has been a mall with rides. The rides make it worth going to and the reason why they go, just as it is now. Nothing has changed since day one. Let's go and pay a ticket fee at WDW and get our shopping done has been said by no one, ever. In fact, if anything, it seems to be going back to what it was like at DL's beginning in that respect. We tend to let our distorted imaginations, concerning what we would like to believe it was like, get in the way of our thinking.
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Goofnut1980
Well-Known Member
I haven't read all of the 12 pages of posts on this thread but I don't pay $100 a day to go to a mall?! First Starbucks, then adding the Pandora line, now Sunglass Hut... Good grief!
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
I disagree…It was never a Mall with Rides… it was something unique from the beginning…an amalgam of rides and shops and restaurants and shows…and all unique. Once upon a time all of the shops on Main Street carried different merchandise as did the shops around the park…Shopping was part of the quest…finding a treasure related to your favorite ride or show.. a real memento.
And while I applaud Memento Mori as a return to the idea of attraction-specific merchandise, I think the idea of Sunglass Hut in the Magic Kingdom is odious… it takes you out of the fantasy…ruins the theme, and offers you merchandise you can buy at home…with this change it really does become a mall with attractions.
Bad idea TDO…must have been thought of by the same people that created the McDonalds in the parks idea…
just plain wrong.
Sage of Time
Well-Known Member
I really don't think this'll have an effect on the park...
...but it easily could. Thematic merch makes the area feel so much more real. The lack of that is the real shame, here.
...but it easily could. Thematic merch makes the area feel so much more real. The lack of that is the real shame, here.
BoarderPhreak
Well-Known Member
Exactly! Themed merch just... Fit. And it was fun to browse (and buy!). Generic stuff cheapens the entire experience on several levels.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
At some point take a look at the list of stores that were in DL in the beginning and explain how Mrs. Butterworth Syrup, Piano's and Women's underwear stayed within any theme and I will say that I was wrong. I agree that it would be nice, but, it isn't accurate to say that it is something new for Disney even under the control of Walt. Actually especially under the control of Walt. Those things were there to pay the bills. I don't see what is different other then the romanticized picture that everyone has of the "early days" of Disney Parks. For a while Disney management did try and theme stores for the parks, but, all of the mourners apparently didn't buy the stuff in sufficient quantities to maintain the stores. If they had they would still be there. Disney would never give up a cash cow.
NearTheEars
Well-Known Member
While I really couldn't care less about this, since I never really bought anything in that shop, I wonder if they will take the Main Street Bakery approach with this and keep the name and add some Sunglass Hut signage below.
I believe I've mentioned how cheap I am before, so whether its expensive Hawaiian shirts, or Oakley sunglasses I'm probably going to pass.
For those that truly enjoyed this shop and looked forward to browsing through it on your trips, well that stinks. Especially since it won't be replaced with a unique experience.
I believe I've mentioned how cheap I am before, so whether its expensive Hawaiian shirts, or Oakley sunglasses I'm probably going to pass.
For those that truly enjoyed this shop and looked forward to browsing through it on your trips, well that stinks. Especially since it won't be replaced with a unique experience.
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
You keep bringing up 1950s DisneyLand as a comparison point, why?
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Because everything Walt did was prefect and lasted forever. Like the Disneyland Circus and the Bathroom of Tomorrow.
Next Big Thing
Well-Known Member
It's only a mall with rides if you let it be one. I was at WDW about 7-8 hours yesterday and the only time I went into a gift shop was when we went over to eat at the Poly and were killing time before a servation and when we got off buzz. Other than that we did a bunch of rides/shows (SDMT, TTA, MILF, Jungle Cruise, BTM, Enchanted Tales - none of which have attached shops) and never once set foot in a giftshop.
NearTheEars
Well-Known Member
Has anyone made the Pandora brought to you by Pandora joke yet?
Think of the floating bracelet kiosks!!
Think of the floating bracelet kiosks!!
Sage of Time
Well-Known Member
Because WALT HIMSELF used sponsorships.
And Disney really doesn't need to do that anymore.....
doctornick
Well-Known Member
If the shop is themed appropriately and blends into the environment, I don't care if it is run by an outside vendor or what merchandise it carries. Sunglasses in a tropical themed area isn't an unreasonable fit, but the shop can't be a generic Sunglass Hut nor should that be the name of the store. I'm assuming it will be like the Main Street Bakery setup, which despite the wringing of hands on here, was executed in a reasonable manner.
Is the name of the store going to remain Island Supply?
Is the name of the store going to remain Island Supply?
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Because everyone is flashing back to an vision that didn't exist. When someone says that Disney is ruined because of the allowance of places like Starbucks or Sunglass Hut into the park that the dream of Walt Disney is destroyed and the whole place has gone to hell in a handbasket. The reason I bring it up, is because everyone else is bringing up an imaginary time and it needs to be corrected. People also have to take ownership of why certain things no longer exist (like the themed stores) and it is because we (that's us folks) decided that those places were there to act as a museum for our entertainment. They weren't, they were there to generate revenue and help keep the parks running and pay the employees. They left because we didn't financially support it. We also need to understand that the roots of Disneyland (1950's) was when the current trend of how they are running the parks originated. It's one thing to enjoy the fantasy of Disneyland/WDW for what it is, but, it is another thing completely to get all righteous about something that never was.
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ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Walt Disney always intended the shops at Disneyland (DL) to be entertainment but was severely limited by money when he first opened DL.
Walt Disney went deeply into debt to fund DL. If DL had been a failure, it would have sunk the company and Walt.
Walt Disney Productions (WDP) was a small company until the mid-1950s. At the beginning of that decade, gross annual income was about $6M. After the opening of DL, it jumped to $27M. By the end of the decade, it was up to $70M. That still made WDP a relatively small company with great brand name recognition. As examples, WDP made $3.4M in the 1958-59 fiscal year but lost $1.3M the year after. In Walt's last full fiscal year (1965-66), company profits were up to $12M.
In order to fund DL, the Disney brothers had to sell off much of DL's ownership. For $500K cash and a guaranteed loan for another $4.5M, they sold 34% interest in DL to ABC. Another 13.8% went to Western Printing and Lithographing for $200K. Walt himself purchased 17.5% ownership for $250K. Bank of America funded most of DL with an $11M loan.
At the time, Bank of America was nervous about that loan amount, believing the company would not survive if DL failed. Walt reportedly was about $100K in debt until DL's success, at which point his personal worth quickly recovered. DL was a huge financial risk and it took several years to pay off the original loans.
Eventually, WDP bought back 100% ownership of DL (using more loans to do it), including purchasing Walt's share and buyouts of all the concessionaires in DL. Walt resented having to pay ABC $7.5M to buy back their interest in DL, Walt feeling ABC hadn't done anything to deserve it. Regardless of what Walt felt, they couldn't have pulled off the deal without ABC's backing.
The simple truth is that Walt Disney had to fund DL with sponsorships. As he bought out those sponsorships at DL, he replaced them with concessions he felt were more appropriate to his vision of DL, even if they were not big money makers. He continued to use sponsorships where he thought they were appropriate but placed onerous conditions on them regarding what they could sell and how the stores had to be themed.
Today's The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) has no such excuse. TWDC is richer than most of the corporations it seeks sponsorships from. Today's TWDC is all about maximizing profits, regardless of what it means for the theme parks.
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
Great post. Saved me a lot of typing.
Not only beat me to the punch, but you thoroughly outboxed me.