Main Street Bakery to Serve Starbucks Coffee

Skywalker

Skywalker

Member
If the bun is still on the picture, yes that's misleading, even though loss of it is not a sticking point for me.

It's unfortunate seating is gone, but I don't really think they want you sitting unless your at a restaurant with table service. Not exactly nice but if you wanna sit, you gotta pay.

I also agree that there is going to be a lot of flow, simply because its' on main street, simply because people do that, but I do think they will make lots of money, lots and lots of it. No matter how many people don't go to the new establishment, just as many will be happy to pay homage to Starbucks and their new magical cash cow spot.

I will be there with bucks on to get my coffee soon to contribute to the coffers of coffee. :)
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
MissM said:
The thing I'm really bummed about is the extreme reduction in actual "Bakery" items. Having seen the DCA photos, it looked like Starbucks was going to be an addition to the selections offered, not a replacement. That really, really bums me out because there were so many yummy things to snack on there. The carrot cake, the various pastries - all gone?? Truly? That is SO sad to me.

I could care less about coffee - I loathe the stuff in general - but to lose all the unique offerings of the actual Bakery AND the seating? Ugh. I feel like I've been kicked in the proverbial junk. :(
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There's a handful of Disney bakery items alongside the normal Starbucks pasteries. The peanut butter cupcake was yummy.

They appear to be gearing themselves to handling a lot of people per day, hense no seating.
 
Clamman73

Clamman73

Well-Known Member
PhotoDave219 said:
There's a handful of Disney bakery items alongside the normal Starbucks pasteries. The peanut butter cupcake was yummy.

They appear to be gearing themselves to handling a lot of people per day, hense no seating.
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But the Disney cupcakes and cookies are not for sale until 11:00am...Was that how it was before at the Bakery???

I thought the no seating was so that it didn't turn into a Disney hipster hangout...
 
P

Pumbaa1222

Active Member
Tinkerbell 8 said:
I'm glad that the inside doesn't look like my neighborhood starbucks. I am upset that they don't have a lot of the bakery items on sale, I'm hoping that they will atleast offer them somewhere else on property. I am however glad that Disney finally has good coffee!! I also like that you can pay with SB gift cards as well as use a snack credit on your DDP. I am looking forward to stopping here on my trip in November to grab a frappichino before making my way to Gastons Tavern to grab a sticky bun :)
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Has there ever been food carts or vendor carts on Main St? Beside popcorn and such, I think this could be really well themed add more life to Main St and solve the complaints, I can imagine a Sticky Bun Cart would do really really well (I would have never gone into the bakery for one, but if I walked by saw and could smell them, that's a different story)

Likely it's too crowded most of the time, but I think there are some areas around Town Square and the Hub that would make sense during day time hours, rolling them away towards the parade and night time.
 
E

emich88

Active Member
So tomorrow is our last test meal and it will last from park open to 8pm. If you are in the park and don't have a meal ticket, watch out for CM wearing professional clothes on Main Street in front of the Bakery. The past two days they have been handing test meal tickets out to random guests. Also, if people asked for more tickets, they were given more tickets :)
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Side thought: if you really wanted to support the Main Street bakery & it's products, you'd have eaten there more.

Interesting comparison to what big business does to small town shops all across America.

If you don't support the businesses or products you love, they'll eventually fail.


Back on topic.... If you want the baked goods (cakes, etc) brought back somewhere in MK, you need to write guest relations or George K's office. Complaining on a message board won't do any good.
 
articos

articos

Well-Known Member
Remember when I said this? And then apologized here, when @flynnibus rightly pointed out that I was prematurely critiquing? Then, remember when I ended with my (somewhat) kidding remark: "...until they leave it the way it is."

Looking at the Attractions video, they have absolutely left that ceiling the way it is, with a very evident (to me) color mismatch. --sigh-- (Details, people...hire good people, train them, and pay them accordingly.) Sadly, I win. And lose.

The interior is very nicely done, albeit a bit cavernous. It needs greenery or something to soften it up. That said, I'm not a fan of this renovation based on the video/photos, although I will reserve final judgment until I get over there. Unfortunately, like both @CT2 and @RichCruelSugar pointed out, based on what I see, this is no longer the Main Street Bakery, it's a Starbucks plunked down in the middle of Main Street. A nicely decorated one, but not altogether any different from any other new lifestyle center Starbucks anywhere in the world. The lack of seating is also unhelpful not only for convenience but also because it makes the space feel even more food court-ish. This would be perfectly fine in Downtown Disney (Springs) but not on Main Street - it doesn't fit the design/feel of what Main Street is supposed to be. Even the scale is off - they forgot this is Main Street. This is the Panera (or Starbucks) on Main Street, not the mom'n'pop coffee shop that Main Street is supposed to evoke. I'm disappointed - there are ways of making this work, but instead of trying, they went the route of simply building a Starbucks, sacrificing design and intent for high capacity, even with trying to wrap a story in there. They should have renovated and enclosed part of Tomorrowland Terrace for this, I'm afraid. Or even taken over Tony's Town Square. The Bakery was the wrong spot for the 'bucks.

I'll point out DCA's Practical Cafe works as a Starbucks because it's a restaurant space serving Starbucks, and it matches the environment it's in, both interior and exterior. It also doesn't have the history that Main Street Bakery does. And they serve their "Signature Cinnamon Roll" for breakfast. ;)

(Sorry, @emich88, I know how proud you guys are, and you should be - not taking anything away from what you're doing there every day - I'm talking from a design standpoint that has nothing to do with the operations team. I know you guys are going to be a huge success regardless of the design. :) I think it's just in the wrong spot!)
 
englanddg

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Pumbaa1222 said:
Has there ever been food carts or vendor carts on Main St? Beside popcorn and such, I think this could be really well themed add more life to Main St and solve the complaints, I can imagine a Sticky Bun Cart would do really really well (I would have never gone into the bakery for one, but if I walked by saw and could smell them, that's a different story)

Likely it's too crowded most of the time, but I think there are some areas around Town Square and the Hub that would make sense during day time hours, rolling them away towards the parade and night time.
Click to expand...
Yes. There used to be flower vendors, and a silhouette vendor, as well as themed shops, like the magic shop and the penny arcade. The theater used to actually be a theater only, not an art gallery shop.

Due to location on the park, the whole area is slowly being turned into a massive Disney Walmart experience.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
articos said:
I'll point out DCA's Practical Cafe works as a Starbucks because it's a restaurant space serving Starbucks, and it matches the environment it's in, both interior and exterior. It also doesn't have the history that Main Street Bakery does. And they serve their "Signature Cinnamon Roll" for breakfast. ;)
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I think it's even simpler than that... the team in Cali didn't screw the pootch like it sounds like is happening here. I don't think there are inherent differences that would have kept the bakery from being adapted... they just made stupid decisions for reasons we don't know :(
 
englanddg

englanddg

One Little Spark...
flynnibus said:
I think it's even simpler than that... the team in Cali didn't screw the pootch like it sounds like is happening here. I don't think there are inherent differences that would have kept the bakery from being adapted... they just made stupid decisions for reasons we don't know :(
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I would suspect senior management saying "get it open by summer!" could have been a factor.
 
articos

articos

Well-Known Member
Cosmic Commando said:
It was the 1970's version of 1901... now we just have a 2010's version of 1901.
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Tired or not, it was an idealized, yet somewhat real take on 1901. This isn't even trying to be real, nor is it 2010's version of 1901. It's a Starbucks, with decorations on the wall. The fixtures are Starbucks. The registers/counters/display cases are thoroughly modern, and Starbucks/2013 Disney. There is very little about this that is 1901 at all - the best approximation is Starbucks building one of their stores within a historic building, but still mostly gutting the space and putting in their system. They match some of the historical detail with modern takes, but it's mostly decoration. That's fine, but that's not what Main Street is supposed to be or was built as. That's not why people go to the Magic Kingdom, although as renovations like this continue to happen, that entire concept is lost. Old MK would have built specific fixtures that match the theme. They would have had consultants tell them how to balance the capacity issues against the need to capture the 'sense' of Main Street's stores. See what I'm getting at? None of that occurred here.
 
articos

articos

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
I think it's even simpler than that... the team in Cali didn't screw the pootch like it sounds like is happening here. I don't think there are inherent differences that would have kept the bakery from being adapted... they just made stupid decisions for reasons we don't know :(
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Well, the California team was starting with a much better drawing board, since they were essentially working with space that was new and could better integrate. I think it's more the fact that the FL team is just not trained for this, and the management is also not versed in order to guide them (or doesn't care). None of these guys were around when MK was built or even during the 80s/early 90s, and they work to the standards and the knowledge they have. Although there are some great people still at Disney, they are fewer and farther between - they don't get assigned to projects like this, and Main Street suffers because of it. Someone was assigned the task of looking at where Starbucks could be integrated. They likely were not trained in issues like capacity or systems management, and they looked at a whole bunch of factors (mostly numbers) and came up with a few options, to which someone in management signed off on the Bakery. Not realizing whether they should or not, just because hey, the Bakery sounds like a good spot for Starbucks. Then of course Starbucks is going to say yes to that space. But no one brought up the fact that maybe that wasn't the best spot for it. And even if they did, I'm sure it was assured internally that they wouldn't be "changing" the bakery too much, it would still be the Bakery...then they assign it the architects who build Starbucks for a living and have less experience in themed design, or they assign it to two firms, one that does SB and one that does themed design, and the project managers don't know any different based on the drawings, so they assume it's all going to be as they expect it, then this is what gets built. And something gets lost in the translation. And then everyone's proud of it because they can't see the forest for the trees. The lack of leaders within the company who really know the parks and history and their own disciplines is showing.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
articos said:
Tired or not, it was an idealized, yet somewhat real take on 1901. This isn't even trying to be real, nor is it 2010's version of 1901. It's a Starbucks, with decorations on the wall. The fixtures are Starbucks. The registers/counters/display cases are thoroughly modern, and Starbucks/2013 Disney. There is very little about this that is 1901 at all - the best approximation is Starbucks building one of their stores within a historic building, but still mostly gutting the space and putting in their system. They match some of the historical detail with modern takes, but it's mostly decoration. That's fine, but that's not what Main Street is supposed to be or was built as. That's not why people go to the Magic Kingdom, although as renovations like this continue to happen, that entire concept is lost. Old MK would have built specific fixtures that match the theme. They would have had consultants tell them how to balance the capacity issues against the need to capture the 'sense' of Main Street's stores. See what I'm getting at? None of that occurred here.
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I see three problems:

- Management itself
The idea for a Starbucks in Main Street is wrong to begin with. Even with the best of designs, it is still a thematic breach. An intrusion. A recipe for disaster.​
This project was a financial one, decided by F&B, accountaneers, and marketing. Instead of decided upon by creative impulse. And it shows.​
​
- The quality of the design team
The project oozes averageness. Half-decent design. I see some fine windows, okay-ish decorations, poor exterior, dissapointing craftsmanship, and some plain wrong choices. Overall it's just not up to par, it's not good enough for the world's premier theme park.​
​
- Design team not versed in the Disney tradition
I get the feeling that some reasonably talented people are brought in, are tasked to design a period Starbucks, and to take great care to make it blend in with MS. Yes, even TDO understands that WDW is a theater production, with high production values, and that these need big budgets. But that all falls flat when there is just not enough true understanding of what makes a Disney park and why the MK is so succesful at what it does. Why, it takes years of study, or a traineeship for the better part of a decade with the old guard before one has a good grasp of what works and what doesn't. Even a talented crew will go easily amiss. These people look like a good team to hire when you want a quality Starbucks for your controlled environment project. But the MK, where everything is themed to the hilt and interconnected, is too specific an environment for a mere '1901 Starbucks'.​
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
Skywalker said:
It's unfortunate seating is gone, but I don't really think they want you sitting unless your at a restaurant with table service. Not exactly nice but if you wanna sit, you gotta pay.
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And what a miserable attitude that is (of WDW, not you).

In essence, the Bakery has been replaced by an indoor Starbucks cart. It's not even a coffee shop, it's a drive-thru. Well walkthrough. Buy and begone. Next please!

To think that MS was founded as the nostalgic version of MS, one where the old shops still existed, where they knew your name, always had time for you, and took pride in being unique shops. MS is an escape from suburbanism, massive impersonal stores, generic chain stores. So ironic that it is slowly falling prey to the same forces that destroyed real main streets and from which MS is a refuge!
 

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