Main Street

[jmuboy]

So it looks like the Main Street Cinema at DL is closing for a small refurb to bring in some additional cartoons and themeing to help promote Mickey Mouse as more than a corporate figurehead. It’s a company wide initiative. This change joins the return of the DL Opera House History lobby exhibit with wonderful historical items, the upgraded Mr. Lincoln show and the new Disney Gallery on Main Street.

Why o why doe DL's Main Street continue to get all these great LITTLE details while we here on the east coast continue to get a 1900s version of Wal-Mart with store after store with less charm, more junk and former attraction space now working as retail space. It’s sad and really angers me. I really wish the people in Anaheim were given the opportunity to show the folks at WDW how to really run a Disney theme park.

I hate to continue this argument. But DL is far from perfect but is far better run than WDW. Changes like the ones above show why.

 

[Jim L Clifton]

I agree! I liked it when the Barber Shop was where it used to be,not moving it to have MORE space for JUNK!
Jim

 

[DisneyFans!]

I agree! I liked it when the Barber Shop was where it used to be,not moving it to have MORE space for JUNK!
Jim

Last time I was there it was just to the right of the firehall...has it moved or was it somewhere else to start with?

BTW...completely agree on the whole "Main St. shouldn't be an outdoor shopping mall" thing. :fork:

 

[Captain Hank]

IIRC, the barber shop used to be located on the west side of Center Street, roughly where the Emporium's princess room is now.

 

[captain marvel1]

their making way for the marvel characters to come on in.

 

[jmuboy]

I'm not complaining about the barbor shop. At least they kept it and its the only cool thing that WDW has left on its Main Street. The rest of the Street has lost its soul. There was a lot of damage done to Main Street in the last 10 years it would be somewhat easy to get back. it would just require someone with vision (like Tony Baxter at DL). However, in Florida no one in charge can see past the latest sales data on a spread sheet about how much more $$ is being made on art in the Main Street Cinema instead of showing free film clips! And I like to buy the art. But I can do that at DTD. Give me my cinema and penny arcade back please. Or at least ONE of them.

 

[Tiggerish]

Couldn't agree more. I was heartbroken when Center Street was filled in and converted to retail space.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

The former walt disney story theater is full of cheap cardboard cutouts that people can stick their heads in to take a picture of themselves with a character like you would at a county fair....the movie screen rarely plays old disney animated shorts anymore.

The beautiful character mural in the hallway that lead to the walt disney story theater has been hidden from guest view by a curtained hallway full of water jugs, office chairs, and leftover benches and backdrop murals from meet and greet sets of year's past.

The few penny arcade machines left, are in the train station, near a bunch of strollers.

The Main Street Cinema has come quite a bit from it's VMK days, with old mickey shorts playing on the screens, and the tastefully done IMO disney gallery admist all the original woodwork and red curtains.

The barbershop goes on, as does the marching band, flag ceremony, and dapper dans.

Omnibuses and trolly's still go down the street, but not as often as they used to.

You can still see the bakers and glass blowers at work, but other than that main street has become a department store of generic merch that you can buy at downtown disney.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

The beautiful character mural in the hallway that lead to the walt disney story theater has been hidden from guest view by a curtained hallway full of water jugs, office chairs, and leftover benches and backdrop murals from meet and greet sets of year's past.

I haven't been in that building for a long time. Is all that crap seriously just cordoned off with a curtain?

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Yes, the mural is still there. When you walk in, walk all the way to right. There is a hallway separated by a curtain. It's now considered backstage, but if you were to go behind it, you need to walk back and forth between empty set pieces and more curtains and there it will be on your left hand side surrounded by office storage :lookaroun

 

[jt04]

Yes, the mural is still there. When you walk in, walk all the way to right. There is a hallway separated by a curtain. It's now considered backstage, but if you were to go behind it, you need to walk back and forth between empty set pieces and more curtains and there it will be on your left hand side surrounded by office storage :lookaroun

Somebody posted a picture not too long ago.

Anyway, I thought the "one Disney" or "one parks concept" would start addressing the differences in quality between the parks. MSUSA is not what it should be. And it makes it even worse that they recognize the problem at DL while ignoring the issue at WDW. But perhaps all the personnel moves are an indicator that the company recognizes WDW needs similar treatment.

If you really want to get worried, go read Al Lutz today. He says they are scaling back WDW's new projects while expanding DL's offerings!

*head explodes*

 

[steampunkwillie]

more penny arcade stuff...

Some more of the old Penny Arcade Nickelodeons and strength testers are in the lobby and halls over at The Boardwalk Resort.

I'd love to see them expand Main Street backwards towards Adventureland and Tommorowland.

This way the could have the store facades in the front and more shopping behind them.

 

[SoccerMickey]

I agree that our Main Street has been stripped of a lot of it's charm to make way for generic Disney retail space but my biggest gripe with Main Street of today is that iPod docking station that gets dragged out that plays the macarena or some other hannah montana hit. This defineitely is out of place in terms of themeing. And while on the subject of Main Street I love that they continue the flag retreat ceremony but it offends me when a Main Street Ops CM does not put his or hand over their hearts for the National Anthem. Just my two cents on the state of Main Street

 

[JusDu]

And while on the subject of Main Street I love that they continue the flag retreat ceremony but it offends me when a Main Street Ops CM does not put his or hand over their hearts for the National Anthem. Just my two cents on the state of Main Street

Sorry but I have to say something on this. I am a Main Street Ops CM as of the beginning of Dec. and found out that alot off the CMs there are actually international. It is because o this that they are not expected to put their hands over their hearts for the national anthem. Would you want to salute someone else's flag?

 

[WDITrent]

I agree with the OP. I don't take anything here at Disneyland for granted. It's just so annoying when members of MiceChat complain about the littlest things, and I think about how WDWmagic would react much differently. I mean, all this Space Mountain and SSE refurb scolding would be WAYYY worse over there. It's kind of rediculous.

But as a member of WDWmagic, I have a pretty good perspective on things.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

And while on the subject of Main Street I love that they continue the flag retreat ceremony but it offends me when a Main Street Ops CM does not put his or hand over their hearts for the National Anthem. Just my two cents on the state of Main Street

I don't think Disney could mandate something that personal, or would want to if they could. Not sure if you were suggesting that or not.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Sorry but I have to say something on this. I am a Main Street Ops CM as of the beginning of Dec. and found out that alot off the CMs there are actually international. It is because o this that they are not expected to put their hands over their hearts for the national anthem. Would you want to salute someone else's flag?

Thousands of Cast Members are international students or cultural reps. I would stand at attention for the US anthem for respect, but would not put my hand over my heart, we dont even do that for our own national anthem...

 

[Mickey_777]

So it looks like the Main Street Cinema at DL is closing for a small refurb to bring in some additional cartoons and themeing to help promote Mickey Mouse as more than a corporate figurehead. It’s a company wide initiative. This change joins the return of the DL Opera House History lobby exhibit with wonderful historical items, the upgraded Mr. Lincoln show and the new Disney Gallery on Main Street.

Why o why doe DL's Main Street continue to get all these great LITTLE details while we here on the east coast continue to get a 1900s version of Wal-Mart with store after store with less charm, more junk and former attraction space now working as retail space. It’s sad and really angers me. I really wish the people in Anaheim were given the opportunity to show the folks at WDW how to really run a Disney theme park.

I hate to continue this argument. But DL is far from perfect but is far better run than WDW. Changes like the ones above show why.

I'll be returning to DL for the firs time since I was 8 yrs old this coming May so I'll definitely have to check all of that out.

I love MK's main street....but I also love to buy stuff so that probably has a lot to do with it. I don't mind all the stores but it would be nice to bring back some of the old charm from before...especially since I was too young to really take it in back in the day when it was around.

 

[puntagordabob]

Sorry but I have to say something on this. I am a Main Street Ops CM as of the beginning of Dec. and found out that alot off the CMs there are actually international. It is because o this that they are not expected to put their hands over their hearts for the national anthem. Would you want to salute someone else's flag?

Uhm, Cast Members are playing a "Role".... playing a Part.... if you work on Main Street USA you should play the part of being from the USA and honor its customs.... END OF STORY. The Cast Member's job (among other things) is to "Create the Illusion of Reality of what could be into what is" as if by magic... and most CMs do an outstanding job....working on Main Street USA is playing a part in Walt's reimagineering of his hometown's Main Street USA.

I wonder what Walt Disney would think of this?

 

[puntagordabob]

Disneyland seems to do an outstanding job "PLUSSING" their resort... and catering to the locals in ways that raise the overall quality for everyone (local and nonlocal alike)..... I do not agree that WDW's Guests are "stupid" and Non-Local... there are a lot of smart people attending WDW, and a lot of people going to WDW live here...sure a really huge % live far away, but we are a sizable number likely as large if not larger than the % of local Disneyland Guests in California....

Maybe one day this will be recognized and and shift the philosophy that the Big Bosses at WDW implement.