Old Main St. vs New Main St.

[leeocean]

I love the look and feel of Main Street - I really don't remember the "old" Main Street - I was too young. But the shops are great when you are waiting with your group for a parade or to cut through after the fireworks. Main Street Confectionary is my absolute favorite shop - just the smell leads to so many fond memories.

 

[Sansaarai]

Main Street for me is just a walkway I have to go down to get to the attractions. I have never really spent much time there. I dont miss the penny arcade or the magic shop. I go to WDW to see all the cool attractions not to play arcade games. Adn you dont have to buy stuff from the shops. Do what I do. Walk right by them.

 

[wdwfanatic17]

First memory is of old main street in its last days. I'm only 17, but one of my earliest memories of MK is of the Penny Arcade. I went back a year later, hoping to go back, and to my surprise, IT WAS CLOSED. we have it one tape i look sooo mad. I laugh at it now

 

[Dawn S]

I miss the Penny Arcade & the theater! While I can't say that I hate Main Street as it stands now, I certainly don't prefer it! One thing's for sure, anything at all you can think of to buy related to a mouse can be found on Main Street. I guess that is necessary, too, but it is still a bit overdone.

 

[MrPromey]

The last time I took a good look at the guide map for Main Street, it actually listed Package Pick-Up as an attraction in that "land" of the MK. What's interesting is that in the other three parks, they list it under guest services...

I'd be fine with the current Main Street if they backed the main gates of the park up to the other end of but as long as I'm paying to get in to that part of a park, I think there should be something more to it than a few shops that all sell almost the exact same stuff you can get in all the free areas of WDW... There are a few things that are branded MK and can only be found in the MK but those are in the minority and could have easily been contained in a store the size of the original Emporium.

Spending significant park time on Main Street today is foolish since all it is today is a retail area. You are paying for the privilege of shopping.

In case anybody is uncertain, I liked Main Street the way it was more than the way it is. A penny arcade can't compete with the one in Tomorrow Land that takes a dollar a game though... Neither can a magic shop that sells $5 tricks when a polo shirt that takes up just about the same amount of shelf space sells for $50... Somehow I highly doubt that many guest have ever claimed they did not see enough retail opportunities in the park on any of those enter/exit surveys. I'm pretty sure that the changes made to Main Street were driven by profit rather than guest demand.

 

[mickey-nut]

I miss the old one. I loved the magic shop and penny arcade, and on really hot days it was great to go into the air conditioned movie theatre, sit down and take 10 to relax while watching some rare Mickey footage.

 

[sigsegv]

Originally posted by mickey-nut
I miss the old one. I loved the magic shop and penny arcade, and on really hot days it was great to go into the air conditioned movie theatre, sit down and take 10 to relax while watching some rare Mickey footage.

I don't remember much of the old Main St (parents weren't able to take me much when I was a kid -- I'm making up for that now ), but I do feel that MK (and WDW in general) has enough stores already. That said, you can still see the Mickey movies. They're back in the Kodak shop to the far right of the entrance as you enter. Every time I go to the MK, I try to take a break in this theater and watch "Steamboat Willie" (anyone know where I can get a DVD with this on it?), "Flowers and Trees", and, "The Band Concert." I love these old Disney shorts and seeing them again is a nice reminder of where all this came from.

--sig