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PHOTOS - 'Something Silver' store construction underway at Downtown Disney
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
WDW Vacationer
Active Member
:brick:
Not what Downtown Disney needs.
Not what Downtown Disney needs.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Regardless, it's what WDW's Downtown Disney is getting.
What interests me is that Something Silver is strictly a West Coast chain. The one at Disneyland has been doing well for 10 years, but the chain is based out of Seattle and has a small handful of stores in only West Coast cities; Seattle, Portland, LA, Orange County, San Diego.
This is a big leap for them to head all the way out to Orlando. Since this is the fourth or fifth store for WDW's Downtown Disney that has been recently copied and cloned from existing stores at Disneyland's Downtown Disney (D Street, Ridemakerz, Sanuk, Apricot Lane, BLINK), and since this is a giant cultural and distance leap for a small chain of stores based in the Great Pacific Northwest, this tells me that the Orlando management doesn't really have any new ideas for Downtown Disney yet.
They appear to just be cut and pasting whatever works at Disneyland for the SoCal audience and hope that it works in Florida too. That's a very odd move to make, and it makes you wonder who is really in charge of WDW's Downtown Disney after the Hyperion Wharf disaster. :veryconfu
About all that's left is for them to put in a Sephora, a Vault 28, an ESPNZone, and a monorail line from Downtown Disney to Tomorrowland, and the conversion to Disneyland Downtown Disney East will be complete.
jt04
Well-Known Member
I'm just grateful TDO cloned the ideas for T-Rex, DisneyQuest, Cirque, Raglin Road, Paradiso, and many other ideas from the Disneyland's version of DTD.
Oh wait. Nevermind. :lookaroun
What it tells me is that Disney have existing relationships with businesses that operate locations at DLR, and they have leveraged that to get them to open locations in WDW. Seems a very obvious and sensible plan to me. This nothing at all new, it has been happening for years across all the properties.
Hopefully we won't get those awful Best Buy kiosks.
Pioneer Hall
Well-Known Member
Exactly what I was thinking. If you have something that works fairly well and caters to a completely different audience, then why not try and leverage that opportunity to a new set of people.
jt04
Well-Known Member
Yep, this is another great addition to DTD which has a growing number of specialized offerings that make it so unique. And to think there is still much more to be added in the future.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
I have no opinion on the store because I haven't visited one on the west coast.
It may be great to have or not ... although I think anything that is open beats the dead zones they have.
That said, Anaheim and O-Town are two entirely different audiences (can't wait to be talking politics or world events or even TV at WDW soon with friends and get the usual death stares!
:drevil::kingDLR management (including its current Prez) failed miserably a decade ago in trying to toss an O-Town model on Anaheim. So, just because something works in Anaheim absolutely doesn't mean it will work in Orlando.
The fish ball cart does a huge business at HKDL, but I doubt it would play so well at MK or DL!:ROFLOL:
~GFC~
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Yes, I agree it's very sensible.
But my hunch here is that these new stores borrowed from Disneyland are operating at WDW on very short leases, perhaps year-to-year to start. If it works for them in WDW like it does at Disneyland, TDO goes for it and perhaps offers a longer and more standard mall lease. And if TDO gets the Hyperion Wharf Or Whatever It's Now Called plan off the ground in 2012 or '13, then they can cancel the short leases on these pop-up stores borrowed from Disneyland and do something different, and perhaps bolder and bigger.
After almost a half-dozen other stores making the move from Anaheim's Downtown Disney to Lake Buena Vista over the past year or so, it was this Something Silver news that really made me go "Okay, now what is really going on here?" :lol:
I thought it was novel enough 10 years ago when Something Silver showed up in Anaheim and I realized it was that same funky jewlery store I remembered from when I lived up in Seattle in the 90's. It just seems to be a very large logistical leap for them to go from a small Seattle-based chain in a handful of upscale West Coast malls to suddenly being all the way out to Orlando.
But then, Nordstrom started as a small department store run by a Swedish immigrant family in downtown Seattle, and look how that turned out for them! :lol:
As for the Best Buy kiosk at Disneyland Downtown Disney, I finally had a chance to look inside them without someone else using it. It's mainly full of computer and phone accesories; chargers, earbuds, headphones, batteries, a few basic $150 cameras and cell phones, and the basic range of Ipods from $50 Nanos to the cheapest Ipod Touch, which is the most expensive thing in the kiosk at $250. It all seems like stuff geared to tourists on vacation who may have forgotten something, or need a quick replacement.
Best Buy Kiosk, Disneyland Downtown Disney, 2011
And since 50% of the visitors at Disneyland already live within a 100 mile radius, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they end up at WDW's Downtown Disney where only 10% of the visitors live within a 100 mile radius. There would seem to be a much bigger market in WDW for tourists who forgot/lost their camera, Ipod, battery charger, memory card, earbuds, etc., etc.
Not really sure why that concept would warrant the "awful" label. They certainly seem to be popular, and blend right in with all the other DTD carts aesthetically.
Best Buy Kiosk at Downtown Disney
Versus All The Other Kiosks at Downtown Disney
PeterMarcus
Active Member
I never bought anything at the DTD magic store (so I can't complain too bitterly), but it always reminded me of the magic store on Main Street in MK years ago. When I was a kid, the MK magic store was my favorite store ever -- anywhere in the whole world. I bought my first snakes-out-of-a-can-of-peanuts when I was ten, and continued to buy little stuff there until it closed, just out of nostalgia.
djkidkaz
Well-Known Member
I want to complain about all these crap stores in DTD ( Something Silver, Harley Davidson, Apricot Lane, etc. ) but I don't have an answer as to what they should put there either! When Im in WDW for a week, I am just interested in shopping Disney merchandise, but they already have the World of Disney store, so there is no need for more Disney merchandise shops. The magic shop was cool and I did buy something from there once but as soon as they started showing a trick, the shop filled up and you couldn't even get in there it was so small so I'd just pass it up. Maybe they should turn DisneyQuest into a huge Fun House or something? I'd be interested in that and Im sure I'd do it numerous times. They could make each floor different and then every few years they could update one of the floors or a couple sections on each floor with new things to keep it fresh. I mean, when is the last time you've seen a Fun House? Mirror Mazes, upside down rooms, black light tunnels, etc.
Or they could bring back the Museum of the Weird idea with Rolly Crumps old sketches and figures he made.
And I still say they need to bring Mickeys Sun Wheel from DCA as well as the Symphony Swings to Orlandos DTD. Just charge a fee for each one like they do the Aerophile balloon ride, or maybe have a ticket you can buy at a cheaper price that lets you ride all 3?
I don't know...but until I see this unveiling of what they have cooked up, none of these new stores is going to make me visit DTD or spend money there.
Oh, I do like the Splitsville concept though.
Or they could bring back the Museum of the Weird idea with Rolly Crumps old sketches and figures he made.
And I still say they need to bring Mickeys Sun Wheel from DCA as well as the Symphony Swings to Orlandos DTD. Just charge a fee for each one like they do the Aerophile balloon ride, or maybe have a ticket you can buy at a cheaper price that lets you ride all 3?
I don't know...but until I see this unveiling of what they have cooked up, none of these new stores is going to make me visit DTD or spend money there.
Oh, I do like the Splitsville concept though.
Pioneer Hall
Well-Known Member
I have no opinion on the store because I haven't visited one on the west coast.
It may be great to have or not ... although I think anything that is open beats the dead zones they have.
That said, Anaheim and O-Town are two entirely different audiences (can't wait to be talking politics or world events or even TV at WDW soon with friends and get the usual death stares!
DLR management (including its current Prez) failed miserably a decade ago in trying to toss an O-Town model on Anaheim. So, just because something works in Anaheim absolutely doesn't mean it will work in Orlando.
The fish ball cart does a huge business at HKDL, but I doubt it would play so well at MK or DL!:ROFLOL:
~GFC~
I'm well aware that what might work in Anaheim, won't necessarily work in Orlando. I think that overall the business models between the two DTD areas are fairly different, even with the clubs now gone. I think that DTD in Orlando tries to be more of an entertainment complex than they do in Anaheim, and I hope that they try to keep that in mind as they expand on whatever vision they finally decide on. On the retail side though, I think that culturally the majority of WDW visitors are fairly similar to the ones in DL. Yes I know there are differences between the foreign visitors and such, however when it comes to stores that might work I don't blame the Disney folks trying to bring successful Anaheim stores to DTD, especially when all they have to gain is collecting rent. It's almost like looking at how stores in a mall in Anaheim can also do well at a mall in Orlando. Retail is just part of the overall business model, which hopefully they figure out sooner than later. In the same idea, I wouldn't expect a HKDL transplant to do well since culturally there are clearly a lot more differences between the major audiences in both places.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Oh, I like that idea!
WDW Vacationer
Active Member
I have no opinion on the store because I haven't visited one on the west coast.
It may be great to have or not ... although I think anything that is open beats the dead zones they have.
That said, Anaheim and O-Town are two entirely different audiences (can't wait to be talking politics or world events or even TV at WDW soon with friends and get the usual death stares!
DLR management (including its current Prez) failed miserably a decade ago in trying to toss an O-Town model on Anaheim. So, just because something works in Anaheim absolutely doesn't mean it will work in Orlando.
The fish ball cart does a huge business at HKDL, but I doubt it would play so well at MK or DL!:ROFLOL:
~GFC~
There it is.
A jewelry store like this, Apricot Lane and stores similar to them may be good stores. But they are stores I can find at my local mall. The reason stores like this work at Downtown Disney Anaheim is that with such a large local guest base, Downtown Disney is like a local mall, but you can go to Disneyland after you shop. Obviously there are unique stores too.
But WDW draws most of their visitors from other places for multi-thousand dollar vacations. They don't want jewelry stores and boutiques. They want stores they generally can't find at home. Weather it be Magnetron, Candy Cauldron, Starabillias, Mickey's Pantry or World of Disney. Unfortunately, Disney is taking deals with third parties they have already established relationships with in Disneyland. Because, let's face it, Downtown Disney isn't what it used to be. (You know, with 1/3 of it a giant seating area.) It appears West Side may be struggling to get bodies in the walkways. West Side has lost quite a few tenants. Some even left to go to the Marketplace. Maybe they are moving for more space, who's to know. Hopefully Splitsville livens up the West Side, which, with a little more effort on Disney's part can fill the void left by PI.
mp2bill
Well-Known Member
lol