TRONorail10
Active Member
Tomorrowland Terrace was one of the locations scouted for Starbucks. Magic Kingdom integration was probably the most difficult park to deal with because of the strong theming throughout the lands. Tomorrowland Terrace is a logical choice because of it being only a seasonal restaurant, however, during peak times it is an extremely valuable piece to the Magic Kingdom restaurant operations. While most restaurants are all about making a profit, Disney also has to keep in mind guest satisfaction, and with the exception of Be Our Guest, Disney does not want restaurants to have lines out the door and extreme wait times for food. It is bad show and decreases guest satisfaction. TLT takes the burden off of the other quick service restaurants so that they can operate under more controlled conditions. Imagine if you were one of the cast members in those locations and your restaurant had nonstop lines for 12 hours, it puts an extreme burden on the cast and makes working conditions extremely dangerous when you are not stopping or slowing down for hours on end. TLT is also the location that eats up most of those dreaded tour groups. Tour Leaders are given an incentive if they bring their group to TLT away from the other Disney guests so that they have enough seating for their group and the other park guests can have a more pleasant time without Brazilians screaming their heads off and throwing their trash everywhere.
With the addition of Be Our Guest, The Plaza becomes obsolete. There is more profit to be gained from BOG, than Plaza could ever produce. While I don't have the exact dollar amounts, I'm sure Disney has some sort of profit per hour calculation of what Starbucks could produce over Plaza restaurant which would then in turn add to the argument of adding Starbucks in that location. With Disney's effort to create more unique snack offerings in the parks, I am not worried about "competition" between the Bakery and Starbucks, I'm sure Disney has a different vision for each, with the ultimate goal of making money! However, if Disney were to go with the other idea of integrating Starbucks into the bakery, the increased demand may cause logistical issues with the limited space available and Disney may be looking at an extensive reworking of the east side of Main Street.
