It’s the part of the DCA redo that Disneyana fans say they are most looking forward to. When Sunshine Plaza fades off into the sunset sometime later this year and is then replaced by Buena Vista Street in 2011. Which is supposed to be this affectionate recreation of the Los Angeles that Walt Disney encountered when he first arrived in Southern California back in August of 1923.
So if you asked the dweebs what they like best about the Imagineers’ plans for Buena Vista Street, they’ll tell you that it’s the attention to detail. How all the shops in this part of the Park will soon pay tribute to special people, places & characters in Walt’s life.
Copyright 2008 Disney. All Rights Reserved
Take – for example – Doc Sherwood Apothecary. Which will be named after the very first man to ever pay Walt for a drawing (Back when the Disney family still lived in Marceline, MO., old “Doc” Sherwood gave this budding artist a nickel for the charcoal sketch that Walt drew of Doc’s Morgan stallion, Rupert). Or Julius & Sons Tailors. Which will celebrate the cartoon cat that co-starred in Disney’s “Alice in Cartoonland” series. Or Kingswell Camera. Which will slyly tip its hat to the location of the original Disney Brothers Studio (i.e. a storefront at 4651 Kingswell Avenue in Hollywood).
Of course, if you were to ask the accountants in the Team Disney Anaheim building why they ‘re looking forward to the Sunshine Plaza redo, they’d flat-out tell you that WDI’s attention to detail has nothing to do with their enthusiasm for this $100 million-plus project. What they’re looking forward to most is what happens after DCA’s new entrance plaza area re-opens. When -- (they hope) thanks to all of these repositioned / rethemed shops & food service locations -- Disneyland Resort Guests will then begin paying a whole lot more attention to California Adventure’s retail opportunities.
You see, it isn’t just California Adventure’s attendance levels that have proven to be a disappointment over these past eight years. Guests visiting this theme park have also missed Disney’s per capita spending projections by a wide margin as well. Thanks – in large part (Or so Disney’s accountanteers would have you believe) – to the way all of the shops & food service locations within the Sunshine Plaza area were initially set up.
As one TDA insider recently explained it to me:
“Look at Main Street U.S.A. That’s one very effective retail corridor. Whenever you enter or exit Disneyland, you’re forced to walk along this one very narrow street that then takes you by all these windows which are loaded with merchandise. In a situation like that, people just can’t help but shop. Now take a look at Sunshine Plaza and its wide open spaces. There’s nothing about this part of that Park that naturally funnels people into Greetings from California or Engine-Ears Toys. Which is why this two shops combined don’t do a 10th of the business that Disneyland’s Emporium does.” Copyright 2008 Disney. All Rights Reserved
“Look at Main Street U.S.A. That’s one very effective retail corridor. Whenever you enter or exit Disneyland, you’re forced to walk along this one very narrow street that then takes you by all these windows which are loaded with merchandise. In a situation like that, people just can’t help but shop.
Now take a look at Sunshine Plaza and its wide open spaces. There’s nothing about this part of that Park that naturally funnels people into Greetings from California or Engine-Ears Toys. Which is why this two shops combined don’t do a 10th of the business that Disneyland’s Emporium does.”
So when you take this information into account, suddenly Buena Vista Street – with that recreation of the Red Car regularly trundling through (Which will then drive people up onto the sidewalks and then hopefully into the shops) – doesn’t seem all that magical & nostalgic anymore. Even pushing out the footprint of this part of the Park to where that giant CALIFORNIA is currently located takes on a whole new meaning. As my TDA contact again explains:
“People look at that recreation of the old Pan Pacific Auditorium entrance and think ‘How cool. How evocative.’ What they don’t realize is that – by pushing DCA’s footprint just that little bit further out into the esplanade -- we’ll then be able to double the amount of retail space that we have towards the front of that Park.”
So where Disneyana fans may see a nostalgic tribute to the LA that Walt knew back in the 1920s, DLR accountanteers see a chance to fix the mistakes of the past. To swap out California Adventure’s original poorly designed retail corridor for something that will (in theory, anyway) do a much better job of funneling the Guests past shop windows. With the hope that – as they walk along Buena Vista Street while entering or exiting this theme park – these people will then feel a stronger compulsion to go buy something.
I know, I know. It just ruins the magic for a lot of you folks whenever I remind you that the Walt Disney Company is actually a business. More importantly, that monetary concerns do drive a lot of the Mouse’s decisions these days.
But that said … I can’t help but think that – at least when it comes to the Sunshine Plaza / Buena Vista Street changeout – that this is kind of a win / win situation. I mean, the dweebs get a brand-new entrance plaza for California Adventure that’s just loaded with obscure references to Walt. Which is the sort of thing that they love. Meanwhile, Mickey get the opportunity to radically increase the amount of retail space located towards the front of this troubled theme park. Thereby giving DCA the opportunity to finally live up to its profit potential.
So Disneyana fans get more show, while the Walt Disney Company (in theory, anyway) gets more dough. So what’s not to like about that?
Your thoughts?
Great - load it up with shops. My Disney trip, regardless of location, is not complete without going into every single shop. Unfortunately, for about the last five years, it's been getting easier to go through every store without finding anything I want to purchase. If friends are travelling with me, they wonder why all the shopping, since everything is available at the World of Disney Store - they've gotten that message since the moment they arrived.
Now if they're gonna open up an old fashioned Disney Gallery Store like they had in Vegas and NYC with similar merchandise - great, I'll be frequenting DCA. If it's just more Princess/Pixie/Pirate plastic and plush, it won't matter how many storefronts they put up.
Seems to me, they're missing a bet by not covering up any architectural wonders with a big, giant Sorcerer's Hat placed in the middle of the street. Now THAT would just clinch it!
Like Curmudgeon says, all the crap (sorry, but it's true) is the same at every Disney retail location. Remember when you could walk into the magic shop and find non-Disney-branded magic tricks? When there was a tobacconist shop (yeah, like that would fly these days)? A piano/organ store? A men's clothing store and a woman's clothing store that sold honest-to-goodness men's and women's clothing? How nice it would be to walk into this "apothecary" and find, if not actual medicine, then something other than a bunch of Dopey plush.
More retail, more retail, more retail! Yes! Those Imagineers sure know what counts these days.
Hell's Donkeys, Jim...givethe people a break. Calling Disney fans geeks...Diude, really. So what if some folks foam a tad more than others...we each have our Pavlov point that makes us react when it comes to something Disney.
As for establishing the "Sales Corridor/Main Street" for DCA - GREAT! This is a proven fact for all the parks on how it works...so what if there is merchandising...those who want it will now know where to find it easier, that's all. And, if there are more eateries and better food offerings along the corridor, even more so. Screw the merchandise. The crap that is there for the yokels will still turn the dime, and, the good items that are interlaced for the collectors will still be available in the nooks and crannys of places such as Disneyana, Off The Page, Disney Gallery, and otherwise.
So the company wants to make money. Repeat after me, "IT'S A BUSINESS." That is what it's there to do. And, folks, it ain't the Imagineers driving it. They are designing an entry that will better establish the time honored "sense of arrival" that Disney Parks are known for...and, something that DCA didn't really have. It is a place that will visually set the stage for the stories to built outward from...which is far more than a public mall fountain plaza with a giant sun on it....by the way...is that the giant sun that is now going up on Screamin' Coaster? Recycle is the name of the game if it is, and, a smart move.
Imagineers have always designed the shops and storefronts as well as the attractions and adventures. From Main Street USA to Hollywood Plaza in the new DCA...it is still the same thing going on...from 1955 until now...the overall experience is what we are after...and, that is far more than shopping for trinkets or plush to take home to remind us of the magic and wonders....
Recycle, you can say that alright. I thought I was looking at concept sketches for Disney MGM studios for a second there. Are Disney getting lazy, or are they just running out of ideas.
BTW, Epcot seems to do very well without an avenue of shops at the entrance. All the best shops are hidden in the back of the park and they make a killing.
Dang it, Jim. As I was reading along, I was thinking "this sounds like a real win-win." You took the words right out of my mouth!
I'm looking forward to the improved entrance. But I'm really going to miss some of the old stuff, esp. the California letters out front and the stylized Mickey head on Screamin'. No one will know why my kids call it the "Mickey Coaster" anymore. I wish they could have found some way to leave that. The Mickey face on the Sun Wheel just seems to blatant to me.
Any word on where the California letters are going, Jim? Inquiring minds want to know!
Sue in Texas
Interesting. Great article.
Seems like there is still too much emphasis being placed on retail at the park. People aren't buying because they are too busy trying to get back to Disneyland where all the great rides are at. Give people a reason to stay in the park and maybe they'd be more inclined to stop a a store on the way out to show all the folks back home they visited DCA.
Mark my words... Fastpass (in the near future) will NOT be valid when you parkhop. The economics are clear... ToT, Cars, Little Mermaid, Soarin', Screamin' will be enough to bring people in... more people and later (fewer) Fastpass tickets, people will need to be FORCED to stay in DCA (hence you can't hold FP for two parks simultaneously) until their ride time...
A charming retail corridor will keep people occupied and sell more crap... this is really the reason I think retail is high (despite sub-par merch) at DL... people are stuck waiting for their SM ride time and shop around... DCA never had enough people or rides to hold people captive and the retail was even LESS inspiring than DL...
From a business perspective, this is exactly what I see from initiatives like this.
Nice job, Jim, calling your readers "dweebs." There's nothing like insulting people to get your hits up. Look it up in the dictionary. A dweeb is a boring, socially inept person, while a geek is someone who is merely eccentric. I consider myself pretty eccentric (and I frequently refer to myself as a geek), but I'm in no way boring or socially inept.
And maybe us "dweebs" are just excited that the entrance area is actually going to look like a Disney theme park.
Yeti
In my travels around the Disney fan community I have met MANY Disney fans, and made friends with a few. I feel that your definition of "dweeb" fits quite well. Sorry, but hit up any Disney convention and you will find that the hardcore fans that Jim is referring to are "boring socially inept" people.
I agree with most of what's been written above. Make the stores unique like they used to be on Main Street U.S.A. Add more attractions. It was the lack of attractions that has made D.C.A. lack luster. The layout of the shopd had nothing to do with it. However, I do agree that the proposed changes to the entrance will help. And don't go cheap on the details for us Disney Dweebs. OK so I'm a Disney "Dweeb" and very proud to be one too!
WHAT?????
Disney needs money to operate? DCA isn't making money hand over fist? When did this happen? I'm shocked! I mean, every time I visit the 2 entry lines are at least 4-8 people deep. Only Jim Hill brings us the secrets... and that's precisely why I keep coming back.
And yes... the hundreds... no thousands.... wait, by now probably millions, of people who enter the park and walk right by all the dumb shops at DCA's entrance are ALL DWEEBS. I'm proud to be a part of the crowd that isn't thrilled by the sub-par and is happy to not part with my hard earned dollars simply because it has Disney on the price tag.
Oh, and for the record... many people still don't know all the obscure facts about Main Street. Does that make it 'just for the dweebs' and therefore worse, Jim?
DWEEBS REBEL!!!
..Unless Jim Hill wants to be the main dweeb.
As to the main topic - DISNEY is very much a business & Walt was very much a businessman. They are trying to turn around an underperforming venue. Good luck & it will be interesting to see if it happens and how it happens.
I prefer Disney nerd or geek or fan.....Disney dweeb makes me cry inside..
www.raymation.net
At least he got through a whole article without the schoolmarmish "Mind you ..."
The concept art of the new DCA entrance gate looks an awful lot like the existing entrance at Disney MG ... oops, Disney's Hollywood Studios. (Maybe someday they'll be mature enough to call it Disney's ORLANDO Studios. Sigh)