Disneyland Resort’s Downtown Disney District has a brand new addition with a one-of-a-kind Starbucks. The popular coffee shop was created with sustainable materials and features an outdoor patio with a giant living wall containing over 1,000 plants shaped in the shape of a stylized coffee… Read More »New Starbucks Now Open in Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort
Last month, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure stayed open for 24 straight hours beginning at 6 a.m. on a Friday. Many thousands of Southlanders flocked to “Monstrous Summer All-Nighter”, and some eager fans camped out outside the gates starting on Thursday night.
That event brought to mind the first time Disneyland stayed open all night – its first Grad Nite in 1964. One of the park’s marketing geniuses thought it up and it was some chore selling it to Operations, Security, Legal and every other department. Imagine having thousands and thousands of teen-agers in the Park overnight? Unheard of!
The other concurrent event that would add to the first Grad Nite’s excitement was the introduction of the Ford Mustang to the general public, the most successful launch of a new car since the Model A. Lee Iacocco, later to become president of the Ford Motor Company, had been one of the forces behind the original Mustang whose development costs were astronomical. It was said at the time that there was no way the car would flop, because Ford would spend whatever it took in marketing costs to make it a success. And Disneyland was the happy recipient of Ford’s marketing windfall. A brand-new, silver Mustang would be given away at the first Grad Nite.
There was a lot of hustle in the Park’s Marketing Department to promote the giveaway to the high schools. Pre-publicity, posters in schools, and paid advertising created quite a hoopla. A few weeks before the event, the car was to be on daily display, parked in a showy spot in front of the castle. There was a local Ford plant in nearby Pico Rivera, where this fabulous new car was starting to come off the assembly line. I was assigned to pick up the display car and drive it back to the park. There were snickers in the department as I was known to be a somewhat reckless driver, roaring into the employee parking lot each morning – always just a few minutes late. This time, however, I took my responsibility quite seriously, even though I could hardly wait to get behind the wheel of that bad boy.Read More »The Park – Grad Night 1964, Disneyland’s First All-Nighter
Huge interior of new Starbucks.
The Starbucks sponsored Main Street Bakery has opened at the Magic Kingdom. For some it’s a blessing to have ‘real’ coffee available in the parks, for others, its an intrusion of the outside world into the magic. The final execution is a very high capacity, smoothly run Starbucks with a few Disney touches added to make it just magical enough.
There is not as much merchandise as at a regular Starbucks, indeed hardly any beyond bags of coffee, but you’ll find all the coffee, tea, and other drinks you’ve come to love at your local Starbucks. Although we were led to believe that much of the old menu would transfer to the new location, the baked goods are mostly what you would find in a regular Starbucks. The egg and cheese croissant and super large cinnamon roll are both absent to name a few. Disney is apparently looking for new homes for the cinnamon roll, but in the meantime you can find it in Gaston’s in New Fantasyland.
The use of the Starbucks logo is tasteful – not overpowering, but not absent either. Disney has created a backstory complete with ‘grand opening’ photos and a collection of coffee paraphernalia from the owner’s trip around the world collecting photographs and unique items from different societies and their coffee habits. That backstory also includes the use of Starbucks original two-finned mermaid figure (modified slightly for Disney audiences) and there’s even a couple hidden mermaids scattered around the store.Read More »Starbucks Sponsored Main Street Bakery Opens at Magic Kingdom
Announced today by the Disney Parks Blog, the next two Starbucks locations will open in the Summer of 2013. Magic Kingdom and Epcot will be receiving these two locations. The Main Street Bakery will hold the one for the Magic Kingdom (going down for refurbishment… Read More »Two New Starbucks locations being added to Disney World