It has been a while since I have updated the blog. The main reason was that I took a week long trip to Southern California to visit family and Disneyland. Disneyland in Christmas mode has always been one of my favorite times of the year with the lovely decorations throughout the park. In recent years, the decorations and special overlays for the attractions has increased. But first, let me tell my thoughts on one of the more permanent changes. The change is the addition of Starbucks at the Market House on Main Street. There were some rumblings about the commercialization of Disneyland. That does not bother me as several coffee companies had sponsored restaurants in the park. I was worried that part of the ambiance of Main Street would change. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the addition had lots of wood and included a fuax book shop where the pot bellied stove and checkers board have been placed. The location was busy all day long, even more so during the evening. I only took one image of a design that pays homage to a previous tenant.
I also had not noticed a menorah in one of the windows on Main Street.
The other new change is the Jingle Cruise overlay of decorations at the Jungle Cruise. Although not as immersive as either the Haunted Mansion Holidays or the it's a small world overlay, the minor touches are fun. I can see an increase in decorations in years to come. My favorite addition was one I was not able to get a picture, but it is the tiger with one of the jungle skipper Holiday hats. The additions are cute especially those in the waiting line.
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I wondered what happened to you. Good to have you back. Thanks for sharing your Jingle Cruise images. I won't be able to see it this year, but perhaps if I go next year, they'll make it even more enhanced than this year. Love the gorilla camp image.
ReplyDeleteJingle Cruise was a fun variation. We saw it twice, in November and December. As always, it depends on your skipper. Still, I hope it continues and will evolve.
ReplyDeleteI still vote for a time when one can ride the Jungle Cruise with a "straight" narration like it had in the early days.
As for Starbucks on Main Street, I don't drink their coffee (occasionally a hot chocolate). During our December visit we had a hot eggnog and a hot chocolate from the Mary Poppins place and I'm sure it was much cheaper than we could get at Starbucks.
I like that they retained the potbelly stove and the party-line phones.
One thing bothered me was the "library" in the Main Street Starbucks.
I like this aesthetic most of the time. However, as a book collector and bookseller, I'm more acutely aware of real books vs. fake ones. I don't mind the fake books in Toad Hall. It is expected there. In the "library" of the Tower of Terror the books are mostly real. Some are Norwegian leather bound books that look good at a distance until you try to read a title.
In the Main Street Starbucks 90%+ of the books are obviously fake, often the kind of book-shaped boxes you see in decorator stores that seem like a good idea but are not good representations of actual books. I wish they had done a little better in this department since it represents so much of the seating area of this venue.
Yes, it's a detail but some of the greatest attraction of Disneyland is their attention to the details.