Welcome Back to the Disneyland Resort
Buena Vista Street
This past week Buena Vista Street greeted guests with some rather plain dirt.
I presume that the Disney horticulture department is hard at work on the Buena Vista Street entrance planters, although when they recently did the same thing during operating hours around the Disneyland Partners Statue there was at least a sign noting the “work in progress”.
Since Buena Vista Street opened in June, these four planters have been home to red rose bushes.
This is pretty bad show, especially considering that Disney will often release videos showing the over night magical-transformation of the park flower beds and gardens. But to leave one of the first areas to greet park guests entering the “new” Disney California Adventure looking like this seems lazy.
Good new Oswald fans! You can now pick up a set of Oswald “ears” at Oswald’s Filling Station on Buena Vista Street.
Perhaps I’m still a bit upset at what the merchandise team has done to the beautifully and painstakingly themed shop windows, and that’s why I’m being so harsh on the planters.
Over the past few weeks, the merchandise barrage was scaled back in nearly all of the windows which were once completely flooded with modern items. (see previous photos) In some cases the displays were pushed to the back of the windows or even covered up by some of these generic souvenirs.
But even though the plastic kitchen utensils and the modern office supplies have been scaled back, I still find it unacceptable to see 1930′s baseball jerseys next to Cars Land tee shirts. EPCOT is celebrating 30 years this weekend, and many of the photographers, bloggers and Disney fans I follow on Twitter have made the pilgrimage to experience the event. I personally have never been to EPCOT, trust me it’s on my short list, but listening to those who reminisce about the way EPCOT Center was and how it has changed over the years has made me wonder what will become of areas like Buena Vista Street and Cars Land. Both of these areas are very well received and have become instant loves of most Disneyland fans. As minor as these window changes may seem to some, I’m sure it was a slow change for EPCOT Center as well.
I personally am in love with Buena Vista Street and I hope that we are not already experiencing changes which we will look back on in years to come.
Although significantly scaled back in scope, the merchandise does not fit with the 1930′s theme of any of the windows.
Even with this change, Buena Vista Street still holds a very rich atmosphere and it is quite important to take some time to experience it!
