Story Of Starbucks At Walt Disney World: How Disney Made Modern Coffee House Fit Into Magic Kingdom’s Main Street Usa

in Disney, Food

Starbucks

Ariel isn’t the only mermaid at the Magic Kingdom anymore. This week Walt Disney World debuts its first theme park Starbucks location, wrapping the modern coffee hotspot into turn-of-the-century Main Street USA with a bit of backstory.

In conjunction with the arrival of Starbucks, the park’s classic Main Street Bakery has received a makeover, maintaining its early 1900s feel but with a complete reconfiguration allowing for easier and more efficient ordering.

Our friends at DisneyLifestylers.com were at the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Bakery’s soft opening this past weekend, offering a first look inside since the refurbishment.

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

But it’s the inclusion of Starbucks coffee and other items that have drawn the most attention, with its famous logo now featured inside and out. And like any Disney attraction, whether it’s a ride, restaurant, show, or shop, a story has been written to tell why Starbucks is located on Main Street USA.

Over the years, Starbucks has changed its twin-tailed mermaid logo a few times, the original brown version used from 1971-1987, followed by a few revisions of the more streamlined siren.

In Disney’s parks, the classic version of the logo has been most prominently featured.

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

But a logo created in 1971 doesn’t entirely jive with the Main Street USA timeframe, transporting Disney’s Guests to a small town circa 1910. (Though, coincidentally, Walt Disney World and the Magic Kingdom first opened in 1971.)

So to bring the timeline together, Disney’s storytellers have added plates, statues, and other sculptures of early “inspiration” for the siren logo throughout the Main Street Bakery. As the new story goes, the turn-of-the-century cafe owner found the figure and loved it so much that he made it his logo. And so Starbucks was born. Or, at least, Disney’s version of it.

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

In real life, Starbucks was originally called Pequod, the name of a ship in “Moby Dick,” but was ultimately named after the ship’s first mate, Starbuck.

Story aside, when the new Main Street Bakery officially opens tomorrow, Guests will find a new menu coupling Disney favorites with familiar Starbucks items.

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

Starbucks in the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World

(And yes, that’s the current Starbucks logo on the printed menus.)

The location’s past favorite cinnamon rolls are no longer available on Main Street, now served at Gaston’s Tavern in New Fantasyland instead. That change aside, the general assortment of treats remains much the same, with most Guests applauding the change from Disney’s old coffee to the widely loved Starbucks brand.

Here’s a further look around the newly updated Main Street Bakery:

The Main Street Bakery isn’t the first Disney theme park location to feature the Starbucks logo and its coffee. Disneyland Resort did the same in the Disney California Adventure theme park just over a year ago when it opened the Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Cafe on Buena Vista Street. When Walt Disney World first announced the Main Street Bakery would be transforming into a Starbucks location, many fans were outraged, prompting Disney to quickly clarify that the bakery itself would remain highly themed, simply integrating Starbucks products.

EPCOT is also slated to get Starbucks products soon when the Fountain View restaurant opens this summer. Disneyland will also soon receive Starbucks coffee on Main Street USA in its Market House location. Ultimately, all six of Disney’s United States theme parks will contain Starbucks locations.

So while The Little Mermaid recently received a dark ride in New Fantasyland, it’s the Starbucks siren that now has everyone at Walt Disney World talking, beginning on Main Street USA.

Related : NEW Starbucks Metal Tumblers Arrive at Disney World & Disneyland!

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