Well, this thread keeps popping up now and then, so I guess I'll post my 2¢ worth.
The question is generically what would Walt say about a Starbucks in WDW. But the original post and the responses are generally about the Starbucks taking over the bakery and what he would say about that. Personally, I think those are two separate questions and have two different, even opposing answers.
What would he say about Starbucks at WDW?
He's say this:
Given that his plans for EPCOT involved corporations being part of a small city within The Florida Project, it would certainly seem that he'd be in favor of a brand name being prominent within WDW.
He'd be happy with Starbucks in EPCOT, DHS, and to a lesser extent, AK. And even under the right circumstances, Starbucks in the MK.
What would he say about Starbucks taking over the MK bakery?
His response would be:
I believe he wanted the stores themselves to be generic. Yet he had no problem with selling corporate items within those stores. The pictures of Casey's posted by ThurlFan is a perfect example of what I mean. It's not a "Coca-Cola" store, it's Casey's -- which sells Coca-Cola products.
To this point, I believe Walt would have been fine with allowing Starbucks into the bakery, placing a Starbucks logo outside, and selling their coffee there. This would make it a bakery that sells Starbucks coffee, but not an actual Starbucks.
It's another thing to remove the bakery all together
en lieu of a Starbucks. This is something I do not believe he would like. It goes against the intent of Main Street.
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As for my personal feelings, I don't like Starbucks just because their coffee is bitter. I don't like bitter coffee. I have to put in a crazy amount of sugar to get it just to the bitter side of bitter-sweet.
I don't like the mere concept of what they've done to the bakery. But, I must be honest. On my last trip, I made a stop there on purpose, and nothing caught my fancy. I suppose I can withstand the loss of the bakery, but not at the expense of replacing it with a brand name. But if a name HAD to go and replace it, I would have preferred Duncan Donuts. There's not one near me, but they make good coffee and good donuts.