Your BEST WDW theme park secret! Part II

[Dcanoli]

I can't believe I've never actually paid more attention to these things! Very cool "secret!"

**********

Main Street Residents (Disney Shawn) –

(a) Main Street is a vibrant community. There are restaurants and shops, but it's also a town where people live. The brick facade on one of the buildings includes apartment windows on the second and third stories over the shop. The door that you see doesn't open, but one can imagine it might lead to a stairwell up to the residential part of the building

(b) There are several doors tucked into the facades along Main Street. None of them are functional, but details like door knockers and mailboxes help make them appear real, as if someone actually lives here. The one located next to the Toy Store might lead up to Miss Joyce's place where she has a doll making business (look for the window ad, a tribute to Imagineer Joyce Carlson)

(c) The green door can be found adjacent to the Confectionery. Perhaps it's the home of candy maker Thomas McCrumb and his wife, Kitty

(d) The door by Le Chapeau may lead to the city apartment of cousins Nancy and Julia Carey, milliners and co-proprietresses of the hat shop downstairs

 

[Dcanoli]

Main Street Emporium –

(a) Head inside Osh Popham's Main Street Emporium, and you'll discover a wealth of Victorian-era design. Every detail, from the sconces and furnishings to the columns and fine filigree work on the ceiling, tells the story of the finest department store in town

(b) It's especially fun to see how period display pieces have been utilized to showcase the decidedly-modern merchandise that's actually on offer. Setups like the gold frames with turn-of-the-century photographs and the Vinylmation figures stacked inside candy jars, are all the work of the park's Visual Presentation team

(c) The Imagineering Architects and Interior Designers who worked on the Emporium also did their part to set the stage. Details like doorknobs and velour wallpaper may blend into the background, but they're important elements in creating a sense of place and a feeling of quality

(d) Then there are those details so full of story, you may not even realize it. Take these brass chandeliers, for example. The town of Main Street, U.S.A. exists at a crossroads in time. It's a period when progress is being made, but the old and new can often still be found side-by-side. The upward-pointing fixtures on the chandelier are traditional gas-burning lamps. You can even spot the little key at the bottom of each arm used to turn on the gas for lighting. These chandeliers have been retrofit, though, with modern electric lights. They're the fixtures that point down; So why have both? At this point in history, electric lighting was relatively new. Insistent on being the finest shop in town, the Emporium simply had to have electricity. Since it was new, though, it wasn't the most reliable. Maintaining a gas backup ensured the shop could remain open, even in the event of an outage;

 

[Dcanoli]

Starting as a relatively small corner store back in 1863, it has grown over the years to encompass an entire city block

The most recent addition, The Emporium Gallery, takes things even more upscale, offering the citizens of Main Street only the "Latest and Greatest" products from around the world: Electrical Lamps, Graphophone Talking Machines, Edison Kinetoscopes, Imported Glassware, Ladies' Wearing Apparel, Finest House Furnishings and Children's Toys & Novelties

A plaque over the door to the Gallery mentions it was established in 1901. The date has dual significance. This location, a true expansion of the original Emporium into the former Center Street Flower Market area, opened in 2001. Using a date one hundred years earlier fit the story. It also happens to be the year of Walt Disney's birth (the 100 Years of Magic celebration honoring Walt's centennial kicked off in 2001)

In regard to the period in which the story of Main Street takes place, 1901 also represented a cultural shift. Queen Victoria passed away in January that year, effectively bringing an end to the Victorian era. The majority of the design of Main Street, U.S.A. is Victorian, very eclectic and heavy on ornamentation. Victoria's reign was followed by that of her son, Edward, and the Edwardian era was marked with a move toward a more elite style influenced by his travels through continental Europe

The Emporium Gallery demonstrates this shift. In contrast to the darker woods and elaborate carvings seen in the original section of the shop, the Gallery is open and airy, with a high domed ceiling and colored glass inspired by department stores like Le Bon Marché in Paris

The expansion of Main Street's Emporium also came with the addition of new departments and custom offerings, some of which can be glimpsed from the floor of the Gallery. There's the Haberdashery, providing men's sportswear and formal wear, and the Millinery, creating fine ladies' hats

Overlooking the entire space is this mural of happy citizens "Shopping in the Grand Style." The casual observer might be impressed with the diversity represented in the townspeople. Those in the know would realize these are actually portraits of several of the Imagineering team members who worked on the Emporium expansion project, all worked in by the mural's creator, Imagineering artist Joe Warren – (i) The woman with the yellow umbrella is Art Director Agnes David-Hoffman; (ii) the gent on the right in the brown jacket is Jim Heffron, Senior Concept Architect; (iii) Cicero Greathouse, Artistic Director and master of character paint treatments, wearing the top hat and monocle; (iv) on the left, the lady in pink is Katie Roser, responsible for the props and displays in the shop; (v) finally, the flowered hat in the lower left corner sits on the head of Joyce Carlson. While Joyce may not have been directly involved in this project, she was a Disney Legend who started with the company in 1944 and went on to influence every iteration of "It's a Small World" and countless fellow Imagineering artists; (vi) Also on the left, the fellow in the straw hat is Graphic Designer Kevin Thomas; (vii) that's Program Architect Steve Grant carrying the stack of red, yellow and blue boxes (viii) the woman on the top right, with the big pink bow on her hat, is Katherine Fredericks who supports Bernie Mosher, the Creative Director for Imagineering Florida;

 

[Dcanoli]

Casey’s Corner –

When Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, the traditional Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner on Main Street was instead dubbed Casey's Corner, adding another layer of Americana to the storytelling of the location. The concept was brought stateside with the 1995 renovation of the northwest block of Main Street in the Magic Kingdom

The name "Casey's" refers to the 1888 poem "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Thayer (look for the 1888 reference in the marquee pictured above). The story of Casey was also brought to animated life in the "Casey at the Bat" sequence of Disney's Make Mine Music in 1946 (followed by an animated short film, the sequel "Casey Bats Again")

Casey's Corner brings together two American classics, baseball and Coca-Cola (itself invented by John Pemberton back in 1886). Every detail of this quick-service restaurant helps to reinforce the connection, from the Cast Member costumes to the "Enter" and "Exit" signs made to look like baseballs and the vintage memorabilia displayed throughout the space

Once you have your food, you may choose to head outside to sit under the umbrellas and enjoy the Ragtime piano music played there. Alternatively, you can also step into the adjoining room and take a seat on the bleachers for the big game. The Mudville Nine, Casey's team, are playing today (as are a number of other games from various sports, as shown on the screen in front of the bleachers; all clips from various Disney animated productions)

This room is also packed with displays of vintage baseball memorabilia

You'll want to pay particular attention to the team photos on the wall. Most are reprints of actual photos from the period... all except one: Look closely. The first thing you might notice is that they're wearing jerseys representing more than one team. Now look again. Some of those stern-faced, mustachioed ball players are actually... EGADS! They're women! That's right. This is a picture of the Imagineering team that worked on the Casey's Corner/Main Street Athletic Club project in 1995. Talk about getting into your work!

 

[quiltymom]

This is so cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

[katepass72]

Dcanoli, thank you so much for posting all of this!!

 

[LovetheTink]

Can I have a copy? Thanks karla0917@yahoo.com

 

[captinhookedondisney]

Hello again DCanoli love the user name!

Just wondering do you update the secrets document every time there is a secret Added?

 

[Ksralla]

This is wonderful! After 3 trips to WDW I never knew about this great site! I am taking my 2 year old and my mother-in-law for their first trips at the end of the month. Not sure who is more excited! Is there anyway that you could e-mail me this? Thanks!! krissysralla@hotmail.com

 

[HopeCatherine]

At Hollywood Studios, when it first opened ...

Wow! That's amazing!

Thanks for posting.

Where in HS was this?

 

[Dcanoli]

Wow! That's amazing!

Thanks for posting.

Where in HS was this?

It's an ariel shot of DHS before the hat went up. You can see Sunset and Hollywood Blvds. at the top of the picture; Gertie's on the right (in front of the lake); and Animation Studios on the left. (Just brief landmarks....)

 

[ejud]

How about a brand new bit of trivia?

A few weeks ago, a subtle change was made, pointed out here by a friendly CM whose name I should have noted at the time! As best I recall, it was Bob or John? Had quite an extended chat with him at the end of my day in the park.

Note he is pointing out a new coloring of the walkway through Innoventions West, green, which is matched by the painting of the walkway of Innoventions East blue.

This came about because over the years too many guests couldn't keep track of east and west when being given directions, so it was decided to make it a color thing rather than a compass thing!

As far as I know, you heard (and saw) it here first!

Oh! And go check out my newest video- the Tron-O-Rail!



Jud

 

[Dcanoli]

FABULOUS Jud! This is EXACTLY the stuff I love!!!

Thank you for sharing that!!! It's you locals that can find out this kind of stuff for us! ('Cause I doubt that a paint color change will make the mouse-y websites!)

 

[ejud]

FABULOUS Jud! This is EXACTLY the stuff I love!!!

Thank you for sharing that!!! It's you locals that can find out this kind of stuff for us! ('Cause I doubt that a paint color change will make the mouse-y websites!)

))

Actually, this is one of those things that Disney isn't even mentioning within- very quiet. I forget exactly how it came up in our conversation, but it was not like hey did you see the new paint job? Hehehehee...

Another new thing that was not much mentioned, though I think one site had a mention of it going to happen, was the addition of a new water section in the boat ride of The Land. I covered that in the TR linked below and the related album. About 3/4 of the way down.

Glad I could add something to the thread!



Jud

 

[FlightlessDuck]

This came about because over the years too many guests couldn't keep track of east and west when being given directions

So now we need to start talking about Innoventions Blue and Green. Cool.

I think the directions problem comes mostly from the fact that Epcot's Future World Entrance is at the north end, so basically most people walk South, but probably think they are walking North. I know I have trouble with that.

 

[ejud]

So now we need to start talking about Innoventions Blue and Green. Cool.

I think the directions problem comes mostly from the fact that Epcot's Future World Entrance is at the north end, so basically most people walk South, but probably think they are walking North. I know I have trouble with that.

Hi Duck!

EXACTLY!!! It was only with great effort that I forced myself to 'flip' south and north for exactly the reason you state! What did help was remembering I watched the shuttle launch over Mission Space- so that sorta HAD to be east!



Jud

 

[ronardo]

Could you please send me a copy? Thanks

peterandpete@hotmail.com

 

[DisneyChristian]

So everyone has run out of new WDW Park secrets?

 

[amandals2007]

So everyone has run out of new WDW Park secrets?

Apparently so!!!

 

[ejud]

Apparently so!!!

Well, what would you like to know?



Jud