The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (69 page)

You’ll
understand where the phrase “like a kid in a candy store” came from as you browse the bags of genuine taffy and nonpareils, the tantalizing rows of fudge and cookies and cupcakes and chocolate-dipped marshmallow wands arranged neatly within spotless glass cases.  Behind a counter near the
Main Street
entrance, white-smocked Cast Members make fudge and toffee right before your eyes.  It’s one of the best shows in the park.

One of the many nice things about the
Candy Palace
is that it offers treats at all price points.  Even if you’re on a tight budget, you and your little ones can find something delicious and affordable here.  Less expensive delights include swirling rainbow lollipops and chocolate coins in
Disney
-themed foil wrappers.  It’s easy to find something for yourself or the folks back home without breaking the bank.

Of course, if price is no object, there are plenty of decadent and pricey treats, from expensive boutique cupcakes and dipped treats to giant boxes of
Disney
chocolates.

You enter the
Candy Palace
from
Main Street
or from the
Penny Arcade
to the south or the
Refreshment Corner
to the north.  One of the many savvy things that
Disneyland
designers did was to connect
Main Street
shop and restaurant interiors, allowing free flow of Guests from venue to venue.  This design decreases bottlenecks, which is good for Guests, and tempts Guests from shop to shop, which is good for
Disneyland
’s bottom line.

If you begin your shopping in the
Candy Palace
, you can easily proceed north for a reasonably priced meal at
Refreshment Corner
, or south to the
Penny Arcade
or
Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor
.  Or, simply exit onto
Main Street
.  During peak times, it’s easier to navigate within the shops than out on the street.

The
Candy Palace
is aptly named.  It’s a palace indeed, with its high ceilings and pretty, immaculate white and pink walls and fixtures and its attentive Cast Members that treat Guests large and small as if they’re royalty.

In early 2012, t
he
Candy Palace
was closed for months for an extensive renovation.  When the shop reopened, Guests found an even prettier and better organized candy store.

Some of the
Penny Arcade
machines and clutter were removed so that the
Candy Palace
could expand into a section of that store.  An additional gleaming glass case of goodies was added against the west wall.  Shelves and bins were spaced farther apart, giving Guests more elbow room for browsing and queuing.  Paint was freshened, pretty tiles installed, and vintage candies like peppermint sticks and nonpareils were displayed in glass jars.

The final effect is bright and airy.  Guests throng the beautiful new
Candy Palace
.  It’s often the attraction refurbs that get the attention, but store refurbs can be impressive too.  Honor is due when they get it right.  Somewhere,
Walt
is smiling.
Disneyland Mystery:
  There’s long been a debate among Guests,
Disneyland
experts, and even Cast Members as to whether the
Candy Palace
intentionally pumps that delicious candy scent out onto
Main Street
.  Many say “yes,” some say “no,” and some say the
Candy Palace
used to vent the tempting scent but then stopped, so that whatever modern Guests
think
they’re smelling is either a residual odor or simply all in their head.  There’s also disagreement about exactly what the scent is, and where it comes from.  Some say it’s vanilla.  Having spent a lot of time inside and outside the
Candy Palace
, I personally detect plenty of chocolate in the mix. 
Disneyland
has never officially admitted venting any scent.  If you have the time and inclination during your visit, stand outside the
Candy Palace
and put your sense of smell to the test.  Is a candy aroma being disbursed intentionally, or is it just that candy fumes float out the door as Cast Members make toffee and fudge?  Is there a scent at all?  What is it?  And, the holy grail of this topic:  Can you identify an actual vent?  I’ve spotted several possible suspects, but my niece couldn’t detect any perceptible scent wafting from the ground level vents.  The second-story vent blinds?  Well, we’d need a ladder to check those out!

Celebration Custom Printers

[
FastView:
 
Have your
Disney
mementos personalized.
]

This shop connects to the
Disney Showcase
on the southeast corner of
Main Street
, just north of the
Mad Hatter
and
Opera House
. 
Celebration Custom Printers
exist to give Guests that extra level of personalization for their
Disneyland
memories and mementos.  Have your
Disney
T-shirt, the one that best expresses the spirit of your visit, customized with your name.

Celebration Custom Printers
has its own street entrance, but that area is frequently crowded with Guests queuing for meet-and-greets with
Mickey
,
Minnie
, and other
Disney Characters
.  You’re best advised to enter via the
Disney Showcase
next door.

As a character meeting spot, the walkway in front of
Celebration Custom Printers
long pre-dates the latest store.  When
Disneyland
leadership learned that multitudes of children were bursting into tears upon entering the park because
Mickey
and the other
Fab Five
members weren’t there to greet them,
Disney Characters
were positioned around
Town Square
throughout most of the day.

When little ones enter
Town Square
, they might see
Goofy
in front of the
Opera House
,
Chip ‘n Dale
in front of the
Fire House
,
Mickey
in front of
Celebration Custom Printers
and so forth.  Parents and children queue to meet the characters, hug them, get their autograph, and pose for a photo.  Once they’ve met the famous mouse and his pals, tiny ones are then able to focus on all the other attractions, food, and fun of the visit.

Masked characters like the
Fab Five
(
Mickey
,
Minnie
,
Donald
,
Goofy
, and
Pluto
) rarely speak, but the Cast Members who bring them to life use warm and often comical pantomime to communicate with Guests.  In recent years, “talking”
Mickey
and
Minnie
masks have been developed, and have been deployed at
DCA
. 
Disneyland
’s
Mickey
and
Minnie
are presently mute.  It seems like only a matter of time before talking
Donald
and
Goofy
masks are developed.

Parents should make sure their children are visible to
Disney Characters
at all time; masks impede characters’ vision, and small children out of their line of sight could be unintentionally tripped over, knocked over, or stepped on.  Masked
Characters
are accompanied by one or two other Cast Members who serve as their guides, and they keep a watchful eye, but in a crowd of Guests, they can’t see in every direction at once.  You are your child’s primary and best bodyguard.

Conversely, some boisterous children can be rough with the
Disney Characters
, pushing, pulling limbs and tails, kicking, etc.  Coach your kids prior to their
Character Meetings
; explain that when they meet
Mickey
or
Goofy
they can shake hands or hug, but need to be gentle with their cartoon pals.

China Closet

[
FastView:
Beautiful breakables with
Disney
themes.  Yes, you
can
sit on the front porch.
]

Be forewarned:  this is a real china shop, chock-full of chippable, crackable, breakable, highly fragile
objets d’art
.  So unless your children have the balletic grace of a tiny Anna Pavlova or Mikhail Baryshnikov, you’ll want to ask someone in your party to take them across the street to
Refreshment Corner
or the
Candy Palace
while you’re perusing the china wares.

According to
Chris Strodder
’s
The Disneyland Encyclopedia
, there’s always been a china store at this spot north of the
Silhouette Shop
and south of what’s now the
Main Street Photo Supply Co
.  The
China Closet
got its simple, evocative name in 1964; prior to that it was known as
Ruggles China and Glass
.

For
Disney
fans and china fanatics alike, this is a lovely shop, offering quality china and glass plates, cups, figurines, bells, photo frames, snow globes, wedding cake toppers, and so forth.  All of the items have a
Disney
theme, and are higher-end, tasteful wares.

Those on a tight budget, who are admiring but not buying the china and glass merchandise, will be pleased to find that the
China Closet
sells a limited selection of
Disney
pins, which are affordable and make great gifts for anyone who has a favorite
Disney
character or attraction.

Cast Members are attentive and carefully wrap and bag all purchases.  For breakable wares, Guests staying at the
Disneyland Resort
might want to take advantage of the park’s willingness to deliver your purchases directly to your
Disneyland Resort Hotel
–much better than you cramming the fragile thing into a locker, or tremulously carrying it around the park and
Downtown Disney
.  Ask a
China Closet
Cast Member for details about this service.

If you’re not staying at the resort,
consider checking your purchase at the
Newsstand
near the exit turnstiles.  You can pick it up on your way out of the park when your visit ends.

As with many of the stores and restaurants on the west side of
Main Street
, the east side shop interiors are connected, allowing a free flow of Guests among the shops.  This is especially useful on cold or rainy days, when one prefers to keep under cover, or during peak times when
Main Street
is a jam-packed madhouse.  You can stroll from the
Main Street Photo Supply Co.
to the
China Closet
, and from there to
Crystal Arts
and the extensive
Disney Clothiers LTD
, without once stepping outside.

Directly in front of the
China Closet
on
Main Street
is a handsome porch with a couple of comfortable chairs and a roomy bench.  It’s so ingrained in us to respect private property that this porch, which looks like the front of somebody’s stately blue Victorian house, complete with white gingerbread trim, is usually empty; most Guests don’t even think about climbing the steps and taking a seat.

The door and bow windows look authentic, but don’t worry; no one’s home.  It’s not only acceptable for Guests to sit on the porch and relax
for a spell, it’s exactly what this lovely little spot was designed for!

For some Guests, it’s not diffidence that keeps them off the porch, but rather obliviousness; they’re so busy hurrying into the park, or rushing out of it at the end of their visit, that they never even
notice the inviting porch.  (The author pleads guilty to this charge; it took a number of visits before the porch caught my eye.)