The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (73 page)

Along with the
Mad Hatter
in
Fantasyland
and the
Gag Factory
/
Toontown Five & Dime
, this is one of the most comprehensive
Disney
hat vendors in the park.  These larger hat stores have comparable breadth of merchandise, leaving smaller hat vendors like
Tomorrowlanding
in the dust.

Located just north of the
Disneyland Opera House
and just south of
Celebration Custom Printers
, the
Mad Hatter Shop
’s front sidewalk often hosts
Disney Characters
like
Mickey
,
Goofy
,
Chip ‘n Dale
, etc.  Guests queue to meet the
Characters
and to obtain their autographs and be photographed with them.

The
Mad Hatter Shop
moved here in 1963, having previously been located much farther north, near
Refreshment Corner
.  Its present location makes it a perfect place to pick out your
Disney
hat as soon as you enter the park, or right before you head home.

Main Street Magic Shop

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Magic tricks, magic books, and pranks for little magicians and grown-up prestidigitators.  Talented Cast Members demonstrate mystifying magic before your very eyes!
]

This tiny store, squeezed between the
Disney Showcase
to the south and the
20
th
Century Music Company
to the north has been a favorite of my niece since she was very young.  Like many kids, she couldn’t resist popping into the
Magic Shop
at some point during her visits.

A small but handsome marqu
ee ringed with popcorn lights over its narrow
Main Street
entrance announces that this is the
Main Street Magic Shop
.  The street entrance is flanked by windows decorated with stage magicians’ paraphernalia and vintage posters in inky blacks and lurid reds and yellows dramatically promoting famous illusionist Harry Houdini.  There used to be posters and photos of magicians like Thurston the Great and Carter the Great, but since the Houdini company began sponsoring the shop, all traces of Thurston and Carter have been removed, demonstrating that performers’ rivalries can outlast centuries, and even the grave.

Houdini
, Thurston, Carter, and legions of their imitators were staples of American and European stage entertainment in the early decades of the 20
th
century.  Kids and adults flocked to their shows, and tried to figure out and reproduce their illusions.  In recent years the
Magic Shop
windows were refreshed with other magical paraphernalia, including a large, hypnotically spinning black-and-white disc reminiscent of the mesmeric devices of stage magicians and mediums.  These windows, however they’re dressed, get the period and the mood just right.

Stepping inside
the
Magic Shop
, you see counter displays and a cash register on the north side of the narrow store, and bins and wall displays along the southern wall.  If not for the connecting doorways to the
20
th
Century Music Company
and the
Disney Showcase
, which admit light and air and a flow of foot traffic, the
Magic Shop
would seem unbearably claustrophobic–almost coffin-like!

Within the limited real estate, Guests find trick cards, glow-in-the-dark cards,
magic books and DVDs, pranks, games, individual magic tricks, and magic sets.  In autumn of 2009 the shop displays were reorganized and the stock, which for a while had become rather meager, was expanded and refreshed so that the store is bulging at the seams with
magical
wares from
Houdini’s Magic Shop
.  You have to travel to San Francisco, Las Vegas or New York–or
Disneyland
– to visit a
Houdini’s
shop.

Take note of the red-vested
Cast Members, who are generally warm and knowledgeable, and are qualified to demonstrate magic effects.  Watch a Cast Member borrow an
Annual Pass
from a Guest, and magically levitate and spin it in the air right before your eyes!  Or watch CMs make eerie red
spirit lights
leap from finger to finger!  As anyone who’s seen
Disneyland:  The First 50 Magical Years
knows, superstar author, actor, and comedian
Steve Martin
got his start working in this very
Magic Shop
!

Price points cover a broad range
. This is a place where kids can spend their tiny budget on a deck of cards or small trick and emerge with a contented smile on their face, and where older and wealthier prestidigitators can invest in pricier illusions, such as a genuine Houdini leg iron for $7,500, including certificate of authenticity. 
Did You Know?
 
Walt
was a natural born entertainer and performed magic tricks when he was a youngster. The
Imagineers
, from their earliest
WED
incarnation to the present
WDI
team, can be considered storytelling and engineering
magicians
.
Did You Also Know?
  It’s been
bruited
for years that
Disney
/
Walden Media
will produce a Houdini-based film.
Did You Also Know?
  Houdini is still a well-known historical figure; his escapes and illusions are legendary.  Not so performers like Thurston the Great.  In his day, Howard Thurston was a superstar magician.  His presentation of mystifying card tricks and illusions (often designed by other top magicians) made him a celebrity.  Alas, he seems not to have achieved that final trick of establishing long-lasting fame.
Kid’s Eye View:
  I used to like this shop a lot.  It has a lot of joke items and pranks.

Main Street Photo Supply Co.

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Film, cameras, and print services for many different types of cameras, including digital.  Get your PhotoPass prints here, and ask about special borders and features for your prints.
]

This is a store you might have hurried past on your way to
Tomorrowland
or on your way out of the park.  It’s on the northeast corner of
Main Street
, where
Main Street
transitions into
The Hub
, just south of the
Plaza Inn
and
Little Red Wagon
.  Its windows are dressed with old-fashioned photos, frames, and cameras.

This is so much more than somewhere to buy cameras (disposable
and digital), film and camera cases, although they do have an excellent selection of all of those items, arranged within a compact space.  This is the place where you can retrieve and print all of your
Disney Photopass
pictures.

Lend the Cast Members your
Disney PhotoPass
card (or
Annual Pass
, if you had photos stored on it) and the CMs will display screen shots of all the photos that
Disneyland Photographers
snapped of you during your visit.  Choose the pictures you want printed, and the print sizes and packages. Prices vary but can be steep.  If they’re too rich for your blood, you can go online for free, for up to 30 days after the photos were snapped and print them (but not save them) yourself without charge.  The website is DisneyPhotoPass.com.

A recent
budget-conscious offering, launched in 2009, is the
Disney PhotoCD
, which contains all of the photos that the
Disneyland Photographers
snapped of you.  You can take the
PhotoCD
home and upload, print, or distribute all the photos however you choose.

Before
Disneyland Photographers
snap your picture, be sure to ask them about
magic shot
photo options, snapshots in which you appear to be holding
Tinker Bell
on the palm of your hand, for example, or sitting next to
Minnie Mouse
.  How do
magic
photos work?  The
Disney
character is digitally inserted into the photo.  When you have prints made, ask about special borders and character signatures.

Service at the
Main Street Photo Supply Co.
is usually helpful and friendly.  Choosing photos and photo packages can be a time-consuming process for Guests, so lines move slowly.  Time your visit for early in the morning or during a parade to avoid long lines and receive more personalized attention.  Despite its vintage appearance, the
Main Street Photo Supply Co.
, sponsored by
Kodak
, launched in 1994.  The structure, of course,
does
date back to 1955; it used to house an information center.

New Century Jewelry

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Jewelry and baubles at all price points, from kids’ bracelets to diamond-encrusted treasures.
]

Whether you’re looking for costume jewelry or the real bling, venture into this period store just south of the
Fortuosity Shop
and east of the
Emporium’s
toy-and-book section.  Expect to see beautiful rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and specialty pieces, with an emphasis on
Disney
characters and themes.

The pieces are high-quality and
many are expensive.  Non-
Disney
folks might roll their eyes at paying so much for
Disney
-themed pieces of jewelry, but collectors and
Disney
fans don’t blink as they plunk down credit cards or wads of cash for these distinctive pieces.

If you have a shopaholic in your party, you might want to try to route them around this store, ditto the
China Closet
,
Crystal Arts
, and
Disneyana
across the street.  They’re all beautiful shops with lovely wares, but places where impulsive shoppers can quickly dole out caboodles of cash.

For the kids in your party who want to take home a sparkly keepsake,
New Century Jewelry
’s back room, near the door to the
Emporium
toy-and-book section, offers an array of less pricey but still pretty necklaces, earrings, rings, and charms.  Children will even find items for under $10, including jewelry with their name on it, always popular with little ones.

Cast Members in
New Century Jewelry
are pleasant and attentive.  Shopping here is a boutique experience, which proceeds at a leisurely, rather than rapid pace.  Guests in a hurry to get back to the attractions might be irritated by the old world tempo, as Cast Members consult with Guests who have questions, carefully wrap and bag purchases, ask Guests how their visit is going, and arrange for pricey purchases to be delivered directly to the Guest’s
Disneyland Resort Hotel
.  Guests who want to relax and be pampered will love the pace!

Interestingly,
New Century Jewelry
and the
Fortuosity Shop
are on the corner that was once a the park’s pharmacy.  These days, if you need aspirin, lotions, and other pharmacy staples, ask Cast Members to retrieve them from under the counters at places like the
Market House
where they’re kept out of sight to avoid spoiling the period atmosphere.  For more about the history of the ever-changing shops of
Main Street
, read
Chris Strodder
’s terrifically comprehensive
The Disneyland Encyclopedia
.

Newsstand
 
(
Opening Day
Shop)

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The only
Disneyland
shop that operates inside
and
outside the park.  Store bulky purchases here at the
Package Check
while you enjoy your park visit.
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