The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (77 page)

The corn dogs are big and served fresh and piping hot–you could burn the roof of your mouth if you don’t wait a moment before chomping.  The thick batter is like cornbread fresh from great-grandma’s kitchen, golden-brown on the outside and moist and tasty within.

Though not as messy as the park’s legendary
Turkey Legs
, the corn dogs’ bubbling juices and crumbly corn batter make plenty of napkins a must, and you’ll want to hold these corn dogs over a table, plate, or napkin,
not
your new shorts or favorite
Mickey
shirt!

Grab a table
behind the
Little Red Wagon
, across from the
Baby Care Station
, or if they’re full, at the adjacent
Plaza Inn
or across
Main Street
at the
Refreshment Corner
or
Plaza Pavillion
. 
Did You Know?
  The
Little Red Wagon
’s name is a tribute to the
Red Wagon Inn
, which is what the nearby
Plaza Inn
was called for a decade, from
Opening Day
until July 1965.  That’s when
Swift’s Quality Meats
withdrew their sponsorship of the restaurant; their logo was (wait for it) a little red wagon.

Main Street Cone Shop
  (Closed in 2013)

[
FastView:
 
Defunct.  This entry appears for readers interested in
Disneyland
history.
]

In 2013 the windows of the
Main Street Cone Shop
(remember the ice cream cones etched into the glass?) were closed for the final time.  With the
Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor
just across the street, and
Starbucks
being introduced at the venerable
Market House
next door, the
Main Street Cone Shop
was deemed superfluous, too much of a good thing—at least, that’s the explanation provided by a helpful and seemingly knowledgeable
Main Street
Cast Member.

What—if anything—will replace the cone shop?  The Cast Member didn’t know, and the blogosphere is oddly silent about the change.

Many Guests will miss the cone shop.  If your vacation sweet tooth was calling you, and the
Gibson Girl
lines were a thousand miles long, you could drop by the
Main Street Cone Shop
for a treat.  It wasn’t actually on
Main Street
, by the way, although it was in the
Main Street
district; it was a small window-service counter at the end of the
East Center Street
cul-de-sac
.

For some reason, even though it’s been discussed in a number of
Disneyland
books, many Guests tended to overlook this little window as they bustled along the main thoroughfare.  That was all the better if you decide you want to grab an ice cream here, because it meant short lines.

The
Main Street Cone Shop
was usually open during hot summer days and on crowded days; you couldn’t always count on its being open.  Thirsty Guests could grab a soda or lemonade for $2.99 to $3.50.  Simple
Mickey
ice cream bars and fruit bars ran to almost $4; actual ice cream cones were a better deal.  Single scoop cones were $3.99, double-scoops only $4.49.  Servers scooped the ice cream into a freshly made waffle cone for an extra 60 cents.

Most flavors we
re those you would’ve found along any old-time main street: 
Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberry
,
or
Vanilla
.  The calorie-conscious could order
rainbow sherbet
.  Modernists could request
Mocha Almond Fudge
.

The s
pecialties of the house were discontinued well before the cone shop closed, two sundaes,
Firehouse 105
and the
Street Car Sundae
for about $5.50 each. 
Firehouse 105
, named for the
Fire Station
up the street, was made of one scoop of chocolate and one of vanilla ice cream, marshmallow and hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry.  The
Street Car
offered one scoop of chocolate and one of mocha almond fudge ice cream, caramel and hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry.  Both sundaes were served in waffle cups–no upgrade or additional fee required! If you want a sundae these days, you pop into the
Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor
across the street.

Guests enjoyed their icy treats while sitting for
a spell at one of the tables shaded by red-and-white umbrellas.  They listened to the audio shows linked to the nearby fictional businesses (the piano school, the dentist, the hotel).  All in all, this was an interesting, convenient, and fun place to visit.

On an August 2013 visit to the park I heard a Guest rue the loss of this long-time
Disneyland
ice cream “tradition”.  But this wasn’t a truly venerable
Main Street
shop.  Despite its old-time charm, the
Main Street Cone Shop
didn’t open until 2000.

Main Street Fruit Car
t

[
FastView:
 
Veggies, fruits, trail mix, hummus—if you want to eat healthy on
Main Street
, this is the place!
]

In recent years
Disneyland
has added healthy fruit carts to its other food offerings in every district of the park.  At the
Main Street Fruit Cart
, conveniently located at the mouth of
East Center Street
, you can purchase a variety of beverages, veggies, and fruits from a large wooden cart whose individual bins and deep buckets are carefully and charmingly themed to the
Main Street
time period.

There are
packs of trail mix, grapes, slices of watermelon, berry bowls, hummus, whole apples and oranges, bananas, carrot sticks, and much more; some Guests strongly recommend the giant dill pickles sold here.

As always, if you’re on a budget and you don’t see a clearly marked price for a snack cart item, ask the Cast Member at the cash register before you purchase it.  Some beverages, like the limeade, cost far more than you would pay at your local Target
, Wal-Mart, or grocery store.  Other items are quite reasonable; just ask in advance to avoid sticker shock.

Expect to pay between $
2 to $4.50 before tax for beverages, and $2 to $4 for fruits, veggies, chips or other snacks.  Whole fruit is the least expensive snack choice, while hummus is the priciest.

If you’re tired, sit at one of
East Center Street
’s shaded tables to enjoy your healthy treat.  Listen for the fun audio touches that make this little street such a hit with Guests in-the-know.

If you’re lugging bags of merchandise or a sweater you turned out not to need, now’s the time to
stow these items.  Just pop into the
Main Street Lockers
at the end of the
cul-de-sac
(you can’t miss the giant golden key) and store your stuff starting at $7 for small lockers.  There are now charging lockers for cell phones and electronics.  Charging lockers cost $2 for the first hour and an additional $2 for every hour thereafter—so you’ll want to keep track of how long your device is in the locker.

Market House 
(
Opening Day
Shop)

[
FastView:
 
A
Disneyland
classic long beloved by Guests, from its old-timey cast-iron stove to its candlestick telephones and their hilarious party-line conversations.  A 2013 refurb of the
Market House
that ran from April into September substantially expanded the shop and added
Starbucks
products and cozy seating.  Imagineers lovingly preserved elements like the stove, the telephones, and the old-fashioned décor to keep this new
Starbucks
feeling like “a 1900’s hometown market”.
]

Many
Main Street
shops have a distinctive scent; at the
Market House
, it’s a deep, earthy aroma of coffee beans.  For decades Guests have basked in this comforting perfume as they browsed for
Disney
-themed kitchenware, mugs, and knick-knacks, and
Disney
coffees and teas.  This was a prime place to find souvenirs for yourself or for the folks back home.

Located on the southeast corner of
Main
and
Center Streets
, the
Market House
is a living replica of an old-time store, the type your great-grandmother or great-grandfather might’ve visited regularly.  Guests could sit for a spell in one of the wooden chairs circling the cast-iron hot-blast stove.  There was a checkerboard; Guests used to pass the time playing a game or two.  Even when the checkers vanished, you could still imbibe the flavor of “the old days” by eavesdropping on hilarious, fictional party-line conversations on the store’s old-fashioned wall phones.

Guests could choose
from among a limited (but tasty!) selection of pastries, fudge, and cookies at the counter.  The
Market House
also sold pickles, naturally, a nod to the general store tradition of the pickle barrel.  There was a benevolent tradition that when you purchased a cup of coffee at the
Market House
, you could save your receipt and receive a free refill at the
Market House
every time you presented your receipt there that same day.

But the tradition ended when the
Market House
was closed for refurbishment and expansion in April 2013.  Because once the renovations were completed in September 2013, the
Market House
reopened as—hang onto your boater hat!—a
Starbucks
location, and
Starbucks
assuredly does not offer free coffee refills all day during your visit.

Starbucks
?  At
Disneyland
?  Some
Disneyland
fans were appalled, even though
Starbucks
was introduced to
DCA Park
in 2012 with great success.  In June 2012,
DCA
’s
Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café
in
Buena Vista Street
became the first
Disney park
location, ever, to offer
Starbucks
beverages.  The
Market House
at
Disneyland Park
became the second such location when it reopened on September 25, 2013, with sites at
Downtown Disney
(replacing
Blink
near
World of Disney
) and
WDW
to follow.

* * *

Folding
Starbucks
into the parks is a bit of a sticky wicket. 
Starbucks
has its naysayers even in the real world, let alone on
Disneyland
’s
Main Street
, and
Starbucks
isn’t as venerable a brand as other park sponsors (such as
Coca Cola
or
Carnation
, for example).

However,
Walt
himself was a major proponent of enlisting sponsors to help fund
Disneyland
so
Disney
could keep the park going and growing.  The caveat is that theming and quality can’t be compromised; theming
has
to match the land in which each site is located.

Certainly,
Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café
at
DCA
is beautifully presented, completely fits the 1920’s theme of
Buena Vista Street
, and since its opening has been thronged with happy Guests clutching pastries, cake pops, and coffee treats.  Even for skeptics, the detailed, high-quality, vintage feel of
Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café
boded well for the expanded and redesigned
Market House
.