Last year, Disney announced that it would be bringing Starbucks into the parks. Almost immediately, the s*&t hit the fan. I'll be one hundred percent honest with you, I was instantly excited. Having a Starbucks IN the park would mean one less stop in the mornings for me. It meant that one of my favorite beverages (which happens to be ABSOLUTELY PERFECT on a hot day) would be readily available should I be craving it when i'm schvitzing all over the park.
I had mixed feelings about them replacing the Main Street Bakery with the new Starbucks, as it had been a Main Street staple, but everything I had read promised seamless themeing, allowing it to blend in with the rest of it's surroundings. Another would be installed at the former location of Epcot's Fountainview Cafe and locations would later arrive at both Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Main Street Bakery, however, was the first to open it's doors.
After the Monsters U All-Nigher, I had sworn off MK for awhile. But if there's anything to pull me back toward's Cindy's castle, it's the promise of checking out something new and pairing it with a shaken iced passion tea lemonade.
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The promise of blending it in with the rest of the park was done brilliantly. A small, single sign (showing the original Starbucks logo, opposed to the one we see today) hung above the entrance to the bakery and a few, subtle references to the Starbucks brand adorned the windows. The Main Street Bakery signage still remains, and as you walk inside, the themeing and decor is pretty much the same as it was before. The cast members don't wear a traditional Starbucks uniform, but instead don the same costumes worn by the cm's working next door at the ice cream parlor.
The menu is pretty much the same as any other Starbucks, the addition being the traditional Disney cookies, brownies, and cupcakes found throughout the park. SPOILER ALERT!!! THE CINNAMON ROLLS ARE NOT GONE. THEY'VE JUST MOVED!!! YOU CAN NOW FIND THEM AT GASTON'S TAVERN. - Apparently people are freaking the heck out over the disappearance of the cinnamon rolls. They're just at the back of the park, and personally if I'm eating one of those monsters, i'd probably need the extra walk to try and burn off at least a few of the calories packed into that ooey gooey mess of a pastry.
Now. One of the things that I really like about Magic Kingdom's newest addition, is that you can use your Starbucks card (or mobile app!), and you can acquire your reward stars through purchases. (Though you cannot REDEEM them.) This is cool in that that other theme park in the general vicinity that's had a Starbucks for some time now doesn't allow you to use your Starbucks cards for purchase.
The line was a little long when I got there, but moved pretty quickly. They have a lot of registers and it was packed with cm's bustling about filling orders, names being called out like it would in a regular Starbucks. (I'm anxious to see some of the silly names put on cups there.) There's no indoor seating, but I know there's limited seating outside and you can always take it around the corner near the plaza restaurant. The cups do say Starbucks on them, but also carry a little bit of a Disney touch. In this bloggers humble opinion, they're adorable. They also hold happiness, so there's that. One of the things I had expected would be a hike in prices, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the prices were pretty on par with the same store i'd have up the street.
I can see where some people would be up in arms, but for me, it's a welcome addition. I mean, it's not like Disney's never embraced an outside brand before. Remember the Mickey D's fries everyone used to love in Frontierland and Animal Kingdom? And I also happen to know that there's another coffee retailer pedaling it's goods within the parks AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IT! Ha!
So, haters gonna hate. Me? I'll be enjoying these awesome beverages in the most magical (and caffeinated) place on Earth.
