Main Street, U.S.A.
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Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the entrance of the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world.
Each Main Street, U.S.A. has a train station above the entrance. At Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, Sleeping Beauty Castle stands in the distance beyond the end of the street. At the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, Cinderella Castle stands at the end.
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[edit] Versions
[edit] Disneyland
Based on Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri and the film Lady and the Tramp, Main Street, U.S.A. is designed to resemble the center of a turn-of-the-century (early 1900s) American town.
Walt Disney said, "For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates, Main Street will bring back happy memories. For younger visitors, it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of their grandfather's youth." Above the firehouse at Disneyland is Walt Disney's personal apartment, fully furnished but off-limits to the public. A lamp is kept burning in the front window as a tribute to his memory.
It is listed as a real street in the Orange County Thomas Guide.
[edit] Magic Kingdom
See also: List of current Magic Kingdom attractions, List of past Magic Kingdom attractions, and Magic Kingdom entertainment history
Instead of being a replica of a small midwestern American town, Main Street at Walt Disney World features some stylistic influences from around the country, such as New England and Missouri. This is most noticable in the "four corners" area in the middle of Main Street where each of the four corner buildings represents a different architectural style. There is also no Opera House as there is at Disneyland; instead there is the Exposition Hall.
Main Street is lined with shops selling merchandise and food. The decor is early-20th century small-town America, inspired by Walt Disney's childhood and the film Lady and the Tramp. City Hall contains the Guest Relations lobby where cast members provide information and assistance. A real working barber shop gives haircuts for a fee. The Emporium carries a wide variety of Disney souvenirs such as plush toys, collectible pins, and Mickey-ear hats. Tony’s Town Square and the Plaza Restaurant are sit-down restaurants. Casey's Corner is at the end of Main Street and sells traditional American ball park fare including hot dogs & fries.
In the distance beyond the end of Main Street stands Cinderella Castle. Though only 189 feet (55m) tall, it benefits from a technique known as forced perspective. The (fake) second stories of all the buildings along Main Street are shorter than the first stories, and the third stories are even shorter than the second, and the top windows of the castle are much smaller than they appear. The resulting visual effect is that the buildings appear to be larger and taller than they really are.
Main Street is considered the opening credits for the Magic Kingdom. You pass under the train station (the opening curtain), and then you view the opening credits on the upper stories of the main street buildings. Each window has a business name on it , such as "Seven Summits Expeditions, Frank G. Wells President", each of these people has a connection to Disney. The windows/credits are ordered as they would be for a movie.
In addition to the bronze "Partners Statue" of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella Castle, there is also the "Sharing the Magic Statue" of Roy O. Disney sitting with Minnie Mouse near the park's entrance. Surrounding the "Partners Statue" at the central hub, are several iconic Disney characters featured throughout the park. Some of these include; Minnie, Donald, B'rer Rabbit, etc.
[edit] Disneyland Park (Paris)
This street is themed slightly differently from the others; the decor is more 1920s than turn-of-the-century, though the buildings are almost identical to those in Florida, with influences from the flapper and ragtime eras and an emphasis on baseball culture and the rise of the automobile. Instead of horse-drawn trolleys and Victorian vehicles, plans originally featured trams to fit with the 1920s theme, but were scrapped. Also, due to often cold, rainy weather in the area, the Imagineers compromised and offered covered walkways on either side of Main Street called "arcades". There is the "Discovery Arcade" on the side closest to Discoveryland, and the "Liberty Arcade" on the side closest to Frontierland. These provide access to all of the shops along the length of Main Street, while giving shelter from the weather. They also provide a passageway when the street is crowded during parades and fireworks.
[edit] Hong Kong Disneyland
This version is an almost exact replica of the original at Disneyland. It's street is a red brick design.
[edit] Tokyo Disneyland
World Bazaar is the alternative of Main Street, U.S.A. It is covered by a glass Victorian-style conservatory roof to shield guests from the Japanese weather. Amongst others, World Bazaar features a 1950s American diner. There is also a larger side street that runs across Main Street which exits on either side into Tomorrowland and Adventureland. This is also the only "Main Street" that does not have a train station.
[edit] Trivia
- Each Main Street, U.S.A. features tracks for a horse-drawn trolley which runs along its length, except at Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland.
- The shops are laid out in a fashion to take advantage of the fact that people tend to walk on the right side of the street: along the right of the street (as a guest enters the park) are shops selling cameras and film, hats, and other items more likely to be purchased by someone starting his or her day at the park; along the other side of the street are shops selling toys and souvenirs and other items more likely to be purchased before departing.
- Main Street, U.S.A. is home to City Hall, in which the Guest Relations office is located.
- The buildings along Main Street, U.S.A. use forced perspective to appear taller than they really are. The false second stories of all the buildings are slightly smaller than the first stories, a few feet short of full size, and the third stories are even smaller than the second. If the original Disneyland architects had made the buildings a full two stories high, they would have looked incongruously tall compared to the castle in view at the end of the street.
- The names painted in the windows on Main Street serve as credits for some of the many people, Imagineers and others, who contributed in some way to the creation of Disneyland. Largely they appear as fictional businesses (gyms, realtors, dentists and the like), and they often refer to a hobby or interest that the person in question had. Ub Iwerks's window, for example, refers to his prowess with cameras. For Disneyland's 50th anniversary, on July 17, 2005, a first-story window on each Main Street was unveiled with a dedication to all the cast members (employees) who had worked for Disney throughout the years.
| The themed lands of a Magic Kingdom-style park: |
| Main Street, U.S.A. | Fantasyland | Tomorrowland | Frontierland | Adventureland |
| New Orleans Square | Liberty Square | Mickey's Toontown | Critter Country |
