Main Street Cinema – both sides of the coin

It seems like anything that happens at Disneyland manages to generate some strong feelings that manage to find their way onto social media. Perhaps the most notable recent example was the decision by some in management at the Park to move merchandise sales into the Main Street Cinema. While the installation was temporary in nature, it may have signaled a more permanent change in the thinking of some.

Let’s go back to 1955 and look at what Main Street USA was meant to be. A turn of the 20th Century Main Street in a mythical city some where in the United States. Familiar to many people, yet a thing more of memory than of modern day. To be sure, there were indeed shops where guests could spend more of that disposable income. Many of the spaces up and down the street were filled with concessionaires. But the overall idea was to find shops that fit into the theme. There was a pharmacist, a general store, the cinema, a tobaccanist, a magic shop, an emporium with all kinds of theme park souvenirs, a china shop, a womens lingerie shop. and more. All with merchandise that was related specifically to those individual shops. In short, it was meant to be the downtown street just as Walt once enjoyed in Marceline. And it didn’t hurt the bottom line of the Park if it helped generate revenues above and beyond those tickets sold at the Main Gate.

Now in the 60 odd years since then, Main Street has changed and evolved. Almost all of the shops now are part of the Park, with (as far as I am aware) only one remaining concessionaire. Call it Main Street if you will, but it is more akin to a shopping mall than a downtown. And much of the merchandise sold in the various shops is the same as is sold elsewhere in the Park or at World of Disney. It ceased to be the collection of individual shops and simply became various locations, identified by names on cash register receipts or work reporting spots.

So, when one of the last quiet places on Main Street that goes back to 1955 comes into the 21st Century with the addition of t-shirts and mouse ears on sale, you can guess that some of the faithful will raise up and cry “foul” to anyone who will listen. Which in this case, strikes me as a bit odd. The Main Street Cinema has always been a spot easily overlooked by many guests. Even back in the ticket book days, it was much of a lesser attraction, requiring one of the lowly A Tickets to enjoy. In today’s world of big screen blockbusters with bigger and louder explosions and computer generated graphics where audience attention spans are limited to the next shiny screen moment, how can black and white silent movie cartoons hope to compete with Youtube videos on an iPhone? In short, they can’t and don’t.

Disney has a great vault with all kinds of silent content that could be shown here. From Alice cartoons to Oswald to Mickey and more. Maybe a way to freshen things up a bit is to change out the clips and add more from the vaults? That might help bring a few more guests to visit, especially on warm Southern California days/

In an era when those sharp pencil Accountanteers are doing their best to squeeze every cent out of a guest experience, how long before the quiet corners of the Park like the Main Street Cinema come under scrutiny and the questions are raised to see if opportunities can generate revenue? Back in the ticket book days, the use of those A tickets for admission to the Cinema could show revenue as the surrender of the ticket proved guests valued their time inside. With the end of ticket books, that was lost, and revenue was counted at the cash register instead.

Personally, I enjoyed the days when Disneyland had merchandise specific locations. When you could find souvenirs that were attraction or area related. Not the same t-shirts and pins everywhere you looked. And while there are still such opportunities at the Park, they are less and less available. At one time, the Frontierland Mercantile sold items that were more area specific in nature. Lots of items with a western theme. Today, it’s all much the same items found at other locations. I miss places like Le Gourmet in New Orleans Square. You could find all kinds of kitchen items there. Now, you are lucky if it’s more than a coffee cup or maybe some Mickey shaped pasta. In today’s world of online shopping, there are plenty of opportunities to find those little items that once were the things specialty shops at the Park once sold. I can understand how Disney didn’t see competing and having all that stock taking up space in storage instead of turning over through strong sales.

One has to wonder if some advance customer focus might have helped bring merchandise sales to the Cinema in a better way? If instead of more generic merchandise, what if the merchandise had a tie in to the Cinema? Maybe some Oswald items and more of the classic Mickey and Minnie merchandise? Some DVD sets of those classic cartoons, pins of those character designs or even t-shirts that were special to the Cinema? Vintage movies do have an attraction for some folks. Take advantage of that instead of just more of the same…

Those of us who visit the Park on a more than once in a lifetime have come to treasure the little quiet moments inside Disneyland. And yes, the Main Street Cinema is indeed one of those. Much like other areas of the Park, the way to show you appreciate them is to visit them. Like the Sleeping Beauty walk-through, spend a few minutes out of your day at the Cinema. Guests do get counted as they visit. Help drive those counts up and show your appreciation. That’s the best way to keep the Cinema you know and love.

And a kind word of appreciation to City Hall now and then helps, too!