Rant-N-Rave Magic Kingdom: Main Street

[mindy0509]

I don't feel like I am truly in WDW until I walk onto Main Street. As soon as we walk onto Main Street all of my troubles in the "real" world seem to melt away. Main Street is WDW!!

[tomdavo1]

Main Street Station to the Castle in WDW. A view just about everyone recognises whether they have been to WDW or not.

It certainly is a Disney signature!

I agree it sets you up for the park, some how it moves you from the "real-world" into "Disney"... The music, the smells, the shops all perfectly themed does it for me! It just leads you into the park. Saying that it does make you sad when you leave and return back to the car park on the way home...

[rmorton50]

I give Main Street a 1 because it is absolutely essential to setting up ones visit to the park. But otherwise, the proliferation of souvenir stores has ruined it for me.

[csquare77]

I think Main street is an excellent way of welcoming people into the park. Great ambiance and setup of the train station and the view you get of the castle as you walk down Main street.

[Figment of Imagination]

Main Street gives you an Unbelievable feeling as you walk thru the gates, it is the perfect atmosphere for leading you up to the castle, I don't know how being they're two completely different themes but somhow it just works. I love the stores, especially the way they look, and hearing about all the tricks they use to make them look taller is cool. I once heard that Main st. is to represent any hometown USA and the images were sortof taken from Disney's hometown. Disney himself makes simular statements about Main St. I wouldn't change a thing.

[DisBeamer]

Just realized I never ranted or raved for poor Main street. I gave it a 3 (in its current state, anyway). It has some of the nicest detail in the park, but a lot of that nice detail has been obliterated in recent years by, as many have say, wiping out a lot of the unique stores in favor of a World of Disney mooshed into an ever-expanding Emporium. Old Main Street's unique shops were a key part of the theming and as nice as it still looks from the street perspective, when you consider the interiors of the shops I don't think it's all that well themed anymore at all.

That said, there's still a lot of atmosphere there to like, a number of the neat details still survive, and it's gorgeous at night.

[ghostelias]

Not my favourite part of the park. Admittedly I am not a shopper so that is proberbly why. Love the theming tho.

[BirdandRobot]

Where art thou, Main Street Cinema? House of Magic? Penny Arcade?

[Croaker]

whats left of the penny arcade moved to the train station above the entrance. I found it by accident in 2006.

[MW1218]

I have been spoiled to have known Main Street when it was all specialty shops as opposed to one long outlet store.

This. What ever happened to the Penny Arcade, for example?

[agingerbugg]

It was better before Disney started trying to sell everything. All of the old "Main Street" icons are gone. They have all been turned into a merchandising opportunity. It needs to go back to its roots (like a lot of WDW).

[annag]

For me Main Street is the getway to happiness!! As soon as I walk out form under the train station and see the castel in the back, I get teary eyed. It was and always will be love at first sight for me

[Cheshire Cat]

I was actually surprised when I saw the glass-blowing area. For some reason I thought they had gotten rid of that. For the most part, the problem can be narrowed down to the "Photo Exposition" (The Disneyana Store), the Cinema and the West side of the street.