Magic Kingdom's Main Street Confectionary: A Sweet Retail Experience
The Main Street Confectionary has always been a part of the Main Street USA experience in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. But it hasn’t always been the same over the years. We begin 50 years ago with the original history of the store, compare it to other Magic Kingdom style parks, show how it has grown over the years, and how the new store just recently opened is remarkably different than the last previous store. We promise that at no time Smellitzers will be used to make you want to go out and consume sugar, but this is a sweet tribute to an important part of Main Street U.S.A. and at no time will we fudge any of it.
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Original Roots
- Site was originally split into the Confectionary and the GAF Camera Center
- Disneyland’s version is on the opposite side of the street and Tokyo Disneyland’s version occupies the typical Emporium space on the right as you exit.
- In the 1980s, Kodak took over sponsorship of the Camera Center (part of the deal with Epcot) and See’s Candies took over the Confectionary.
- Description in the GAF guide spoke of chocolates, nuts, candy making (peanut brittle)
- Show kitchen was always part of the experience.
Previous Confectionary
- Site was made larger as Kodak took up the former Gulf Oil Hospitality Space creating the Town Square Exposition Hall
- It was adjacent to the Chapeau, and access was made indoors for going from one store to another. Monogramming was a big part of that space.
- Interior was done in Pastel, Sherbert Colors of pink, lemon and lime
- The aesthetic was more of a cheerful Willy Wonka style factory store.
- The show kitchen was placed prominently in the center.
- Small inventions were placed on shelves with descriptions relating to the process of creating confectionary goods
- Steam punk aesthetic of copper tubing was added in a few corners with colorful liquid bubbles rising up.
- One small corner/section was dedicated to hand-made cotton candy.
- A chain of metal and glass baskets carried candies on a conveyor belt around the room.
- Bulk candy dispensers included powdered candy and jelly beans
- Goofy Candy company is created for managing many of the packaged candies and nut-style products.
- A winding queue led to two glass cases with hand-made goods in them and two cash registers.
New Confectionary
- Shop has increased square footage by taking over the former Chapeau.
- There is an evolution of story starting from where the Chapeau is to the “showcase” store.
- Lots of older woods are used in the “Kernel Kitchen” with old fashioned photos of the founders of M&M and a beloved horse they had known as Snickers. Here more chocolates are more formal and traditional. And a popcorn popcorn mix bar is available. Unfortunately, the old fashioned party phone has been removed.
- The larger square footage is a showcase store with beautiful in-laid marble, brass railings and blue bunting, suggesting an event, which showcasing home confectioners across the nation in an event called the Sweetest Spoon.
- A showcase kitchen still resides in the store and is the segue between the Kettle Kitchen and the grander showcase store. This kitchen is much more like Disneyland and is completely glass enclosed.
- There are two sets of counters, both circular in design. The first showcases products and goods for sale. Guests can order here, where they are given a slip that they then take to the second counter. This allows people the chance to window shop, before they conclude their purchase.
- Brass circles before the first counter suggest how guests might line up to make their orders.
- The second circular counter has been added and handles purchases and product pick up. This counter is much larger.
- Mobile ordering has been added, and those who are just picking up their goods can move directly to the second, larger counter.
- The product line up offers many old favorites, but many newer items, many of which feature or utilize Mars candies in some way.
A Diverse Story
Who is the proprietor of the Main Street Confectionary? We find the answer on the wall as a gold frame holds an article from the opening of the new confectionary, as outlined in the Main Street Gazette. The article, written by Scoop Sanderson, a columnist for the Gazette, and formerly one of the Citizens of Main Street. His article hearkens back to Thomas and Kittie McCrum. Jim Korkis has written about this and you can see a summary of their history in YourFirstVisit.net.
Of course Mars is the official sponsor of the store, and in that role has chosen to showcase a more diverse story:
“Mars proudly presents the Sweetest Spoon featuring the finest home confectioners in the nation! Whose the sweetest of them all? A diverse story is told of the following showcase winners:
Agata Kaminski, Chicago Illinois. Few things fill this free-spirited music teacher with greater joy than sharing Polish jelly donuts with her students, who nominated her to the Sweetest Spoon Showcase.
“Parents complain about her paczki…because there’s not enough for them!”– Martin Wright, School Principle
Willie Anderson, Tulsa Oklahoma. Hobbies are Willie Anderson’s hobby. Lucky for him, his parents bookstore contains all he needs to know about potential pastimes. Treating taste buds to the tastiest pound cake in town is his latest obsession.
“If my Williams’s nose isn’t in a book, his hand’s on a spoon. Or a hammer, or a guitar, or …who knows.” –Edith Anderson, Mother
Toshi Hayakawa, Main Street, USA. Toshi Hayakawa doesn’t just bake; he puts out flames. As a Main Street Firefighter, he turns up the heat on his greatest possession in the firehouse kitchen, perfecting his family’s 300-year-old rice cake recipe.
“Toshi’s Mochi are great to grab and go…and I can grab a lot!”–Chief Smokey Miller
Sonia Sánchez, Brooklyn New York. Soni’s kitchen providers her Puerto Rican neighborhood sweet tastes of the Caribbean. Crowds line up into the streets to purchase quests sprinkled with “La Señora’s” signature cinnamon sugar.
“Her baking cooks up traffic jams!”–Officer Nadia Sánchez, Granddaughter
Dr. Alsoomse Tabor, Blackfeet Nation, Montana. Dr. Tabor’s digs are fruitful introductions to indigenous cuisine. Graduate students join the esteemed professor’s paleontology trips to learn from the best, and taste her famous fruit leather–the ideal food for fieldwork.
“When you’re digging up bones, nothing’s better than snacks that stick to them.” Kimi Roth, Research Assistant
Saul Fitz, Beulah, Maine. A town tailor of great renown, Saul Fitz fashions impeccably fitted suits and trousers by day, and finds relief from his exacting work by night, baking and noshing on chocolate regelach. In sweetness, there is no calm.
“I’m glad he unwinds by baking, so I can unwind by eating.” Gary Henderson, Partner.
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