We'll continue our tour of the Magic Kingdom with a stop at the first "land" you encounter: Main Street USA. Main Street USA in both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park are modeled after Walt Disney's childhood hometown of Marceline, Missouri. The feeling I get on Main Street is that of nostalgia. The design of the buildings. The costumes of the cast members. The carriages and streetcars that travel up and down Main Street throughout the day.
Another Disney factoid for you: the windows of Main Street USA feature different names. According to Disney legend Marty Sklar (one of my favorite Disney Imagineers), there are requirements for a name to appear on a Main Street window...namely retirement, a high level of achievement, and an agreement between the park management and Disney Imagineering*. The windows appear as fictitious businesses that typically relate to the persons interests or what they did. (For example: one of Walt Disney's windows refers to him as the Chief Engineer at the Walt Disney World Railroad Office-due to his love of trains).
Main Street USA is where you can meet the Big Cheese himself: Mickey Mouse. His meet and greet is quite unique in the Magic Kingdom because he actually talks to you! When I met him in 2015, he told my mother, sister and I all about the hitchhiking ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, then posed us as hitchhikers for our photo.
photo taken April 2015 with Disney's Memory Maker
Main Street USA is lined with shops, featuring everything from baked good to fine jewelry. The largest shop featured is the Emporium. There is also a barber shop, where guests can get their hair cut. There is also Main Street Bakery, featuring Starbucks coffee. At the end of Main Street there is the Plaza Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor, and Casey's Corner. Down from Casey's Corner, with a stunning view of Cinderella Castle, is the Crystal Palace (which I will be giving a more in-depth review of in the future).
Main Street USA is a great welcome into the Magic Kingdom. It sets the stage for a magical day.
* while I had previously read this information, I did reference Wikipedia and its sources to garner more details for your reading pleasure. Here's a link to their page of all the windows throughout Disney properties. Main Street Window Honors
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