Orlando International Airport’s second Magic of Disney store (in the Main Terminal East Hall) officially opened to guests today, replacing Disney’s EarPort which closed back in July.
The two airport shops now share the same name. That’s not going to confuse anyone or anything.
The grand opening moment was documented by Disney… and us.
The focal point of the exterior is a 36-foot-long video screen showing scenes from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The video wall replaces the Mickey statue with the four theme park icons that welcomed guests for many years.
You can watch the entire loop on the giant screen in our video below:
Besides the screen, guests are greeted by a cold, grey wall.
Let’s head inside, shall we?
The “Passport Collection” Mickey compass leads the way.
The walls feature faux-wood paneling with Mickey icons.
Woodgrain, white, and grey make up the color palette of the various store displays.
Illuminated graphics highlight various merchandise lines.
The EarPort wasn’t the prettiest store, but it certainly had character. This looks more like a very average mall shop, but then again, so do most of the stores at Walt Disney World now, so they’re preparing guests for sterile shopping when they arrive.
More art like the display behind the registers would have been nice.
A large screen shows various Walt Disney World imagery inside the shop.
The various store remodeling projects of the Chapek regime (i.e. World of Disney, Keystone Clothiers, Star Traders) are from a belief that it is hard for guests to find merchandise in shops “cluttered” with story, theme, and character. Muted colors allow the merchandise to “pop”, but in hindsight I hope someone will realize it is the anthesis of what a Disney theme park experience is supposed to be.
You can shop for merchandise at your local mall, Disney Parks are not malls. Theme park merchandise sales are not suddenly going to skyrocket because you made a store mostly white. Maybe you should stop developing generic items and using low-quality materials to improve your sales? I know this isn’t meant to be an editorial, but perusing through these images just makes me more and more upset about the current state of the shops.
Here’s a full video walking tour of the new store:
For reference, here’s what the store looked like before its remodeling:
And if you’re feeling particularly nostalgic, here’s a video walkthrough of the old Magic of Disney store:
What do you think of the new Magic of Disney store that has replaced Disney’s EarPort? Do you miss the old, over-the-top store displays, or do you appreciate the cleaner look? Let us know in the comments!
I liked the old way, this just seems like corporate drab. Who did they hire to do this renovation? The Cogs from Toontown online?!
Cold, sterile, lacking in any fun and all business (really – they took down the Goofy candy statue?!). Seems to be the Disney way these days.
Anytime I’d fly into Orlando there’d be kids and grownups grabbing pictures in front of Mickey and dancing around because they were going to DisneyWorld!
Now? Are you here to shop? This isn’t a place for amusement or to have your kids hanging around messing up the displays.
Tom, you are spot on. The current focus of Disney branding in their Retail and Parks experiences is on the sterile/modern and less on the character or storytelling. Truly disappointing for old school Disney fans like us. It’s a shame Disney doesn’t listen to their Guests more – we want the big, bold and beautiful. I, personally, want to be transported into a different place & time when I walk into a Disney resort, themed land, or Retail shop. I couldn’t agree more with the statement “in hindsight I hope someone will realize it is the anthesis of what a Disney theme park experience is supposed to be.”
I 100% agree with you! “..it is the anthesis of what a Disney theme park experience is supposed to be…” couldn’t have said it better. Being in my 30s, I have photos and memories of taking pictures with the characters outside the stores and now bringing my children to Disney, of course I’d want to take pictures of them with the characters as well. This new way of “refurbishment” does nothing to evoke nostalgia or make me excited to shop there.
They will probably hire someone from Spencer’s to make it more edgy and teen friendly. Be careful what you wish for when robots grant them!
I would have never thought the fix to bland corporate Mickey would be to make him an offensive Ren and Stempy clone with terrible animation
Why does “modern” have to mean “boring”? I hate all the new redesigns. They’re completely unmemorable. And the last thing we all need is more screens in our face!
I agree with you 100%. It is so sad that Disney feels the need to sterilize all of these shops and take away all of the character, story, and whimsy. We loved to take a photo with the Mickey and Goofy statues every time we were at the airport. Who thought it was a good idea to take them away?! Can someone please stop the direction that Disney is taking with their so-called “modernization”- AKA sterilizing every shop and anything else they can get their hands on to change, and removing story, theme, character, and fun! This is so upsetting!
Looks just fine. Certainly an improvement over the completely outdated Earport.
I’m guessing had your article been positive, there would have been several comments echoing that sentiment.
But when you go negative with all the lemmings looking to complain on this & other Disney fan sites, you’ll get an avalanche of woeful comments.
The new stores are just fine.
If people wanted to keep the old, outdated, tackily themed stores of yesterday, they should have spent more money in them.
I don’t believe that people didn’t. I don’t think it’s healthy to automatically equate negative feelings towards “lemmings”. A rational thought can be a negative opinion. Not everything they touch is great.