A wall and checkout counter have been demolished, some flooring was replaced, and the ceiling was raised in the Emporium room closest to Casey’s Corner at Magic Kingdom.
Emporium Construction
Construction walls blocked the back half of this room for several weeks but have now come down. A wall that used to partially divide the front and back of the store has been knocked down, opening up the space. The brown wood-style flooring at the back has also been replaced by white tile.
A Cast Member told us that the ceiling in this space was raised. It still features the same lighting fixtures.
There are columns around where the wall used to be but a large opening makes it easier to move around the store. The wall housed sets of shelves on both sides. Other larger merchandise displays have been replaced with smaller units.
The merchandise displays that used to create the checkout queue have also been removed. For now, cast members are using tape to outline the queue on the ground. We don’t know if stanchions or a new structure will be installed at a later point.
According to a Cast Member, the ceiling in the front part of the room will also be raised, indicating further construction is expected.
With the construction walls down, guests can now walk from the Casey’s Corner dining room into the Emporium. This entrance was blocked during the first phase of work.
The checkout counter from the area closest to Casey’s Corner is gone, replaced with more shelving. A large display has been removed from the center of the space, replaced with two smaller shelving units. There are signs advertising mobile checkout.
The changes help prevent crowding in the busy store. They may be partially in response to a panic last summer when guests stampeded down Main Street in response to a gun scare. There was no active shooter at the park but guests sheltered in the Emporium, which ended up trashed.
A yellowed section of wallpaper and holes highlight where a decoration used to be.
Other decorations, mostly baseball-themed to match Casey’s Corner, remain in place. These two vintage photographs show baseball teams.
The wall removal does create a series of several different flooring styles right next to each other. The new light wood-style panels and diamond-patterned tiles are where the wall used to be. A golden metal strip separates the two different styles of wood floors. Disney may replace the old, darker wood with the new style as renovation continues.
There are still construction walls up in the adjacent room, which mostly offers plush toys. Scrim extends from the tops of the walls to the ceiling. There were built-in shelves in this area that could be knocked down to make even more space.
This room is carpeted. Diamond-patterned tiles separate the carpet from the wood paneling in the first room. So far, there are no signs of new flooring in this area.
The Emporium is the flagship merchandise location of Magic Kingdom, located on the corner of Main Street, U.S.A. near the front of the park. The store stretches down the length of the street on the west side, encompassing multiple façades and Disney Clothiers.
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