Since January, Disney Dining has been reporting on the gradual modernization of The Emporium, the most iconic merchandise location on Main Street, U.S.A., at Magic Kingdom Park. The large gift shop takes up almost all of the left side of the street (when looking toward Cinderella Castle), with only a bit of the building reserved for the Casey’s Corner Quick Service dining location.
Crews have been renovating The Emporium in stages, starting on the northernmost section near Casey’s Corner. In the last four months, they’ve slowly shifted construction walls through the store, revealing new tiling and paneled floors replacing the old carpet in each section.
In March, the “Disney Clothiers” entrance to The Emporium was closed as crews worked in the Youth & Plush section of the store. Now, according to BlogMickey, that work is nearly complete.
According to recent reports, many of the construction walls have disappeared from the Youth & Plush section of the shop, revealing new flooring underneath. Merchandise displays have been moved around and leave much wider spaces for guests to navigate what is often the busiest store at Magic Kingdom Park.
One construction wall remains, blocking guest access to what will eventually be an updated checkout area. Signs on the wall direct guests to the area near Casey’s Corner for more shopping. Disney Park guests can use other cash registers or self-serve Mobile Checkout with the My Disney Experience app.
Walt Disney World Resort has provided little information about the Emporium refresh. However, some Disney Parks fans have linked it to a terrifying incident last August, when a popped balloon triggered mass panic on Main Street, U.S.A., at Magic Kingdom Park. Hundreds of guests stampeded through the crowded Emporium as reports of a mass shooter echoed through the Disney park. However, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department later confirmed that there was no active shooter.
Walt Disney World Resort hasn’t acknowledged whether its efforts to improve guest flow at The Emporium have anything to do with the crowd chaos last summer.
Do any other stores at Walt Disney World Resort need modernization? Share your thoughts with Disney Dining in the comments!
