Longtime Disney Eatery to Be Renovated

The Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant, a fixture on Disneyland’s Main Street since 1955 and a favorite gathering spot for generations of visitors, will undergo a major overhaul in 1997, Disney officials said Tuesday.

Beginning in early January, the replica turn-of-the-century eatery will be replaced with an outdoor cafe and two new walk-up venues to provide takeout service for the hungry masses on Main Street.

Construction is expected to be completed in April, when the location will feature a new full-service outdoor restaurant called the Carnation Cafe, an expanded, relocated Blue Ribbon Bakery and a new confection counter called the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor.

Disney officials said the park needs more--and quicker--food service along Main Street, where huge parade crowds now gather several times a day and frequently endure lengthy waits at the current Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant.

“We wanted to enhance the product offering and make sure that we can serve a greater number of our guests,” said Michael Berry, vice president of Disneyland food operations.

Still, rumored changes to the beloved restaurant and ice cream parlor have sparked concern among longtime fans who fear that the eatery’s leisurely ambience and authentic decor will be sacrificed for yet another high-volume, fast-food-style concession in the park. In recent months, Internet bulletin boards have crackled with cries to “save Carnation,” one of the few eateries in the park that still offers table service and real dinnerware.

Tampering with such an institution is a tricky business for Disneyland management, which must balance the need for new offerings with the public’s desire to preserve the attractions, shops and restaurants that thrilled them as kids. But Berry said the new design embodies enough of the feel and flavor of the existing restaurant to satisfy purists.

“This space is near and dear to the hearts and souls of a lot of people, and we don’t take that lightly,” Berry said. “We’ve tried to keep what’s important and be true to the original vision.”

Berry said the new eateries will maintain the familiar small-town, Victorian theme and design of their predecessor. The outside seating of the current restaurant will become the outdoor cafe, where table service and much of the menu will be retained--except for the ice cream novelties. Customers desiring Matterhorn sundaes will have to amble over to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor, where they will find portions of the old parlor’s antique soda fountain and marble counter incorporated into the new decor.

The new bakery will offer an expanded menu of specialty coffees and fresh baked goods, as well as carryout sandwiches for lunch and dinner.

But perhaps the biggest change will be in the number of customers Disneyland is able to serve. Berry said the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant currently seats 115 patrons and serves about 85 customers an hour.

The new Carnation Cafe will match that, while the new bakery and ice cream parlor are each expected to serve 300 to 400 customers an hour.

Dennis Speigel, a Cincinnati-based theme park consultant, said the move makes economic sense for Disneyland, considering that food is the second-biggest revenue generator, behind admissions, in most theme parks nationwide.

He said many parks have substantially upgraded their food offerings in recent years to match consumers’ increasingly sophisticated tastes.

“Food used to be the stepchild in the theme parks, behind the attractions,” Speigel said. “But they’ve learned that people will pay for high-quality food. It’s all in the bottom line.”

Nestle foods, the current sponsor of the Blue Ribbon Bakery and the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant, will continue as sponsor for the new cafe, bakery and ice cream parlor. The company also sponsors the Carnation Plaza Gardens, the Main Street Cone Shop and the Wharf Galley at the Disneyland Hotel.