No more hand painted watches on Main Street-Declining by Degrees continues

Andy reported in his latest Dateline that Disney is discontinuing the hand painted watches at the New Century/Fortuosity shop to expand the push of generic crud that proliferates in the park. One more of the little touches that makes Disneyland and Main Street special has disappeared and the Declining by Degrees is happening whether some want to believe it or not. Discuss please.

And people thought Queen Med wasn't going to have any power over DL

Well all they said was they were discontinuing the watch painters, we don't know what will be put in their station. Could be worse they could have removed the entire idea of a small town clock shop. Remember the shops on Main Street have changed a lot over the years, people probably said that the removal of the working pharmacy was the beginning of the end on Main Street or when they took out the book and candle shop. No the Penny Arcade does not count, the recent refurbishment kept the same number of machines. Plus we still have great shops just look at the magic shop if they got an outside party they could take the whole shop and make it even better than even Disney could make it.

See ya walkin' right down the middle of o'l Main Street USA

After reading Andy's post I was pretty bummed. However if the profit isn't there, why continue to do it? Sure it's a great novelty item and it sure was cool to watch them create those watches, but the bottomline is if the watches aren't turning over as quickly as they used to something needs to change to maximize profit. Sadly, that means putting generic shirts and crappy candy there most times.

I am sad that is has gone away, and like Andy said in his post it really adds to the experience of Main Street and Disneyland. Ultimately though they are a company and if something doesn't work it needs to be fixed and/or replaced. I just wish they could come up with more creative ways to fix the problems instead of shoving generic merchandise to fill the void.

This reminds me of the fiasco regarding the magic shop, for its last years generic merchandise took over the shelf's. Maybe if Disney took the "time" (no pun intended) to find an outside company that would like a presence in the park they could hire them to take over Fortuosity, I think Rolex or Timex would be fantastic.

See ya walkin' right down the middle of o'l Main Street USA

A damn shame. Hate to see this place go but if its really losing money then I suppose it has to happen. I'm against keeping up old attractions/shops on life support for nostalgia's sake. If the shop's time is really up then let's let it rest in peace I guess.

My fault. I spent too many minutes watching the artists painting the face pics instead of buying stuff. That certainly pissed off Disney management.

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Originally Posted by bayouguy

My fault. I spent too many minutes watching the artists painting the face pics instead of buying stuff. That certainly pissed off Disney management.

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bayouguy, you are the first snowflake to accept responsibility for an avalanche.

Watches are becoming an anachronism, with more and more people relying on cell phones to monitor time. The exception I suppose would be the Rolex-grade variety that are worn more as "bling". Not that anything on Main Street should be taken out because it is an anachronism .... perhaps that would be a reason to keep it ...

Maybe they could paint iPhone covers. (Not iPhones, of course, as you'll get a new one every 2.8 years.)

Good news for all those already with painted watches, though. Nice art investment.

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Originally Posted by Pinrar

A damn shame. Hate to see this place go but if its really losing money then I suppose it has to happen. I'm against keeping up old attractions/shops on life support for nostalgia's sake. If the shop's time is really up then let's let it rest in peace I guess.

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While I agree with not keeping things for nostalgias sake, I'm against Disney taking things out and replacing it with nothing, or in this case, most likely the same merchandise you can find in just about any other store in the whole resort.

Its been said many times on here, not every square inch of the park has to turn a profit. Well, in the mind of the current management, every square inch has to turn a profit or its not worth it. The saddest part of this for me is that the change will never ever be reverted and this area will stay as an area of merchandise for a very long time.

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Makes you wonder what's next go. The Main Street Cinema? the Dapper Dans? The Main Street Vehicles? The Firestation? Walt's Apartment? And that's only Main Street...

Painted watches? I've been going to Disneyland all year (and for 40+ years before that) and really have no idea what this is about. Am I missing some sort of marketing, or is there none and that's why nobody's buying?

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Originally Posted by bigcatrik

Painted watches? I've been going to Disneyland all year (and for 40+ years before that) and really have no idea what this is about. Am I missing some sort of marketing, or is there none and that's why nobody's buying?

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You've never been in the Watch shop and seen the artist at the desk?

Would be cool if they bring it back for a limited time. Maybe one week a year, let people order the watches.

I hope they still do Silhouettes...

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Originally Posted by sediment

Maybe they could paint iPhone covers. (Not iPhones, of course, as you'll get a new one every 2.8 years.)

Good news for all those already with painted watches, though. Nice art investment.http://www.smakynet.com/images/83.gif

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I got one my first time there. Really sad to see it go... :(