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Buh-Bye Ronald
While GardenWalk may be very quiet, across
Harbor Blvd. both Disney parks are about to see
some significant changes beginning this
September. The first happens the day
after Labor Day, when all three McDonalds
locations inside the parks shut down for good.
We broke the news on this a few months ago when
we told you that the McDonalds sponsorship was
coming to an end soon, and now the dates of the
restaurant closures have finally shown up on the
refurbishment calendars. While the corporate
office in Burbank has yet to admit that their 10
year old parks agreement with McDonalds is
ending, the deal is done and the end is near for their urine-yellow arches, greasy hamburgers and fatty fries.
Clown be gone soon from the Harbour Galley
(above) and Westward Ho wagon (below).
The Harbour Galley and Westward Ho wagon
at Disneyland that served McDonalds fries
will both close on Tuesday,
September 2nd and almost immediately the kitchen
equipment will be removed from both locations.
In a complicated legal agreement, most of the
kitchen equipment in the McDonalds locations in
the parks was owned by them, and then
leased to Disneyland. The equipment was
maintained to McDonalds restaurant standards,
and now that the golden arches are no longer
welcome on Disney property McDonalds will be
taking back their equipment. Disney will then
need to go back in and install new kitchen
equipment in those locations to reopen them as
Disney operated stands by Christmas.
The same process will take place over at Burger
Invasion beginning September 2nd, but on a
larger scale at that full size McDonalds
kitchen. Once the McDonalds equipment is
removed, the kitchen is rebuilt with Disney
equipment, and the McDonalds logo is removed
from the UFO themed building, the restaurant
will reopen as a standard burger stand with a
menu similar to the Village Haus in Fantasyland.
That will only last about six months however, as
in the fall of 2009 that area will be shut down
again as that corner of DCA begins its
transformation into a Victorian beer garden.
The
kitchen facility will remain exactly where it is
for the new beer garden however and be largely
untouched during the conversion, so Disney has
decided to just go ahead and reopen Burger
Invasion sans the McDonalds logo for at least 6
months. The McDonalds sponsorship of the nearby
S.S. Rustworthy water play area, including M
logos on the nautical flags, will also end in
September. By September '09 that play area will
face the bulldozers as the DCA makeover finally
arrives there as well.
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