A Jewel, A Gem No Longer...

The one-of-a-kind "Jewel of Orleans" is a gem no longer. The River front store in Disneyland's New Orleans Square that sells rare estate and other unique jewelry will be closing due to "tough economic" times on, oddly enough, April 15th. The store was privately run, which I didn't know, and they have decided to close up shop and focus on their other locations:

“Our Dear friends,

We want to extend our thanks for all you both have done to help us over the years. It is with deep sadness that we must tell you that we are closing our Disneyland location. We plan to close The "Jewel Of Orleans" on April 15th. Due to this tough economic time we have no choice but to focus on our two Northern California stores. We will continue to offer sales and special deals on our company website. We also encourage you to check us out on facebook. And please keep in mind that our Home store in San Francisco is not far from the new "Disney" museum!”

After the "Jewel of Orleans" closes Disneyland will have one remaining store like this that is not the gimmicky merchandise local that seems to choke the atmosphere right out of each land - and that is the Coat-of-Arms in Fantasyland. Selling plaques and shirts with family crests and sabers and swords and such. And I'd bet the Coat-of-Arms days are numbered too!

It's very sad to see these shops go. I think part of the charm of Walt's early Disneyland was that there were shops that evoked the spirit of each land like the flower or candle shop on Main St., or the old one-of-a-kind antique shop in New Orleans Square among others.

Given the times, reinforcing this kind of shopping that is half entertainment and nostalgia could go a long way. I'd love to see things like a baseball card shop on Main St. 0r an old time hat shop in Adventureland? Walt built the berm around Disneyland to keep the rest of the world out. Now there's Quicksilver and Roxy all over Adventureland, with the same stuff at any mall in America. - and you can buy any merchandise from the parks online anyway. Why not preserve some of the Gems that make Disneyland a diamond in the rough?

New Orleans Open For Business...

No, we're not talking about the recovery after Hurricane Katrina.

We're talking about New Orleans Square. It opened on this day in 1966. This was the first new "land" added since the parks opening. While the area opened up, the attraction for which it is famous was still being constructed and wouldn't open till the following year.