A Tour of Buena Vista Street

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(Some of you asked for “lots of photos” from the new Disney California Adventure. Contributing photographer Jason of disneygeek.com took “lots of photos”, and we asked him to share some of them with us.)

I was able to attend the festivities last week at the Disneyland Resort for the Grand Reopening of Disney California Adventure Wednesday through Friday. In the course of those three days I spent a total of 41.5 hours in the parks. Logging just over 20 miles, snapping over 5,400 pictures, taking 61 video clips for just under 3 hours of footage.

Laura said there were requests for pictures of Buena Vista Street and Cars Land. This first batch of photos takes a tour Buena Vista Street focused on the interiors.

Even though the focus of this pictorial will be the interiors I wanted to start with the Storytellers statue since it is important. This statue is of Walt and Mickey as they first arrived in Hollywood back in the 1920s.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Right behind Storytellers is a little park area.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Beyond the park is where we are going to start our tour, with the Elias & Co store. This replaced the Candy Store and a large portion of Greetings From California. It is on the East side of the street (to the right as you enter the park) and takes up the Southern block, from the Monorail beam to Carthay Circle more or less. This is the most Southern door, closest to Hollywood Land.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Time to head inside. Also note all the stores on each side of the block connect so once inside you can go the length of the street.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Wow! That is the first word that came to mind. Remember what this used to look like? It had the Candy counter in the middle and concrete floors. Now it’s women’s apparel, Dooney & Bourke bags, jewelry, watches, and other accessories.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Heading into the next room and a whole new experience. It’s more like a men’s department, with unisex t-shirts, ball caps and men’s shirts, as well as the “Storytellers” collection, including replicas of the hat and leather jacket like Walt has on the statue.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Some of the props around the stores are great! This is an old time clock for employees.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Spinning around and looking toward the front of the store and Buena Vista Street.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Moving on to the next room, and still looking toward the street from the back of the store.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Continuing on to the next room, still in Elias & Co. This one had some park-specific merchandise, like the Flying Tire hats you see.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Heading into Big Top Toys. This is the area under the monorail to help you figure out where I am on the block. It has the low ceiling because of that. Lots of plush, kids’ t-shirts, girls’ dresses.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Also interesting the lights around the top of the room change colors.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Moving on to the last store in this row.. the Los Feliz Five & Dime. There are several embroidery machines here, and they can embroider on just about any t-shirt, bag, or hat, though in the second and fourth photos below you’ll see examples of some of the items that are available for embroidery.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Buena Vista Bugles on the news stand. Be sure to take one if you are in the park! They are free and available in several places and are a fun read.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

A peek into the Guest Relations (Chamber of Commerce) which is located between Los Feliz and Oswalds. The first aid station was moved next door, I did not go in there. The old first aid out by the Wharf will become part of the Baby Care Center to allow for more space.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Oswald’s stands just inside the turnstiles. Lots of hats and car accessories like antenna toppers, car mugs, and decals.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Checking out the turnstiles.. they look great with the trees and of course no more construction walls!

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

A better picture of the Red Car Trolley. Also note no dedication plaque on the flag pole yet, these pics were taken 6/14 during the media day.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

A great little courtyard between the Red Car stop and the Restrooms/Lockers.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

The restroom facade (I know this is exterior but wanted to set up the next shot).

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

If you were curious inside the restrooms are the same…

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Time to tour a Red Car Trolley. There are two trolleys, number 623 (“23” for the year Walt Disney came to California) and 717 (Disneyland’s birthday is 7/17).

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Stepping onboard.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

The top is lined with ads for the Buena Vista Street merchants.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Continuing our tour.. now time for the west (right) side of the street. First up Mortimers Market (the reference to Mickey’s original name if you did not know)

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

The locker building facade.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

A look inside. Same lockers as before.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

But now old Red Car maps above.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Time to head into the Elysian Arcade. This passageway runs the full length of the shops on the west side of the street.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

First store is the Kingswell Camera Shop. (Note: Kingswell Avenue was the site of an early Disney animation studio.) This is the PhotoPass area. Batteries, cameras, memory cards and photo frames and albums are also available.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Time to move on to the next store. Julius Katz & Sons features kitchen items such as towels, utensils and dinnerware.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Julius Katz was inspired by Julius the Cat, an animated cat who joined the live action Alice in the Disney shorts of the 1920s.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Next up Atwater Ink & Paint with mugs, tea, and coffee items.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Be sure to look around the stores for the props and signs.. these items line the top of the room.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

A great bulletin board behind the counter.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Next up Trolley Treats. In addition to the homemade fudge, marshmallows, taffy, apples, and other treats in the case there are packaged goodies available as well.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

The window features a model of Rock Candy Mountain, an attraction that was designed for Disneyland but never built.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Next door is Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

The last shop on the block is Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe. This is the Starbucks location and offers a full range of Starbucks beverages. They also feature hot and cold sandwiches, soups, and pastries.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

There’s a large dining room with both tables and booths.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Be sure to take a moment to look at the pictures and posters on the walls – some of the memorabilia of the touring musical group of sisters who “own” the coffee shop.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Goofy was out for pictures. All of the Disney characters on Buena Vista Street appear in period costumes.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

As was Mickey.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Next up I noticed the Carthay Circle Restaurant was open. So I walked inside. They had the Carthay Circle Lounge open for pictures. This is on the first floor on the left and it has a bar area as well as a waiting area for the dining room upstairs.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street

The steps to go upstairs are on the left where those people are.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street



A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street



A Tour of Buena Vista Street



A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

A closer look at the items in the entranceway.

A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street


A Tour of Buena Vista Street

Hope you enjoyed this highlight tour of the interiors of Buena Vista Street. It really only touches the surface of what is there to see and explore. The Imagineers hid references, tributes, and great props throughout. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the several sections (and thousands of pictures) I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com For a full listing of my coverage from the events you can check out this list I put together. Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.

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Jason is a guest contributor from disneygeek.com sharing pictures, thoughts and observations from his Disney travels with a west coast focus. He has been posting Disney-related content to his site since 1994. He has visited all 12 Disney theme parks over the years plus has had many other Disney adventures. He is a programmer by trade, and has helped with several projects here on AllEars.net over the years.

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2 Replies to “A Tour of Buena Vista Street”

  1. Wow! “(L)ots of Pictures!”, now sans barricades. I have been to the “World” a few times, but now I am inspired to go west. Thanks for all the virtual pixie dust.