The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (147 page)

* * *

The Silver Lake Sisters
,
Dolly
,
Ethel
, and
Dottie
, who have performed at the
Carthay Circle Theatre
–and across the country–own this charming café.  And the
Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café
is charming, despite its spaciousness.  Its airy expanse is lit by skylights and divided into intimate little nooks and counters and glass-paned booths.  Blonde woods and light paint awash in natural light or warm lamp light add to the cosy feeling of what is in reality a vast location.

The walls are covered with framed photos and posters of
The Silver Lake Sisters
, always smiling and cheery and glamorous in their 1930’s couture.  They
love
music; you can tell by the stained glass musical instruments that appear in the booths’ panes.  Happy period music–nothing glum–plays over recessed speakers.

There’s music, there’s light, the scents of coffee and pastries fill the air.  There are
seasonal copies of the local paper,
The Buena Vista Bugle
, stacked neatly on the counters.  Guests line up to order sandwiches and hot drinks from the blue-and-green-tiled kitchen.  A family sits in that booth.  A couple sits at that table.  It all feels happy, and homey, and that’s how
DCA
and
The Silver Lake Sisters
want you to feel.  Because maybe (as the cartoon
The Three Little Pigs
seems to argue), even in a hard world, music and laughter and camaraderie (and solidly built walls) are enough to keep the wolf at bay.

* * *

The
Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café
nourishes Guests in many ways, with its beauty and its music and its story and, or course, with its food and beverages.  The café opens with the park, and during peak seasons stays open an hour after the rest of
DCA
closes.  Its plate glass windows face the fountain and shady trees and benches and tables and flowers of
Carthay Circle Plaza
.  Come on in, day or night.  Rest and relax with your companions.  Eat, and drink.  The café is the kitchen and hearth and heart of
Buena Vista Street
.

Fiddler, Fifer & Practical
serves the typical juice, milk, soda, and water beverages that you’ll find throughout the resort ($2 - $3.50), and it offers a limited selection of hearty sandwiches and soups: 
Soups of the Day
could include
Cheesy Enchilada
,
Chicken Tortilla
,
Hearty Meat Stew
,
Portobello Barley
,
Vegetable Minestrone with Pasta
, or
Vegetarian Cream Spinach Soup
($5.49 each); cold
Salami Royale Sandwich
($8.99); hot sandwiches like the
Paneer & Roasted Vegetable Sandwich
($8.99),
Roast Beef & Cheddar Sandwich
($9.69), and
Turkey Reuben Sandwich
($9.69).  Chips and a pickle accompany each sandwich dish.

The café also serves an extensive variety of pastries and sweet treats, often
Disney
-themed.  Gazing at the glass cases while standing in line to order, one sees iced cake pops, brownies, frosted
Mickey cookies
, dipped crispy treats, thickly frosted cupcakes, cups of feather-light tiramisu–and on, and on.  Cinnamon buns are gargantuan and are a fine breakfast treat, meant to be shared.  Pastry prices begin at about $3 and rise from there.

What makes this café a piece of
Disneyland
history is that it is the first
Disney Parks
location to sell
Starbucks
beverages.  Yes–
Starbucks
made a turn at the “second star from the right” and landed in
Never Land
.

Early buzz had it that while
Starbucks
products would be sold here, no
Starbucks
signs or logos would appear on premises.  If that really was the plan, it was scuttled.  The famous
Starbucks
name and logo feature prominently in the café, in period-appropriate fonts.  Of course, in a terrific piece of cross-marketing, colorful little
Disney
images appear on the
Starbucks
cups.

A
Starbucks
at
Disneyland
?  Some worried that
Disney
was selling out.  Nay, say I (and many others).  It was
Walt
himself who began courting corporate sponsors when
Disneyland
was under construction.  He understood from the get-go how much having sponsors would help financially, provided, of course, that the sponsors’ products met
Disney
quality standards.  We see names like
Coca Cola
and
Dole
and
Nestlé
and
Karl Strauss
in the parks.  Why not
Starbucks
?  Long live the salted caramel mocha!

Guests who are
Starbucks
devotees will no longer have to leave the resort to get their fix.  Not only are all the major
Starbucks
beverages served here, they are actually crafted
faster
here than at the typical
Starbucks
storefront.  In the outside world, one lone barista sweats and strains to fill a zillion requests, while multiple coworkers continue to take drink orders.  At
Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café
, multiple Cast Members are taking orders
and
crafting beverages.  You’ll be stunned how quickly you receive that venti
Iced Tazo Tea Lemonade
!

If you’re not used to
Starbucks
, here’s a little of the local lingo:  Small is Tall; Medium is Grande; Large is Venti; and Extra-Large is Trenta (a whopping 31 ounces).

You’ll find your favorites here.  Regular
Coffees
,
Teas
and
Hot Chocolate
range from $2.79 to $5.39. 
Iced Coffees
and
Iced Teas
run $2.39 to $4.29. 
Chocolate
,
Mango
, or
Strawberry Smoothies
cost around $5. 
Starbucks Refreshers
(lime or very-berry hibiscus flavors) are $3.29 - $4.79.

The
Espressos
are here in full force, with their lyrical names: 
Caffe Lattes
,
Caffe Mochas
,
Caramel Macchiatos
,
Cinnamon Dolce Lattes
, and so on, costing between $2.79 and $5.39, and you can customize them with flavor shots, espressor shots, and “skinny” options like non-fat milk.

Blended
Frappuccinos
are here too: 
Caramel
and
Java Chip
and
Mocha
and
White Chocolate
and more–all your faves.  Prices start at $3.59 and climb to $5.49.  As with the espressos, you can customize your frappuccino, so it’s truly
your
frappuccino, substituting soy milk for whole milk, adding espresso shots.

Lines are often long because of the café’s popularity, but there are two queues, one on the left, one on the right, and lines moves a lot faster than you expect.  There’s so much seating, both inside the café and outside along
Carthay Circle
, that you are almost guaranteed to find a seat, but if it’s an especially crowded day during the summer or the holiday season, you can send someone to nab a table while the rest of you place the orders.

However long your visit to
Buena Vista Street
, stop at this café and enjoy the atmosphere with your family and friends.  It’s a terrific place to begin or end your
DCA
day. 
Did You Know?
 
Starbucks Frappuccinos
are blended drinks–but blended with what?  Coffee and ice are musts; other items, like caramel, chocolate, and cream can be added as desired. 
Did You Also Know?
  Since the revolutionary sound track of
Steamboat Willie
(1928), music has always been an important component of
Disney
’s success. 
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf
, written by
Frank Churchill
and
Ann Ronell
, was a huge hit, but
Disney
didn’t have its own record label to distribute it.  After the tremendous success of another
Disney
tune, the
Ballad of Davy Crocket
(1954),
written by
George Bruns
,
Grant Sherman Henry
, and
Thomas W. Blackburn
,
Disneyland Records
(later
Walt Disney Records
) was launched in 1956.  From then on, when
Disney
had a hit on its hands (and there have been many of them), they controlled the distribution through their own label, and, later, through their own radio channel and online portals.

Mortimers Market
(S)

[
FastView:
 
Grab your bottles of water and healthy fruits and vegetables at this old-fashioned corner grocer.
]

Once upon a time, there was a young man named
Walt Disney
.  It was 1928.  He was only 26 years old.  He traveled to New York to negotiate with business partner
Charles Mintz
.  It did not go well for
Walt
.

The young man learned that he didn’t own the rights to
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
. 
Walt
and his friend and creative partner
Ub Iwerks
had invented
Oswald
the previous year, and
Walt
’s studio had been turning out well-received
Oswald
animated shorts for Universal, but neither
Walt
nor his studio owned the rights to the lucky cartoon rabbit–not so lucky for
Walt
.

It was a tough blow, and one that made its mark on the youthful entrepreneur.  Going forward, he’d make sure he owned the rights to
everything
he and his teams created.

Losing
Oswald
wasn’t the only tough knock
Walt
took during that trip.  Not only did
Walt
discover
Oswald
wasn’t really his, he also learned many of his animators had defected, joining
Mintz
.

What was a young mogul to do?  Many would have given up, or capitulated to
Mintz
. But
Walt
told
Mintz
, in effect, to take a jump in the lake. 
Walt
’s decimated studios would finish the final animated shorts they owed
Mintz
according to the contract, but then
Walt
was going to go his own way.

According to legend,
Walt
conceived of
Mickey Mouse
on the train ride back to Los Angeles.  The journey gave
Walt
time to think and create.  He needed a character that was all his, that would belong completely to
his
studio. 
Walt
developed the character concept, and the personality.  Later, back in L.A.,
Walt
and
Ub
–one of his few remaining staffers–worked secretly on
Mickey
, with
Ub
, the superior artist, crafting
Mickey
’s visual design.

Mickey
, as we all know, was a huge success. 
Walt
and his loyal animators didn’t need
Oswald
–or
Mintz
–to succeed. 
Walt
’s studio would not fold.  He and his young wife
Lillian
would be OK.

There’s an interesting footnote to this pivotal event in
Disney
history, and
Lillian
plays an important role in it.  Because it’s generally accepted that
Lillian
, not
Walt
, named
Mickey
–the world’s most famous and beloved mouse. 
Walt
had called his creation
Mortimer Mouse
. 
Lillian
demurred, either because
Mortimer
sounded too formal, or sounded similar to negative words like “mortified,” or both. 
Mickey
, a friendly and informal name, would be better, said
Lillian
.