Beast of Burden

The next room in Island Mercantile features load-bearing animals: camels and, to a lesser extent, mules and llamas. The color palette for this room is full of bright reds and oranges, suitable for capturing that arid, desert atmosphere.

The Birds and the Bees

Stepping in the next room, the theme switches to one of bugs and birds. A honeybee motif is strong on one side of the room, beginning with the shelving fixtures:

It continues into the columns:

And runs along the ceiling:

There is also an ant design on a few of the fixtures, which creates a nice complement:

To round off the room, there are fixtures that feature hummingbirds flocking around a flower:

Beastly Beautiful

This week, I am going to be focusing on just one store and all of the wonderful details that are contained within it. That store is Island Mercantile, in Disney's Animal Kingdom. As with the rest of the park, it is full of incredible artwork that is often overlooked. The theme is a place where goods from around the world are traded, with animal motifs used to give it a feeling of whimsy.

Today will highlight the "Elephant Room," so nicknamed due to the prevalent theme of, what else, elephants.

The motif begins outside, on the intricately decorated lamposts:

Moving inside, and looking upwards, one can see that they even provide support for the roof:
There are beautiful lamps hanging from the ceiling:

On the wall high above guests is a shelving unit that contains an assortment of artwork from different cultures. The shelf's design mimicks that which is used on the lamps. Two paintings of adorned elephants flank the unit.

Support columns line the walls, and are painted with little delicate elephants:

As if the elephant theme wasn't obvious enough at this point, the light fixtures on the wall help to remind:

A Hot Set

Returning to the Muppets and the Stage 1 Company Store yet again, this time moving inside. Set pieces from the original 3 Muppet movies are part of the decor, and it's a wonderful chance for guests to truly step into the movies.

Located just inside the doorway, one can see the Bus Station lockers from The Muppets Take Manhattan. The personalities of many of the Muppet characters truly shine through in this display.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Instead of one of my usual posts, today I thought I would celebrate Independence Day with some fireworks. Here is Magic Kingdom's Fantasy in the Sky from last night. It was a wonderful show full of red, white, and blue.

Have a fun and safe holiday!

Down in the Briar Patch

The Briar Patch gift shop is a great little store that is now often overlooked by guests thanks to the close proximity of the FastPass queue entrance. Themed around Br'er Rabbit home in the infamous briar patch, it makes for a wonderful story continuation, as only the outside can be seen while riding Splash Mountain. Set high up on the walls, we can see all of Br'er Rabbit's belongings, most of which are topped off with acorn or carrot finials.

There is also a wonderful assortment of lighting fixtures, including a particularly nice stained glass design.

I also personally enjoy the "Cast Members Only" sign used in this store. The owl bears a strong resemblance to Friend Owl in Bambi.

Chinatown

Walking down the San Francsico street in Disney/MGM Studios, you get the chance to do a little window shopping. Themed around an area of Chinatown, there are many wonderful things to discover in the storefronts.

The first store is a trinket shop, full of beautiful Chinese figurines and pottery.
And of course, who could leave out these fun guys:


The other shop next door is a restaurant or grocer, selling some very interesting looking food.