Starbucks Opens at Disney World: What Would Walt Say?

Starbucks lands at Disney World
Starbucks lands at Disney World

For real Disney lovers, Main Street U.S.A., the gateway to the Orlando park and a nostalgic evocation of small-town America, is the heart of the Magic Kingdom. Some parents might delight at the idea of their favorite lattes and cappuccinos being available beginning of a long day of rides and attractions with the kids, but others, but others are balking at the fact a Starbucks has taken over the Main Street Bakery, a popular institution along the strip.

More on Yahoo!: Disney Patron Finds Gun On Ride

Despite a petition on Change.org and lawsuit against both Disney and Starbucks seeing to ban the corporate coffee giant from converting the eatery, famous for its freshly made cinnamon rolls, the chain had a soft opening last weekend.

"I used to work for Starbucks and I love coffee but seriously Walt Disney World is a place of DREAMS not NAME BRANDS!!! KEEP DISNEY WORLD A DREAM NOT A SELLOUT!!!" was one comment on the petition.

More on Yahoo!: 10 Drinks on Starbucks Secret Menu

Many other critics lamented that they go to Disney to get away from the ubiquity of chains like Starbucks. "One of our family traditions was to stop there for a quick pastry breakfast just after opening. (Sometimes the mayor walks through on his way out). It's just not the same getting the same fare we can get a few hundred yards from our front door," wrote a commenter from New Hampshire on the blog Inside The Magic.

A visitor from the United Kingdom echoed the sentiment on the petition: "When we go to WDW, we want to experience a different world to normal life. We want escapism -to have a Starbucks will make it like my local shopping mall. Main Street is old time -Starbucks is modern, it doesn't go with the theme. I don't think this was the image that Walt had for his Magic Kingdom. Personally I will be gutted if Starbucks takes over."

Also on Yahoo! Shine: Disney World Scheme: Entitled Families Hire Disabled Guide to Bypass Line

Another wrote: "This is the worst idea ever. You would be destroying the small town early century America that this part was designed to represent! It also doesn't make sense to close a place that so many love. What's next? The Emporium will turn into Walmart? If I want to see this stuff, I could stay at home. Don't let the outside world into the Magic Kingdom."

Shine reached out to Disney and Starbucks, who have yet to comment on the controversial change. The blog The Motley Fool points out that Starbucks strived to re-create a historical ambiance in its Disney World outlet. They also note that Disney World has accepted corporate sponsorship in the past-it's ties to PepsiCo go back to 1964, when Walt Disney was still alive, and Kodak and Bank of America have funded attractions. McDonald's French fries are sold in some restaurants.

While Main Street Bakery lovers are up in arms, it's hardly the first time the opening of a Starbucks has courted controversy. In China, a café that opened near a Buddhist temple in 2012, drew harsh criticism, and in 2007, a Starbucks in Beijing's historic Forbidden City (the former Imperial Palace) was forced to close down after public outcry.

Parisians unsuccessfully protested the opening of a Starbucks in the bohemian neighborhood of Montmartre-once a hotbed of literary and artistic culture. Closer to home, some Annapolis residents were upset when Starbucks moved into a tavern that had been operated continuously since 1780.

According to the blog Mouseplanet, Roy O. Disney, Walt's older brother, first included a description of Main Street U.S.A. in his first proposal for the development of Disneyland park in 1953: "Main Street has the nostalgic quality that makes it everybody's hometown….It has a bank and a newspaper office, and the little ice cream parlor with the marble-topped tables and wire-backed chairs. There is a penny arcade and Nickelodeon where you can see old time movies." Now brought to you with Frappuccinos and wifi.