United Kingdom - Photo Tour
Photos by Brian Bennett
Hi there! I'm glad you could join me here at the
Rose & Crown pub at such late notice. I'm having a little
iced tea here (sacrilege here in the UK, I know, but I don't like it
hot). Feel free to grab a bitter or stout, and we can get going...
I want to show you the indoor seating at this lovely restaurant.
Unlike most pubs in the UK, which tend to be very informal, this one is
pretty well dressed up. The paneled walls and that great ceiling
(check that out!) really add to the "old England" feel, even
if it's not terribly authentic.
Just some quick comments on the food here. The fish
& chips, as you would expect, are fabulous. The traditional
pies are less so. The prime rib with Yorkshire pudding is to die
for, and the trifle is a fantastic desert to top off dinner! If
you'd like some more information on the Rose & Crown, check out MousePlanet's
Walt
Disney World Restaurant Resource page on the United Kingdom!
Here at the edge of World Showcase lagoon is a canal lock,
like one would see all over the central and Northern areas of England.
Wigan, the town that my father's family is from in the UK, actually has
a pier in the middle of town. It's odd, because Wigan is a land-locked
town. However, the canal that runs through the area provides water
access to Liverpool and on to the world's waterways, so "Wigan Pier"
is at the same time an impossibility and a fact. It's also bears
the brunt of many English jokes. The picture here really shows the
outside seating at the Rose & Crown, the canal lock is to the right
in this view. By the way, if you want a great place to view IllumiNations,
get a priority seating for the Rose & Crown late in the evening, and
ask for a table on the lagoon. It's worth the wait.
Leaving the Rose & Crown behind us, let's walk across
to the promenade to the Tea Caddy shop. This is a great little place
that sells teas (including Earl Grey and various English blends featuring
Keemun). The Tea Caddy also has a great selection of shortbreads
and other cookies and so on that are just perfect to put out with afternoon
tea. The Walkers shortbread is probably the best well-known.
The United United Kingdom Pavilion has an interesting mix
of architectural styles. The building that the Tea Caddy is located
in is a good example of this mixing. The shop is in a low-ceilinged
building that has a great thatched roof on the back (when you get a chance,
walk through the herb garden in the back, the side facing the International
Gateway) and look at the building from that side. It's designed
to look like like a small cottage, reminiscent of the Cotswold's area
in Southern, central England. On the side facing Canada, it's got
a much more urban look to it.
Continuing through the shop, to the left of the shortbreads,
takes you into the Magic of Wales shop. The Magic of Wales has a
great number of tea sets on display. You can choose from several
Prince Albert patterns made by Royal Daulton. I'm not a tea drinker,
but these china sets are works of art. Oh, and look at the little
white wire displays here. They're filled with marmalades, jams,
and jellies that go great with tea time, too.
Here are some quotes on the civilized beverage of tea, that
I grabbed from A World of Tea.
"You can never get a cup of tea
large enough or a book long enough to suit me." (C.S. Lewis.)
"As a rule they will refuse even
to sample a foreign dish, they regard such things as garlic and olive
oil with disgust, life is unlivable to them unless they have tea and puddings."
(George Orwell, in an article entitled, "The English People")
"A Proper Tea is much nicer than
a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards."
(A.A. Milne, in "Pooh's Little Instruction Book")
And last, but certainly not least,
"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot." (Jean Luc Picard, star date 41697.9)
The Queen's Table is our next stop on the tour. This
shop sells perfumes and other products that are produced in the United
Kingdom. Lavender, rose, and other fragrances are uniquely British,
as compared to the blended perfumes preferred by the French folks across
the channel.
Each scent can be sampled, if you so choose. Many
of them are available in perfumes, hand creams, bath oils, and room fragrances.
The lavender and rose products in the picture (the lavender is the purple
boxes, the rose are in the center display in light yellow or straw colored
ones) are the same brand that I purchased at the tower of London on my
one and only trip to the real UK a few years ago.
The last room in the Queen's Table has a lovely ceiling
and egg shell colored walks. The displays are lined with more of
the fragrances and products that any properly lady needs to complete her
daily toilet.
Exiting the shop, the last one in the row, takes you to
the inner courtyard of the United Kingdom pavilion. The street that
meanders by looks for all the world like "Penny Lane," but is
really only a short walk back to the World showcase promenade.
In this picture, the Crown & Crest shop shop is directly
in front of us with Pringle of Scotland to the left. Immediately
to the right, out of the picture, is the Queen's Table. To the left
and behind is a courtyard that is the location of performances of a group
of Beatles impersonators (they're really quite good, actually) and a place
where characters can often be found including Mary Poppins & Burt,
Peter Pan, and the Pooh characters among others.
Onward to Pringle of Scotland, which is a shop that sells,
primarily, sportswear appropriate for a tourist in the United Kingdom.
Golf and Tennis clothing and products, of course, are the primary offerings.
The influence of St. Andrews and Wimbledon are strong here.
I love the golf bag with the tartan. By the way, there are several
products for sale here (including ties and so on) that have tartans (traditional
and modern) from many of the best-known clans of Scotland. They're
fun to look through, even though I don't have any Scottish blood running
in my veins.
The one thing that struck me as I took these pictures was
the wide open spaces around the display tables. This is very unusual
in a Disney shop, but clearly makes the store more inviting. I suppose
that the spaces are more filled up with people during the busier times
of the year down here in Florida. I also wonder if the relative
lack of unique or specialized merchandise makes Pringles less busy.
It's location in the back of the pavilion has got to hurt, too, but I
suspect it would pull in more traffic if it sold more products (like those
tartans) that you can't buy at your local department store.
The Crown & Crest is a great shop that is next on the
itinerary. It's a great shop that has the feel of a manor home,
with the crossed swords, pikes, and other armaments mounted high on the
wall. The "candle" chandelier carries that medieval flavor
up to the ceiling where your eyes can see a wonderful display of crested
banners and pendants. The open beam construction and the colorful
standards make you want to find out what YOUR family coat of arms is and
pick one up to take home. I did that myself several years ago.
The wooden plaque now hangs over the fireplace of my home. (I think
it looks pretty good there.)
If anyone out there can identify some of the standards that
are in the picture for me, drop me a line. I can't accurately tell
which is which, so I won't pretend to be able to do so.
Another item for sale in the Crown & Crest products
that I really enjoy are the wonderful chess sets. In the past, I've
seen several standard "Staunton" design sets, as well as sets
based on the war of the roses, various Disney-themed sets, and so on.
The prices tend to be very steep -- usually several hundreds of dollars.
I suppose, though, if you're an aficionado of the game, it would be worth
the investment. This picture shows some examples. I should
have taken a picture of the ones on the opposite display, too.
The next shop, after the Crown & Crest, is the Toy Soldier.
It sells toys, not surprisingly, including a bunch of Pooh-themed stuff
(lots of plush) and other character merchandise -- of characters that
originated in the United Kingdom, primarily, such as Alice in Wonderland,
Pooh, and so on.
The Toy Soldier also tends to be one of the busiest shops
in the pavilion. I'm sure it's location, right off the promenade,
has something to do with that. The fact that it sells popular toys
(many of which, again, you can find in your local department store, Disney
Store, or at the World of Disney) is probably another factor. I
don't think I've ever seen anything in here that is that great, though.
I've seen it all elsewhere.
After browsing through the Toy Soldier shop, we come to
the end of our walk. The exit from the Toy Soldier drops us back
off at the promenade, directly across from the Rose & Crown where
we began our little odyssey. To the right of the final picture,
is the Yorkshire County Fish Shop, if you're hungry after our little
walk. Of course, the International Gateway is beyond that.
To the left is Canada and Future World.
Well, that concludes our little tour of the United Kingdom
pavilion. Don't forget that tips for the tour guide are appreciated.
;)
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