Get your Disney beach towels here!

Disneyland Postcards: Feature of the Month

July, 2002 - Carnation Ice Cream Parlor

Carnation Ice Cream Parlor

"Twilight on Main Street, DISNEYLAND, is marked by the old lamplighter who makes his evening rounds to set the gas lamps glowing." - Card #0007 in the Nickel Tour

This card was produced within the very first series of postcards to be sold in the park. All cards within this series were all concept drawings, since the park was still under construction. I find it somewhat interesting that the text on the back focuses on the "lamplighter" and mentions nothing about the Carnation Parlor, which is clearly what this card is representing.

Out of all the restaurants that have come and gone since I've been a Disneyland fan, the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor is the one I miss the most. You can sit at a table inside the restaurant, at the bar, or out on the patio, and be waited on in one of the few table-service restaurants within the park. I might stop by for lunch and sip on a chocolate malt, or maybe even an ice cream soda. I recall many nights where we'd watch the Main Street Electrical Parade from the patio, as I attempted to eat the oversized Matterhorn - an 8 scoop sundae!!! Other sundaes were also themed after attractions in the park, such as Big Thunder Mountain, Snow White, Splash Mountain, and more.

I still can't get over the feeling I felt when I saw the old Parlor closed and being remodeled into a new bakery. The new Carnation Cafe is nice for a sandwich at lunch time, but other than table-service and the name Carnation, it has nothing else in common with the Parlor. And the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor (formerly the Blue Ribbon Bakery) doesn't have the quality table-service and extensive menu, but instead focuses more on waffle cone sundaes, which used to be only sold across the street next to Disney Clothiers. I can only assume that the upper management saw valuable real estate being lost with the Carnation taking up too much space - why have only ONE restaurant, when you can renovate and have a bakery, a cafe, AND an Ice Cream Parlor??? I'm sure this sounded great to those business folks, but this Disneyland fan will forever miss his most treasured restaurant at Walt's Magic Kingdom...

Main Street | Fantasyland | Tomorrowland | Frontierland | Adventureland
New Orleans Square | Bear/Critter Country | Toontown

Disneyland | The Hotels | Disney Gallery | Miscellaneous | Walt Disney | Series/Sets

Home | What's New? | About This Site | Disney DVDs

Webhead Interactive | Florida Website Marketing