Do you count Main Street as a "land"
 

I know technically it's a land, and it's alwas counted as part of the 5 original lands, but growing up, I never really considered it as such myself.

First of all, it alerts you to the fact that it's not with its name. There was Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and Main not land.

Secondly, no significant attractions. There's GMWML (a late addition), some cars, a train station, and lots and lots of shopping.

So for me, it just isn't on the same level as the "true" lands. Perhaps because my family was never one to do much shopping, and our favorite eateries were elsewhere in the park. So Mainstreet was nothing more than what I think of it as, which is a portal into the "real" lands.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't appreciate it. It served it's purpose beautifully, to act as a buffer between the outside world and the magic within. To set the mood needed to transport you on the way in, and to gradually bring you back to earth on the way out. It was, for me, a place to admire and the site of it was always special, but it was not a place to linger.

Like you, I suppose I never really thought of Main Street as a "land," though it was always my favorite place to be, especially at night. And if Rod Miller is not a "significant attraction" then I do not know what is! Give me a nice table, a hot pretzel and a cup of coffee and I'll sit there all night long.

Um, it's a land.

It may not feature the best attractions in the park or have the word 'land' tagged to the name but it's a piece of land that's themed & features attractions just the other lands in the park. I don't spend much time in that particular land either but I don't exclude it from being what it is.

I suppose it's a matter of semantics. Main Street just occupies such a different realm in my mind than the other lands that I don't really consider them the same type of entity. All the other lands feel conceptually linked to each other in my mind, so Main Street just stands out as it's own thing. Not lesser or worse, just unique.

Well it's definitely different than the other lands but it's meant to be a gateway into the rest of the imaginative world so it has to be odd in that way.

Is Toon Town a land? If yes, then I would think that Main St. is, as well. They are both specifically-themed areas with clear cut boundaries, even though they didn't get the "land" extention. They have rides and attractions that are themed to that particular area as well.

I say it's a land.

Walt used to go down to Main St in Marcieline MS and wonder(as any boy would do) at all the lands the Train going thru town would travel....he would take in a movie and dream of Traveling to the darkest jungles in South America or the Veldt of the African Plain. Surely he saw Comic books in the 5 and dime depicting Space Adventures and Worlds of Tomorrow.

Some may say Main St. USA isn't good enough for land status....I say quite the opposite.....the lands are the Subjects of the Street :)

Of course it is a land. It's got the main feature of the other first lands of Disneyland - particularly atmosphere. It's a turn of the century main street. The Vehicles, the Main Street Cinema and the shops all give the feel of what a Main Street in Anytown USA was like. Granted, the original shops were unique and a bit more appropos, but it still is one of lands of Disneyland.

Yes, I do count Main Street, U.S.A. as a land--just like New Orleans Square, Critter Country and Mickey's Toontown are also lands without "land" attached to its name.

Beside its detailed theming, Main Street is one of the most important lands as the first-and-last land most guests see.

On a side note, Main Street also holds sentimental value from my childhood because the first four things my family always did on each visit took place on Main Street: Take a family photo in front of the Mickey flowers, board the Disneyland Railroad for a roundtrip, watch Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and ride one of the Main Street vehicles. Of course, this land was also the location for a very special and unique parade--Main Street Electrical Parade.

I'm interested in what those that don't think of it as a 'land' think of World Showcase in Epcot.

I REALLY didn't appreciate that area of Epcot the first visit, because (for the most part) all there was there was shopping and buildings and restaurants - oh yea, and atmosphere (mind you, I WAS an adult at the time!) Fortunately, on either our first or second trip, my sister and I had a package that included a choice of options that didn't really appeal to adults traveling without kids - EXCEPT the World Showcase tours. We did the "Hidden Treasures" one and it REALLY opened our eyes to the wonder that is World Showcase. At the end of that tour we said "We need to spend more time here just soaking in things" - and our next trip we did just that.

I never really made that connection between the two parks - now I'm going to pay attention to it the next time I stroll down either Main Street. I'm wondering if anyone thinks there might be some sort of parallel there.

Nope, always thought of of it as a "street." New Orleans Square, as part of Frontierland, is a "square," Toon Town is a "town" themed extension of Fantasyland, and Critter Country is a mispronunciation of "Bear Country."

And that settles that.

Of course it is a land! It's not floating in outer space :rolleyes:

I was going to bring NOS up next. It also occupies kind a nebulous space for me. I think it's because it has no entrance, nothing to define it as separate from Frontierland, it always just seemed a small section of Frontierland, not a land of its own. In recent years (like, the last 10 years), I've shaken that preception...for the most part.

These are all perceptions held over from youth. I don't even remember my first visit to Disneyland I was so young. Too young to understand the broader concepts and ideas behind it. So my impressions were purely from my own observation (altough undoubtedly colored by my parents if for no other reason than the manner in which they conducted our visits). Coming with a clean slate like that, that's the impression that I got, that Main Street was the welcome center, and the areas with the name "land" were lands. Hard to shake impressions that are formed so early on.

Like I said, it's not about "good enough" for me. I never considered Main Street inferior, just a separate entity.

As a relative newcomer to Disneyland, I tend to think of Main Street as more of an entrance or portal into the Lands. It has few attractions, no rides and is mostly a Guest Services/shopping area. That doesn't diminish it in any way- it's still one of my favorite places in DL- it just happens to be my perception of it. I was kind of like GD when it came to NOS; I had a hard time thinking of it as a seperate land due to it's fluid entrance/exits, but now I see it as a Land based on the theming, rides, etc.

In terms of "rides" on Main Street, U.S.A., I definitely think the following would count as rides: Disneyland Railroad and Main Street Vehicles (Fire Engine, Horse-Drawn Street Cars, Horseless Carriage, and Omnibus.

So, yes, Main Street offers moving amusements which may not be on everyone's list of all-time favorites, but they're still rides--and still special for this land. :)

Doh! You're right, DD- how could I forget the RR? Still, I tend to view Main Street as before, and the RR only reinforces that perception: it distributes people to other points in the Park, although lots of people ride it for fun or to rest.

NOS? That just screws up my whole argument. I always thought of Main Street as a land (when we visited Tokyo Disneyland this year, where Main Street is 'World Showcase', it seemed even more 'land-like', with alleys running off the sides of the street). But once NOS is thrown into the equation, it just screws it up for me. I have never thought of NOS as just "part of Frontierland". Is it officially part of Frontierland, or is it a separate "land"?

Me, too. I love that.

I think Main Street is my husband's favorite part of the park and he sees it as a separate land -- as fantastical and wonderful as any of the others. Ditto for me and NOS. I don't think of NOS as part of frontierland at all!

It is its own land, entrance or not.

Whew! That's a relief. In the Magic Kingdom in WDW, Liberty Square is its own "land", but it's on the other side of Frontierland. It's been referred to as a "gateway to Frontierland" which actually makes sense - but like NOS, the entrance is not entirely clear...

You know, when I drive from "Beach Land" to "Mountain Land" I usually have to pass through "Desert Land" and there is usually some transition area.

Adventureland and Frontierland both transition into NOS which then transitions into Critter Country (a bit more abrubtly). Doesn't bother me one bit.

I think our NOS is a LOT more fully realized than Tokyo's NOS, which is just a tiny flavor of NOLA.

Ah, but if you're talking attractions, then we've forgotten all about Mr. Lincoln! :eek:

Lincoln was a must-do on my family's list, and usually our first attraction.

But I agree with everyone, attractions or not, my original POV was that Main Street was a "street", NOS a "square", etc. It was not until I got my AP that I realized just how many lands there are.

Yep, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was my family's favorite, "must do" attraction also, and I would not purposely omit it on a list of Main Street attractions. :p

Main Street Cinema, as a 1955 original, is an attraction, too, and I could watch "Steamboat Willie" over and over...

And for angry guests or over-zealous Annual Passholders, they might consider City Hall an attraction. :evil:

Main Street U.S.A. is a "Land" made up of three "Areas". Town Square, Main Street, The Hub. New Orleans Square, Critter Country and Toontown are "Areas" existing in established "Lands". Only the five original sections of the Park that were there on opening day can officially be considered "Lands". Everything added afterward is an "area" within an established "Land".
My two cents worth.

BUT the "Land Of Mainstreet" ENDS with Mainstreet. For me it starts outside the gates.

The other day, on the Disney site that has all the videos, I was watching one on Hong Kong Disneyland and they mentioned that this new Park has Four Lands and then they mentioned that the original Disneyland had Five Lands and proceeded to name them. Main Street was included as a Land.

Being the detailed person that I am, I still say that Main Street USA is made up of the three individual sections (Town Square, Main Street and The Hub). I consider Toontown, New Olreans Square and Critter Country as "Sections" rather than Lands. And Main Street as a Land not only has the rides, that were listed as attractions in the original guide books that were mentioned above, but also The Main Street Cinema (which originally cost a dime to enter) was an attraction from opening day. The Opera House was not yet open, so it can't be counted as an attraction from Opening Day.

But the Horse Drawn Trollys, The Fire Engine and the Putt Putt Cars were listed as Main Street Attractions. And the Train had it's Main Entrance Station on Main Street. Don't forget that Walt designed the Park as a giant "theater" that you were walking into to become part of a "Movie Experience".

The Ticket Booths were the same as the old Ticket Booths outside the old theaters of that day (before multiplexes when there was only one theater in one building) and the area just past the entrance, before you go through the tunnels, was the "Lobby" and Walt even wanted red velvet curtains over the tunnel entrances that would open and close as people went through them, but that idea was not feasable and he was talked out of that. But Main Street was always envisioned as "the Preview of Coming Attractions" because you could look down and see the Castle with the Carrousel through the entrance and when you got to the hub, you could look in any direction and see into the four remaining "Lands" or "Movies" you were about to interactivly experience when you entered them.

Walt was a genious and so far ahead of his time. Interactivity long before people even thought of having home computers and virtual interactivity and stuff like that.

I have never, ever thought of NOS as part of Frontierland nor Toon Town as a section of Fantasyland. Makes you think... I've always counted MS as its own land, though.
:)

It seems odd to think of NOS as a part of Frontierland to me. The same with ToonTown and Fantasyland. There is just such a separation from the theming and feel of those different areas of the park that they feel like their own separate lands.

Anyone and everyone can argue this point to death, and go into how it was set up at park opening, and it won't really change the way some people think about it. And as far as Main Street, I would have to say it is its own little "land" as well.

I guess the main point of this post is, I don't really care if they are or aren't officially their own lands, or what anyone else's opinion on the matter is either. So I guess it comes down to I really have no point or business reading or posting in this thread.

I guess I just wanted to put my two cents in this discussion before moving on.

My point in starting this thread wasn't to convince anyone or prove anything conclusively. It's all a matter of perception, I know that my perception of Main Street was shaped by my experience. I was just curious if anyone shared the same perception. I'm not saying anyone who has a different perception is wrong.

And I really shouldn';t post after having a few beers.