The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (54 page)

Bonanza Outfitter
carries a solid range of products at decent prices.  Buying flip-flops here one night saved the blistered toes of a group member who’d decided to break in new shoes at
Disneyland
(always a bad idea, by the way!).  And the frontier ambiance–weathered boards, baskets, lanterns, blankets, drums–is charming. 
Did You Know?
  There’s a penny presser (or “smasher”) inside
Bonanza Outfitters
and another one just outside its street entrance.  As is appropriate for the location, the designs that you can have pressed into your penny include
Fantasmic!
and
Mark Twain
-themed images.

Crockett
and Russel Hat Co.

[
FastView:
 
A modest homage to bold pioneers who settled the west.
]

“Decorative Hats.  Felts.  Straws.”  So reads the large sign outside this shop, which has no street entrance, but is reached via the adjacent
Silver Spur Supplies
store.  It’s actually part of
Silver Spur Supplies
, so why does it have its own special exterior?  It’s a tribute to frontiersmen
Davy Crockett
and
George Russel
, real historical individuals who helped explore and develop the U.S. frontier, and characters in
Disney
’s immensely popular
Davy Crockett
shows in the 1950’s.

Look carefully at the center window above the “Decorative Hats” sign, and you’ll see that it’s a tribute to
Fess Parker
, the actor who portrayed
Davy Crockett
in the
Disney
productions, and who appeared at the park on numerous occasions, including
Opening Day
.

Parker
would later play Daniel Boone, another famous frontiersman, on television.  He was successful as Daniel Boone–the series was one of the highest rated of the 1960’s, and is presently rebroadcast on the METV network–but
Davy Crockett
would always be
Parker
’s breakthrough and signature role.

Although he typically played woodsy folk heroes, the Texas native ha
d a history degree from the University of Texas and pursued a Master’s in Drama at USC.  According to his website fessparker.com, in later years he became a California wine maker and hotelier.  He passed away on March 18, 2010 at the age of 85.
Did You Know?
  The actor who portrayed
George Russel
in
Disney
’s
Crockett
series was famous song-and-dance man
Buddy Ebsen
, best known in later years as lucky patriarch Jed Clampett on “The Beverly Hillbillies,” and TV detective “Barnaby Jones”. 
Ebsen
visited the park in the mid 1950’s in character as
George Russel
.  He was the inspiration for
Walt
and
Ken Anderson
’s
Dancing Man
, the prototype for the far more complex
Audio-Animatronic
figures that would follow. 
Ebsen
’s final curtain call was on July 6, 2003.

Pioneer Mercantile

[
FastView:
  Frontierland’
s biggest shop, it offers “one-stop shopping” for frontier-themed souvenirs and goods.  Leather bracelets, frontier hats, sherrif’s stars, and kitchen wares are among the highlights.
]

When the
Disneyland
TV series presented a three-part
Davy Crockett
program in 1954, millions of viewers–including my mother, then eleven years old–went wild for the story, the show’s instant-classic theme song (“Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, killed him a bar’ when he was only three …”), and
Crockett
’s iconic coonskin cap.  Millions of boys and girls–including my mother–ran around in coonskin caps playing
Davy Crockett
.  Like
Mickey Mouse
watches in the 1930’s, the coonskin caps were
Disney
merchandising gold in the 1950’s.

The show struck a nerve with 1954 America, and its success assured
the construction of
Disneyland
, which was depending on
ABC
for the bulk of the park’s initial funding.  And here at the
Pioneer Mercantile
store children of all ages can still find
Davy Crockett
coonskin caps.  Don’t worry if you’re a critter advocate–the caps aren’t made of real raccoon fur.

If you’re looking for cowboy and cowgirl duds, including high-quality flannel shirts,
Native-American pattern dresses, leather bracelets, or other western gear, this is the place, as well.  Young Guests can fill a bag with gems and minerals for about $7 at a stand near the back of the shop.

This is a lovely s
tore, with wooden beams and with primeval trees rising up from the weathered floorboards.  And the service is right neighborly in this here mercantile, whether you’re planning to pay out bags of gold for the pricier duds, or just looking for some trinkets and postcards.  Located on a prime corner near the log fort entrance of
Frontierland
, the
Pioneer Mercantile
connects to
Adventureland
, also to the adjacent
Bonanza Outfitters
.  Just across the main street is the
Frontierland Shootin’ Exposition
if you or your young ones are of a mind to do some shootin’. 
Did You Know?
  This location began as the
Davy Crockett Frontier Museum
on
Opening Day
, and then quickly became the
Davy Crockett Arcade
.  It wasn’t until 1987 that it was dubbed the
Davy Crockett Pioneer Mercantile
, now simply the
Pioneer Mercantile
.  Even though the name
Davy Crockett
is no longer part of the store name,
Crockett
’s pioneer spirit lives on!

Silver Spur
Supplies

[
FastView:
 
This small, rustic shop sells T-shirts and miscellaneous goods.
]

Accessible via
Bonanza Outfitters
or its own street door, this shop, like its fellow Western shops in
Frontierland
, breathes the scent of pine and saddle leather.  Your shoes thud on the rustic floorboards and you peer out at the frontier street through bleary glass windows.

A staircase draped with
a vividly patterned Native American blanket winds up to the second level, to a storeroom, no doubt, but in this atmosphere one almost fancies it leads up to the home of the frontier proprietors and their family.  A giant wooden buffalo completes the backwoods ambiance.

What can you buy in this weathered outpost? 
Silver Spur Supplies
sells
Disney
-themed merchandise that includes clothing and unusual accessories like kitchen wares and picture frames.  Even if you’re not of a mind to buy any goods, drift through for a taste of the old West. 
Holiday Vision:
  Mosey into this shop as the holidays approach for an eclectic collection of
Disney
holiday knick-knacks.

Westward Ho Trading Co
.

[
FastView:
 
Stop here for your pin-trading needs.  One of the best pin shops in the park.
]

What had been the
Frontier Trading Post
from opening day became the
Westward Ho Trading Company
in 1987, right around the time the
Davy Crockett Arcade
across the street became the
Davy Crockett Pioneer Mercantile
.  Happily,
Westward Ho
kept the
Trading Post
’s traditional wooden Indian statue which stands on the plank walkway outside the shop and stoically greets Guests.  (See if you can find the other wooden cigar-store Indian statue in the park!)

Standing
near the
Frontierland
log fort entrance,
Westward Ho
is conveniently located for Guests who want to pick up a keepsake before leaving this land. 
West Ho Trading Company
specializes in pins, glorious pins!  In the shaded, rustic interior you’ll find authentic western memorabilia like a saddle and fringed coat on display, but the merchandise for sale focuses on pins.

There are
Disney
trading pins that you won’t find anywhere else in the park, and friendly, knowledgeable Cast Members working the counter.  You’ll find individual pins, pin sets, lanyards, and an adjacent pin-trading spot near
Frontierland
’s log fort entrance.  If you’re a pin
aficionado
you’ll want to stop here at least once during your visit! 
Did You Know?
  The store derives its name from the 1956
Disney
movie
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
which starred
Fess Parker
, better known for his
Davy Crockett
role. 
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
also featured actor George Reeves, otherwise known as television’s “Superman,” and stunts by legendary Hollywood stuntman Yakima Canutt. 
Kid’s Eye View:
  I like all the pins, and the Cast Members are nice about giving info about [them].

Grub:

Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue
(L, D)

[
FastView:
 
Pricey-but-delicious ranch fare, often accompanied by a heehaw-type show that’ll have you saying “yeeha!” All-you-can-eat dishes and rustic touches like jelly-jar glasses and bone buckets. If you can afford it, eat here for the barbecue and the family fun.
]

This on-again, off-again barbecue venue was on again in spring 2009 after it was refurbished, and has once again become a beloved
Frontierland
restaurant.

Guests
pay up to $27 each for adults and $12 for children aged 3 to 9 (taxes and gratuities not included) to sit at giant outdoor picnic tables and chow down on all the barbecued chicken and ribs they can eat (with
Miss Chris’ Special Sauce
), as well as limitless side dishes like ranch beans, cornbread, and
Cookie’s Coleslaw
.  The dinner (supper) menu also offers smoked sausages and corn wheels (slices of corn-on-the-cob).

For the vegans in your midst, there are barbecued vegetable and tofu skewers. 
Note Bene
:  beverages cost extra (about $3.50 per person) but are bottomless.  And children aged 3 to 9 receive a
Souvenir Sipper
cup with their drink.

Individual desserts like
Chocolate Flourless Mickey Cake
,
Old Fashioned Ice Cream Floats
,
Ranch Hand Sundaes
, and
Strawberry Shortcake
are $5.99 each, and family-style desserts like the
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bake
,
Seasonal Fruit Cobbler
with vanilla bean ice cream, and
S’mores Bake
each sell for $10 and serve two or more Guests.

It’s a pricey meal choice
for many Guests, but it’s an all-you-can-eat feast (which
Disneyland
more delicately describes as “all you care to enjoy”) in the great outdoors, and lunch is (slightly) more of a bargain at about $25 per adult and $12 for children aged 3 – 9 years.  If you can foot the bill, the
Big Thunder Ranch
location, with its rustic buildings and wilderness, is hard to beat if you’re seeking backwoods tranquility.

The ranch stage is sometimes
the site of toe-tapping western entertainment, like the musical stylings of
Miss Chris
and
Tex Tumbleweed
; enjoy country or bluegrass music and a bit of comedy or magic while you eat.

The service is fast and friendly at this here barbecue, pardners, and myriad little touches (checkered napkins; a “bone bucket” for discarded chicken and rib bones; beverages served in old-fashioned jelly jars) make you feel li
ke you’re on the old frontier.