Disneyland Guru

The recently refurbished Carnation Café has reopened!

This charming diner offers a perfect perch to people watch as the world passes down Main Street, U.S.A.

From your cozy spot under candy-cane striped umbrellas, enjoy updated dishes of classic comfort food — including a few of Walt’s favorite treats, like homemade meatloaf and chicken-fried chicken.

Escape the hustle and bustle of Main Street, U.S.A. and take in the sights from this quaint courtyard eatery.

The Mickey-Shaped waffles are breakfast classics.

For the first five years of the park, this location was Puffin Bakery. In 1960, the location closed for a month and reopened as the Sunkist Citrus House, where fruit juices and sandwiches were offered.

In 1990 the Sunkist sponsorship ended and this location became the Blue Ribbon Bakery.  In 1997, the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor was reorganized into Carnation Cafe, and Blue Ribbon Bakery was moved into what had been the indoor portion of that restaurant. Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor opened at that time.

Fantasia: Until 2003, Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor was the only location in the world for Fantasia ice cream from Carnation (attempts to sell it at Walt Disney World had not succeeded).

Citing the cost of producing the flavor for just Disneyland and limited demand, the flavor was discontinued in December, 2004.

Fact or Rumor?

At the dining room at the back of the Gibson Girl ice cream parlor there was a five-foot long, 4-foot tall green glass elephant named Penny, which was imported from Disneyland, Paris, and was filled to the top with pennies (it’s hollow) thus the name penny. But it was moved to Disneyland, Anaheim, and emptied of pennies.

The ‘green’ elephant in the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor is notnamed Penny, but she was a fixture in the Penny Arcade in the early 90’s.

She came from Disneyland Paris, and she took many failed molding/kiln attempts until she came out whole and with no flaws. She was placed in their Penny Arcade but her name is Lucy because she appears to be made from “Lucite”.

During the recent renovation the beloved Lucy the elephant was removed, but she will live on in our memories!