Westward Ho
1971-1973
 

   In the grand tradition of me blowing my own horn, I am very pleased to finally quash what has been a longstanding personal uncertainty regarding the Magic Kingdom's first verifiable* extinction.  

    That comes in the form of a small and short-lived merchandise operation called Westward Ho, which was tucked into the narrow indoor space between the Country Bear Jamboree's entrance and the show's exit hall. This space is now home of Prairie Outpost & Supply.

   There is most likely only one good reason why the store is no longer named Westward Ho. If you are masochistic enough to indulge me in some storytelling, I will attempt to elucidate.

Westward Ho

Extinct
Magic Kingdom Shop

Located in:
Frontierland

Opened: December 1971
Closed: 1973

Space later became:
Country Bear Jamboree Queue Annex,
Bearly Country,
Prairie Outpost & Supply

Remnants:
Space still exists
as different shop 

All photos copyright
The Walt Disney Company.
 Text copyright 2001
Mike Lee

   Above is a picture of Panchito from the Three Caballeros. This picture almost tells the whole saga in less than a thousand words.

   Notice in the background that there is only a barren hill and a water tower. When Frontierland opened with the rest of the park in October 1971, there was no magnet attraction at the end of the street. Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had not even been conceived yet, Tom Sawyer Island was desolate and off-limits to guests and the original Frontierland Railroad Station was only in the planning stages.

   Aside from the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes (based in the future location of the Tom Sawyer Island Raft Landing), all of Frontierland came to an unglamorous dead end where the Pecos Bill Cafe (now Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn & Cafe) resided.  The area surrounding that building was configured ambiguously as many facilities, including the Cafe itself, were still in development at the time.  Among those was a small shop, our friend Westward Ho, which would open its doors that December.

   With little to do at the end of the street, Frontierland's main draw was the brand new Country Bear Jamboree. In fact, right in front of this attraction was the westernmost passage from Frontierland to Adventureland, as Caribbean Plaza and its outer loop pathway northward into Frontierland were two years away.

   So the Country Bear Jamboree, a tremendously popular show at that time and for some ten years to come, was enjoying high visitation and a queue that snaked its way out of Grizzly Hall's lobby and along the front porches and street space of the neighboring establishments - namely Westward Ho. This is why Panchito has something to rest his roguish rooster arm upon in the photo - there were queue stanchions spread all over the street to hold all the people fixated on seeing those musical bears! If you could look to the left, behind Panchito, you would see the narrow porch space between the queue and Westward Ho - shown in this early black and white photo. You would also see how difficult it would be for this small shop to succeed with such a monstrous glut of queue-bound guests meandering all over its front yard.  

   To counter this problem, park management acted pragmatically and made an emboldened move that would be unthinkable today: they closed the shop. Yes, Disney closed a shop in order to make additional queue space available - indoors and air-conditioned - for the comfort of the huddled masses lined up for the Country Bear Jamboree. By the end of 1973 those guests were filtered into the ex-Westward Ho space for a brief respite from the punishing Florida heat before heading out again on their way to the main attraction entrance. Incidentally, most guests failed to see this as an act of kindness on the part of the company. Rather the common complaint was that Disney had thrown them a mental curve ball in leading them indoors and back out again before reaching the real entrance. They found it to be something of a "trick."

   Only with the passage of time and the addition of new attractions in western Frontierland (such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 1980) did the Country Bear Jamboree queue become manageable enough for the company to "reconsider" the space distribution arrangement. Perhaps other factors had a bearing also, such as directives from new management (Michael Eisner & Frank Wells arrived in September 1984) to increase the profitability of Disney's park operations.

   At any rate, in 1985 the space formerly known as the Westward Ho shop and the trickiest queue space ever was reinvented as Bearly Country..."Where Grandma would love to browse." This down-home store specialized in teddy bears and some backwoods clothing.

   Apparently Grandma browsed too long and spent too little. In 1991 the store's name was changed to Prairie Outpost & Supply - shown above.  The selection of goods became even more apparel-oriented at that time, and after a brief stint as Pocahontas merchandise headquarters in 1995, evolved into the candy shop it is today.

   Hey, back to Panchito again: to his right you see the original Frontierland popcorn wagon shelter. By early 1986 this shelter had been reworked as a more comprehensive food operations cabin, with a shelter tacked onto its western side that remained the home of the popcorn wagon. One guess as to what this little food cabin was named...

   Westward Ho! So when Bearly Country was ready to switch over to different merchandise in 1991 and had to ditch the ursine identity, the store's original name had already been usurped. Hence the decision to go with the Prairie moniker and thereby did hung a tale that you undoubtedly are glad you stuck around for what to hear.
  

   * The Magic Kingdom's first likely extinction is Adventureland's Safari Club arcade. I am still looking for the final proof on that one.