A Victim of Remodeling: World of Disney's White Rabbit

The White Rabbit is one of my favorite Disney characters, so I was delighted to find him freaking out from inside his residence above the mountain of plush toys in the original version of the "Alice" room of Disneyland Resort's World of Disney Store. Once upon a time, his entire house formed the focal point of that section of the shop.

Unfortunately, W. Rabbit and his house vanished during a major remodeling of the sales floor, and in their place the store got...well....um...nothing memorable.

The Queen of Hearts' exhausted, stressed-out herald can still be found in several spots in Disneyland, but the World of Disney Store is now, regrettably, de-bunnyfied.

DCA's Extinct Dino

The doomed Apatosaurus of Dinosaur Jack's Sunglass Shack peers down at us in a shot from 2008. The ominous sky and the background construction crane are a coincidence; Dinosaur Jack would survive one more year of operation before getting demolished.

A sunglass shop shaped like a prehistoric beast, Dinosaur Jack's was designed as a tribute to some of the wacky roadside architecture of California's past. Long before the much better Route 66 appeared in Cars Land, Paradise Pier had it's own micro Route 66 area -- a version few noticed or admired.

Dino Jack's area companions -- Corn Dog Castle and the Mulholland Madness wild mouse coaster -- were spared the wrecking ball. People still line up for the incredibly delicious corn dogs and the coaster's Goofy re-theme...but no one seems to miss old Dinosaur Jack's goofball sunglass hut.

I'm wondering if that giant pair of shades still exists somewhere...