Armchair Imagineering: Merlin's Magic Potions

A quick one this time, to demonstrate that not all Armchair Imagineering needs to be grandiose or E-ticket-worthy, or focused on currently popular characters/films.

This is an idea to spruce up the beverage cart that can usually be found in Disneyland’s Fantasyland, just north of King Arthur Carrousel. Odds are, it would work just as well in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, although I can’t make any detailed suggestions for its inclusion there as I am not familiar with it specifically.

Merlin’s Magic Potions would be a little larger than a standard beverage cart in order to accommodate the ingredients for its special offerings and decorative theming. It would be made to resemble a medieval market stall, made of faux wood with a striped awning and matching fronting, signage in a simplified version of the “gothic” lettering on the Carrousel sign, and a row of miniature heraldic shields around the edge of the awning.

Where it would stand out, however, is in its menu. In addition to the sodas, juices, and vitamin waters offered at all such carts, there would be the titular “potions,” made to order before the guest’s eyes. The guest chooses a flavor and a color separately, and the magic begins! First the Cast Member mixes soda water with a colorless flavored syrup and pours it over ice in a clear cup. Then, with a recitation of the magic words “Higitus Figitus,” he/she adds a “magic pill” that fizzes and dissolves in the soda water, turning it a delicate shade of pink, yellow, light green, or sky blue. But that’s just the beginning--each pill actually contains two shades of food coloring crystals in a double-layered sugar capsule. Even the Cast Member doesn’t know which bold shade--red, blue, orange, green, or purple--is hiding beneath the pastel layer. The element of surprise makes each serving a unique experience.

The same basic concept could also be used in Tomorrowland with a “chemistry” or “alien drinks” theme, or in Frontierland as the wagon of a traveling doctor selling “tonics.”