Hot Shoppe at Marriott's Great America

All about everything else at Marriott's GREAT AMERICA
dth1971
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Hot Shoppe at Marriott's Great America

Post by dth1971 »

Who remembers having a drink of root beer at the reproduction of the Hot Shoppe at the Gurnee/Santa Clara Marriott's Great America theme parks?
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JW65
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Post by JW65 »

I don't remember drinking the root beer in the shoppe, but I do recall the conductor of the railway announcing it as we passed by it on the train.
Last edited by JW65 on Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ewilson
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Post by ewilson »

Anytime I was walking by and had a nickel in my pocket.....and was not on the clock. The 5 cent rootbeers I got were served in something the size of a shot glass
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xxlatinogueroxx
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Post by xxlatinogueroxx »

What exactly was the Hot Shoppe? Was it located in Hometown Square next to the Hometown Grill?
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redfishpaw
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Post by redfishpaw »

I remember the root beer shop next to the grill. I think they still serve Barqs Root Beer there. I do not remember the name Hot Shoppe. I have an few early park maps in storage . I'll get them out and see what I can find out on Hot Shoppe
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BrianPlencner
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Post by BrianPlencner »

redfishpaw wrote:I remember the root beer shop next to the grill. I think they still serve Barqs Root Beer there.
They no longer serve root beer at that location anymore. I believe it has been a few years (maybe 4 or 5 now) that they stopped doing that. You are correct that it was Barqs root beer that was sold in later years.

The storefront is the same, saying about 5 cent root beers. But, the door is always closed, and I think the counter and stools inside have been removed.
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Mr. Brian Plencner
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redfishpaw
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Post by redfishpaw »

I just posted 4 hometown photos (gurnee) taken in 2004.
http://www.pbase.com/redfishpaw/sfga2004
(see bottom of page)
It looks like the former Hometown Grill is now a funnel cake shop. The root beer store might be part of the sweet shop, hard to tell from the photos. I thought that I walked in the (former) root beer store last year and purchased a bottle of water, but I could be wrong. I seem to remember seeing the root beer sign Brian mentioned.
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twixmix0303
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Post by twixmix0303 »

I'm not old enough to remember the 5-cent rootbeers, but I think I know which storefront you're talking about. To the left of the Trudy's bay window and to the right of the large grid window near the "EAT" sign is a single door that is always closed. I couldn't find the 5-cent rootbeer sign, though. Is this the storefront you're talking about?

If you stand just to the right of it and look inside the window to Trudy's, you can see that the interior wall doesn't extend into the area behind the door. My guess is that it is used for storage, or the Hometown Funnel Cake kitchen was extended further back to take its spot.
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redfishpaw
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Post by redfishpaw »

twixmix0303 wrote:. To the left of the Trudy's bay window and to the right of the large grid window near the "EAT" sign is a single door that is always closed. I couldn't find the 5-cent rootbeer sign, though. Is this the storefront you're talking about?

If you stand just to the right of it and look inside the window to Trudy's, you can see that the interior wall doesn't extend into the area behind the door. My guess is that it is used for storage, or the Hometown Funnel Cake kitchen was extended further back to take its spot.
Yes, this is the store. It must be gone like Brian said it is. They probably needed space for the funel cake restaurant. I must have seen the root beer sign somewhere else in the park. I also am still wondering what the Hot Shoppe is, I have not seen a reference for it. I did not have a chance to look at my old park maps last night, so I will do so tonight.
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redfishpaw
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Post by redfishpaw »

redfishpaw wrote:
twixmix0303 wrote:. To the left of the Trudy's bay window and to the right of the large grid window near the "EAT" sign is a single door that is always closed. I couldn't find the 5-cent rootbeer sign, though. Is this the storefront you're talking about?

If you stand just to the right of it and look inside the window to Trudy's, you can see that the interior wall doesn't extend into the area behind the door. My guess is that it is used for storage, or the Hometown Funnel Cake kitchen was extended further back to take its spot.
Yes, this is the store. It must be gone like Brian said it is. They probably needed space for the funel cake restaurant. I must have seen the root beer sign somewhere else in the park. I also am still wondering what the Hot Shoppe is, I have not seen a reference for it. I do not remember the root beer store being call the Hot Shoppe. I did not have a chance to look at my old park maps last night, so I will do so tonight
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Tanya
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Post by Tanya »

In all this talk about the Hot Shoppe, I decided to go back and refresh my memory on the Marriott beginnings. Found this timeline and thought it interesting that there is no mention of the parks.

http://www.hostmarriott.com/ourcompany/timeline.asp

And isn't this what the ones in the park looked like:

http://www.hostmarriott.com/ourcompany/ ... e_orig.asp

I had no idea this is where the name came from:

When J. Willard ("Bill") Marriott Sr. first introduced Mexican food at his nine-seat A&W root beer stand in 1927--which he renamed "Hot Shoppe" to reflect the new spicy fare--he and his wife Alice ("Allie") were merely trying to survive their first winter in the nation's capital.

I spend way too much time on the internet
:wink:
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redfishpaw
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Post by redfishpaw »

Nice research Tanya, Thanks.
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coasterfan71555
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Post by coasterfan71555 »

For a few seasons, during the 90's, the former Hot Shoppe in Gurnee was changed to a coffee bar called "Kate's Coffee Shoppe". I believe that changed when the shop, "Collectibles on the Square" changed over to be "Trudy's Sweet Shop". I think this shop space might now be storage for the candy shop. But in any case, I remember the 5 cent root beer, and the old-fashioned atmosphere. What I remember, and miss even more, is the Hometown Grill from the Marriott years. I clearly remember that back in the 70s, you could order Cherry Coke, and they would put sweet cherry syrup in your Coke, or any other soft drink. It was so much better than today's mass-produced flavored colas. Yet another fond memory of the glory that was Marriott's Great America! :D
What a day, what a place! What a smile on my face! My first visit was June 21, 1976, when I was less than a month from turning 21!
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redfishpaw
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Post by redfishpaw »

Here is an old photo showing the exterior of the Hot Shoppe.
Image
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Demondude102110
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Post by Demondude102110 »

Nice research Tanya and Redfishpaw!
Demon rules!
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