July 1960 – January 1989
LOCATION
Main Street USA – The Sunkist Citrus House stood on the west side of Main Street USA, about halfway down the street. Today, its location is home to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor, next to the Penny Arcade.
EXPERIENCE
Details:
- Service Type – quick service
- Seating – indoor dining room
- Entertainment – none
The Sunkist Citrus House was Main Street USA’s go-to juice spot, serving fresh orange juice, lemonade, coffee, and a selection of pastries. Hungry visitors could cut through the Penny Arcade directly into the Citrus House, or enter from the shop’s curbside entrance. After purchasing a snack from the Citrus House, guests could either grab a table in the dining room or continue exploring Main Street USA.
CLOSURE
In the 60s and 70s, Adventureland had its own quick service restaurant sponsored by Sunkist. The Adventureland spot was more popular among park guests, so the Sunkist Citrus House closed in 1989 to make room for the Blue Ribbon Bakery.
TRIVIA
The fresh orange juice at the Citrus House came from local Yorba Linda oranges, and the pastries came from a bakery in Garden Grove.
Note: this post incorrectly stated that Disneyland Paris also had a Sunkist Citrus House. That fact has been removed – thanks to the kind DLP visitors who were able to provide better info than I had!
I worked there in 1988-1989. I loved the orange and lemon sorbet. So good. There was lines out the door for those treats.
The pastries came from Marquita’s bakery in Garden Grove. I worked there from 1976-1981. I am so thankful that was my first job. Bo was a tough cookie with a big giant heart. I was fortunate enough to be the lead girl and ran errands for him Ie; go to the smoke shop for his cigarette’s (Taryton 100’s) did the bank deposits at B of A in the park and ran numerous errands back and forth to the other Sunkist in the park that we called IP (Sunkist “I presume”) I loved all of it.
Disneyland Paris, opening crew (1992 to 2004). This was never a part of the Paris set up. Trust me I helped rewrite the guided tour 😉
Thank you for confirming!!! Looks like I had some bad information 🙂
Hi…I am not aware that there ever was a SCH in Disneyland Paris and I’m very familiar with Main Street there and used to work at the SCH at DL. Do you have a picture? Was it outside the park?
Hi there! That’s a fair question – my Disneyland encyclopedia lists this as a restaurant in DL Paris. But that’s great to know it doesn’t ring any bells. I can’t find evidence of it on any Disneyland Paris maps either – I’ll add a note to the post.
What ever happened to Bo Foster the owner of Sunkist and his kids that worked there.
I’m not sure – I haven’t been able to find much information on Bo after the Citrus House apart from his obituary – he passed in 2008.
I worked for Bo at the Citrus House from 1966-69. I asked his son why he was called Bo. He said that his real name was Birchard Charles Foster (not sure of the spelling) and he didn’t like the name, so he went by Bo. It was so much fun working out there in the 60’s. I miss it a lot. And I miss Bo, too.
My dad was good friends with Bo Foster., My dad also died in 2008. I remember when I was about 9-14 years old, I’d go to Disneyland a few times per year. My dad would turn me loose in Disneyland with a friend. My dad would tell me to stop by the Citrus House and see Bo. Bo would offer us free tickets and other goodies. I felt like a big shot with my friends because I had an inside connection at Disneyland. Good memories.
I remember the mid 1960s visiting Disneyland and always wanting to go to the Sunkist Citrus House. They had the very best fresh-squeezed orange juice I ever tasted. Decades later nothing has compared. I wish I had known that there is still Sunkist at Disneyland Paris. I certainly would have stopped in for some juice when I visited there.
I have no idea if the Paris one serves fresh-squeezed, but I hope it does!
This is some next level obscure Disney trivia and I am HERE FOR IT! Dope.