Candy and sweets are often a fun part of a day at a theme park. Since the first amusement parks were created candy makers have been a staple of the park going experience.  Part of that fun has often included watching the candy being handmade throughout the day.
	For the 1980 season Great Adventure added the Kandy Kitchen, a new candy shop in a high traffic area of the park.  With the still new Rolling Thunder roller coaster, the park's Kiddie Kingdom kids area, and the still popular Western section with its Runaway Mine Train and Log Flume all close by, Kandy Kitchen was a highly visited merchandise outlet. Big windows facing the heavy traffic allowed passersby to see (and smell) the fresh candy being made throughout the day. The real specialty of the shop was peanut brittle which was made in giant copper kettles and spread onto a marble slab while guests watched. The peanut brittle was offered as samples to guests, and bags of varying sizes were hand-packed offering the sticky candy in an array of prices for all guests' budgets.
	Along with the signature peanut brittle was a wide selction of fresh fudge, candy and caramel apples, bulk candies, and pre-packaged candy of every type. The lollypops especially called to the kids passing by (and through) the shop. The shops doors were placed strategically so guests could easily stroll through on their way to or from the neighboring attractions, entering into one side of the building and exiting across the shop on the opposite side.
	The Kandy Kitchen was also a popular spot for cold drinks, with a fountain machine that on hot summer days often had a much shorter line than all the neighboring food stands, making it a favorite spot for pass holders. Each season would see tweaks to the offerings in the Kandy Kitchen, and over time the peanut brittle went away, along with some of the other freshly made candies in favor of more pre-made and pre-packaged candy which saved labor as well as the need for skilled candy makers.
	For twenty-four seasons the Kandy Kitchen remained a favorite stop in the park for sweet treats but big changes came with the 2005 season and the arrival of the new Golden Kingdom.
	When the park announced the new Golden Kingdom area coming for 2005, a large area of the park which had been home to Bugs Bunny Land was repurposed, and with it a chunk of the Frontier Adventures area of the park which included the Kandy Kitchen. The building got an entirely new look as part of its makeover into the jungle themed Golden Kingdom area. New roofing and architectural details gave the building the exotic look of the surrounding area.
	When the park opened for the 2005 season the Golden Kingdom was still a work in progress. Over the ensuing weeks new details came to life including an elaborate tower and courtyard which lead to the tiger viewing area.
	As April turned to May, the new shop named Kingdom Traders was completed, with the building's aged and weathered stylings applied to give it a jungle aesthetic. The design work for the Golden Kingdom was done by PGAV Destination Services, creators of many theme parks and elaborately themed sections of parks. The company were experts at repurposing existing structures to create themed areas that were unrecognizable from their origins. They had done similar work for the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks, and really did an elaborate job of retheming Great Adventure's existing buildings into the Golden Kingdom.
	The expanded footprint of the Kandy Kitchen as well as the complete reimagining of the interior completely transformed the shop. A huge array of custom Golden Kingdom merchandise was offered to celebrate the brand new themed area of the park as well as its signature mega roller coaster, Kingda Ka. The Golden Kingdom was supposed to be the first phase of a complete reimagining and upgrade of the entire park, and was an impressive start to that ambitious program.
	The shop's courtyard which opened onto the tiger viewing area made tiger merchandise a main theme of the shop.
	The park's ambitions really showed with Kingdom Traders which included a year round Christmas display featuring ornaments for sale. This was something usually only seen in the bigger (Disney & Universal) parks.
	Over the years, parts of the Golden Kingdom were closed and removed with changes in park management, and with some themed elements fading, the store was reimagined once again bringing back more of the original candy element as it became Coasters & Candy in 2011. Some interior and exterior theming were not maintained or were changed over time, with elements of the jungle themed store remaining while other things were replaced with much more generic fixtures.
	The selection of merchandise in the store kept changing. With the tigers gone from the park, tiger merchandise gave way to all kinds of ride and more typical park merchandise.
	The 2019 season saw a new name for the shop - Discovery Gifts. The selection of merchandise inside the store pretty much remained the same, with an array of souvenirs and candy offered. The name change occurred due to the major remodeling of the mPorium m&m shop and the new Coaster Candy store near the fountain.  With such a huge selection of candy offerings near the park's entrance and exit, Coasters & Candy seemed to be redundant so the focus of the Kingdom Traders shop became Discovery Gifts.
	For the 2021 season, the shop was renamed yet again to Memberabilia and featured pass holder/member exclusive deals on merchandise.  On the exterior of the building,   the octagonal roof tower which had deteriorated over the years and was often seen being propped up with reinforcing lumber beams was removed.  One of the shop's most intricate architectural embellishments was gone.
	While the Memberabilia name made its way onto the 2022 park map, the shop itself was renamed yet once again for that season as the Walk Way Shop tying itself to the neighboring Wild Walkway animal exhibit path. The selection of merchandise continued to be a grab bag of souvenirs and candy.
Original Spotlight:  June 29, 2022.  GAH Reference#:  SHOP-1980-001