BrerGnat
10-06-2010, 02:58 PM
I just got back from the mall and the new Disney store was open! It was really nice! I really liked how it actually had BOYS STUFF!!!! Finally!!!
There was an entire area dedicated to Cars. They even had a Ridemakerz build area featuring Disney Pixar Cars! The CM told me that these would be found at the Ridemakerz stores in Downtown Disney Anaheim and Orlando in a "few weeks". They were awesome. My kids are really into these cars since my DH built one last Christmas. My younger son wanted to get one for Christmas this year, and he was all set to build a monster truck, until he saw Lightning McQueen was now available! I thought it was neat to have this in the mall store.
Also for boys was a big Pirates area with costumes and toys, and a Toy Story section with clothing, toys, and books.
Surprisingly (or maybe not), there was a general absence of the "Fab Five". Mickey and Pluto were well represented, but I didn't see much Minnie, Goofy, or Donald stuff at all! Kinda sad about that...
Also, they had a huge area with a big screen projector that was showing "coming soon" trailers for movies, CarsToons shorts, and more. There was a touch screen lcd panel to the side of the screen where you could choose what to view next. There was also a coloring table with crayons and coloring sheets.
For the girls, there was a Castle and inside were a bunch of mirrors and bins with princess costumes that kids could try on. Pretty cool, I thought, for girls.
They are STILL lacking big time in adult merchandise, though. There was only one table with t-shirts, and nothing really good. Lots of NIghtmare Before Christmas stuff too. There seems to be an abundance of mugs, cups, and stainless steel water bottles too. The entire back of the store was the standard plush and "made in china" Playhouse Disney toys.
Fans of Phineas and Ferb would be happy to see a big display carrying everything from clothing to school supplies and toys.
Overall, I felt the redesign is well done. I know each store is supposed to be unique, but this store (in Mission Viejo, CA) is rather small and lacked in the "interactive" department. I guess I was expecting more after reading about these redesigns a few months ago. I would suppose that larger, more flagship type stores would be really cool though.
There was an entire area dedicated to Cars. They even had a Ridemakerz build area featuring Disney Pixar Cars! The CM told me that these would be found at the Ridemakerz stores in Downtown Disney Anaheim and Orlando in a "few weeks". They were awesome. My kids are really into these cars since my DH built one last Christmas. My younger son wanted to get one for Christmas this year, and he was all set to build a monster truck, until he saw Lightning McQueen was now available! I thought it was neat to have this in the mall store.
Also for boys was a big Pirates area with costumes and toys, and a Toy Story section with clothing, toys, and books.
Surprisingly (or maybe not), there was a general absence of the "Fab Five". Mickey and Pluto were well represented, but I didn't see much Minnie, Goofy, or Donald stuff at all! Kinda sad about that...
Also, they had a huge area with a big screen projector that was showing "coming soon" trailers for movies, CarsToons shorts, and more. There was a touch screen lcd panel to the side of the screen where you could choose what to view next. There was also a coloring table with crayons and coloring sheets.
For the girls, there was a Castle and inside were a bunch of mirrors and bins with princess costumes that kids could try on. Pretty cool, I thought, for girls.
They are STILL lacking big time in adult merchandise, though. There was only one table with t-shirts, and nothing really good. Lots of NIghtmare Before Christmas stuff too. There seems to be an abundance of mugs, cups, and stainless steel water bottles too. The entire back of the store was the standard plush and "made in china" Playhouse Disney toys.
Fans of Phineas and Ferb would be happy to see a big display carrying everything from clothing to school supplies and toys.
Overall, I felt the redesign is well done. I know each store is supposed to be unique, but this store (in Mission Viejo, CA) is rather small and lacked in the "interactive" department. I guess I was expecting more after reading about these redesigns a few months ago. I would suppose that larger, more flagship type stores would be really cool though.