Thursday, June 16, 2011

The New Disney Store

I decided to be brave and venture out with my two monkeys to the new Disney store in North Star Mall. I'm glad I went because the kids enjoyed being there and we discovered a lot of neat features they've implemented.  I have to say the employees and PR people we met were very friendly and enthusiastic and ensured we had a great visit. Shopping at Disney is now even more of a magical experience.

At first glance, it doesn't seem terribly different, but you quickly discover a couple of gems in the store.  Looking down at the floor, you'll see a sparkly blue winding path that you can follow through the store. It leads to my favorite new feature that I"ll share in a minute. First we came upon the Disney princess castle. Needless to say my monkey princess wanted to call that home for the duration of our stay. You can go through a small opening to the enchanted mirror. Grab one of the princess wands (only 3 princesses were featured at the time) and wave it in front of the mirror to see a video clip of that princess appear in the mirror.

Next we saw the Cars Ridemakerz station, which seems like it'd be fun and a favorite of older kids. It has power screwdrivers hanging from above 4 workstations where you can completely design and build your own car. Since my monkeys are still little, we took a short peek at it and then continued along the path. Bro Bro monkey loved the plush animal display that was built to resemble Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. There was a tunnel they could crawl through and gears on the lower shelf that you could turn and make the buckets above you spin. Bro Bro monkey also created his own game of 'in one foul swipe, knock down more stuffed animals than mommy can pick up at one time'.

Finally, we arrived at the gazebo area (my favorite) with a small table and a large screen for movie clips. There's a large touchpad device where your kids can choose what movie they'd like to see different clips from. It's very easy for little ones to use and as a bonus, the display above it shows how long until your chosen clip will play so you can continue shopping and get back in time to watch your video. At the table were 4 child size chairs with coloring pages and crayons. The gazebo is lit up beautifully and is an enjoyable place to stop for a bit.

Throughout the store are also translucent trees that appear very ethereal. They also randomly display different noticeable Disney icons and fireworks for special occasions. Above the shelves along the walls is a skyline that incorporates local landmarks. We saw the Alamo, Riverwalk, and Tower of Americas. If you're in San Antonio or another store that's newly opened or been remodeled I encourage you to take a step in and check it out. The North Star Mall location will have a grand opening celebration on June 18th from noon to 4 pm. Mickey and Minnie will also make an appearance at the mall center court on that date.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

San Antonio Disney Store Opening


If you live here in the San Antonio area, there's some great news. A new Disney store is opening at North Star Mall this week. Wednesday, June 8th, at 10:00 am, San Antonio's newest Disney store will be open to the public. In 2010, Disney Store 'unveiled an innovative, highly interactive new store design' that claims to offer 'the best 30 minutes of a child's day'. Some of the features that appeal to my monkeys are the Disney Princess Neighborhood & Disney Princess Castle with Magic Mirror, the Pixie Dust Trail, and the CARS Ridemakerz Neighborhood.

If you can make it, I highly encourage you to go. The first 250 guests will receive FREE Mickey Mouse ears and one lucky child will “Unlock the Imagination.” Also, ten percent of the first days sales will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.