Experience the Magic of the Re-Designed Disney Store

Earlier today I was at my local mall, the Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York. I wasn’t there to shop or to go “mall walking” (which isn’t a half bad idea). I was at the mall today to experience the newly designed Disney Store.

A couple of weeks ago my children and I were at the mall. When we walked passed the Disney Store we noticed that it was boarded up. I was saddened to think that the store had closed down. I don’t go to the mall much so I honestly didn’t know why it was boarded up like it was. Unbeknown to me at that time the Disney Store was going through a complete transformation. I can compare it to how a butterfly emerges from it’s cocoon.

The Disney Store at the Palisades Mall is the second Disney Store in New York State to under go this magical transformation. The first store is located at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island, New York. The Roosevelt Field store is the second Disney Store to be re-designed and it was the first in North America. Their transformed store opened it’s doors in July 2010.

I was fortunate to be given a tour of the store before it was opened to the public. I was also given the opportunity to talk to Elaine St. George, Disney Store Regional Manager, Erin Fleischmann, Disney Store District Manager and Dan Ojeda, Roosevelt Field Manager.

Before I entered the store I noticed that the outside of the store looked a lot different. The outside of the store was decorated with detailed silhouettes of famous Disney characters.

When I entered the store the very first thing I noticed was a long path that sparkled in the ambient lighting. The path is known as the Pixie Dust Trail. I tried to get a picture of it but it didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped. You can click on the photo (or any of the photos in this post) to see a larger image.

The Pixie Dust Trail starts at the front of the store and goes back towards the theater.

The first stop on our magical tour was at the Princess Castle. The Castle features a tunnel children can walk through and three very large, ornate mirrors. Surrounding the Princess Castle you’ll fin Disney Princess costumes and accessories. Above the castle is a beautiful chandelier.

These are no ordinary mirrors. These are magical mirrors. When you hold up one of the Princess products in front of the mirrors it some how senses which Princess it is and in the center mirror it will play one of three available clips for that specific Princess. For example, if you wave a Cinderella tiara in front of the mirrors you’ll see one of three Cinderella clips magically appear in the center mirror. The clip features the Princess talking, music, and sounds.

I have a strong feeling that this is going to be a massive hit with all the little girls. I enjoyed watching the clips appear on the screen – and I’m an adult!

This area is considered a “neighborhood”. There are several neighborhoods throughout the store.

The next neighborhood on our tour is sure to delight little boys (and big boys) as well as some girls. In this area you can create your very own car or truck based upon the characters in the Cars movies. These are special Car Ridemakerz cars and trucks. If you are not familiar with Ridemakerz they are just like Build-a-Bear, except you build your own vehicle. You basically build your own ride.

The vehicles are customized based upon what the child (or adult) wants and can be assembled right there in the store at the workstation, or the pieces can be taken home and assembled there.

We have a couple of Ridemakerz cars including two remote control Mustangs (one is my son’s, the other is my husband’s) and we love them. They are really cool cars. Best of all these cars and trucks and all their accessories and parts are based upon the very popular Disney/Pixar film Cars.

FYI… Cars 2 races into theaters on June 24, 2011. You can learn more about the movie and see the trailer at www.Disney.com/Cars.

The next stop on our tour was the toddler neighborhood. Here we found a tall, whimsical structure over flowing with adorable plush Disney characters. The structure features a tunnel that children can crawl through (and some parents too – just don’t get stuck! Ha Ha). On the outside of the structure you’ll find gears and buttons. When you spin the gears the propeller on top spins around and around. The propeller has buckets hanging off of it with stuffed Disney characters inside. It’s as if they are going on a ride on a Merry-Go-Round.

When you press the buttons found on the gears you’ll hear random silly sounds. When I first went on the tour I heard the sounds fine. When the store was filled wtih guests it was a bit harder to hear them. Maybe they need to install a volume control?

Our last stop on the tour was the Disney Theater. I have a strong feeling this is going to be a HUGE hit with families. I’m only sorry that I didn’t get more pictures of it.

The theater area features a large screen, benches, a table and chairs. To the side of the screen are two huge iPad looking things. On the bottom “iPad” you’ll find a list of various Disney movies and TV shows. Children can scroll through the list and pick out clips from their favorite movies and shows to display on the large theater screen. The top “iPad” shows you the line up of clips as well as how much time until the clip/clips your child chose will appear. For example, if your child picked a Winnie the Pooh clip, but there were a few other clips in queue, the pad will display the exact time until the Winnie the Pooh clip airs. That gives you time to do a little shopping. browsing or just sit back and enjoy the other clips until your clip appears. By the way a brand new Winnie the Pooh movie comes to theaters on July 15, 2011 (www.Disney.com/Pooh).

The theater area will contain coloring pages and crayons and host events like story time and even birthday parties. The birthday parties could include the Cars Ridemakerz experience too.

To be honest with you I could sit in the theater all day and enjoy the clips. I think that might be my “go-to” spot at the mall when I feel like I need to rest up a bit.

Throughout the store you’ll see this large, translucent trees. The trees actually change their appearances randomly. One minute they look like trees and the next minute one of the trees might sprout flowers and another tree might show characters from various films on them. I tried to capture a few. In the first photo you’ll  notice the tree in the background has blooms on it. And in the second picture you’ll see various characters from Bambi and Cinderella.

The trees are controlled by the main office. They change the appear of the trees based on a number of factors such as the season (colorful leaves in the fall, snowflakes in the winter), holidays, movies or just random designs. I found them mesmerizing to watch. I also learned that throughout the store and on the trees you can find hidden Mickeys. I found one on one of the tree displays.

The trees line Pixie Dust Trail.

All around the inside of the store, up on the credenza, you’ll find silhouettes of various characters and scenes. I learned that many of the scenes displayed are based upon local history, buildings and architecture. On the wall in this store you can see the Palisades Sill along the Hudson River as well as Ichabod Crane and the Clarksville Inn. Sleepy Hollow is located across the river from where the Palisades Mall is.

I love that they took the time to reference our community. From what I was told they do that for all the stores.

I also noticed among the silhouettes there would be a random sighting of a balloon, Dumbo, birds and Tinker Bell. They were animations that would literally fly around in the sky randomly throughout the store. At one point there were actual animated fireworks in the skyline. It was amazing to see!

I was able to ask some questions about the re-design. I especially wanted to know WHY the Disney Store felt like it needed to change it’s look. Elaine St. George, the Disney Store Regional Manager, explained that when the Disney Stores first opened they were unique with their jovial cast members (employees) greeters and big screen. Soon everyone was mimicking the Disney Store, so they felt that they need to reinvent themselves again so that they could be unique again. They wanted to create a brand new experience. The idea behind all the interactive neighborhoods was to create the Disney Park experience, but in the Disney Store. Some families will never be able to experience Disney World or Disney Land. Visiting the new Disney Store can provide families with a park like experience, but in their own backyard, so to speak. The focus is more so on the experiences, not so much on the products (although ideally people will make purchases too).

Eventually all Disney Stores will make the transformation. There are currently 229 stores in North America and a totl of 400+ if you factor in Europe and Asia. I believe she said eleven more stores in the US and two more stores in Canada will soon be making their big transformation.

I asked Dan Ojeda, the manager of the Roosevelt Field Disney Store, what was the most popular attraction in his store. He said that children AND adults love to visit the theater and play the music videos for the Hot Dog Dance and I believe he said Dance in my Pants too. He said both children and adults will actually start dancing right in the theater. Now that is something I would love to see. LOL!

Mr. Ojeda also said that story time is a big hit in his store too. With the new stores there are signs in front that will showcase up coming events, including story time. When the new Disney Store comes to your area be sure to check out that screen for upcoming events.

Another really fun thing about the new store is that the cast members go around and interact with the children, asking them questions and showing them around. If they find out that a child has a birthday coming up, or got a good grade on a test, they can have a special “Congratulations” or “Happy Birthday” message appear on the big screen in the theater – personalized with the child’s name! Not only that, fireworks will start to appear on the walls and in the trees. The whole store will know about the celebration. It’s really fun to watch. Children who have something to celebrate will be given a certificate AND a special button. I love that idea!

One other really fun thing about the new Disney Store. Each and every morning the first child that shows up at the store will have a chance to open the store using a gigantic key. As soon as the child inserts the key into the lock the lights will go on in the store and the fan fare will begin. The child will also be given a special key as a memento.

I tried to get a picture of the key. One side features a big “D” and the other end (the jagged part) resembles Cinderella’s Castle.

On a site note, the Disney Store was donation 10% of today’s sales to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Also, the “official” opening for the Palisades Mall in West Nyack’s Disney store is June 11, 2011. Both Mickey and Minnie will be available to meet and take pictures with. If you happen to be in the area you’ll want to mark that on your calendar. Mickey and Minnie will be on the first floor in front of H&M.

I did stick around until after the doors opened to the public at 10:00 AM, just so I could see the children and parent’s reactions to the interactive features throughout the store. I think my face still hurts from all the smiling I did. Seeing the children react to the Princess mirrors and having fun in the theater area was priceless. Even the parents were going “ooh” and “ahhh” over everything they saw.

The newly designed Disney Store  is a magical experience for young and old alike.

To learn more about the Disney Store, or to find a location near you, please visit www.DisneyStore.com. You can also follow them on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/DisneyStore) and on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/DisneyStore).

Kimberly

*I was not compensated for this post. I attended the grand opening as a member of the online press. All opinions expressed are my own.