Disney Store NYC: My Times Square trip
Posted by ThemeParkMom on January 10, 2011 | 6 Comments
Last month, I spent a family weekend in New York City, and a trip to the new Manhattan Disney Store quickly became part of the agenda. We arrived in Times Square at about 6 p.m. on a Saturday to check out the new store, which opened in November.
There was a roped off line of people outside waiting to get in. We waited about 15 minutes, behind about 15-20 people, before we were allowed to enter.
My reaction once we stepped inside this magical store: “Is this it?”
The new Disney Store is split into two floors and is 20,000 square feet. It’s billed as the “World’s Largest.” That sounds just huge, but by Times Square standards, it’s not that big. By comparison, M&M’s World is 24,000 square feet. Heck the M&M’s World at the Florida Mall in Orlando is 17,500.
And if you’ve shopped at the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney, know that it is almost three times as large as this New York City store at 54,000 square feet. There’s no comparison there.
The first floor has several displays of New York souvenir merchandise with a Disney spin.
Saw that one coming, didn't you?
The first floor also has Fab 5 merchandise, lots and lots of plush, Tees, Vinylmation, pins and other Disney collectibles. Then there’s an escalator ride up to the second floor. What greeted us at the top was a wall of Tangled merchandise. I would imagine that area is set aside to change with the seasons or when there is a new line to promote.
Most of the second floor is a war of the sexes.
There’s princess land, complete with a castle…
And the testosterone zone with Buzz Lightyear taking flight:
Let’s check out what’s inside that castle. Displays are set up for each princess. Here’s Cinderella – she rotates on that platform, with princess dolls, costumes and other accessories nearby.
I like the way the mannequins are real kids playing dress-up, rather than models of characters.
And this is the much talked about magic mirror in the castle. When girls wave a magic wand in front of it, a princess appears and gives a brief retelling of her story. You can see Belle and the Beast in the mirror in this pic:
Crossing over toward the boy’s area, there’s this room with a big screen TV playing Disney previews and animated shorts, along with a coloring table for kids. There are benches for adults ringing this area.
A touchscreen allows kids to control the order that the previews and cartoons play in. It’s like a video jukebox, I suppose.
In between the castle and the area with merchandise geared toward boys is unisex land, with some Mickey and Minnie clothes, as well as Phineas and Ferb merchandise.
Oh there you are, Perry
The big draw in the “boy’s” section of this Disney Store is Ridemakerz, where you can make your own “Cars” toy car and customize it.
As you might image, there’s a large amount of “Cars” and “Toy Story” merchandise in the boy’s area.
And then you head down the elevator and out the door.
So, overall what do I think? Personally, I will skip this Disney Store the next time I am in New York City. It is crowded and it always will be, because, well, it’s in Times Square, folks. And I don’t think there’s enough floor space to support all of those crowds. The Virgin Mega-Store that used to occupy this space had at least one more floor, and I think, another mezzanine.
The New York City Disney Store is beautifully designed, and made use of the extra vertical space with some really unique murals of Disney characters in New York City settings.
But, it was downright hard to move around in the store and see the merchandise. In fact, I walked in with a Disney gift card, and my daughter and I didn’t find anything we really wanted to spend it on.
Many of the interactive elements, like the magical mirror and cool trees that display changing patterns that “dance” to music, are also available at the re-designed Disney Stores in many other communities. I would prefer to enjoy them there where I could actually see them without wall-to-wall people.
Now don’t get me wrong, I think the Disney Store in NYC is great. There’s plenty of Pixie Dust here; it’s just hard to see it through the crowd.
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Oh wow Leigh! Thank you for the inside tour. I was wondering what all the buzz was about. Great review!
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It does look “cool”, but like you said it has the same “feel” as the DTD one. Still New York is New York! One day I will get there.
Kas
I am sure your time square trip was absolutely fun and remarkable… I was looking forward to the opening of the store since November and now I feel like backing out visiting the store. I am sure my budget will be ruined ones I entered the store. All the items are so tempting. OMG.
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We just got back from Disney… For the 3rd time AND STILL haven’t gone to downtown Disney and apparently we are missing the most amazing Disney store ever! We will probably make it to NYC before we get back to Disney so the Times Square store will need to happen! The next time you guys make a trip to NYC you need to check out Family In New York. They are a family owned company that specializes in custom private tours… And by “family owned, I mean my dad owns it
They also offer New York layover tours, accessible tours, and day trips. They can customize a tour unique to your family! I might be a kitted biased… But they are great at what they do!