Can you see the Disney Store in this photo? To the far left on the photo, you’ll find the Times Square Disney Store. See the line of people? Yes, that’s stationary people taking up the sidewalk in NYC.
See the food cart on the sidewalk by the Sunglass Hut? That’s where my husband and I stood Saturday, while waiting to get an “Opportunity Ticket” to purchase an Elsa costume from the Disney Store.
Before I continue, I’ll start by saying that I have a VERY understanding husband. Gary and I went to New York City this past Friday and Saturday to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Of course, being the Disney Mom that I am, one of the first things we did Friday was visit the Disney Store in Times Square. We strolled right in and enjoyed the store.
Here’s a Tour!
Greeting guests upon entering the store is the one and only Spiderman. He and his entire Spiderman section of merchandise are celebrating the release of Spiderman 2 in theatres.
Continuing through the store, I found Tinkerbell merchandise inspired by “The Pirate Fairy” film, a huge selection of character plush, and a “Muppets Most Wanted” merchandise wall bay filled with plush, t-shirts and more.
The Times Square Disney Store has two floors. The entire right side of the first floor is dedicated to Princesses. Toys, swim wear and Princess clothing fill the wall bays and floor fixtures.
Let’s head upstairs!
A magical Pixie Dust road leads guests throughout the different departments.
An adorable infants department
The boys departments included Disney brands- Marvel, Star Wars, Planes and Cars.
Not pictured here, the second floor also includes a small adult department and a Princess sleepwear department.
At the end of the Pixie Dust road is a beautiful Princess castle.
Within this pretty castle is Disney Princess dresses, crowns and shoes for just about every Disney princess you can think of! Except one…
It’s pretty obvious that there was a Disney brand that was missing. There wasn’t a single Frozen product available in the store on Friday. If you’ve read some of my previous blog posts, you know that my daughter is a bit obsessed with the movie. I didn’t expect to find anything, but one could hope, right? Well, lucky me, Saturday morning the Disney Store offers an “Opportunity Drawing” to purchase Queen Elsa’s costume dress. AND cast members told me that there would be additional “Frozen” themed product for sale that morning! How could a mom, who’s stayed away from her kids overnight for the first time, miss this opportunity? Fast forward to Saturday…
Well, honestly, after seeing this line at store opening, I thought this Disney Mom was going to miss the opportunity. My husband said, “There is NO WAY I’m standing in that line.” I couldn’t be upset but I was a bit disappointed. Then for some reason, he said, “I’ll wait, but we better make it in the store before that drawing.” Luckily we made it in just in time!
This is how the Disney Store is handling the Frozen “crisis”. At store openings on Saturdays, guests are allowed to enter the store, ten at a time. To enter the “Opportunity Drawing” to purchase an Elsa dress, guests are asked to go to the second floor where they are allowed to wait in another line to fill out one ticket with their name, phone number and dress size that they would like to purchase. At 11:15 am, a cast member announces the ticket numbers that have won the chance to purchase a dress. At that time, you enter another line to purchase the dress. Not all the guests stay for the raffle. A Disney cast member will call your cell phone number after the raffle and you have until 1 am to pick up the dress.
Here’s a photo of the crazy moms and dads waiting to hear their number called. You better believe there was cheering when numbers were called!
While some guests were waiting to hear their number called on the second floor, on the first floor was a line from the back of the store to the front. This line was to purchase whatever Frozen merchandise the store received in their shipment. Guests were allowed to purchase two of each item, but you don’t know what items are left to purchase until you reach the register.
By the time it was my turn to purchase, the guest in front of me had purchased the last Olaf Plush and the other plush characters were gone too. But I was able to purchase a singing Anna doll and an Elsa crown.
The Disney Store in Times Square received 600 Elsa costumes that morning. Lucky for us almost half of those dresses were size 5/6!
The next morning, this crazy Disney Mom couldn’t have asked for a better Mother’s Day smile! I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day too!
she looks beautiful.
Thank you Michele 🙂 And thanks for visiting the blog today!
Hi my Amy, As usual I love your articles. I have not been to this store yet, but you made me laugh. And Gary is truly a prince.
Yes he is Sandy! Thanks for following the blog 🙂
Oh my goodness! I would love to see that Disney Store someday. All of this “Frozen” excitement has made me somewhat grateful that I only have boys. 🙂
LOL I felt a bit guilty coming home with everything for Victoria and my little man ended up with Legos that took five minutes to purchase! I hope you have the opportunity to visit NYC in the future. It’s a lot of fun and of course the Disney Store is a must see 🙂 Thanks for stopping by the blog Cindy!
What a story! It’s like Garth Brooks tickets in the 90’s!
She looks beautiful!
It was crazy Lin, but fun too and your right, it makes a fun story to tell her when she’s older. Thanks for stopping by the blog Lin!
So glad you quest had happy ending! LOL and yep its nuts what we do for our princesses. Your daughter looks super cute!
Thanks Julie 🙂
As a mom who waited 2 hrs+ to see Anna and Elsa, I totally understand. I can’t believe after all these months there aren’t enough Frozen products to meet demand. I’m so happy that you were able to get the dress for your daughter. She looks so happy!
Lisa, I’m dreading the wait for the meet and greet. I wish they would just do a character dining experience with the sisters! Thanks for stopping by the blog Lisa 🙂
Talk about a happy ending- she’s a beautiful Disney princess! Job well done Disney mom!!
Thanks Distherapy!
Glad I’m not the only crazy mom that does things like this! 🙂 Our line the week before went the other way into the store and it was a mad house – not 10 at a time to go in. They did a cute little “opening” like a much smaller version of what’s at the Magic Kingdom. People were grabbing the few things they put out on the rack then stood in line to buy the stuff behind the counter. Total craziness! Glad you were able to score the dress – that smile is totally worth it! 🙂
I had a feeling it was crazy, Lynn. A cast member told me they were doing it this way this week for safety reasons. This time they didn’t put anything out. It was totally crazy, but fun too 🙂 I’m looking forward to reading your post about it too!
That dress is so cute on her and it was totally worth it. I would have done the same thing.
Thanks Diane! Mom’s understand the things we do for our kids! I think she looks super cute too 🙂 Thanks for visiting the blog!