Downtown Disney Soft-Opening Review

World of Disney Store and Rainforest Cafe

Continued from page 1

We'll head through the second hallway/area divider. Here you'll find the accessories section, with costume jewelry, small leather goods, hair ornaments and PINS! Pin collectors were quite pleased to learn that there are two large pin racks here, along with a collection of previously sold- out pins. It seems that a small amount of the recent releases have been set aside for this store, so many collectors were able to find some pins they had missed the first time.

Goofy and Donald fly overhead

The center of the shop is devoted to logo apparel and merchandise, as well as a collection of California Adventure park (DCA) themed plush. Goofy and Donald fly overhead. The front of this section houses the Disneyland and character logo items. Again, this is the section visible from the outside, and none of the merchandise is all that unique. 

Hollywood Merchandise

A large selection of DCA souvenirs is now available, everything from water bottles to towels; clothing to sticker albums. The logos range from the very generic yellow DCA bear to the highly detailed images from the Hollywood area. 

There is a large selection of DCA Plush. 4 collections of Fab 6 Mini Bean Bag Plush were released. Each character wears highly detailed outfits and accessories. There are several versions of the DCA Grizzly, who seems to be named simply "Bear." Bear is adorable, especially in his knit DCA logo sweater. (Will there be an adult version of this sweater? Or perhaps a kids version, so your child can match his Bear?) The best part: the pads on Bear's paws are little hidden Mickeys.

Park map in stained glass

The center area also contains the gorgeous Stained Glass Disney Park Map, behind the central cash register. Every cash register is located in front of a mural, a painting or some form of artwork.

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

After this section, we walk into the Villains-Theme section. This area combines Main Street shop 20th Century Timepieces- style jewelry with Disneyana collectibles, merchandised in the most creative fixtures in the entire store. Some watches are featured on shelves made to look like, who else?, the Croc from Peter Pan. 

Ursula (above) and the Poor Souls (below)

Two display cases are themed to The Little Mermaid. Ursula presides over one case, while the "Poor Unfortunate Souls" reside in another. Look at the beautiful amethyst cones and cubes that the watches are displayed on. 

Tink on Hook's hook (above), Cruella (below)

Artwork is hung on the surrounding walls, amid sculptures made of the Villains hands. Tink hangs from Hook's hook, while Cruella dangles a rhinestone collar for the puppies. This section also houses office accessories, including some very affordable bookends and desk sets. The Tigger stapler just had to come home with me. (Along with the remainder of the set...)

Children's Dept.

Opposite this section is the Infants clothing area, which is also themed to Winnie the Pooh. The displays in this area are adorable. We were especially entranced by one display which featured a crawling baby mannequin and a plush Pooh. Someone had posed the Pooh plush so that it's paw was gently touching the baby's nose. Precious.

The infant section segues into the youth section which is nearest the west door. This merchandise is again generic Disneyland and character apparel, and is clearly seen from the doorway. The overhead sculpture of Dumbo and Chip and Dale might be enough to draw you into the store, but the visible merchandise probably isn't. 

Toyland!

Heading further into the store, you enter the final area: Toys! This area is decorated in the Alice in Wonderland motif. The Wall of Plush is here, along with the video wall. The steady stream of customers into and out of this area was the indicator that the good merchandise was located here. Sure enough, tucked into a corner, I found the items I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for: the Battery Operated Attraction Replicas from DCA's Paradise Pier Section.

You can click on the above photo to take you to MouseShoppe's page for the coaster - click HERE to see all the available toys at the MousePlanet MouseShoppe page

Let me lapse into drooling fan mode for a moment: I love these minis. I haven't ridden any of these attractions yet, but it doesn't matter. These minis are the real reason I've been waiting so long for this store to open! The Orange Stinger, Golden Zephyr, and Triton's Carousel spin around. The Sun Wheel turns round and round. Each is battery operated, and comes with two figurines. The California Screamin' roller coaster car goes around the loop, and comes in 5 sets featuring all 5 different colors of ride vehicle. It has already been decreed that next year's New Years Eve party will involve a group of people linking their track together to create a single giant ride. The coasters sold out in under 4 hours, and the other rides were not far behind. OK, end of drooling fan mode!

That's the grand tour! What I can't even begin to describe is the amount of themeing and detail to be found all over the store. Murals are painted across the top of every wall, above the display shelves. These are themed to the merchandise in the section, and often include melds of characters not seen together. The Housewares section features a border with Cinderella scrubbing a floor amid a group of dancing buckets from the Sorcerers Apprentice. Everywhere you look, there's more to see and even more that you miss. I could spend hours just staring at the ceiling and overhead lighting fixtures. 

Compare this to the new, sterile Disney Stores being opened or remodeled. It's so odd that the company is going in such different directions in store design and layout. This environment is what customers expect from Disney. In addition to the amazing store decor, the merchandise displays are gorgeous. T-shirts displays are done with cartoon-ish photo frames, which let you see the logo without unfolding the merchandise. Aside from the placement of the sections within the store, the displays are enticing and attractive. 

The store was exceptionally well staffed today, and everyone was still riding the Opening Day high. Employees were at every door, greeting people, inviting them into the store, and wishing them a Happy New Year. Managers were reminding CMs to be outgoing and friendly and to offer assistance, but not pushy. The biggest challenge that the CMs faced was remembering to remove the theft- prevention tags from the merchandise. Since these are not used widely within Disneyland, most CMs are not in the habit of looking for tags as they ring customers up. We watched several people return to the register, after setting off the alarm with their purchase. 

Overall, this store is amazing. My biggest concerns is that the merchandise shown in the front of the store is the generic merchandise which can be found all over the resort. The great, unique, exclusive merchandise is hidden toward the back of the store. 

I have been told that a lot of the merchandise which was destined for this store has not yet arrived, and that some of the generic merchandise which was on display was temporary "placeholder" merchandise. I also understand that there will be a "re-grouping" meeting on Wednesday, to discuss the first few days operation and look for ways to make improvements. I can't wait to see what new merchandise arrives, and what changes are made to the store. This store is definitely worth the trip! 

After an hour-plus of sensory overload, it was time to see what else we could find in the slightly opened Downtown Disney. There is not enough time to tell you about everything we did and saw - so watch for a whole series of these articles with lots of in-depth information over the next few days and weeks - we really don't just want to slap up photos without telling you the story behind them.

Rainforest Cafe

We made it all the way down to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch, which had just opened for the first time. While we waited, we spent a few moments in their gift shop. What my husband and I noticed right off were the Sale and Clearance signs all over the store. Todd pointed out that the merchandise at the store was the same as was carried at all of the Rainforest Cafes, so having it on clearance so soon wasn't all that surprising. He's right - nothing special here! The staff was wonderfully friendly, but the merchandise is pretty much the same as can be found at any Natural Wonders store in your local mall. 

After a delicious, leisurely lunch (we hadn't planned it to be quite SO leisurely, but it WAS their first day) we wandered back into Downtown Disney. As we left to go home, we realized that we had just spent 6 hours in an area with a grand total of 4 stores and two restaurants. If I am as impressed with DCA as I was with Downtown Disney, I will consider my newly initiated 2-park pass to be well worth the money. And, it DCA turns out to be just a half day park, I know where I'll be spending the other half of my day!

Thoughts, questions, or comments? Contact Adrienne here.

Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix is the super-shopper behind MouseShoppe, your personal and unofficial shopping service for the Disneyland Resort, and the owner of CharmingShoppe, a Disney collectibles store located in Anaheim.

In addition to scouring the park to find you the latest and greatest merchandise, she keeps you updated on all of the merchandise events happening in the parks.

If you want to talk to her about this column, merchandise, or events, contact her here.

Visit our other shopping service, MouseMemories.com.

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