Jessica Shyba of Momma’s Gone City covered the following event on behalf of Mom in the City.
Like most other little girls, I grew up loving Disney stories. I loved Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, and even Ariel and Belle even though I was getting a little too old when those movies came out to covet those Disney heroines. I used to fantasize that I would grow up to be a princess, and sometimes when I fell asleep at night, visions of princes kissing me would slowly lull me into a magical dreamland. I didn’t have the dolls, or the matching princess gear and dresses to go with them though, all I had was my imagination.
When Kimberly invited my kids and I to the Disney Holiday Preview at the Ritz Carlton at South Central Park, I was thrilled. You can imagine how I felt walking into a princess tea party in one of the beautiful suites, with views from 14 stories up reaching straight down to the park. It was an absolute treat to be one of the first groups to preview Disney’s new Princess & Me collection, complete with the new Rapunzel doll and all of the matching accoutrement.
The new Princess & Me collection. Photos courtesy of Vera Sweeney, Lady and the Blog
The new Rapunzel, Princess & Me doll
The Princess & Me dolls are absolutely beautiful. With stunning features, soft bodies and high quality materials all the way around, they make for the perfect little treasure and gift. The princesses, Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Tiana and now Rapunzel are made for girls ages 5-8, and offer a full line of matching dresses, sleepwear, and ballet recital gear for girls to wear, along with furniture and more for play. Prices range from $14.99-$49.99.
There was so much to look at during this event. It was showcasing each line that Disney offers from bedroom décor, to tween and maternity fashions, to food collections, online games and books. It was really mind blowing to see how big the Disney Empire really is. It’s easy to get sucked up in it…just like being at Disneyland.
Tron Photo courtesy of Vera Sweeney, Lady and the Blog
The Tron room really grabbed my attention, and I’m sure Kim would have really enjoyed checking out the games and electronic toys. Based on Walt Disney Picture’s TRON: Legacy, Disney released a line of electronics and toys that feature light projection technology. All of the toys light up and even the action figures illuminate moving faces on to the helmets.
This particular car, the TRON Zero Gravity Light Cycle, actually drives on the wall. It includes a controller and is geared for kids ages 8 and up. It is priced at $34.99.
TRON also featured headphones, iPod docks, PC games, game controllers and Apple accessories. It was a young gamer’s heaven!
I recently received an iPad for my birthday, and have been on the look out for books and a few interactive games to use with my son and/or daughter to use on occasion. I was able to test out a couple of Disney’s iPad apps, and found them to be really amazing. The graphics are visually stunning, and the read-along books are very engaging. We particularly loved the Toy Story 2 read-along book that flips pages and highlights words as it goes along. My three year old is very interested in reading already, so I am actually happy when he wants to take a quiet moment to listen and watch a story.
Both of my kids get a kick out of Disney’s Fairies Fly app, where you move the iPad back and forth to get the fairy to fly up and down, popping bubbles and accumulating fairy dust. It also has really beautiful graphics and it will be something that I use on long road trips.
There was so much to see and to learn about Disney while we were there, but I’ve highlighted a few of my favorites from the event. It’s really neat to be able to live somewhat vicariously through my children and to enjoy all of these things as if I were that age again – only it’s much more fun. I am looking forward to seeing what else Disney has in store for us, as there is something for literally every age.