Dive into Disney (The Disney Store)

Member Name: chrisandmark

Product:	The Disney Store
Date:	17/06/04 (1748 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality, A good range of Disney merchandise, A lovely shop, clean and kiddie friendly

Disadvantages: Prices are a bit heavy!

Last year I was lucky enough to win £150 worth of Disney Store vouchers, which I went to spend immediately, and I decided to let you all in on the wonderful place to shop that is the Disney Store. If I see a Disney Store while we're on a day out I'll always pop in so know that the stores are mainly laid out in the same way, if I describe the Birmingham store it'll give you a good idea what any Disney Store in the country is like.

Because it was the run up to Christmas when I visited, the store has a decidedly festive feel to it. Disney certainly hadn't scrimped on the decorations, there was tinsel everywhere and the whole place just looked sparkly. Even sparklier than usual because the Disney Store is always a riot of colour and is so glittery you can feel youiself checking your hands for signs of sparkle as you leave the shop! It really is a gorgeous place to shop at any time of year. It's always spotlessly clean and the shelves and display racks are laid out in such a way that the shop isn't a boring maze of aisles, whichever way you turn at the end of a display rack you'll see something different and there are mirrors all over the place to reflect the displays. A clever marketing strategy I know but it makes for a lovely relaxed shopping atmosphere. At the back of the shop is a huge bank of televisions which are all showing clips from various Disney films and sometimes when you go in there's an actual Disney film showing and they just try getting the kids to leave... This part of the shop is definitely a favourite for the kids because right underneath the television wall is a toy mountain. Huge plush characters from Disney films are lumped together in the biggest box I've ever seen, Dopey the Dwarf is lying on top of Nemo and Pooh Bear is sandwiched between 
6;elle (Beauty and the Beast) and Ariel (Little Mermaid). The kids are encouraged to play with these toys although there is a polite sign up asking parents to make sure children i
n pushchairs are clean before they handle the merchandise. This seems a bit of a pointless sign to me though because there simply isn't room in the shop to handle more than one or two pushchairs at a time and if you DO take a pushchair in be prepared for the panic attack causing moment when you think you're going to knock down a display of very expensive figurines...

Another fairly prominent display is a wonderful range of childrens party gear. There is everything you need to send your child to a party dressed as Tinkerbell, Woody from Toy Story, Cinderella and loads more. My personal favourite outfit is the Tinkerbell one which I brought for Alice, complete with silver sparkly dress, tiara and wand. Careful here though because they ain't cheap, the standard price for a complete outfit with plastic shoes is round about the thirty quid mark which doesn't sound too expensive for a quality outfit but really, how many times is your child going to dress up as Peter Pan? The quality of the clothing is excellent and the Disney Store also stock a range of everyday clothes which are absolutely gorgeous. There are babygrows and bibs for newborn babies, cute Pooh Bear fleeces for toddlers and sparkly trousers and tops for youger children - everything is blatantly Disney and carries pictures of a variety of characters. Again pretty expensive, expect to pay around £15 for a babygrow and upwards of £20 for a fleece. The quality is there though, Alice is still wearing a Tigger fleece that I brought Charlotte about 5 years ago and it still looks in brilliant condition. There is a wall rack full of Disney PJ's and
dressing gowns for children aged up to around 10 years and although these are beautifully made and very pretty they are too expensive at anything up to 20 quid for a set. A solitary rack of adults tee shirts and nightshirts stands at the back of the store, with most of these items showing Tigger which I think is to cater for the rather bizarre
student love of the bouncing tiger. Have a root around in this rack if Tigger's your thing because you'll often find a lot of their adult range is reduced in price, presumably to make way for even more overpriced kids clothes.

However, toys is the order of the day in the Disney Store. As well as the toy mountain I already told you about there are literally racks and racks full of different beanies. There's no order to the shelves at all, you can pick up a 101 Dalmatians beanie and behind it find a pair of Chip n' Dale beanies. The beanies retail at around £7 each which is fairly good value as the toys themselves are quite large and are of a very high quality, as is everything in the Disney Store. With the beanies the emphasis seems to be on the more recent characters from the Disney films rather than the more traditional characters such as Mickey Mouse, which is obviously because children will always want a toy of the very latest and most exciting characters so they'll shift more Nemo beanies because everyone's already got a Donald Duck toy! The Disney Store also stocks a small range of baby toys which are, again, overpriced and include items such as rattles and pram toys.

Other miscellaneous items are sold in a separate area including Mickey Mouse watches (excellent quality adult watches costing anything up to £70), lunchboxes, plates and dishes, wrapping paper, pens, folders. You name it they sell it, usually with a HUGE Disney motif s
tuck somewhere so all your childrens friends can want one and get their mums and dads spending joke money like a fiver for a 10 page notebook.

The staff in the Disney Store are brilliant. There's a good mix between young staff who will happily talk to and play with the kids and older staff who will advise the parents. They are all extremely knowledgeable and helpful to the point of making you feel uncomfortable sometimes. Because of the high value of stock held in the Disney Stor
e security is very tight and uniformed security guards are constantly wandering around watching what people are doing with things off the shelves which is a bit off-putting really because even when you know you've not nicked anything you still start feeling paranoid! The standard uniform is a pair of bright blue jogging bottoms and a Disney Store bomber style jacket which means all the staff look very smart and instantly stand out when you're looking for a member of staff to advise you on a purchase. There's a greeter in every store just inside the door who will hand you a shopping basket as you enter and they say goodbye as you leave. A nice touch.

The tills can get very busy. I queued for neary a quarter of an hour to pay for my goods but when you get to the till the assistants will pack your stuff into bags and carefully wrap anything breakable, pens are always packed in a seperate bag in case they leak as are the snowstorms. You're also given a leaflet outlining the Disney Stores returns policy which is fairly straightforward and basically consists of you returning the offending item with your receipt and getting either a refund or replacement. I've had to return items before and it's always been done in a professional manner and with the minimum of fuss.

So, for a really enjoyable shopping experience head to your local Disney Store but y
ou have been warned that you might need to remortgage your house if you want to buy more than a few items. Just for the record, last time I visited I spent £155 and came away with four carrier bags which weren't particularly full and brought a few items of clothing, pens and a couple of toys. I'm afraid the Disney Store have got to lose a star for their prices but otherwise it's an excellent place to shop with some absolutely wonderful and downright gorgeous items for every Disney fan.

Thanks for reading.

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