In Loving Memory Of The Disney Store

 

Whenever I would go to the mall, one of my favourite stores to visit was the Disney Store. Now, it may seem like your average toy or retail store, but there’s a lot more to it. It feels magical and fun to be in. Sadly, when COVID hit and Bob Chapek was the CEO, things went terribly for the stores, they were closed for a while and Chapek cared more about money than magic and he shut down almost all of the Disney Stores, which broke the hearts of many Disney fans including myself. There are so many things that made the Disney Store a truly magical place to come to, today’s story is about what made the Disney Store just that.

Toys

The Disney Store used to sell a lot of nice toys. They had cute stuffed animals from the Disney or Pixar projects like Winnie The Pooh, Toy Story, Monsters Inx, Finding Nemo, the princess movies, Lilo and Stitch, Mickey Mouse and his friends and so much more! Whenever I visited, I would sometimes cuddle or play with them, I would pretend Mickey and Minnie were dancing to “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman, or have a family, I would lift Simba out like how Rafiki did, I would have Tigger bounce on Pooh and Piglet, I would recreate the classic scene from the first Toy Story when Buzz and Woody were flying, I would also have Woody and Buzz spend time with their girls, I remember playing with the baby Dory plush and reading her the Finding Dory book, since I wanted a Baby Dory plush for my birthday, having the Marlin and Nemo plushes hug, having Woody carry Forky, I could go on forever. I could see a lot of kids and people holding, playing with and buying them, you can tell those plushes bring a lot of joy, even some my parents got for me and my brother when we were little kids. Here are a few pictures of me with the Nemo and Dory plushes back when Finding Nemo was new. 

These plushies are just as awesome as the ones you see at the Disney parks, the parks have baby versions of the characters and cuddly plushes and dolls that are a bit different from the stores, they’re just beautiful.

Some other toys included princess dolls, figurine playsets, props, Tsum Tsum’s and more!

More Items

Some other things they had were mugs, props, costumes for the kids, including princess dresses, shirts or pajamas for kids or adults, toy cars (when I was younger, I used to use them to pretend there was a parade in the store) and they had really neat ornaments too, I remember when I got my friend a Chip ornament, (the ornament showed Chip blowing bubbles) since she loves Beauty And The Beast.  I also remember them having journals in the forms of storybooks or books in general that were shown in different Disney movies, like the books from Cinderella or Snow White, or Ellie’s Adventure Book (if you ever find it, I must warn you, the last page will make you cry), they would show the first or last lines of the books you saw in the movies, while the rest of the pages were blank, like a way to write your own stories or thoughts. They could also have some notebooks with VHS covers, it was another nice way to write notes, and one could feel nostalgic seeing a tape cover.

Holidays

The Disney Store also had nice decorations and special themed toys based on whatever holiday it was. I remember seeing Stitch dressed in a bunny costume on Easter, Mickey and his friends would be in cool costumes for Halloween, Mickey and Minnie would be in cute Valentine’s Day costumes and have a lot of plushies or dolls dressed in festive outfits during Christmas, those could get you in the holiday spirit. They would also have beautiful decorations for the holidays either sold or decorated in the stores, they looked so festive.

Screen

The stores also had a big screen located in the stores, they would play clips from the movies, they could play songs and sometimes, they would have sing alongs where they would play Disney songs with lyrics shown on the screen, a lot of visitors would sing along, it was always so much fun!

Whenever it was a certain holiday, they would play clips or songs based on said holidays.

On Halloween, they would play clips or songs that involved Disney villains or antagonists, like Sid’s introduction in Toy Story, Mother Knows Best from Tangled, Be Prepared from The Lion King, Friends From The Other Side from The Princess and The Frog, Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid. They also played Halloween clips like the skeleton dance, or maybe scenes from Halloween movies like the Nightmare Before Christmas or Hocus Pocus. These were great ways to get customers excited for Halloween whether it was getting spooked out by the villains or dancing to catchy tunes.

The clips they would play on Christmas would includes songs from musicals like The Muppet Christmas Carol or Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, they were enough to get one into the holiday spirit.

I could be wrong about some of the clips I mentioned, I just am saying what I think I remember, if they were wrong, my apologies.

Cast Members

The stores also had great employees or as they called them, Cast Members. They would have tags that had their names and the names of a Disney characters on them and they were very nice and interactive to and with any guest. They would help them find what they were looking for, they would compliment them on the toys they were holding and they would talk to the guests about the things they purchased. I remember when I bought a Bolt plush for a friend, she asked me if Bolt was my new companion (I did explain he was a gift but she was happy about that) and when I bought myself a Marlin plush the cast member commented about how excited I was about to have him, I was so happy and enthusiastic about it, and I’m so grateful that person made it more happy for me. One time, I went to the store and when the screen showed the clip where we first meet Sid, one of the cast members quoted Buzz’s line, “You mean that happy child?” and I quoted back, “That ain’t no happy child,” and he laughed. The cast members would also make you feel special, whenever you left they would always say, have a magical day! That alone, could make someone’s day, it always made mine.

I also want to applaud the cast members who worked at the Disney Stores, you have made visitors’ visits magical and you have brought the joys that Walt Disney envisioned when making the movies and working on the California and Florida projects that turned into the parks, thank you for that. As for the cast members at the park or the cruises, you are all great at doing those things too. Whether you were hosting shows, taking photos, performing, helping guests or anything like that, you did them very well and put your hearts into what you do and I know Walt Disney would’ve been proud. I’m so sorry you dealt with layoffs and hard times when Chapek was leader and COVID was a huge problem, and that you might still be going through it now, but I wish the best for you and things will go better in the future and you will once again be able to keep the magic alive, you deserve praise!

Events

The Disney Stores would have fun events too. Sometimes, in honour of holidays or a new movie’s release, they would have fun or interactive events for the guests to participate in, it was so much fun. When Toy Story 4 came out, there was a little carnival game where you could choose a toy from the movie and shake it to make the toy go ahead so you could win (think of those carnival race games) and the winner would get a sticker. I chose Woody when I tried and I won, afterwards, I would watch everyone play and cheer them on, it goes to show that you’re never too old for Disney or to play and have a great time. One Halloween, there was a fun event where people would dress up and do everything they could to stop the villains, one of them including matching cards, where you would have to match the Disney hero with their villains and more and it was so much fun! There was also an event honouring Minnie Mouse, everybody there watched a cartoon where Minnie puts on too much perfume and becomes too attractive, it was a funny short and the event also had everyone talking about why we love her and Mickey and more. Walt Disney would’ve been happy to see one of his beloved characters and creations be honoured in such a heartfelt and meaningful way. But my favourite event, was a masquerade ball, I came in wearing a Belle dress and everyone there participated in Disney trivia and we got to decorate masks, we put stickers and gems and lot’s of art supplies to decorate them, it was a lot of fun! Those events made the visits so much fun and dare I say it, magical!

Disney Away From The Parks

Another great thing about the stores was that for the reasons I mentioned, it was like our own little Disney parks, which would be so great for those that can’t afford to go or if you did go and feel homesick or in this case, Disney sick for the parks. After my last Disney World trip, I felt really homesick for the place, I couldn’t stop crying and was yearning to go back, sometimes I came to visit the Disney Stores, though I still missed the parks, I still felt happy to be there and enjoyed myself. One of the things I loved about the store and the parks is that they were places where I felt more like me and they would make me feel more content, Disney was and still is my happy place. I loved visiting the stores whenever I was going to the movies, whether it was to see Beauty And The Beast or Toy Story 4. The latter especially was a nice day. Before it was time, I stopped by and I heard “Strange Things” playing on the radio and I sang along and stomped at one point, like as if I was Woody in that moment, one cast member took notice and chuckled (especially since I was wearing a cowboy hat for the movie). Plus, after the movie I came by the store to hug Buzz and Woody to thank them for a great childhood and before I left I said, “So Long Partner,” and the same cast member loved what I said. A lot of Disney places were places where I felt seen, important, comfortable and more like myself.

Closing

I was hoping to work there, but I felt nervous. I wanted to enjoy the rest of 2019, and focus on my mental health and I would apply after a New York trip with my dad in March, but then COVID hit and we ended up in lockdown, after a year and months and things opened again, I finally had the courage to come back to the stores and planned to apply in September but one day I found out that all the stores in Canada were closing down for good, my world had shattered. I came to visit the stores on their remaining weeks and it was so sad to see. Seeing everything gone, empty shelves and looking like nothing was just so devastating. This happened partly because of COVID, and because of former CEO, Bob Chapek, like Michael Eisner (at his worst) all he cared about was making money and business than the magic Walt envisioned, because of him, many great people at the store lost their jobs and the malls the stores were in became less magical and he had no remorse. I’m so happy he’s out, though I feel mixed about Iger, and I am hoping things will go well for Disney and they’ll get out of their 2020s slump, like how they got out of their 80s and 2000s slumps. Hopefully Iger will wise up or when he steps out, the new CEO is a leader who is passionate about Disney and the magic to save Disney and bring them back to their former glory.

Thankfully not all stores are closed there is one at the Orlando airport, a great pick me up when you leave the parks, and the one in Times Square New York is still open. I went there back in the summer of 2022 and it was so great to be back again! It’s probably the only Disney store to have two floors! I recommend you visit that place if any of you ever go to or live in New York, right in Times Square!

While most of the stores closed down and the future of them is uncertain, there is no denying that they were great places to visit. With nice merchandise, fun events and friendly cast members and it was just a magical place to visit. Hopefully they can come back but that remains to be seen, but whatever happens, the Disney Store will always have a special place in my heart forever, and if any of you are Disney fans, I hope it does for you too!

Do any of you have happy memories of the Disney Store? What was your favourite toy from there? Did you ever participate in any events? Please feel free to share your memories of the parks.

Hope everyone has a magical day!