Disney Preview (First Peek!)

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 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 we were invited 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 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 this event, which 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 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 (Mom in the City, whose place I took at the event) would have really enjoyed checking 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 onto the helmets.



This particular car, the TRON Zero Gravity Light Cycle actually drives on the wall. Includes controller, geared for ages 8 and up and 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 actually am happy when he wants to take a quiet moment to listen and watch the 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. Really beautiful graphics, again, and will be something I use on long road trips.

There was so much to see and 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 children, and enjoy all of these things as if we 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.

I covered this event on behalf of Kim Coleman of Mom in the City