Examiner.com

The Roosevelt Field Mall revealed their brand new Disney Store yesterday becoming the first east coast location.

Molly Adams, vice president/general manager of Disney Store North America, has experienced great reviews from visitors at other locations. She expects great things for the new store.

"Guest reactions have been fantastic. Our vision was to offer a new experience for people to come and experience Disney Magic," said Adams

One of the biggest goals of the new Disney store is to bring Disney closer to home. For Long Islanders, home is the Roosevelt Field Mall. With several new features and interactive activities, the store is designed to achieve the best 30 minutes of a child's day.

The entrance of the store greets visitors with the pixie dust trail welcoming visitors in and beginning the storytelling.

Adams explained that each area of the store is called a neighborhood.

To the left side of the store is a magic dress up castle for the girls. Princess dresses and accessories are on display around the castle for girls to try on. Generated by chips in the wands and other accessories, kids can see specific scenes from classics like Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella.

The right side is filled with toys and gear from the popular trilogy of Toy Story. Also to incorporate a more hands on feel is the Disney Pixar CARS-branded RIDEMAKERZ custom car building station. Kids can build custom cars to replicate the movie Cars. The station is a great bonding experience for dads and their sons coming together. The price of a fully loaded car comes to about $50.

All throughout the store are trees with signature Disney designs. They can change seasonal or for a celebration. Gliding through the trees on opening day was Tinkerbell.

Towards the back of the store is a gazebo structure to house the theatre of the store. Playing on the screens were popular music videos, clips of shows and other various Disney themed clips. One of the more popular clips is “Squirrels in my Pants” from the hit show Phineas and Ferb.

Some footage shown in the gazebo may contain a sneak preview of something coming up for Disney. Birthday parties and other activities also are housed there.

Everything in the store is generated by an Apple iTouch on the belt buckle of each cast member. Story time is generated through the iTouch.

Cast members are even astonished by the technology.

"Yesterday I saw Jasmine and Aladdin fly across the wall from the projection screen," said a cast member.
One of the more innovative attributes of the new store is the "imagination explosion."

At any given part of the day, famous Disney villains take over the store. To save the store, visitors must work together and cheer them away. When the store is saved, fireworks appear on the trees. Adding this element gives visitors a much more personal experience with enthusiasm and a feeling of helping out.

Disney is also very involved in reaching out to the community. To help open the store, Disney called upon members of the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens and receive a special tour. As a parting gift, the kids received Buzz and Jessie backpacks and lunchboxes from the hit movie Toy Story 3 to get them ready for school. They also received a subscription for Disney Digital Books providing hundreds of online Disney stories for six months.

Toy Story hero Buzz Lightyear was also in attendance of the opening.

This fall, Disney Store will be revealing the newly designed store at Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Other locations will be popping up throughout the United States as well.