[Cavey]

Today was a first time to a Disney Store in months. WOW! What an improvement. Everything was amply stocked. It was neat and orderly (for most of 2004, there were big racks of unkempt clothing with "Clearance" slapped on it.). There was a wide variety and a tempting selection. PRICES WERE WONDERFUL.

I talked to an employee (you can't really call them CM's anymore), and she said the first thing Children's Palace did was lower the prices to reasonable levels. Disney's mark-up was higher than most retailers.

She said Disney Stores are still dealing with merchandice that the Disney Co. ordered months ago (apparently, these orders take place many many many months in advance). But by late this year, we should be seeing a different/improved style of Disney merchandise in the stores.

She said CP has done nothing but improve the Disney Store chain.

When I mentioned the loss of CM perks, she said. "I lost some perks, but I still have a job. If Children's Palace hadn't come along, Disney Stores would be gone."

The several employees I talked to were all still acting like CM's with lots of friendliness and great things to say about WDW. One employee had stayed at the Poly last week.

So I'm hopeful for good things to come.

My only criticism is most clothing items were not in my size. Though we did manage to get matching outfits for our January trip to WDW.

[DisneyTeacher]

I agree with everything you saw. We were in a Disney Store a couple of weeks ago and it was a pleasant experience. It was neat, well stocked, the CMs we friendly, and the prices were reasonable. I ended up spending over $100 on stuff for my DS and the other kids going on our summer trip. It was a treat to spend about 30 minutes looking around.

[Erin]

So, you're going in January!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's GREAT news! Will you be camping?

oh, and it's Children's Place. Not Palace, at least, according to the label on my baby's onesie, it is.

[Dana]

I am glad to see they are getting it together. I used to love my trips to the disney store and have been avoiding the place for some time. I will have to make a special trip there now.

[queensmama]

I have really noticed a change in prices. Much easier to justify spending money in there now. In fact I plan to go spend some money in there this weekend.

[lovemysons]

I think I missed something here. Did Children's Place take over the stores?

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by lovemysons

I think I missed something here. Did Children's Place take over the stores?

Yes, they did. It has been several months so the changes are just now being seen.

[lovemysons]

I didn't know that. The only disney store remotely close to me is almost 40 minutes away, so I rarely go. I used to love to go there, but, alas, I always spent way too much money. Perhaps a road trip is in order.

[jedijson]

Carol was just in our last remaining Disney Store in extreme northern Oklahoma City (it's almost 45 minutes from our house), and said the same thing--that it was a LOT better than what she remembered from the last time we were there. Lots of stocked items, pricing wasn't bad, etc. She said she was surprised that the prices were better there than the Disney store in DTD. I had to explain to her that (1) it's not owned by Disney anymore, and (2) everything's cheaper than at WDW.

Glad to know that the improvements are pretty much across the board. Ours was looking downright scary for a while...

[jodilt]

I visited a few Disney stores on my vacation in the San Diego area, and didn't really notice any difference. The one thing I did notice was some of the new merchandise someone mentioned in another thread. They had some new sweatshirts with character names across the front, like TINK or GRUMPY. I was interested in them so I took a look. While the price was reasonable, $26 I think, the quality was not as good as I am used to in Disney stores. They were very, very thin for sweatshirts, and even at the cheaper price, I was not willing to pay for them.

[JEANY031]

i can't wait to get a job in the disneystore and i can't wait to see the new disneystore. dreams can come true.

mickey mouse

[MissDisney]

The only problem I have seen at Disney stores lately is that some of the characters look kind of strange... by that I mean the illustration is somehow different -- epsecially on Tink, my favorite. She just looks weird, especially her eyes, on Tshirts, mugs, etc. lately in the stores. I hope they go back to making Tink look like Tink.

[mkstlowe]

I have not really noticed to much of a difference yet in our store here. I go atleast once a month. right now they still have alot of swimwear stuff. As for the Quality of the clothing. Childrens Place clothes have always been on of my favorite for my DD. So I'm sure the Disney clothes will meet my standards (I hope)

[Amelia's Man]

They now offer some really good sales on plush characters too! I picked up two medium size plush Stitch characters to surprise my sons with when we get to our resort, and they only cost $1.99 each! They were originally $16.50 each!
I was very impressed!

[tiggerfan74]

Is Disney still running Disney Direct or is that CP too, because that catalog is still pretty expensive!