Magical Merchandise: Disney American Girl Dolls

Happy Monday Friends!  It has been SO long since I've done a post about Disney merchandise.  Although I've saved photos of products here and there over the past year and a half, there's absolutely no way that I'll ever get "caught up" with them.  But I would like to get back into posting about merchandise more regularly.  So today I've made a special selection to get back into my Magical Merchandise Monday blog segment.

I believe I've briefly told you about my obsession with American Girl Dolls when I was younger.  Felicity was my absolute favorite, but I also had Samantha and a doll that looked like me.  I would spend hours pouring over the catalog when it arrived in the mail.  I always loved the little miniature foods and accessories.  Even as I grew older, my American Girl Dolls were very special to me, and I've taken extra care of them.

So you can imagine my surprise when one day, I opened my email inbox to discover that American Girl was making Disney Princess dolls!  It's like a dream come true!

In July of 2023, AG released three limited edition American Girl Doll Collector Series dolls to coincide with Disney's 100th anniversary celebration.  (I had every intention of posting about the dolls on here... and then a few weeks later my world came crashing down.)  The first three dolls released were Rapunzel, Belle and Jasmine.  Swarovski partnered with AG for the collector dolls and they had tons of sparkle and details on their outfits.  The dolls were limited to 4,000 of each design and they retailed for $300.

At the time, I remember thinking that $300 was a little more expensive than what I would want to spend on one of them.  But looking back, I wish I had splurged and gotten Rapunzel.  The intricate details on her dress are absolutely stunning!

But thankfully, I didn't totally miss out as this was only the beginning of the Disney and American Girl collaboration.  Since the original collector series, AG has also made more standard play dolls for little girls.  So when I saw these... I knew I had to get them.

In February of 2024, they released the first general dolls: Tiana, Ariel and Cinderella... along with other outfits and accessory packs (with sidekicks!) for each of them.

In July of 2024, they released limited edition versions of Anna and Elsa as part of their Frozen American Girl Doll Collector Series dolls.

In August 2024, I was pleased to see that Rapunzel was back, but it was a simpler version of the doll instead of the Swarovski collector design.  However, I didn't care because I knew she would be mine someday.  She also had accessories with her release.  The only disappointing part of her release is that Rapunzel didn't come with another dress option like the original three general dolls did.

Back in November they released Moana to coincide with the release of Moana 2 in theaters.  The doll is beautiful, but Pua and Hei Hei really steal the show!

And this was where I thought today's posts about new Disney American Girl Dolls was going to end... but I happened to check my email less than 5 minutes before I had this post scheduled to go live at 2:30 PM and they have literally just released a general Belle doll.  (Talk about some good timing!)  So after a few quick adjustments and additions to my post, here's what the Belle doll released today looks like!

Aren't these adorable?!?!?  I'm obsessed... and I'm confident that American Girl will be releasing more of the Disney Princesses as time passes.  I can't wait to see who is next and what other outfits, accessories and side kicks she'll have available!

The reason I picked this for my first Magical Merchandise Monday post back, is that I am now the very proud owner of two of these Disney dolls.  For Christmas this year, I asked Santa for a lot of smaller paints and crafting supplies... but my "big items" were Rapunzel and Cinderella.  So Christmas morning, I was transported back in time 30 years as I delicately opened Rapunzel (from my Mom) and Cinderella (from Jeremy).

The dolls are so beautiful.  I won't lie, even though I knew what they were when I was opening them, it still made me a little bit teary eyed.  It brought me back to being a kid and feeling all of the wonder when I first opened Felicity and Samantha.  And the two accessory packs I got took my breath away.  Rapunzel's little paint set is perfection, and Cinderella's pink dress tugged at my heartstrings.  That scene of the mice and birds making her pink dress will always remind me of my Nana.

It's safe the say that American Girl has knocked it out of the park on these Disney dolls.  I am so happy they have partnered with Disney to bring these dolls to the current generation of little girls... and to those of us "big girls" who are still young at heart.  °o°

All photos are from the American Girl website, their facebook page or from marketing emails they sent me.  For more information, please visit their website.  (I also used American Girl Fandom Wiki to research information in this post.)

Magical Merchandise: Live Action Little Mermaid Collection

Happy Monday Everyone!  I hope you had a "swimmingly" wonderful weekend!

Today, I'm back with another new merchandise collection that dropped on the Shop Disney website earlier this morning.  The new live action Little Mermaid film is coming to theaters in about a month, and the first products have "fin-ally" made their way into our world!  I've been waiting to "sea" what they would make for the movie, and I think it's the bubbles!  So let's dive under the sea to explore my favorites in the collection! 

There's been a lot of adults complaining about Disney remaking their classic films into live action, but I love it.  And let's face it, they're trying to make these movies matter to today's kids.  So that spirit, we're starting off with a few products made for the target audience.  I think little girls are going to adore this Ariel Singing Doll; she's so beautiful!

If I was a little girl, I would definitely want this Ariel and Sisters Doll Set!

This Ariel Plush Doll is perfect to snuggle in bed with!

Since I'm not a little girl anymore, I'm into other things... like fashion, accessories and jewelry!  One of my favorites are bags... like this Little Mermaid Loungefly Backpack!

If you're looking for something more casual, check out this Little Mermaid Belt Bag.

There's also a clear Little Mermaid Handbag.

I love earrings, and symmetrical earrings are popular right now.  This Little Mermaid Earring Set will have you sparkling like the sea gem you are.

The Little Mermaid Necklace looks like it matches the motif of the collection.

Finally, for accessories we have the Little Mermaid Mouse Ear Headband for Adults... because what's a day at Disney parks without mouse ears?!?!

Switching gears to clothing, this Little Mermaid Denim Jacket for Women was the first thing that caught my eye.  I love the details and how some of them are embroidered!

The denim jacket would look great with this Little Mermaid Dress for Women.  This item seems to be the most popular and it's selling out fast!  (But it's also in the parks!)

If you want your own Prince Eric to match your new dress, this Little Mermaid Woven Shirt for Men would coordinate perfectly for a ride around the kingdom together.

I really like this Little Mermaid Sleep Set for Women.  It looks so comfortable!

I'm absolutely in love with this Little Mermaid Spirit Jersey for Adults.  I adore the graphic on the back, and I'm a sucker for jewel tones and glitter... just like the text!

Finally, we're rounding out our merchandise peek with this Little Mermaid T-Shirt for Women.  I also love the graphics and colors on this.  I might have to get it to wear to the movie.  I've got a few outfits in mind and this would be perfect for one of them!

What do you think?  I know there's a lot of talk about this movie online, but I'm excited for it.  I love the live action movies and I love how they always bring their own fresh take on the tales we all know and love.  (Plus, I'm not complaining about extra focus on new The Little Mermaid merchandise right now.)  I personally love this collection and I can't wait for the movie to come out next month!!!  °o°

Fun Find: The Little Mermaid Live in Concert

Today, I've got another fun find in store for you.  I'd originally heard the news through Facebook right before my trip to Disneyland.  I was so busy preparing for my trip that I never got a chance to mention it!  Fans of The Little Mermaid will be excited to hear that there's going to be a live concert at the Hollywood Bowl in June!

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The Little Mermaid movie will be shown on the Bowl's screen while a 71 piece live orchestra and an all-star cast performs the songs from the movie live!  The event will also include a fireworks show, a costume contest and more.

The cast includes Sara Bareilles as Ariel, Rebel Wilson as Ursula, Darren Criss as Prince Eric, John Stamos as Chef Louis, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Norm Lewis as King Triton and Joshua Colley as Flounder.

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Disney songwriting legend Alan Menken will also be part of the spectacular.  He is set to play a medley of his best known Disney songs from Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Newsies and Enchanted.

The concert has been so popular that they've added extra shows.  The original shows were scheduled for June 3rd and June 4th and a final show has been added on June 6th.  The last show will be extra special because Jodi Benson, the original voice of the little mermaid, will be singing in the role of Ariel.  Also at the final performance will be special guest stars Susan Egan, who played Meg in Hercules and was the first Belle on Broadway and Brad Kane, who was the singing voice of Aladdin.

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Finally, the best part of all, one month from today Eliot and I will be attending the June 6th show featuring Jodi Benson!!!  After not paying too much attention to the initial announcements, I realized that we'll actually be in California for Elissa's graduation during the same weekend as the concerts!  I was able to get us tickets the day they went on sale, which was coincidentally the day before I left on my trip to Disneyland!  

I'm so excited to see this concert live!  I'm sure it'll be an incredible evening!  Talk about Disney magic, faith, trust and pixie dust!!!  °o°

Hanukkah 2015

Ok, here's the last of my 2015 holiday posts!  (I'm finally caught up... yay!)  As I had mentioned in my Chicago post, Eliot's family spoiled us with Hanukkah gifts.  We got wonderful gifts and I wanted to make sure everything arrived home safely.  Eliot and I took two extra suitcases with us to make sure everything was packed safely and securely so things wouldn't get broken in transit.  Thank goodness for Southwest allowing two checked bags per person!  All of our gifts arrived home in one piece!

It was nice to spend time with Eliot's family on a few nights of Hanukkah.  It's the first time I've ever celebrated it with them.  During our gift exchange at the hotel, we lit a menorah.  The girls sang a bit of the Hanukkah prayers.  Then, we exchanged gifts.

Sara wanted everyone to open her gifts first.  She pampered me with Disney princess presents.  First, I got a Cinderella winter scarf, adorable gloves and a small wall art print.  They're all so cute!  Next, I opened some Disney princess bubble bath!  I can't wait to use it!  I also got a pack of Disney princess bowls.  The little containers are charming!  Finally, she got me a large princess coloring sheet pack!  I love to color!

Elissa gave Eliot and me our gifts next.  She had a shared theme with both of our presents.  She gave me an Olaf infinity scarf that I absolutely love!  It's perfection!

Elissa got Eliot a plush Olaf holding a San Jose Sharks blanket.  The Sharks and Olaf are definitely two of his most favorite things.  He loved it!

Eliot wanted to give me one of his gifts for Hanukkah and he insisted he bring it with him to Chicago.  I was thrilled when I opened a Hawaiian Minnie Mouse tsum tsum!

Rick and Nori got us each eight gifts, one for each night of Hanukkah.  I wasn't able to take pictures of everything, but I tried to get most of the gifts!  (Some of them, like my nutcracker Mickey, are breakable so I kept them packaged for Christmas storage.)  All four of us kids each got a fleece blanket.  I got Ariel and Eliot got Olaf!  Eliot and I got lots of holiday goodies including Mickey and Minnie Santa hats and plush.

Eliot got a Mickey snow globe and I got the matching Minnie globe.  We also got a few Christmas ornaments for our tree.  We definitely need a separate Disney tree now.  In fact, we might even need two to hold all of our Disney ornaments!

I got an awesome (not officially licensed) San Jose Sharks shirt that says "Sharks Fan By Day, Disney Princess By Night."  I love it and I'm sure Eliot does too!

Speaking of Eliot, he also got some Disney apparel in the form of two new Vans hats.

He also got an Olaf night light.  It'll go perfectly in our basement bathroom!

Can you tell we really love Olaf?  Haha.  Rick and Nori also got me these awesome Olaf earrings!  I've actually been admiring them online for a while now but I never ended up getting them!  They'll go perfectly with my new Olaf scarf from Elissa!

They also got me a Disneyland 60th anniversary photo album and a Winnie the Pooh Christmas Frame.  I love them!  We took so many photos at Disneyland!  And I love the picture frame.  I'll have to find a special Christmas photo of Eliot and me for it.

Eliot and I loved the Main Street Electrical Parade Mickey and Minnie shirts!

Finally, each of us kids received a Mickey Mouse blanket from the Disney Store while we were in Chicago.  It was on a special sale that weekend and it's so soft.  We definitely won't get cold during the long Maine winter with all of our new blankets!

Lastly, it wasn't a Hanukkah gift, but Nori was able to purchase the Disneyland Paint the Night parade ornaments that Eliot and I had really wanted.  I've always loved the ear hat ornaments and I wanted to put this set in a display case in my new office.  I figured it was a long shot since they were so popular, but she found them!  Yay!!!

Eliot and I are so thankful for all of our new gifts.  However, just like with Christmas, we're glad we had the chance to spend time with his family during the holidays.  We don't usually see them this time of year, so it was nice to have a few days together!  °o°

I've Got Mail

It's Mail Time!  (Great, now I'll be singing that Blue's Clues mail song all afternoon...)

Nowadays, everything is so easily accessible with the internet.  Emails are delivered instantly after sending them.  In the age of electronics, it's nice to get some "snail mail" every once in a while.  For me, opening an actual letter, or package, is like Christmas.

At the end of May, we had our first layout swap for the Disney Scrapbookers group I'm in on Facebook.  (You might recall my Princess Tiana themed pages that I shared a few days ago.)  I got my layout from my swap partner while Elissa and I were in Bar Harbor last week, so I finally got a chance to open my package yesterday!

When we first messaged each other, I told my partner about our Disney Wedding:  "I'd absolutely love something that I could use for my wedding album. My husband and I were married at Walt Disney World and we had a Cinderella themed wedding at the Wedding Pavilion. Then we had our reception at the Living Seas so it was kind of "Little Mermaid/Under the Sea" themed. We also had a photo shoot in the Magic Kingdom at Cinderella Castle and the Haunted Mansion."

I didn't pick a specific Disney theme because I wanted it to be a surprise.  It makes it much more like opening a Christmas present!  I opened my package and found an Ariel themed layout!  I love it!  The hearts are definitely wedding themed!  And I really like the glitter paper frames.  I tried to take a close up so you can see how shimmery it is!

My partner also included some extra Disney Princess stickers!  Yay!  I can always use extra stickers!  They're my favorite scrapbooking embellishment!

If that wasn't enough, I also got my Disney Side decal in the mail!  Woo-hoo!

It came out really cute.  I'm not sure where I'm going to put it.  I'll probably end up pinning it to the cork board in our office so both Eliot and I can enjoy it!  °o°