This summer you can bring a little magic to each day at the Disney Store! Every day throughout the summer (ends September 5th), at your local Disney Store, kids can participate in a variety of activities for free. Each day has different activities like story time, Art of Animation, music activities, character/movie inspired activities and occasionally some Jedi Training.
So far we have participated in Jedi Training and an Art of Animation event where we learned how to draw Mickey Mouse! The kids loved it and at the first one they received a lanyard at the end, and each subsequent activity they receive a button to add to it.
Activities and times change daily and vary by location. Most stores should have the weekly schedule posted, or you can call during store hours for more information. You can find contact information for your local store at disneystore.com and click on the “store locator” link at the top of the page.
In addition to the scheduled activities your child can help to “wake up the magic” each morning at the Disney Store. This is done every day (year-round) at store opening, which for us is 10 a.m., but each stores’ time may vary. When it is time to open, a cast member comes to the front of the store and tells the kids that each night when the store closes the “magic” goes to sleep, so every morning we have to say special magic words to wake it up. One child is selected to be a special helper and they get to dress up like Sorcerer Mickey and have to try out some magic words of their own to see if they can wake up the magic. However, the magic only “wakes up” if you say the correct magic words.
When my kids have done it before, we tried all the magic words we knew, “abracadabra”, “bibbidi-bobbidi-boo”, “presto”, etc. Then when none of them worked, the cast member asked everyone to wave their magic fingers and try saying “let the magic begin”. When they do, all the lights come on and the magic is awake. The child who was selected as a helper receives a special gift (the last few times it has been a Sorcerer Mickey lanyard), and the store is open for the day.
My kids get pretty shy during things like this but the cast members have been awesome and patient with them. It has been a great way to add a little magic to our day, without needing to go very far.