The Disney Store plans to open more than 125 stores nationwide at midnight on Black Friday, November 27th. From midnight until 10 a.m. customers can get 20% off all items, including already discounted merchandise. Disney has also released a list of most wanted holiday toys called the Disney Dozen, which it is selling for under $25. The list includes the Disney Princess Tiana Classic Doll from the Disney film, The Princess and the Frog.
Here are some of the other discounts the Disney Store is offering on Black Friday.
Special one-day pricing on great gifts include:
$5 deals: graphic character tee shirts (regular price $9.50), holiday ornaments (regular price $9.50 each) and character mugs (regular price $8.50)
$10 deals: Classic Disney Princess dolls (regular pricing $16.50 each), favorite Disney plush characters (regular price $14.50-$16.50) and colorful fleece throws (regular price $19.50)
$15 deals: a Disney-Pixar Cars' Lightning McQueen Runaway Racer (regular price $29.50), Toy Story Talking Buzz and Woody Deluxe Action Figures (regular price $24.50 each) and a Disney Princess Glamour Case (regular price $19.50), perfect for stashing princess jewels and other necessities.
Select Disney Princess and Disney/Pixar's Cars product $20-40 off during Black Friday weekend only include:
Disney Princess Darlings Castle, $49.50 (regular price $79.50)
Classic Disney Princess Dolls 8 Piece Gift Set, $69.50 (regular price $99.50)
BarnesandNoble.com unveiled its newly designed online B&N Kids Store today at www.bn.com/kids. B&N also released three holiday top ten lists with the launch of the online store for children's books, toys and games.
B&N Kids Top Ten for Children's Books:
Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas
The Silver Spoon for Children
A Light in the Attic: Special Edition
The Nutcracker
A Christmas Carol (Sterling Unabridged Classics Series)
The Magician's Elephant
The Polar Express
The Little Prince
The Snowy Day
Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies
Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th anniversary today. The PBS show has not stopped since it begain in 1969. New York City declared today "Sesame Street Day" and held a temporary street naming near Lincoln Center.
The show touches on current issues but stays away from ones that may be too frightening for children. For example, National Geographicreports that Sesame Street is going green with its 40th season but is staying away from issues like global warming and deforestation. Produdcers believe these issues are "too scary" for young children.
John Belmont for the AP says that studies have shown kids who grow up watching the program are bigger readers than kids who miss out. Take a look:
Google has been running Sesame Street Google Doodles for the past several days. Today, Google is featuring The Count. They have also featured Big Bird, Cookie Monster and other Sesame Street characters. You can get a shirt with The Count Google Doodle on it at the Sesame Street store free with the purchase of any Sesame Street 40th anniversary items - see here. Unfortunately, the don't appear to be selling the shirts individually, but maybe they will later.
The CPSC reports that about one million Maclaren strollers have been recalled because the stroller's hinge mechanism poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the stroller is being unfolded. The CPSC says Maclaren has received 15 reports of children placing their finger in the stroller's hinge mechanism, resulting in 12 reports of fingertip amputations in the U.S.
Consumers are advised to immediately stop using these recalled strollers and contact Maclaren USA to receive a free repair kit. Maclaren's recall page can be found here and the CPSC listing can be found here.
Reuters reports that Children's Place sales are up while 3rd quarter sales at the more expensive children's Gymboree fell. Gymboree's Q3 comparable store sales were down 4%. Reuters said the kids category was one of the worst performing categories for several retailers in October.
Third quarter net sales at Children's Place Retail Stores Inc topped estimates at Wall Street as the retailer gained favor with thrifty shoppers, even as more expensive rival Gymboree Corp saw third-quarter sales miss the mark.
Kids apparel has been a weak link for many retailers this month, with Dillard's Inc., Kohl's Corp and Target Corp naming the segment among their worst performing categories.
Children's Place shares were up 8 percent in morning trade on Nasdaq, while Gymboree shares were down 7 percent.
The lower-priced discount stores have been faring much better during the economy. Parents and families are probably sharing more hand me downs when it comes to children clothes now than they have in recent years. The trend will probably continue until people have a reason to spend more money which probably won't happen until we have a jobs recovery.
Stella McCartney's new GapKids and BabyGap collection debuted earlier this week. A Stella McCartney for GapKids Pop-Up Store opened on Robertson Boulevard today. It will remain open through Saturday, Nov. 28. All the Rage says the space was previously a Gap 1969 denim boutique. Actress Liv Tyler hosted the opening of the Pop-up store at kid-friendly event which included face painting and balloon animals.
Stella McCartney created a clothing collection for GapKids and BabyGap for fall 2009. Some of the items include leopard sweater tunics, sweater hoodies, band jackets, duck boots, tulle skirts, five pocket jeans, ribbed tights and duck boots. The collection arrived in stores this week. You can browse the collection here on Gap.com.
Stella McCartney said, "For years now I've wanted to create a collection for kids. It’s really exciting for us to do a boys and girls collection with Gap for the first time. I think it has a mix of the playful and practical. I tried to create a whole kids wardrobe. There are pieces that are classic and sort of timeless and hopefully very chic, mixed with more playful and a little bit cooler pieces. It’s a reflection of our brand and a great way to experience it."
Yesterday, the Sesame Street store was offering a free Big Bird Google Doodle t-shirt with the purchase of a Sesame Street 40th anniversary item. Now the Sesame Street store is offering a free Cookie Monster Google Doodle T-Shirt with every 40th Anniversary item purchased. Looking at the list of clothing available they do not appear to be selling either shirt individually. However, they do have lots of cool shirts, such as the Bert Face shirt.
Google has a new doodle today to celebrate Sesame Street's 40th anniversary. Google's Sesame Street doodle does not look the same in every country. Big Bird legs help make the "l" in Google in the U.S. version. The Next Web posted some Google Doodles from other countries.
The Sesame Street store has a 40th anniversary section. You can find 40th anniversary books and DVDs. There's also a 40th Anniversary Corduroy Elmo. The store even carries a shirt with the Big Bird Google doodle. The shirt comes free with every 40th Anniversary item purchased.
There was a preview of the Barbie Doll'd Up Nails Digital Nail Printer technology earlier this year at CES. Now the nail printer is available and the first commerical has arrived. It's likely to be one of the hot toys for girls this year.
The digital nail printer lets girls create, customize and print designs for nails at home. Barbie Doll'd Up Nails connects to a PC via USB. Girls apply a pre-coat and then insert their fingers into the device. Printing takes just a few seconds. Then a top coat is applied. Girls can choose from 1000s of nail designs or upload their own graphics and photos.
The nail printer is sold exclusively at Toys R Us. You can buy it here. The price listed as of this writing is $149.99.
The Disney Cruise Line has released details of its cruise ship named Disney Dream that will set sail in 2011. The ship's design offers a blend of Art Deco style and Disney whimsy. Some of the unique features on the ship include;
The AquaDuck, a water coaster that sends guests racing above the upper decks of the ship.
A sophisticated lounge where the sun sets over the skyline of a different world-famous city each night.
Rooms contain a Virtual Porthole that provides guests with a real-time view outside the ship. High-definition cameras placed on the exterior of the ship feed live video to each Virtual Porthole.
Disney's Oceaneer Lab lets children feel as though they are embarking on a great seafaring adventure in a room filled with maps, maritime instruments and swashbuckling artifacts
The Edge Edge is a lounge for tweens (ages 11 to 13). The tween pad is filled with hi-tech entertainment including the ability to create and star in photo postcards and video karaoke using green-screen technology.
Animator's Palate is a signature Disney Cruise Line restaurant that brings Disney animation into the dining room.
Royal Palace is a restaurant inspired by the classic Disney films Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty.
Enchanted Garden is a whimsical, casual restaurant inspired by the gardens of Versailles and featuring a dining environment that magically transforms from day to night.
The ship will also have attractions just for adults including The District, a nighttime entertainment area, and the Senses Spa & Salon
The Disney Dream is scheduled to depart on its maiden voyage Jan. 26, 2011, and will sail alternating three and four night cruises to the Bahamas and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay.
A Michigan dentist's office is offering to buy candy back from kids on Monday. Kids can trade in some of the candy they collected while trick-or-treating for cash at a rate of $1 per pound. A local store here on WNDU says the collected candy will be sent overseas to the troops. The dentist says he is not out to ruin Halloween and says he hands out candy himself. Take a look:
Everything is made with kids in mind these days, even pasta servers. The latest fun trend is to turn everything prehistoric. This 13 inches long pasta server called Pastasaurus is shaped like a dinosaur and contains "pasta-snaring teeth."
Since the dawn of time, mankind has labored over the challenge of slippery spaghetti. Then the mighty Pastasaurus appeared on earth, uniquely adapted to this very task.
It's ergonomically designed handle and pasta-snaring teeth work together to make it a lean, mean, spaghetti-serving machine. It's total prehistoric perfection!
Pastasaurus retails for $7.99 and can be purchased here from Perpetual Kid.
Here is a quick way to go sledding. Just put on a pair of these SnowShorts and you are ready the zoom down the hill. The shorts fit over a snowsuit or snowpants and contain a sled on the bottom. The foam-padded PVC seat is fused to the pull-on shorts. These may difficult to wash. The Pull-on SnowShorts cost $35 and can be purchased here from Orvis.
BarnesandNoble.com unveiled its newly designed online B&N Kids Store today at 
The CPSC 
Reuters 
