Visiting The American Girl Store at The Mall of America

[Originally posted here.]

I was worried that it wouldn't be up to the hype...I worried for absolutely nothing! It was AMAZING and FUN and EXCITING and the most wonderful feeling watching and hearing Zoey and her friends giggling and squealing with delight and wonder for pretty much 48 hours straight. Visiting The American Girl  store for the first time was just magical and everything that a little girl could dream of and more!

 

My friend, and the mother of one of Zoey's best friends asked awhile back if we would like to make the trip to Minneapolis with them to visit The American Girl Place and we of course said yes...I am so glad that we made this little outing happen.  It was such a special thing to do as mothers and daughters.  It's something that I know that Zoey will not forget.



The little jester styled skirt that Zoey and her doll wore on the first day were birthday gifts made for her from one of my friends and her daughter.  My friend Misty made them out of old t-shirt scraps.  It was fun because when we were in The American Girl Place pretty much every employee at some point came up to her and asked about her skirt and ooohed and ahhhed about it. 



Here is a little slideshow that I made up and put to one of Zoey's favorite songs of our visit.

 

Zoey had gotten some spending money from both of her grandmothers and Ethan and I had some tucked away for her too because we thought it would be special for her to pick out her very own doll of her choice since up to this point her dolls have been gifts that others have chosen for her.  She chose McKenna who is the doll of the year this year.  I have to say too, she's pretty darn cute in person.  :) 



We ate at The American Girl Bistro for dinner on the day we arrived and then again for brunch the next day. The food was delicious and was presented in fun little displays for the girls.  I will say though that they provided A LOT of food.  Zoey wasn't able to finish either meal in it's entirety.  The experience totally made the trip though...getting to eat out with your doll at a fancy restaurant was pretty special and the waitstaff made sure to make it even more so.  The dolls had menus (that the girls got to take home), and they had special chairs that sat up to the table and had table settings as well. 

 

The American Girl Place was two stories (Zoey had a blast on the escalators) and downstairs were the books, the doll salon (the dolls could get a spa treatment or their hair done), the historical dolls and accessories, the doll of the year McKenna and her accessories and clothing, there was a Bitty Baby section as well as a section for the Bitty Baby Twins and some of the Just Like You dolls as well as some of the store exclusive items (which are not available online).  Upstairs was the bistro and more
of the Just Like You dolls, McKenna items and exclusives.

It was fun to see all the employees interacting with the girls and not necessarily the mothers.  It was so fun for the girls to bring their dolls into the store and to get to just play while there.

We had some fun exploring The Mall of America too...I hadn't been there since probably when I was in high school so it was fun for me to check it out again now as an adult.



Zoey's friend and sister both got their ears pierced while we were at the mall and while Zoey was interested, she decided to not go ahead and get hers pierced yet.  :)  So instead she got some funny pink (non-prescription) glasses, pink of course.



After our first day at The American Girl Place the girls came back to play with their dolls at the hotel.  I think they went to sleep around 11:30pm that evening.  It was so fun listening to their excitement and chatter before finally collapsing in bed.









We had so much fun, and I have a feeling that we will be thinking about this trip for some time to come.  It's totally worth making the trip if you have a daughter (or granddaughter that loves dolls!).  Thank you Amanda and Gracie for inviting us along!