Was Target planning to have the Disney characters host a storytime/meet and greets at their stores at one time?

[DodgerGirl]

When it was announced that Target was gonna have the Disney Stores section of their toy sections I heard that one of the activities that they were gonna have was a storytime-like hour for children and everyone with the chance to meet and greet with the characters after the storytime hour was finished but I had never ever heard about this happen at any Target stores. From what I heard the first Disney character meet and greet/storytime hour at Target was gonna feature the princesses reading a story then doing a meet and greet after the story and then the next month was gonna feature a Mickey and friends Christmas story and a meet and greet with Mickey Mouse and Minnie dressed as Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. This idea sounded neat for people who couldn't wait to see characters in the parks. But why Target chose not to do this i'll never know but Target should do something like this for people who are character fans like myself
Do you agree?
Dodger

 

[ShannyMcB]

My guess? Character integrity in the age of social media. Minnie Mouse can’t be onstage in front of the castle and doing a meet and greet on Main Street at the same time…there’s only one Minnie! If someone does a “live” from target of a princess and you have folks waiting in line to see the same princess states away who sees that stream the illusion and character integrity is gone.
You would also then have the issue of “friends” outside the bubble having to learn autographs and the same backstory knowledge as those in the parks. It would be on a different level than someone hired for a birthday party. The deals between target and Disney probably include some very strict criteria to protect both brands.
Is that the correct reasoning? No idea. But character integrity is important.

 

[tjkraz]

Never heard of that and the logistics seem insurmountable. Trying to maintain and secure the character costumes, maintain a staff of properly trained performers. The way you describe it, they've got at least 3 people working, plus handler(s). And for what benefit? It wouldn't magically prompt people to spend more on Disney merchandise. Target stores aren't equipped to have dozens of parents and kids show up for story time.

Maybe they could do it at a single flagship store (NYC?) as a publicity event. But Disney didn't even hold events like this regularly in their own Disney stores.

 

[Nayan]

Nope, Target never said they would do this (story time) and why would they? As said above the stores are not equipped to handle anything of the sort and there would be no benefit if they did.

If people want to see characters they can spend the money and go to the parks. Just because you're a fan doesn't mean you are entitled to see the characters outside of the parks.

 

[mom2rtk]

My guess? Character integrity in the age of social media. Minnie Mouse can’t be onstage in front of the castle and doing a meet and greet on Main Street at the same time…there’s only one Minnie! If someone does a “live” from target of a princess and you have folks waiting in line to see the same princess states away who sees that stream the illusion and character integrity is gone.
You would also then have the issue of “friends” outside the bubble having to learn autographs and the same backstory knowledge as those in the parks. It would be on a different level than someone hired for a birthday party. The deals between target and Disney probably include some very strict criteria to protect both brands.
Is that the correct reasoning? No idea. But character integrity is important.

No.

 

[LAS2AMS]

My guess? Character integrity in the age of social media. Minnie Mouse can’t be onstage in front of the castle and doing a meet and greet on Main Street at the same time…there’s only one Minnie! If someone does a “live” from target of a princess and you have folks waiting in line to see the same princess states away who sees that stream the illusion and character integrity is gone.
You would also then have the issue of “friends” outside the bubble having to learn autographs and the same backstory knowledge as those in the parks. It would be on a different level than someone hired for a birthday party. The deals between target and Disney probably include some very strict criteria to protect both brands.
Is that the correct reasoning? No idea. But character integrity is important.

I doubt that comes into play. Not that long ago, we saw a Disney stage show in which Cinderella was black. When they did the meet-and-greet afterward, Cinderella’s skin tone changed to white.

Doesn’t seem reasonable that Target would ever host a character meet-and-greet.

 

[etherealcaitiff]

I remember some rumblings of a "store-in-a-store" type concept once the Disney Store locations started closing. It would be like how JCPenny and other retailers had a dedicated Sephora inside their shops. I feel like this might have been a stretch of that rumor. Disney Stores had "Story Time" in so much as they had a video that would play with stories, pretty similar to what you see on DCL. No actual characters would be on site though.

 

[Mle8308]

No, that was never part of the plan.

 

[SirMickey]

I 100% agree with you that Target should incorporate character appearances in their stores. It would be smart on their part in that it could attract more customers and would further set apart the Disney Store component of their store and make it more of an attraction. Disney fans of all kinds would likely find it amazing and exciting! It would be great!

 

[Mle8308]

I 100% agree with you that Target should incorporate character appearances in their stores. It would be smart on their part in that it could attract more customers and would further set apart the Disney Store component of their store and make it more of an attraction. Disney fans of all kinds would likely find it amazing and exciting! It would be great!

Never going to happen and the return on investment isn't there. It would also de-value the experience and exclusivity of meeting a character at Disney. It's hard enough to staff the parks with characters, never mind Target stores nationwide! It is a very specific body type for each character, some way more challenging to find than others (ex Mickey, Minnie, Donald). And then proper training on mannerisms... You can't just throw a costume on some random 16 year old and have them represent Disney. And not terribly likely to drive sales. People may come for a photo, but that is probably it. I could see a one time "character appearance" as part of a travelling road show as a one time promo, but not on a consistent basis.

 

[SirMickey]

Never going to happen and the return on investment isn't there. It would also de-value the experience and exclusivity of meeting a character at Disney. It's hard enough to staff the parks with characters, never mind Target stores nationwide! It is a very specific body type for each character, some way more challenging to find than others (ex Mickey, Minnie, Donald). And then proper training on mannerisms... You can't just throw a costume on some random 16 year old and have them represent Disney. And not terribly likely to drive sales. People may come for a photo, but that is probably it. I could see a one time "character appearance" as part of a travelling road show as a one time promo, but not on a consistent basis.

While it may never happen, it doesn't mean that it isn't a decent idea and one that would be fun and joyous to the masses. I'm also not entirely sure that it wouldn't drive sales. The fact is, we just don't know if it wouldn't do that. Overall, I think the original poster was onto a good idea regardless of whether or not it would ever come to fruition -- it's just fun to contemplate ideas like this.