droolicious : princesses

Roll Out the Royalty With This Toybox

JeanneSager — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:27:00 GMT

We have entered the realm of the Disney Princess obsession, and I'm afraid there is no escaping it. But as we work on our daughter's room makeover, I've been looking to incorporate her favorites in small ways rather than let a character take over.

Her favorite new addition? Her Princess toybox that rolls out of its organizer and around the room for easy clean-up and fun play around the room.

From Delta products, the three-tiered organizer is surprisingly easy to put together (alas, I can't lie and say I did it - thank you honey!) with each piece well-labled, holes pre-drilled and dowels already in place. It's also sturdier than most of the particleboard toyboxes I've found (the one downfall to this box, it is particleboard rather than real wood), able to withstand a preschooler packing it full of EVERYTHING she owns.

The roll out toybox uses the organizer as its "lid," so there's no need to worry about a lid getting beaten up with the constant up and down and no fear of fingers getting pinched. This gets bonus points for the three plastic organizing bins on the second shelf, each of which comes out separately so they can keep cars separate from little action figures and so on.

Better still, this is a small set, which easily fits into a corner of the room and at under $50 doesn't cost you an arm and a leg for something they'll soon grow out of. Get it at Target.

Star Baby: Heidi Klum Has a Handle on Princesses

SunnyChanel — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:26:00 GMT

Heidi Klum held on tight to her princesses the other day in Los Angeles. And when I say princesses I don’t mean her daughter, son and husband Seal. In her right hand the super model clutched a Disney Princess Food Container by Zak Designs. These reusable food containers are sold in a set of three and are made from 100% recyclable material. Each container will hold 25 ounces of yummy snacks. You can pick them up through Amazon for $5.75 here.

Turn Your Frog Into a Prince

Heather Kuldell — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:05:00 GMT

Between hearing fairy tales as in our childhood and reading them to our kids during our parenthood, we know that princesses kiss frogs in hopes of releasing a prince from a terrible curse. The Magic Frog to Prince kit eliminates the need for sloppy amphibious experimentation or smooching. The kit is simple enough: It’s a frog in a cup. Add water, and the frog transforms into a prince. Dump and refill the water, then watch the prince triple his size. For only $6 at Fred Flare, it’d make a silly Valentine’s Day treat.

CES 2009: Blank CDs and DVDs Get The Disney And Marvel Comics Treatment

Chris Ford — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Many people are saying that recordable media (blank CDs, DVDs, Blueray discs and the like) are on the way out and in the future it's going to be all about streaming and downloading content. But people haven't thrown out their CD and DVD burners yet. KDT USA makes blank discs with all sorts of DIsney and Marvel Comics characters and brands printed right on the top, for a blank disc that's just a little more special.

The Disney licensed discs come in all sorts of themes, the best selling of which are (not surprisingly) Disney princesses, Spiderman, High School Musical and Hannah Montana. They cost $1.39 individually or $8.99 for a ten pack. It seems to me if you're thinking about a party favor for your kid's birthday party or something like that, you could do a lot worse than a mix of your kid's favorite songs with a Spiderman or Hannah Montana picture on the cover.

They should be available in stores, and you can check out the manufacturer's web site at KDTUSA.com

Sleeping Beauty Released From Her Deep Slumber In The Disney Vault Tomorrow

Chris Ford — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:10:00 GMT

Tomorrow is a big day in our household. Sleeping Beauty, the favorite princess of my eldest daughter, is finally being released from the Disney vault tomorrow. Sleeping Beauty the movie that is, not the princess. But where is the best place to pick up your copy (assuming you haven't already pre-ordered it)?

If you're looking for extras, Best Buy has a special promotion going on for the release. If you purchase the movie (in either DVD or BluRay), you will get a free Sleeping Beauty Alarm clock (exclusive to Best Buy). If you purchase Sleeping Beauty with two other Disney releases (Tinker Bell and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning), you'll get a "free lithograph of the classic film's theatrical release." The price for the DVD at BestBuy.com is $14.99. Here's a link to the info about the promotion.

Amazon.com doesn't have any special promotions going on, just the same low price of $14.99 for the DVD and $23.95 for the BluRay edition (which also comes with a bonus DVD of the movie for playing in the car or in the kid's room).

Interestingly enough, the Disney Store online is selling the DVD for $19.99 with no special promotions, though I was in a Disney Store last week and they were offering a free lithograph (which quite frankly didn't look that great) with every Sleeping Beauty pre-order.

So I think the choice is clear. See you at Best Buy tomorrow.

The Babble Review: Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake DVD

Chris Ford — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:15:00 GMT

Taking a break from the (sometimes) mind-numbing confines of Nick Jr. and Noggin can be a good thing, and if you've got a little girl who is deep in the throws of princess mania, you might want to check this out. Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake is a DVD aimed squarely at these little girls, and does something that I wasn't expecting. It doesn't try to teach ballet, nor does it present a professional performance of Swan Lake without explaining what is going on. What it does do quite well is convey the beauty and fun of ballet (and the classical music it is based on) without boring the kids watching it.

The forty minute program is broken down into two alternating parts - one that shows the individual acts of Swan Lake as performed by the Paris Opera Ballet, and then another that shows young girls (and one boy) performing the individual ballet steps. During the Swan Lake segments there is a voice-over explaining what is happening in terms of the story, which not only makes it easy for kids to understand, but also for those of us who don't make it to the ballet as often as we should. The other segments feature children from the School of American Ballet showing the ballet positions and other steps, as well as what those steps are based on.

My four year old daughter seemed to really enjoy the entire program, and even asked me to play it again after it was over. For her it's hard to miss with a princess story and video of young kids doing ballet. My two year old daughter was mildly interested, though it really wasn't the sort of program designed to keep the attention of someone her age. From my perspective, the voice-over (the voice of "Prima Princessa" herself) was a little annoying after a while and the overall production quality still has that "indie video" feel, but having a kids DVD where the soundtrack was entirely made up of classical music was a really nice change of pace.

Overall, I think if you've got a daughter or young girl in your life aged 3 or above who you suspect would probably enjoy something like this, it's a safe bet that she will. At the very least it's worth checking out a clip on the web site.

Check out Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake at PrimaPrncessa.com or buy it for $19.99 from Amazon.com.

7 Days of Video Games: Disney Princess Enchanted Journey

Chris Ford — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:03:00 GMT

If you've got a Wii and a little girl who is really into princesses, then chances are you've probably looked this game over. And while in my experience it's not really a very good video game per se, it does have one thing that makes it better than most of the games on the Wii we have (and I'm not just talking about the fact that it features the Disney princesses). It's a game my three year old daughter and I can actually play together, which is what it's really all about.

The game is pretty simple. You get to be a princess (that you customize with hair, dress, jewelry etc.) that goes around and helps all of the Disney princesses. There are Jasmine, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel "stories" that you become a part of, and you run around their respective kingdoms helping defeat bad goblins that turn into butterflies with your magic. Sounds mind-numbing, right? Well, it kind of is, but my daughter loved it not just for the stories, but because she could play too.

The game is played with the Wii "Nunchuck" (the thumb controller that attaches to the normal "Wiimote" controller) and the "Wiimote." You use the Nunchuck to run around in the game, and you use the Wiimote to wave your wand and shoot magic at the bad guys. The way my daughter and I played it was she was in charge of the wand and I was in charge of running our character around the map. The system worked out really well, and after a few weeks of playing it here and there we even finished the game.

The game itself doesn't seem to be written very well. It has lots of glitchy moments when you can't figure out where you're supposed to go, the audio levels are all over the place making it hard to hear the story sometimes, and to play you have to be physically much closer to your television than most other Wii games I've played. It also doesn't look nearly as polished as most other Wii games out there, but if you're looking for a game that you can do with someone who quite frankly isn't coordinated or old enough to play a video game by themselves, then this is a game you might want to check out.

Ultimately, it's a good example of how well the unique Wii controller system works, and how it's the best video game system out there for families.

Buy Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey for the Wii for $19.99 (cheap) from Amazon.
And shop Amazon for a Wii System (if you can find one).

Pretty Pretty Princess Game

Chris Ford — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:28:00 GMT

Let me say first that there is nothing "cool" or "modern" about this game. But if your young daughter is a princess-loving little girl like mine is, you'll definitely want to check it out. Pretty Pretty Princess is the most basic of games. But even basic games can still be fun.

This is how you play - you spin the wheel and land on an item of jewelry. Then you take that piece of jewelry out of the box and put it on. The person who gets all the pieces of jewelry first wins (there are a few pitfalls here and there, but basically that's it). I realize it sounds mind-numbingly dull, but remember, it's not for you. It's for your little girl. It does help with learning to take turns and being a good sport about not winning, but it's pretty far from an educational toy. And I think some things should just be about doing something fun with your mom and dad.

Pretty Pretty Princess Cinderella Edition, $14.95 from Amazon.com (And for a little girl's birthday, this game and a book are one of my go-to present ideas).