American Girl

**Disclosure: American Girl provided us with one doll and dinner at American Girl. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions below are of my own and your opinion may vary.

If you have not visited an American Girl Store, I suggest on planning a trip soon. We had the pleasure of visiting American Girl here in Los Angeles. We were not that familiar with American Girl, but as soon as my daughters heard it was a store all about a doll they started counting down the days! American Girl celebrates girls and all that the can and and inspire to be. American Girl helps girls grow up in a wholesome way, while encouraging them to enjoy girlhood through fun and enchanting play. There are many aspects and opportunities that American Girl offers to support girls through play.

• American Girl Magazine carries the message to girls around the globe that "You're great - just the way you are"
• Bitty Baby is their baby line all about babies that promote nurturing play among girls ages 3 and up.
  
• Just Like You Dolls that celebrate that every girl is unique in her own way.
  
• American Girl Stores that engage girls to become a part of their doll's lives.

We were sent an American Girl to help in the review of this feature. When my daughter received the doll she was ecstatic! I have to say, being a lower middle class family unfortunately this is something that would be hard to come by and not be accessible to many of the girls that would benefit from them the most. Most of the dolls start at around $100. The dolls each have their own name with their own story. I was actually surprised at the size of the doll, it was a lot larger than expected, and the quality was outstanding!

Our visit to the American Girl store in Los Angeles was amazing - an experience all of its own. The place is any girls fantasy! It is huge with two levels of dolls and fun. Each doll has their own section with their own accessories. The store is really like the dolls own little mall with everything they need all in one place. The have a photo studio where you can take pictures with your doll and even had a movie theater in the store for when the American Girl had one of their dolls star in their very own movie! It gets even better.....inside the store they even have their own restaurant! We were treated to dinner which was amazing. The staff was wonderful addressing the needs to the children and their dolls. They brought a high chair for my daughters doll, and if you forget your doll or do not have one they will provide one for you - which they did for my son. The portions of food too are very generous! As you can see below my son ordered the tic-tac-toe pizza and it was huge, he did not even finish half of it.


After dinner we went back downstairs and on the way out stopped at the salon to get my daughters doll's hair done. I was very impressed with the prices - we paid only $10.00 for them to brush and style the doll's hair. As we were waiting for dinner to start we wondered around a bit being that there was so much to see. We walked by an area that was the doll hospital admission area. If the doll needs repairing, simple drop the doll off at the "hospital" and when your doll is ready to go home they will call you. It was really so cute - it really looked like a hospital admission area and they were even dressed up as doctors with clipboard in hand.
American Girl Pros -

• Gives girls an opportunity to "just be girls"
• Shares different cultures and ways of life
• Life like features
• Store experience is amazing for any little girl
• Food portions are huge
  

American Girl Cons -

• Prices are very high for a doll and accessories - a price the "most" cannot afford

***as a note also - food choices sometimes change and do not match what is posted online, so I would advise to call ahead to see what the menu items for that day are***

For more information on American Girl visit www.americangirl.com