How to Plan a Trip to the American Girl Doll Stores : American Girl Hotel Packages

A trip to an American Girl Store is a dream come true for little girls. Planning your daughter's first trip to the store is important so that you are both able to get the most out of it. Afterall, the trip to the store is like icing on the cake when it comes to all things American Girl!

Step One : Select Your Location to Visit

These days there are several stores around the country to visit. Only a few years ago there were only three - New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Today there are nine stores in the US.

• New York
• Chicago
• Los Angeles
• Atlanta
• Dallas
• Boston
• Denver
• Minneapolis
• Kansas City
• Washington D.C.
• Seattle

Most of the American Girl Doll Stores are in cities that are visited often by tourists and therefore have a large selection of hotels to choose from. Some of these hotels will often offer American Girl packages.

For instance, the Marriott in Alpharetta, GA (which is where the Atlanta store is located) offers a couple of different American Girl packages. One includes a guest room decorated in the American Girl look - pink and white polka dotted duvet covers and matching robes for your child & her doll. A special guest check-in and an American Girl doll bed that she gets to take home with her are also included.

In Minneapolis, the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel offers a similar American Girl Stay package that includes an in-room American Girl movie, and a chocolate bear delivered to the room as an evening treat.

The Crown Plaza in Boston offers their own version of an American Girl Hotel package.

The Wyndham Chicago has a special offer - the American Girl PJ Pallooza Party.

In Los Angeles, Le Parc Suites offers an American Girl Experience package at the West Hollywood location.

If you will be in Denver, the Inverness Hotel offers up the Presidential Suite, a Town Car, and pampering at the American Girl Salon in their Royal Experience package.

The Westin Galleria Dallas has two packages to choose from - the AG Ice Skating package and the AG Traditional package.

The Marriott in New York City and Kansas City have American Girl shop n stay packages available.

At first, this may sound simple, but if you intend on using any of the additional services offered at many of the stores, then you will want to take the time to do this. Most stores offer a restaurant of some sort. Some have more elaborate offerings than others, but if you want to take your daughter and her doll out to eat, this is definitely the place that will make her feel special. You will want to make a reservation before arriving so that you are sure to experience this.

Other events & services offered at the stores are:

• Doll Hospital
• Ear Piercing
• Doll Salon
• T-shirt Design
• Photo Studio
• Innerstar University Craft Workshops
• Innerstar University Scavanger Hunts
• Meet American Girl Author Valerie Tripp
• American Girl Book Club Fun
• Bitty Bears Story Time
• Holiday Parties
  

This is a very important step if you hope to ever get your child out of the AG store! Have an activity in mind to do after leaving the store. Most likely, she will not be up for a whole day of shopping. She is going to want to play with her doll, or at least get her out of the packaging and carry her around. The promise of a trip to the hotel pool is usually a good way to get her away from the store!

If you can, follow the trip to the store up with a return trip to the hotel. Give her some time to relish her new goodies. Plus, the nice packaging of all of the American Girl merchandise makes it quite difficult to carry around with you - especially if you are in a busy city like New York or Chicago.