And After This, Chuck E. Cheese

For the last decade New Yorkers have bemoaned the Disneyfication of Times Square with its mall chain restaurants, its themed nightclubs, and its now well-scrubbed and well-fed middle American patrons. And with the below news, the Disneyfication of Times Square has become complete and literal.

Disney is going theme park with its new Times Square retail store. Perhaps trying to emulate the retail magic of Apple stores, Mickey Mouse & Co. will be transforming an old retail space in New York's Times Square into an interactive store with theme park attractions and children's exhibits. Hoping to attract young consumers and their parents, the store will conjure up an interactive princess castle and a kids' theater offering animation and storytelling for the younger crowd. Also on display will be specific activities for kids, special events, and even celebrity guest appearances timed with major Disney film releases. Much of the credit for the new store design, according to an October New York Times article, can actually be given to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who joined Disney's board in 2006, after the company bought Pixar Animation Studios. Just as he pushed for a certain design for the Apple stores, Jobs reportedly convinced Disney to fashion its own stores on a grand scale.

The Disney Store will be in the former Virgin Megastore, which was supposed to become a Forever 21 before it was supposed to become an indoor mini-mall. It will be right next to the Toys R Us, across from the Olive Garden, and diagonal from the M&M's Superstore.