• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 1, 2010

After plenty of missteps in the retail world, Disney is finally generating positive buzz, unveiling its new prototype just outside Los Angeles. The new Disney Store lets kids build toy custom cars inside, conjure up princesses in magical mirrors, and follow trails of pixie dust; an additional 19 newly designed stores are scheduled to open throughout the rest of the year.

"Disney is setting a new standard for the specialty retail category by integrating robust technology and creative store planning to make each visit customizable and that much more memorable," Jim Fielding, president of Disney Store Worldwide, says in a statement. "This is truly an immersive, one-of-a-kind retail experience for children and families that only Disney could deliver."

Some might say it's about time. "Disney was wildly unsuccessful with its first venture," George Whalin, a retail consultant based in Carlsbad, Calif., tells Marketing Daily, adding that its sale to the Children's Place back in 2004 "never made any sense." (Disney bought the stores back in 2008, and ended up closing nearly 100.) But this time, he says, Disney executives hired the same people who designed Apple's highly successful stores, "and that was a stroke of genius."

Among the "hero fixtures," Disney says, are the Disney•Pixar Cars-branded Ridemakerz attraction, a one-of-a-kind immersive car building and customizing experience right in the store. (Fans assemble their car and then customize it with rims, side pipes, blown engines, spoilers and many more accessories.) And then there's the Disney Princess Magical Mirror, a child-sized princess castle with a magic mirror, where favorite princesses appear with a wave of the wand, as well as a theater.

But key to the store design is its interactive features, including a touchscreen kiosk that lets shoppers navigate a 3D view of the store and products, as well as video clips, articles, and social media feeds, which they can immediately share via email, Twitter and Facebook.

Whalin expects that will give it a powerful edge "and a much better chance of success. The issue for Disney, compared to other retailers, is that they have to be extra good in stores, because their product is sold in other kinds of stores." But between their beloved characters and marketing clout, "they've got the wherewithal to do something truly magical."

Among the next markets to open are Chicago, Freehold, N.J., Dallas, Garden City, N.Y., Tampa, Fla., San Diego and San Francisco, with a two-story Times Square store scheduled to open in New York in November. (The company is donating 10% of all opening day sales to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.)