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For all young girls and doll lovers out there, no doubt the American Girl Doll Store in NYC has been high on their list of places to visit.
Outside of the U.S., the American Girl Doll craze might take you by surprise when you visit America. People line up for hours before the store opening time for new releases, as these are not just toys, but collectibles, and well worth keeping in good condition.
When visiting the American Girl Doll Store NYC, you’re going to want to do a little pre-planning so you don’t end up being swept up by the madness, find all the dolls you want are sold out, and leave with a hole in your wallet.
Savannah and I could not wait to come to the US and visit the American Girl Doll stores. We had it all planned out, and talked about it all the time.
In this guide, I (Kalyra, aged 11) will tell you all about our experience shopping at American Girl Place New York City, the American Girl Doll store in NYC, so you know what to expect on your visit.
About American Girl Dolls
If you don’t know what American Girl is, it’s an American line of dolls that are 18 inches (46 cm) in size and portray eight to eleven year old girls.
Each doll has a different story, culture, and race – and there are about a million different dolls.
American Girl Dolls began back in 1986 after they were created by Pleasant Rowland, an educator and entrepreneur who wanted to create dolls that were historically accurate and high-quality. He wanted to inspire young girls and engage them with American history.
Each doll would come with a book series that explores her era, and had a pioneering story about that woman’s role in shaping the country.
The original historical characters were Felicity (Colonial America), Addy (Civil War era), and Josefina (New Mexico in the 1820s).
Over time, it moved away from just historical dolls to include contemporary dolls too, but each doll has kept its personal “identity” and comes with a backstory and personalized options.
American Girl Dolls became a huge hit from the very beginning, and are still ever popular with young girls aged 8 and up!
How we fell in love with American Girl Dolls
Back in Australia, Savannah and I (Kalyra), were given Our Generation Dolls for Christmas, which are imitation American Girl dolls.
They have been traveling with us since before we moved to the USA and had wonderful adventures in Hawaii, California, and many more places with us.
I’m not sure Mum and Dad were ready to suddenly have four children to worry about when traveling, but they seemed to adjust quite well.
Mum was not convinced that taking our dolls in to get a manicure and a salon treatment was a “good money spend.”
My doll would be happy and so would I, so of course, that is a good money spend.
Anyway, we decided we’d like to visit every American Girl Doll store in America.
We wrote out our list of dolls we most wanted and accessories we were going to buy, and just told Mum and Dad a third of it so they didn’t freak out too much!
The first store we visited was in New York City Rockefeller Plaza on our trip to NYC at Christmas and we fell in love.
Since then we’ve been to the American Girl Doll Store in Chicago and the Mall of America in Bloomington, but the NYC store is the most iconic!
They’ve all been amazing and we’ve experienced different things (yes that manicure and doll hair salon).
Lines of American Girl Dolls to look out for
Historical Characters (formerly BeForever)
There is a line of historical characters turned into dolls. They started releasing them in 2015 under the brand name “BeForever” but they dropped this in 2019, and now just refer to them as historical dolls.
The first one was of Maryellen Larkin, and since then there’s been a total of 13 dolls released in the historical range (as of May 2025) that each have a different background in history.
For example, Nanea Mitchell’s story surrounds Pearl Harbour, and Kit Kittridge’s story surrounds the Great Depression.
Savannah has a BeForever doll, Julie, who wants to play on the boys basketball team. She’s also from the hippy era and so Mum’s personal favorite.
All Truly Me
Another line of the American Girl Dolls is Truly Me. Truly Me has hundreds of AG dolls that you can choose from, even one that looks just like you!
The line has different combinations of hair color and styles, skin tone, eye color, face shapes, and more, so you can pick a doll that resembles your own look.
You can name your Truly Me Doll, too!
American Girl Dolls have also released boy dolls in the Truly Me range! So I guess boys can enjoy the store too.
Girl of The Year Dolls
Each year, American Girl creates a new doll that is only available for a year. Sometimes even two years!
They create everything for the the Doll of the Year from clothes to accessories, beds, and anything you can imagine!
I have the 2017 Girl of the Year, Gabriella McBride, a dancer, artist, and a poet. I love her sass and creative spirit.
She’s not available from the American Girl store any more, but I hope one day she will become a collector’s item and be worth a lot of money.
Disney
Of course, they had to make dolls inspired by your favorite Disney princesses and characters.
You can get American Girl Dolls of Moana, Princess Belle, Princess Rapunzel, Princess Elsa and Ann, Tiana, Cinderella, and Ariel.
The Disney dolls are collectible dolls.
Visiting the American Girl Doll Store NYC
There are tonnes of retail locations across the USA for American Girl Dolls, including New York, Chicago, LA, and Mall of America in Bloomington.
My favorite store so far has to be the New York City store. It was so big! But the truth is most stores are almost the same, but there might be a couple of things one American Girl Doll store has that the other one doesn’t.
If you’ve been to one, you’ve been to them all basically.
But Savannah and I like to see all American Doll stores in different states and cities. We try to go to them all!!
To find their locations simply search closest American Girl store near me in Google or check the website for all American Girl doll store locations.
Watch us shopping at the AG store in New York City
Things to do, see and buy at the American Girl Doll Stores NYC
This is no ordinary toy store. Not only do you have rooms of dolls, clothing and accessories, but also a salon and a cafe.
One of the major perks about visiting a store instead of shopping online, is you can bring your dolls with you and pamper them and give them star treatment. You can also make sure you get the correct size of clothing, and even get advice from a personal shopper!
You can literally spend all day in there and never get bored. Parents will be the ones dragging the kids out!
If you already have an American Girl Doll, be sure to bring it with you to the store. They love to see their sisters and friends in the store AND you’ll need them for the salon and cafe.
Here are all the things you can do…
1. Shop Shop Shop
Obviously, you are going to shop when you visit an American Girl Doll store.
If you can’t convince your parents to give you money, or you haven’t earned any (that’s a lot of chores), then you can definitely just window shop.
Mum reckons that’s all we are doing at the next AG store we visit, unless we get gift cards for Christmas and birthdays!
All the different types of dolls I described above have their own sections in the store and each doll will have their own place that is creatively designed with the accessories and outfits that match their personal stories.
This makes it really easy to find clothes and accessories for your doll, and you can even look online for availability if there’s something specific you’re looking for.
I love seeing all the designs and imagining life with that doll.
If you don’t have your doll yet, be sure to take time learning about the dolls, so you choose the one that is just right for you.
I wanted to get Gabby because she is so much like me. She loves to dance, sing, and write about things, and also I love her hair.
Apart from the clothes and accessories, they also have their own line of books. Each doll will have their own fictional chapter book story.
Mom has bought me a few of the American Girl Doll books of off Amazon since we’ve visited.
See I’ve pulled her over to the AG side.
2. Get a Personal Shopper
One thing you can do to help with your AG doll shopping experience is get a personal shopper. Yes they have personal shoppers!!
We had a personal shopper, which meant Mum and Dad could relax, but it also meant we came back with a lot of stuff! Hehe.
Of course, we did not hold back in telling Mary, our personal shopper, our entire wish list.
Mary told us the stories and backgrounds of some the dolls and showed us how Maryellen’s Caravan works!
Usually, when we go to a store, we just get an outfit and something to come with it, because things can get expensive!!! So Parents hide your wallets!!
3. The AG Salon Experience
If you bring a doll in, or just get a doll, you can go to the doll salon. There you can get your doll’s hair and nails and a piercing for your doll!
You can choose the hairstyle, nail polish color, and earring for your doll.
Savannah and I did the salon experience, but we didn’t do the piercing. While we were waiting for Gabby and Julie to be finished, we went around the shop with Mary.
4. The American Girl Doll Cafe Experience
If you get hungry while shopping, you can eat at The American Girl Café. We have eaten at the cafe twice.
Lots of children have their birthday parties in the restaurant, and you can also come in for Afternoon Tea, or have dinner here.
If you bring a doll with you, you can get a dining seat for it and the doll can eat with you. But it’s OK if you don’t bring a doll as well, because you can borrow one!
Your waiter or waitress will bring out a cup for your friend, so they don’t get thirsty!
I would say the food is ok, but pricey.
Just a heads-up for shopping and eating, you can’t just come in with $50 because then you will only be able to get a hairbrush and a drink.
5. Create Your Own American Girl Doll
American Girl has an attraction where you can make and customize your own doll!
Step right up to the design center and make the doll look exactly like you, or however you want it to look like.
That’s on my wish list for my next visit, although Mum reckons she has enough AG children now.
You can choose an outfit, and accessories for it too. Another thing is you can make your own clothes for any doll of your choosing.
They even have a measuring session where they take accurate measurements to create clothes for your doll. Otherwise, clothes come in a combination of sizes and they need to try stuff on to see if it fits.
If you want to do this, you can do it at a store or you can take your own measurements and inpit them on the American Girl website.
6. Doll hospital
Accidents happen and sometimes the dolls get broken, but you don’t have to throw them away and buy a new one, you can take them to the doll hospital to have the Doll Doctor look over it.
You can also get involved too and help out with x-rays, eye charts, and be a helper dentist!
How much do American Girl Dolls Cost?
So the cost is one of the biggest concerns for parents, so there’s no other way to tell it to you than to give it to you straight…
American Girl Dolls cost around $125. If you make and customize a doll, it’s over $200, but it’s worth it as they are collectible and will one day be worth something – if your kids keep them in good condition!
The doll usually comes with their first book (you have to buy the other books separately) maybe one small accessory, but that’s it.
When you open the box the doll you chose will be wearing their main outfit. If you customize a doll, the doll will be wearing the item you chose and have the accessories you chose in the box with it.
You have to buy other items, clothes, accessories, and hairbrushes separately.
An outfit would usually cost between $15 to $20, maybe more. It depends on what outfit you are getting.
For accessories, they would be around the same from $10 to $30. Again it depends on what you are getting. For example, you can get a Hogwart’s Gryffindor outfit for $75.00!
Remember there is sales tax added to the purchase too, so be mindful of that when you go to the checkout. You can get refunds for up to 30 days, after that there can be no exchanges or returns.
Tips for your experience at the American Girl Doll Store NYC
If you want to go to a store soon, here is what you should bring to make the experience more memorable:
- Obviously your children! But, I have seen a lot of adults getting dolls for themselves. I mean, who can blame them? But if you have children then I would definitely think about bringing them to American Girl, because if they love barbies they would love it!
- Be prepared to spend money! It does get expensive, so I might bring more then $30, but it’s totally up to you! If you were getting a doll, then maybe a couple hundred dollars. (see this store can be dangerous)
- Kids, if you already have dolls, bring them. Because as I said earlier, you can eat with them, and take them to the salon. Make them feel like luxury dolls!
- Bring your best persuasive powers. You’re going to need them if you want to walk out of the AG door with your wish list checked off. They will change your life!
Final Thoughts
American Girl Dolls are movers and shakers. I love how they are inspiring strong, young ladies by being strong, fierce ladies who live fiercely and create change.
They’re out making their dreams happen and so a wonderful inspiration and role model for young girls.
Yes, they are only dolls, but they come with stories, personalities, and accessories that make them so real and relevant to young girls, and boys even!
It makes my mum feel better able to handle the hole that is burned in her purse when she walks in the door.
Parents, hold tight to your wallets, as they are about to get sucked dry!
Here are some more ideas for New York with kids.
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Tell me, do you love AG dolls? Who do you have? Do you visit the stores? Let us know in the comments.
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