American Girl Events - yay or nay?

[new_mommy25]

We don't have an AG store but DD has a bitty baby and an 18" doll and will be getting Julie next month for her birthday. We are going to be in San Francisco in June so I looked at the calendar of events for the store. They will be having a summer celebration with a meal, crafts, and a beach tote for a doll. If you've been to other AG events, did your DD and you enjoy. Was it worth the cost? I'm trying to decide if it's worth the drive and time out of our schedule. Thanks!

[AnnieW625]

We ate lunch at the AG store in Los Angeles and had a great time. It was about $85 or $90 including tip (for 1 adult, and 2 kids) and the server was great and very attentive, so worth the 20% tip I gave him. High tea in my area is about $20 per adult and $15 for kids so this was a little bit more but not much more. I would go again, maybe with my mom or my sister. We haven't been to any other events.

The AG store is at the Stanford Shopping in Palo Alto so it could be convenient depending on where you are at, but it would have a much better ambiance IMHO if it were in San Francisco. So if you are close I think it would be a fun trip, but if you are looking at being there during the week then I might reconsider because of typical rush hour concerns. Traffic on the weekend is much better IMHO.

eta: I haven't been to the Stanford Shopping Center in many years, but maybe the AG Store works in that location, but it would be grander IMHO in the middle of SF like Union Square or even SOMA.

[new_mommy25]

Annie, it's on a Friday at 5pm. Is that prime rush hour? I know it is where I live!

[AnnieW625]

depends on where you coming from. I am not super familiar with the area, but the few times I met my DH in Santa Clara for work events and I was coming from Sacramento the traffic was always better going south vs. going north but that is a completely different set of freeways (it would take me just about 2 hrs. vs. the 90 minutes it would take on a weekend, so 30 mins. of extra traffic) so I could be completely off base, but in general anytime during the week it is best to be on the freeway by 2:30, 3 at the latest no matter where you are (and fwiw DH would not consider another job in the Bay Area when he got laid off because he hated he traffic even though he could take a train to work).

[citymama]

We don't have an AG store but DD has a bitty baby and an 18" doll and will be getting Julie next month for her birthday. We are going to be in San Francisco in June so I looked at the calendar of events for the store. They will be having a summer celebration with a meal, crafts, and a beach tote for a doll. If you've been to other AG events, did your DD and you enjoy. Was it worth the cost? I'm trying to decide if it's worth the drive and time out of our schedule. Thanks!

There's actually a treasure hunt at the Stanford AG store tomorrow that we had been thinking of going to but decided against it. It's a small store compared to the LA one and gets very crowded during events. We have a cafe reservation later this month for dd2s bday with grandma but the cafe is ridiculously small - a quarter of the size of LA, with just 4 tables, each seating 4 people, and no ambiance.

I think if you are going to be in SF and you don't live near a store, it
would be fun to take your DD. Julie is a big deal at the Bay Area store and her display is really cool. But you don't need to tie it to the event if it isn't convenient.





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[Gracemom]

We have a store here, and there are several free events. Check the store's calendar. We have also had dessert only at the cafe to keep costs down. Super fun!