My Vera obsession started back when I was high school, I would say it's been about 10 years since my first Vera bag, the "backpack" in Java Blue. Ever since, if I am in the market for a new bag, wallet, luggage, ANYTHING you can bet it's going to be Vera Bradley.
Thursday, 9:00pm: Left Tuscaloosa headed to Disney World
Friday, 8:00am: Arrive at All-Star Sports Resort, dropped off all our luggage and headed to Downtown Disney for shopping
Friday, 9:00pm: Bedtime at All-Star Sports
Saturday, 1:30AM: Alarm goes off to get ready for our BIG DAY!
3:00am: Arrive at Downtown Disney to wait in the parking lot
4:00am: Line moves closer to World of Disney, we are number 41 in line
7:00am: Doors open for Vera Bradley Release Party
7:30am: WE OWN DISNEY VERA BRADLEY!!
8:15am: Meet and greet with Barbara Bradley Baegaard, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer for Vera Bradley.
9:00am: Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day with our brand new bags!
Our wait in line at first seemed like forever and I thought for one moment "I can't believe I am up this early to wait for Vera Bradley." But then I thought, "HEY, I WILL BE ONE OF THE FIRST IN THE WORLD WITH DISNEY VERA BRADLEY". The line opened at 4am and we moved to the emergency exit for the 'Villains in Vogue' room and there we sat with blankets and pillows preparing for 7am. Kimberly actually painted my nails in line, they matched our shirts! Around 5am workers came out with blue and yellow wristbands and order forms. The blue wrist band was for your purchase, the yellow for the meet and greet. The order form allowed you to have your purchase already planned out so the cast could just grab it for you. Each person was allowed to purchase one of each style in each pattern. There were 8 styles in 2 patterns, so a total of 16 items could be purchased. We purchased two of each! The process for buying was so easy! Walked in, gave the cast your order form, and then you head to checkout. After checking out, we had wristbands to meet Barbara. While we waited in that line we had MULTIPLE Cast Members and Vera Bradley associates come and talk to us. We think they loved that we had matching shirts! One person we spoke to was Julie, from Vera Bradley, who took our picture and told us to be watching for the blog and then chatted for a few minutes. Once we got up to the front of the line to meet Barbara I noticed that the Disney Parks Blogger I had been in contact with, Steven Miller, was taking pictures of me and my family so I went up and introduced myself to him and we talked for a few minutes and then got our picture taken together. The girls were talking to Barbara when I walked up and I learned that Madison had told her that she had written Vera Bradley Corporate a business letter for one of her classes and Barbara called a couple of her girls over and told them what she had done and they took our address so they could send her some stuff! FREE VERA?! Okay!!!!! We got our picture made and then we headed out the door only to be stopped by quite a few people that were asking if we enjoyed ourselves? OF COURSE WE DID! We got so much attention from everyone and the whole party could not have been any better or been set up in a more convenient way (except maybe inside, Florida is HOT!). There are so many more details I could share, but it's personal experiences that I can't even begin to put into words.
After the party we headed to Magic Kingdom to enjoy a day of fun! And we wanted to show off our new bags. We even got buttons that said "I'm Celebrating the Vera Bradley Release". Everyone asked where we got it, complimented them, and talked about how jealous they were when they saw them! So much attention, we felt like celebrities. We even got to see Julie again in Magic Kingdom.
Vera Bradley Collection Details:
Pink Collection: "Just Mousing Around" - Black Collection: "Midnight with Mickey"
Each pattern comes in the following styles:
- Zip ID Case ($15)
- Large Cosmetic Case ($35)
- Vera Tote ($99)
- Backpack ($99)
- Mini-Hipster ($60)
- Smartphone Wristlet ($55)
- Hipster ($70)
- Large Duffle ($99)
Right now, items are available to purchase in Walt Disney World Resort (only at World of Disney) and Disneyland. In Disneyland you can find the items at China Closet inside Disneyland Park, Ellas & Co. inside Disneyland California Adventure Park, and Fantasia at the Disneyland Hotel. The purchase limits starting Monday, September 23rd will be: 2 of each style in each pattern, a total of 32 pieces. The collection is expected to hit DisneyStore.com sometime late October, but right now, no date has been released.
