Build-A-Bear Workshop

Located in downtown Disney with a display window showcasing various adorably stuffed animals in impressive costumes; how can I not take my niece inside this magical shoppe where she can select anything her precious little heart desires?
It’s a tough decision since build a bear has branched out and added more than just bears to their Arsenal of stuffed animals… I spot a husky and have to remind myself I cannot re-​live my childhood through my darling godchild. As she analyzes the plethora of mammals; she decides on a puppy. Build a Bear is brilliant as each child has to stuff their own animal, brush and clean it– the children think it’s fun but I know child labor when I see it. Now that my OCD godchild is satisfied with the fluffy cleanliness of her new puppy it’s time to select an outfit, shoes, sunglasses, a hat, a puppy house and of course a puppy feeding bowl because pretend puppy can’t starve or be in the sun too long hence the shades. I draw the line at the leash. Explaining that she can’t make the puppy walk– that would be cruel– she needs to carry her beloved animal as she would a treasured baby because you wouldn’t want those ($ 25) — I mean adorable puppy shoes to get dirty right?
The build a bear is a two story immaculate shoppe that delights children bit saddens your credit card– however when you see the smile on your child’s face– it’s priceless. Not to sound corny but it really is. These are memories worth savoring and keeping for the both of you. Luckily they give you a protective cardboard house because there is a Haagn*Daaz nearby and you can’t pass by without stepping inside for a scoop or sundae to celebrate childhood. Just keep the build a bear in the box. Do not under any circumstance allow it to be taken out and admired when your child is eating ice cream. Especially if it’s a sundae. it’ll be tough but you can do it. Discipline has to be enforced.

This place is fun. I wish they had not closed a lot of them down. I’ve been bringing all my children to this place, boy and girls. I also had a birthday party at the former Hollywood site. Although it’s expensive it’s worth it. The toys bought here have been something my children have continued to play or have a keepsake for many years.

Came through after the Disney trip to the BAB down at downtown Disney and immediately notice a sign. They now have Pikachu option exclusively. I was hyped. I knock over some kids and proceeded to get me a Pikachu. I don’t like how disorganized that place is though. You have to hit every station so they can explain things to you even if you don’t want to purchase anything there. That to me was a waste of time which is why I’m only giving this place a 3 stars.
The station where they stuff up your plush is by far my favorite station. Seeing them do that was pretty cool and the chick running that station was the coolest and provided the best customer service throughout the store. I wish I caught her name. The Pikachu came out all squishy and huggable. Excellent job! You can even stuff a toy heart inside of it that actually beats. Trippy.
We ended up picking up some chucks, a pokemon hoodie and some overalls for the Pikachu and were pretty satisfied. Total was about 60 to 70 bucks and that’s with me not being suckered into all their upsells. Still its a solid plush since its so personal.

So I have only been here once but it was a pleasant experience. When I first walked in an older lady (I don’t know her name) greeted me. She asked me if I had been there before (she was asking if I’d ever been to build a bear before but I thought she was asking if I had been to that particular store before so I said no but I have been to build a bear a bunch of times.) Anyways after that she proceeded to tell me exactly what to do. She told me the entire process like that I had to pick my bear, pick my sound, get it stuffed, and then dress it. I thought that was nice and I really appreciated it because if I was new that would have been very helpful. Then I came back later on in the day and had a wonderful conversation with the lady who stuffed my pikachu. She wished me good luck when I told her I was going to apply at build a bear and then she told me that my pikachu came with a free Pokemon card (which I didn’t know.) She also did the heart ceremony with me (I liked that ;))which the employees at my local store don’t do because they kind of know me and know that I’m an adult. Overall I would highly recommend this store. This is probably the nicest experience I had at a build a bear and the store is really nice too! It’s two stories which I love!!! I will be back!

Kids’ birthday parties these days! Much more sophisticated or civilized (?) than the ones in my day where we ran around unmanicured backyards with 3 feet of old grass/​weeds, slid through bedroom windows on old doors, ate way too much string licorice from clotheslines, beat the crap out of pinatas (and anyone standing too close), and ended it all with home made cake and Kool-​Aid or Hawaiian Punch if your parents splurged.
Fast foward many, MANY, decades, and here I am at a Build-​A-​Bear Party for my niece’s 4^th birthday. Too cute, these people have thought of everything! Cha Ching! As a party guest, I had the opportunity to witness the birth of about 5 bears, 1 pony, 1 rabbit, and 1 pikachu. The process is very detailed, organized, and the two gals who worked the party did an excellent job of interacting with the kids and keeping them engaged so they could bring their lifeless critters to life. They all picked the skin of their favorite critter, stuffed them, gave them a heart, gave them a name, supervised the stitching, gave them a pretend bath, picked outfits, dressed them, and received birth certificates. Then they took my niece to the balcony area of the staircase, rang the bell, got the attention of the entire store and sang happy birthday to her. She looked like she was at the New York Stock exchange and then realized that she bought too high. After that, outside for ice cream sundaes which made the stock news easier to digest.
The kids all had a good time. The adults too, once they got over the incredibly loud noise level, and the invasion of little people. Parking is a you know what here, but the first 2 hours are free. I highly recommend arriving early and popping in at The House of Blues next door or that Tortilla Jo’s place and having a couple of shots before visiting Build-​A-​Bear. It will make the experience much more pleasurable for you and everyone else awaiting the birth of their critter.

Store is like two stores in one. They have two floors. On each floor you can chose a bear and stuff it. It makes everything run faster. The employee who stuffed my pikachu was so nice. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. If she stuffs your bear just say «My name is Jeff.» I’m sure it’ll make her night.

Prepare to spend about 50.00 per «bear» with all its pieces and clothes and accessories. Fun activity to do with kids. If you want to avoid the crowds, show up first thing in the morning.
We made a day of it on Christmas Eve and booked The Character Breakfast at The StoryTeller’s Café in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel — this allowed us to use the valet with 3 hours free and avoid parking hassles. We enjoyed the lobby and the fireplace for a bit then walked through the lobby of the hotel and out the conference area into Downtown Disney. The Build a Bear is a just outside that entrance to the left.
We were the first ones in the door that morning at 9am. We chose our bear bodies and voice boxes (they were having a sale 2 of the bears for 35.00) and the voice boxes were 7.99 each.
The kids chose those pretty quickly and we went to get them stuffed and have their hearts put in, they can choose a FREE heart or one that BEATS (costs money) — my niece chose the beating heart, my nephew chose the free one, he thought the beating heart was freaky.
They do a cute little ceremony and put the heart into the bear, then they help the child stuff the bear.
Then we were off to shop for the clothes. The different outfits ranged from 6.99 to around 14.00, everything from hats to shoes to dresses and stuffed instruments.
My nephew made his bear a Ninja and my niece made her bear a rock star.
They had a great time, but only because we went early and avoided the crowds by design. As we left the store had started to fill up and the lines were getting long, the line to stuff the bears was already about 10 people deep when we left.
They added everything up and sold me on 10.00 gift cards for 5.00, I got 2 of those.
We headed over to StoryTellers Café and enjoyed Brunch and then had time to sit by the fire in the lobby and take pictures with the big tree with some hot cocoa before heading out to enjoy family parties the rest of the night.
A great way to enjoy this if you have the funds. Not a cheap option — but a fun one.
ADVICE: GO EARLY, PLAN TO SPEND BETWEEN $ 40 — $ 50 PER CREATION, USE VALET IF YOU CAN OR PLAN ON THE DISNEY PARKING MAZE.
Don’t bring yourself or a kid here unless you are ready to spend. It’s just one of those places. Everyone will leave happy if you resign yourself to taking the hit. :)

We made the mistake of coming here on a Saturday afternoon. We only came because the new Star Wars bears were calling our names and we were just across the way at UVA Bar. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Build a Bear, it’s a great place for kids, adults, families, groups of friends, etc to custom build your own cuddly little friends to take home. You pick a «bear» from their enormous collection of offerings, you line up and wait for a bear stuffing expert, and you fill up your bear. Don’t worry, there are more than just bears! I’m sure there’s a stuffed animal to accommodate every person in your crew. It’s a really cute concept, especially for the little ones. They put a heart inside their bears, but not before showing the heart some love. They do little dances, twirl around, and make wishes. It’s fun to watch little kids and the big adultier kids. LoL.
They have bears for every budget too, but beware dressing your bear from head to toe can turn out to be pretty costly. They have bears ranging from $ 10-​$ 40, I think and the clothes price range is about the same. You also get to sit down at a computer and create a birth certificate for your bear. The entire experience is really great. If you’re a Disneyland Annual Passholder, don’t forget to get your discount at the register.
Weekends are busy, so beware. But it’s great for kids, and the kids at heart. I have to admit that I probably have more build-​a-​bears than most kids. They’re so cute, and they also make great gifts for people of all ages.

What an adorable place for your kids as well as for yourself, family, love ones and friends. ~ They make super cute gifts~
You can pick and make your own bear, then make it come to life by dressing them up, play music, add a heart beat and many more…
First off., A little fun process to build your bear:
— Choose your unstuffed bear. Price ranges around $ 25, comes with birth certificate and stuffing the bear.
— Select the song you would like in the bear at additional cost between $ 4-​$ 8 depending on which sound or song (I was told if the sound stops working you can bring in your bear to replace it for free)
— Add a heartbeat if you’d like for $ 6 (so cute and worth it) boom boom!
— Get ready to stuff
— A helpful assistant will insert the sound in the bear and help you through the process
— Step on the pedal to stuff your bear
— Perform a cute ritual ceremony so your bear can come to life and make a wish before placing in the heartbeat
— Add the heartbeat if you chose it
— Sew and close up your bear~ they do that for you :)
— Pick out clothes, wigs, shoes, accessories and many more for your bear at additional cost
— Dress up your bear in the dressing room they provide, save the tags to ring up at the register
— Name your bear and make the birth certificates at the computer area
**FYI– The computer isn’t a touch screen like I thought lol but there’s color coded buttons on the keyboard for yes and no, etc**
After it’s done. you pick up the birth certificate as well as pay for your lovely bear at the register and they’ll put your bear in a take home box for you:)
— All done~ Tadaa!
— Enjoy your cuddly and wonderful bear. So sweet to see the smile on your child’s face :)
Service was awesome and very helpful to our needs. We were there on a Monday during the week when it’s not so busy so everything went pretty smooth.
Located inside Downtown Disney and don’t forget to check out more bears upstairs.
Overall we had a great experience and we will def be back xo

Too bad this place doesn’t have enough staffing. The only thing they have going for them is that the place is clean.
Only one employee was super sweet and I feel
sorry that she works here.
The boy over by the filling station was tell to me and my daughter «this isn’t a line go over there» as he points with his eyes. Super rude. The gentleman getting a animal filled said let me walk you over he is rude.
If it wasn’t for my daughter wanting her stuffed pup I would have walked out. I am lucky she thought he just needed a break.
Everyone but the sweet girl that helped us get a husky for my daughter need retraining.
Don’t yell at your customers. Have more people stage directing. Teach then eye contact and basic customer service skills. This may not be there career but they should do there best.

Update: came in today to reward my daughter after a long day at CHOC. They were understaffed and took forever to acknowledge us. After waiting for someone to assist us we went downstairs and waited behind two families. Zeke, the young man who helped us, was working and stuffing as fast as he could while still giving each child a special personalized experience, but they really should have had the 2^nd fluffer open to assist customers. The building is too warm on sunny days and the AC is weak. Standing with tired, hot, cranky kids is not my idea of a pleasurable experience. Just looked behind me and there are over a dozen people waiting for assistance and other than the employee working at the register, there is not an employee on the floor to answer questions. Apparently this location no longer cares about providing enough employees for the volume of customers they have.
— — — — — — — — — —
Everyone working tonight was super friendly. Angie and Sammi even took the time to explain birthday packages and answer all of my questions. My daughter picked out a new bear and couldn’t be happier to take «Lola» home.

For a unique experience, making your own teddy bear (or variant thereof) is truly memorable, especially if you have little ones. My son, with a little encouragement from dad, created a Darth Vader bear, complete with breathing sound effects and light up light saber. Careful, the bear starts out at $ 35.00, but can quickly escalate with extra cost options. It was a bit of sensory overload for my 2 year old and honestly, I think I was more excited than him. For a one off experience, I think it was great fun, but we’re definitely not going to be regulars here. The bear is yet another novel Star Wars trinket that might fetch some $$ on eBay in 10 years. But for now, it goes on the shelf with the other Star Wars memorabilia waiting for the force to be with us…

It’s your your typical build a bear workshop, located in the heart of downtown Disney. Took about one hour in total from the time my daughter picked her bear to purchasing it to complete our transaction. 30 minutes of that was standing in line to pay. I don’t like that they closed off the top floor which is the same exact thing as the bottom floor. Being its so busy and crowded they really should keep both open at all times. There was also a cashier counting out her register 2 hours before closing, shouldn’t you keep as many registers open if you still have 2 more hours until closing?
It’s a ridiculously priced concept, I mean your paying $ 50 minimum for a bear?! That’s the low end, you can pay up to $ 100 for one bear and a couple items of clothing here on the pricer end.

Nice friendly staff, with a vast selection of stuffed animals. I was buying a teddy bear for my girlfriend and bought her one here. The employees are ruthless salesmen! LOL If you thought car dealerships were bad, but these employees literally try to sell you every little thing for your bear, to increase the price. which is understandable because its their job, but you would guess they were paid on commission

We’ve waited thirty minutes to make a bear without two bears in front of us. Seems like 5 people are working and only 1 of those are making bears. The others are chatting…

I think no matter what age you are, Build-​a-​bear is the kind of store that doesn’t make you feel like you’re too old for a stuffed toy! It’s a really nice experience also… And pretty fun!
They have a wide variety of unstuffed animals (which you can stuff later); teddy bears, ponies, dinosaurs, dogs, cats, Toothless (from How to train your Dragon), and recently the Minions (from Despicable Me).
They also have a large selection of clothes that you can use to dress your animal once you’re done stuffing them. You can also add sounds and scents that you can put into your animal to personalize it even more!
I think the most memorable part is when you put a heart into it and you give it a name. It really does become something special knowing that you yourself have help make it and especially for children, it makes that animal even more important.
I know it sounds corny, haha, but it’s something someone should try at least once with their children, significant other, or self!
The staff members are really nice and helpful and they make it even more special that way. I would definitely come back to do it again!
I got Toothless btw, with a cotton-​candy scent and a barking sound. And I love him! Got him a Disney shirt also which shows their 60^th Anniversary Celebration… So it made him a little more special.

Build a Bear is pretty hokey. I mean, why pay more for semi-​DIY stuffed animal when you can get one less at another retail store? Well, I got to say I know why now. There’s cross licensing with other movie characters in here. We went home with a Captain America Stuffed Bear. No, I crap you not, we paid $ 25 for the bear, $ 7 for his boots, and $ 5 for something else that could’ve been used for a scoop if ice cream instead at Haagan Daz. We also got Toothless and a few other ones stuffed. I’m sure the people behind us loves us. :) Currently, there’s the 60^th anniversary Disney ones available.
But I guess its whatever makes your kid happy right? I mean, you can stuff the animal with sounds that will run you another $ 5-​$ 10. You can also add a fragrance for extra. I mean, do you need to satisfy all the senses from an animal? Pretty soon, I’m sure the edible component will come to play and break your wallet.
One thing I have to say they got right is the training of the people who stuff the animals here. They make sure your kid loves the stuff animal and make sure they have that heart inside the animal before sewing it up. So, yes the lines are long because of that but its a nice touch. Hence, the way they will take more money from you.
If the is insanely lone downstairs, you can find pretty much the same thing upstairs. You can walk the stairs or take the elevator. You can get your animals birth certificates in both places and if youŕe like us who brings another stuff animal from 4 years ago, they can make one for you át the checkout in case you can’t find the scan bar.

What a super cute experience!
I’ve heard of this store long ago but recently checked it out with little cousins who were visiting.
*Pick the «skin» of your stuffed animal: most are bears, but they also have ponies and Olaf. Most are $ 25 with some on sale at 2 for $ 30
*Choose a song that can be played when you squeeze your animal– I believe this is optional for an additional $ 7
*Choose how soft or hard you want it, then they stuff it accordingly
*Grab a heart. They make you go through a series of thoughtful things and then kiss the heart to then put it inside the bear before they sew the seams. No additional charge
* Add a scent, optional and additional
*Register your bear, choose a name and then have the Birth Certificate printed at the register
*Choose accessories that range from shoes to dresses to cars…
*There are also dressing stations and a place you can clean and dry your animal
The whole experience is super cool and it helps your little one appreciate their stuffed animals.
Plus, prices are very reasonable compared to other stores such as American Girl.
Unilocal 100 Challenge! 2015: ¹⁵⁄₁₀₀

Build-​a Bear is an adorable concept of building your own bear, dog, what have you and clothing it in whatever you can imagine.
First you pick out your animal, ranging in prices from $ 10 – 25. It is empty so then you get in line to stuff it. The builders allow you to pump the machine yourself and add a heart to the animal in an adorable way. Then they’re sewed up and you can add some clothes! As this location is in Downtown Disney, there are bunches of Disney character outfits to choose from. They’ve also got reindeers and Santa to make for the holiday season!
Though this location has two stories of bears, outfits, and builders, it was crazy busy! My niece and I must have stood in line to stuff her Anna bear for a good 20 minutes or so without the line moving so much as an inch before we gave up and got her a Frozen doll from the boutique down the way.
I get it’s holiday season and there’s a process to actually building these bears, but there’s gotta be a more effective way of getting people through this line.

Located in Downtown Disney.
2 stories. Both floors have workstations.
Always crowded. Service was good.
The bear prices I saw ran from $ 16 – 25.
Low rating because the efficiency here was terrible. One a busy weekend afternoon, you would expect all the workstations to be active, but both floors only had 2 builders each. Lines were super long and it moved so slow. They need to work on this.
Took like 45 minutes but I got the bear I needed.
Disney passes work here for a 10% discount.