Stepping into Hasbro's display for Disney licensed toys at Toy Fair felt like stepping into a miniature kingdom where all of the fairy tale characters you grew up with had gathered for a royal celebration. Characters that span multiple generations like Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel and Belle were all there in a myriad of fashions and styles, as were new favorites like Anna and Elsa from Frozen. And looking ahead to the future, characters from Disney Descendants and the upcoming Moana and Elena of Avalor made their debut. In this article, we will explore all of the new and upcoming toys broken down by franchise.

Frozen

Disney's Frozen recently celebrated its second anniversary, but love for these characters is still strong and Disney is continuing to offer fans new ways to see them, including the soon-to-open Epcot attraction, a recently announced TV special and the highly anticipated sequel. Unlike the previous Mattel fashion dolls, Hasbro used the same computer models from the film to create these faces. Elsa, Anna and Kristoff are now available in a few different styles, but more are on the way. Right now, dolls are available in fashions based on the original film and Frozen Fever.

Coming soon are Anna and Elsa with Magical Story Capes. Each doll's cape features blank space and comes with a paint brush. After filling the brush with cold water, kids can "paint" the white space to reveal other characters. Elsa's cape features Anna and Olaf, while Anna's cape features Elsa and Kristoff.

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My favorite part of Hasbro's collection is a line of miniature figures called Little Kingdom. These figures come in a variety of options, including stand-alone characters and full play sets. When you look at the collection as a whole, it's impossible to not be delighted by the color schemes chosen and our tour guide revealed that the colors were inspired by the work of Mary Blaire.

Many of the Frozen Little Kingdom characters are already available and while the focus is mostly on Anna and Elsa, other characters are included. In this photo you can see Sven, Kristoff, Olaf and even Marshmallow. The dresses feature squishy, removable plastic gowns and many of the figures come with extra fashions so kids can change them or share clothes between figures.

But hands down, the absolute COOLEST toy that I saw in all of 2016's Toy Fair has to be the Elsa unraveling castle toy that fits into the Little Kingdom collection. The entire castle collapses to about 3 inches high. With the push of a button, it lights up and plays magical sounds as it unravels towards the sky. The Elsa figure that's included has both her coronation gown and ice crystal dress, so kids can completely reenact the "Let it Go" sequence. Expect this piece to be available next Fall in time for Christmas.

 

Hasbro also has a few upcoming board games based on Frozen. Families will have a blast with Don't Break the Ice featuring Olaf, Anna and Elsa. And a new twist on Jenga finds color ice cubes stacked to create Elsa's castle. Players will take turns removing pieces and whoever makes the palace crumble loses.

There are a few Frozen Play-Doh play sets debuting in 2016. Kids can use glittery blue Play-Doh to create Elsa's cape. This play set also includes fun snowflake stamps throughout that can be used to decorate Elsa's ice palace. Kids can also literally build a snowman with Olaf's summer set. His base, head and arms are included, along with a fun summer beach scene from the snowman's dream sequence.

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Continue to the next page for Disney Princess, Descendants, Elena of Avalor and Moana.

Disney Princess

In the same way that Hasbro created Anna and Elsa dolls that look exactly like they do in the film, their goal with the Disney Princess franchise was to make each character feel true to the original classics. At Mattel, they all felt like relatives of Barbie. At Hasbro, the dolls are different heights with facial and body shapes tweaked to make each doll represent the character better than they have in the past. The launch wave of dolls features Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida, all of which are now available in the Royal Shimmer collection of dolls.

Variations on these same characters will continue to be released over the course of 2016. Similar to the Magical Story Cape Frozen dolls, Disney Princess will have a Magical Story Skirt collection. The wave will feature Rapunzel, Merida, Snow White, Belle and Cinderella. I love the way the water brushes are themed to each character. Merida's for example looks like a wisp and Belle's is a rose. Of the images that appear, my personal favorite is Belle whose skirt reveals the stained glass window of Bell and Beast from the film.

Another way Hasbro will allow kids to interact with these characters is with a doll and ribbon collection that allow for some creative play. Ariel and Rapunzel will be the initial launch, each of which come with hair clips and ribbons that can be added to their hair. They come with a salon chair for the doll to sit in and feeding the ribbon into a crank machine allows kids to fray and split the fabric to create new styles. I love the way they've incorporated Pascal and Sebastian into the base.

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Hasbro has already released a few play sets that work with the scale of the dolls and a few more are on the way. Kids can relive Cinderella's coach ride to the ball with the upcoming coach and horse play set. Parents might appreciate that it's not big and bulky, with Hasbro electing for a more collapsed design. But the most fun feature is that kids can spin the center, transforming it from a pumpkin into a coach and back again.

Just in time for Christmas comes the ultimate play set for any fan of Disney Princess, a castle. All of the princesses live here, with design elements that reflect many of their stories. One of the tourets is actually Rapunzel's tower, the clock is approaching midnight for Cinderella, the library features a few of Belle's friends, the dwarfs are helping Snow White in the kitchen and the bathroom is fit for any princess who wants to go "Under the Sea." As a kid, my favorite thing about doll houses was the working elevator. In this castle, Hasbro has stepped up the wow factor with a working Magic Carpet! A lever raises it up and it spirals down to a graceful landing. What more could a princess ask for?

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The Disney Princess collection of Little Kingdom makes Mary Blaire's influence even more apparent. Many of these figures are already available and like the Frozen collection, they come in individual, multi-pack and play set options. The rubber skirts feature some customizable elements and many of the fashions can be swapped between figures. Later this year, Hasbro will release a carrying case which doubles as a play set with castle interiors for the figures to play in. The photo gallery highlights some of the more adorable moments within the collection.

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Moving away from dolls and figures, Hasbro has a few board games on the 2016 schedule that incorporate these characters. I'm most excited to see Disney Princess Monopoly, which features the new snap-board style. This is the full Monopoly game, not Monopoly Jr., making this more accessible for adult Disney fans. Other Hasbro games receiving the Disney Princess treatment are Guess Who? and Connect Four.

 

A New Disney Princess Play-Doh play set is also on the horizon this year. Ariel fans will love the ability to give her new fin fashions. They can also send waves of Play-Doh splashing out of her base and can sculpt the statue of Prince Eric. "Why Eric... run away with you? This is all so... so sudden..."

 

Continue to the next page for Descendants, Elena of Avalor and Moana.

Disney Descendants

If you hop in a time machine and travel into the future, you can meet the children of Disney royalty and their villainous foes in Disney Descendants, the hot new Disney Channel Original Movie and animated short series. Stepping into this "Wicked World" was a fun departure from the more juvenile fun offered by Frozen and Disney Princess.

With the success of the film came a successful line of dolls, which were available in their Isle of the Lost and coronation fashions. Based on an episode of the new animated web series, the Genie Chic collection introduces Jordan, daughter of Genie from Aladdin, and Freddy, daughter of Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog. Along with Mal, Evie and Audrey, these two new characters round out the Genie Chic collection.

Freddy fans will be happy to know that she will also be coming soon in her signature look from the series. She will also be joined by signature Ben, who was previously only available in his Auradon Prep look. Two other new characters, CJ (daughter of Captain Hook) and Ally (daughter of Alice) will make their doll debut with wave two of the Signature collection.

In an upcoming episode of Descendants: Wicked World, Auradon will host a Neon Lights Ball. Hasbro is well prepared for the event with a collection of dolls in light-up fashions. When illuminated, the dolls look like the stepped out of the Mad T Party at California Adventure. Mal and Evie look awesome in their new party styles and Ally is a key player in the Neon Lights Ball storyline. Lonnie, Freddy and Jane complete the party when this doll line debuts this fall.

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Elena of Avalor

A new princess is coming to Disney Jr. in 2016 when Elena of Avalor debuts, a spin-off of Sofia the First. Heralded by Disney as their first Latina princess, Elena toys will be hitting store shelves right around the time that Disney launches the series (release date is still TBD).

Not much is known about the character or the series, but in terms of toys it appears that Elena will be available in her standard look (hair down), royal look (hair up, tiara on) as well as a possible musical doll (maybe she plays the guitar?). Her younger sister, Princess Isabel, will also be available in a two-pack as well as one of the three jaquines from the series, which are magical creatures that help Elena on her adventures.

Moana

Walt Disney Animation Studios' Moana comes to theaters next winter and I couldn't be more excited for the film. Being so far away, Hasbro isn't ready to showcase the entire toy collection just yet, but they did give us a first look at the Moana doll. She's more articulated than most 12-inch dolls and feels like a cross between a doll and an action figure. The god Maui, voiced by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, will also be available in what has to be the thickest doll ever made. Both characters look like they will be a lot of fun to play with and I'm very pleased with the way Moana's adventurous spirit was translated into doll form.