Barbie Land comes to life in Daybreak

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One street in Daybreak in South Jordan, Utah, just got a major Halloween makeover, creating a Barbie Land in the Mountain West.

People from all over are traveling to Daybreak to see Barbie’s Dream House, Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House, a Barbie graveyard, Weird Barbie’s house and more. The street is located at 10893 Lake Island Drive, South Jordan, Utah.

A headstone reads “Here lies Sugar Daddy Ken” in the front of a Barbie decorated home in Daybreak. This headstone accompanies other headstones, including one for Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie. (Sydni Merrill)

Residents said visitors are flocking in to walk through the streets as early as 7 a.m. and staying as late as 11 p.m.

Todd Paladini lives in Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa house. He said the idea for Barbie Land started with eight women.

“The ladies went and watched the movie, walked out of the movie and huddled and said ‘Hey, let’s build Barbie Land for Halloween.’ And that’s how it came about,” Paladini said.

Now, 18 decorated homes are participating.

Visiting Barbie Land brought the movie’s message home for Lizzie Robinson and her daughter Eleanor.

“Barbie has always sort of been like girls and women can be anything. The movie expanded it to be Barbie is great and also the patriarchy is harmful to everyone, not just women.”

Eleanor hasn’t seen the movie yet but is a big fan of Barbie and mermaids. One of her favorite books is about Mermaid Barbie.

Poster of John Cena staring as a mermaid in the Barbie hangs on a fence. Cena has a small cameo appearance in the film. (Sydni Merrill)

“Barbie has a necklace and she puts it on, then they all hold hands and they jump in and turn into mermaids,” Eleanor said.

The Barbie movie remains the highest grossing film of 2023, and Daybreak is proving how much Barbie fever has gripped Utah.

Daybreak community member Kellie Powell says this Halloween collaboration is unlike anything she’s seen while living here.

“People go all out. It’s just really neat to see the whole community come together to create something amazing,” Powell said.

At night the homes are lit up with some featuring projectors and sound systems. Barbie Land will be up through the Halloween season.

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