'Barbie' movie features Central Florida star who hopes to represent people with limb differences

ORLANDO, Fla. - Barbie fervor has taken over the nation recently, but here at 1 Up in Orlando, there is a designated place to celebrate the release of the new movie.

From Barbie’s kitchen to her couch, to her bathtub, 1 Up has it all. The arcade has an upstairs section dedicated entirely to Barbie.

That discovery has been the delight of Instagrammers and Barbie fans all over Orlando. Blair Hurley came with a group of friends to celebrate the movie release at 1 Up.

"What Barbie means to me is that as a girl, we can do anything," said Hurley.

For 1 Up Bar Manager Luke Horman, the best part is that the Barbie section of the arcade happened to already be there. The bar crafted special drinks for the movie release, and made sure to have plenty of people in costume, but didn’t have to add any new furniture.

"We’ve got a really good, Instagrammable place," said Horman. Memories as well – if you grew up on Barbie, you come in here, you’re like, ‘I remember a lot of this stuff.’"

But that isn’t Central Florida’s only Barbie connection. A local named Ashely Young plays "Bionic Barbie" in the movie.

"They reached out to me saying the Barbie movie was looking for a dancer with a limb difference, and wondering if I wanted to come in and audition," she recounted. "I was like, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’"

Young was born without the lower half of her right arm. 

She says on top of an amazing experience with the cast, crew, and set – she’s grateful that other people with limb differences will be able to see themselves in the movie.

"Growing up, I didn’t have any sort of role models or any kind of dolls that looked like me, so hopefully this next generation of kids with limb differences, amputees, they can see me in this movie and think this is possible for them as well," said Young. "At the end, when we wrapped up filming, I think it finally hit me what sort of impact this is going to have. I just broke down and cried – a bunch of people hugged me in the makeup tent."

With Barbie clocking in so far as the second-biggest release of the year, and a Rotten Tomatoes score hovering around 90%, you can expect to see plenty of pink for a while longer.

Steffani Ouano, another member of a group dressed up for the Barbie movie release has this advice:

"Be pink, be extra, just have fun. And be a great role model, because that’s what Barbie is."

1 Up says they typically do different events every single Friday, but they said if the Barbie one turns out to be a hit, they might bring it back.