BBB Questions

[kelscross]

I booked the BBB for my girls (6 and 7) castle package at the MK. I knew it would be pricey, but when I go to Disney World I'm not there to save money KWIM? So I noticed the price went up and now the pricing is 179-225. I'm considering to just doing the crown or coach package and let them pick a dress from the Disney Store to take.

The price varies from the type of dress and amount of accessories they choose right? I know how much the dresses are at Disney because they bought some there the last time we went, but that plus the hair/makeup/nails does not come close to the price they are asking.

The dresses in the Disney store are 80 bucks, then if I get the hair/makeup/nails package that will be 50 bucks..so I'm talking 130 total instead of 180-225 total.

I already have the money for it set aside, but then I was thinking that they wouldn't get much else once they do that, because if I spend 500 bucks on BBB for them that's it...they've exceeded their 200 ea spending money.

What would you do?

 

[skw444]

If you include shoes, wand, crown (which run anywhere from $15-$30 for each piece), it adds up. We just got back and did the hair/makeup/nails package and brought our own dress. It was still a great experience and I had an extra $150 to spend elsewhere at WDW.

 

[organized mommy]

There is a whole HUGE thread dedicated just to BBB. Here it is. I hope you will find the information that you are looking for there.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1333944

I personally only have 1 child and we are planning on lettting her get whatever she wants, this is a VERY special trip for her. But the choice is yours. I know many people do different things. Make their own costumes, buy from the Disney store, just wear a special outfit, and the list goes on.

Good Luck with whatever you do!

 

[jenb1023]

The castle package includes a photo session and some photos - I am not sure how many. I think that is what the extra cost is for.

I would do the crown package and take your own dress. There are two different types of dresses at the Disney store - "regular" dresses are $40 and "deluxe" dresses are $80. The regular dresses are beautiful. Also, disneyshopping.com had some on sale. I got DD a lovely Aurora costume for $30. The photopass photographer will take photos anyway which you can then buy if you like them and I took my own photos.

DD was 3 1/2 when we went and had a great time! We took our own dress and shoes. We are doing it again in January and will take our own dress again.

No matter what you decide they will have a great time!

 

[hmmchowell]

I would buy a reduced price costume online at the Disney Store. They have some great sales right now--lots less than buying them in the park. Sometimes they even have free shipping. Then I would bring them to Disney with me. The day they go to BBB, let them wear their dress into the park with their shorts under them. Book the package that does hair, nails and makeup. You'll save a bundle and they'll still look great. When the get tired, they can take them off and stuff them in a backpack and just wear their shorts.

 

[hddanis]

When we went, I did the hair and makeup package and then bought our dresses at the store. If you use a Disney Visa, you get something like a 15-20% discount that you don't get if you buy them thru BBB.

Yes, you get a photo shoot and pictures if you get the big package, but guess what, even if you don't have that package, you can still go get the photo shoot and have the pictures put on your photopass.

I let them get the dresses with the understanding that they would also be their halloween costumes this year. It wasn't quite so bad looking at it that way...Oh, and I had 3 girls there..Can't even imagine that bigger package!

We're going again when DD10 and I go in Jan for her gymnastics competetion. Hopefully her hair will withstand a day at the gym!

 

[kelscross]

Thanks for the input guys!! I decided to go to the Disney Store. I saw the dresses on sale online, but I would have had them shipped express since we're leaving friday. By the time I added shipping it brought the cost back to regular price. Too bad I didn't decide beforehand then I could really have saved some $$ with the free standard shipping.

Thanks for the tip about the photo shoot on the photo pass!! I wouldn't have known that otherwise. So we got the Deluxe Cinderella dress and shoes, and the Deluxe Jasmine outfit with shoes.

We'll still have fun with the makeup/hair/nails package I'm sure.

Thanks again!!

 

[biggroofy]

May I ask a question - We had lunch reservation at 12:25pm Cinderella Castle - what is the latest possible time to book BBB in MK?

 

[ekball]

Thanks for the tip about the photo shoot on the photo pass!! I wouldn't have known that otherwise.

We'll still have fun with the makeup/hair/nails package I'm sure.

Thanks again!!

We did the BBB in Sept. the day after it opened. We didn't make it to Main St. for the photo session, but we went the Rose garden in front of the castle for some DARLING post-BBB pictures with the castle in the background. They are adorable! Don't miss going to the Rose garden.

Yes, you will still have PLENTY of fun with the less expensive package. We did the coach package and DD had a blast! She never even noticed the other little girls getting their dresses, shoes, crowns, etc. We didn't even take a princess dress with us this year. (I know, bad mommy!) I had a precious smocked Cinderella dress that I wanted her to wear that day and she felt very special with her own Cinderella dress (especially since the sweet fairygodmother's-in-training were oohing and aahing over it).


Have fun!!!

 

[mickeylove2]

We were at WDW last week and took both DD's to the Disney Princess Tea Party w/ Aurora and I will honestly say that the dresses that I picked up at BJ's for $25 were 500% nicer than the dresses that some of the girls got from BBB. Even the other moms were asking me which gift shop I got them in! I say get 1 to take down with you!! I bought the dresses from BJ's- $25, the shoes, sceptres, crown/headband, tights, necklaces and bracelets at the Disney Store- $60. Now this was 2 of everything so I think I did very well! Everything that I got before hand was of better quality than what was gotten at BBB. I felt so bad for some of the girls who were wearing plastic shoes that were obviously hurting their feet, my 4 yo was dressed as Aurora and her shoes were jellies, she absolutely loved them and wore them all day through the MK and my 6 yo was Snow White and she had really cute slip on shoes kind of like the slipper/ballet type shoes, they are so comfortable, she wore hers to school yesterday! Even the sceptres were nicer, they made noise and lit up and were a nice size, only one little girl had one from BBB but it was scrawny and didn't make any noise or light up. The hair is about the only thing that was really nice and I will definitely do this with my girls next time, but even the make up and nails were nothing to brag about.

 

[cissy]

I bought an adorable Minnie costume today at Target for 9.99. My daughter loved it. I was surprised when she said she wanted to be Minnie for her lunch at CRT. I also know she won't want to wear it all day. So, I was so glad to find it on sale today. It is adorable and COMFORTABLE. That is a big deal as most of the ones I have bought at Disney are uncomfortable to my girls.

Have fun !!

 

[Caitsmama]

We did the Crown package last year with dd - the one with hair and nails, and we brought her own dress from home that i got at the DS last year on sale for $20! (which she is also bringing this year), and she was thrilled. And, let me tell ya, i am glad i didn't spend the $$$ there on dresses, since she wanted it off about an hr. later, saying how itchy it was! LOL (and i had to buy a shirt at the DTD WOD store to have her wear under it cuz it itched), so that was another $20!
She looked just as cute in her shorts and tank top with her hair/mup done! LOL
Have a great time!!!

 

[Tammysue5]

I agree that you can definately buy the dresses before hand and save money. You can also get some very nice dresses by purchasing them prior to the BBB appt.

We took our first WDW vacation in Sept. and the girls wanted to do the BBB.... we thought hard about what package... we opted for the Castle and were not disappointed.... does that mean that we wouldn't do it another way... no.. I think every family has to decide what it is they what to get out of the BBB experience.

For our DDs I will try and remember what they all got with their package..

Crown (or DD5 got very pretty Tinkerbell head 'wreath')
Sceptor: lighted
Shoes (really cute flip flops.)
Dress
Sash
Pink Mickey RHinestone hair clips (which sell for $10 in the stores there)
"Hair" (YOu can opt out of this simply by having the 'bun" only)
Bags w/the gems (facial)
Fingernail polish (the FGIT were wonderful about this... they have 4 choices
and they made sure each DD got 2 different colors so in all
they got all four colors)
lip gloss/makeup palate
Photo package: (We received 1 8x10, 4 5x8 of three different poses) in a cute pink BBB 'folder'.

Because this was our first time we chose to let them 'shop' right there in the BBB... they loved the experience. I think that they would probably have enjoyed whatever we chose to do.... buy ahead or not. So chose what is right for your family and your pocket book. (I am huge on bargains... this was actually something we wanted to do for the girls)

Here are a few pics of what we got......
DD5 in front of the Castle (Rose Garden) doing the Tinkerbell pose

DD5 seeing herself for the first time... worth every penny to us at that moment

DD5 at Exposition Hall (face gems)

DD8 having the finishing touches put on

 

[TwoRoos]

We did something a little different that I don't think I saw mentioned here. We bought two dresses before our trip (mydressuptrunk.com--love them!), but we told dd she could get one dress AT Disney World. She chose to get a Sleeping Beauty dress at the park. So when we went in for our BBB appointment, I just told the CM who was checking us in that we wanted to do the cheapest package (hair & makeup), but I wanted to buy a dress from them. So she had dd pick out which dress she wanted and then when it was our time, they took us back to the dressing room to reveal to dd what they had waiting for her. (BTW, I stopped by the BBB earlier in the day before our appointment to ask if I could buy the dress from them or if I needed to get it at a gift shop before our appointment. The CM actually encouraged me to buy it from BBB so that dd could change in their dressing room instead of a bathroom somewhere. I thought that was nice of her.)

 

[jcarter29]

We did the BBB at Downtown Disney for DD who was 3.5 at the time. It is by far my favorite disney memory ever and the best investment on a "souvenir" that i have ever made. The experience is simply priceless.

kim

 

[Tammysue5]

We did the BBB at Downtown Disney for DD who was 3.5 at the time. It is by far my favorite disney memory ever and the best investment on a "souvenir" that i have ever made. The experience is simply priceless.

kim

Jcarter

I agree that it was definately one of our greatest 'experiences' at WDW. Daddy and big brother came back to 'pick us up' for our Lunch with Cinderella at the Castle and that was special. When they arrived to pick us up.. the look on daddys face was priceless. Of course while your parents will always think you look beautiful.... your sixteen year old brother doesn't have to say so! But he did.... he was wonderful. Adam made a big 'to do" about picking up the princesses and how beautiful they looked. Even had to get a pic on his cell so he could send it to his girlfriend. Now that in itself was worth the money. Was it for our girls??? Definately! They loved it.

 

[lovetheworld]

I just purchased the Cinderella Wedding Dress from Disneyshopping....I got the Dress, the Wedding crown and shoes shipped for less than $60.00. The dress is beautiful! (My daughter had seen the Cinderella Corination Dress at the park- it was $90.00 and this looks similar). I have the BBB booked for Jan. and I will be surprising my 3yr old DD with the dress the morning that we go to the BBB.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

I had a dress for this year (a little small but it worked) got the hair done, purchased the crown & did the nails b4 I went down (had her appt the next day) maybe I should have got her shoes to match but she had "princess shoes" fromthe Disney store & they riped her feet apart. That said a few days ago I went to the Disney store & got her a dress for next time-if not 08 then 09. I saw one little girl got "fake"nails put on & they were popping off b4 she even left BBB. Hope that helps! (The dress was now more than 50% off)