Hi
We have taken my daughter to the BBB three times and she has loved it each time.
The first time when she was 4 we went for package one down from castle so she just had her hair, make up and nails done. Her hair that time stayed in for about 2 days - she loved it and only agreed to take it out because she wanted to go swimming. I don't think we did a princess meal that day I think she went to Alice's tea party at the GF which she really enjoyed
On the day of the makeover
And on the day after - hair still more or less in place
At the tea party
The next year she went for the complete package and I think she loved it more because she got all the princess clothes and had a photo shoot as well.
I'm not sure that I thought it was great value for money for a couple of reasons. I didn't think the 'professional' photos were great and that part of the process seemed rather rushed. The photographer didn't have long to spend taking photos of each 'princess'. Having said that although the photos weren't great they were nicely presented and are a nice souvenir to have.
I was more disappointed with the quality of the clothes. DD decided to be Jasmin. The clothes looked great to begin with but after what I suppose was quite a long day at Epcot most of the sequins had fallen off and the shoes were worn out. So much so that I took them back to the shop at the Wilderness Lodge, where we were saying and got a full refund for then. DD wasn't too bothered - I thought she would be really upset but I think she was happy that she'd worn them and we used the refund to buy her something else.
I also think that it's quite easy to get sucked into buying items that will never be used again. For example a pair of white gloves which supposedly went with the outfit but can't really imagine why and which were worn for the photoshoot and never again
We had dinner with the princesses at Akerhaus as we personally prefer the food to CRT - but I do fully appreciate that eating at the castle isn't just about the food
The last time we went in 2010 dd decided on Tiana and again went for the full package. We went to BBB at DTD and it was really busy and the service was slow. There was also a problem. They didn't have any Tiana shoes in my dd's size. I was a bit cross as they kept us waiting ages while they tried to find some. So long in fact that I think they were slightly emmbarrassed and brought my dd a lovely Tiana pin in a gift box into the changing room and told her that Tiana had sent it as she was having a problem finding her some shoes. They found her some rainbow shoes in the end - the fitted but looked horrible with her dress, but as they gave them us for free I couldn't really complain
and dd loved them and they were really comfortable as well - just a bit garish
After waiting about 45 mins we were told that they had found a pair at the Contemporary Resort but we would have to go and get them. As another treat for waiting so long dd got to have her makeover in the window so she could be seen by all the passers by - she loved it
When we went next door for the photoshoot I decided to have a word with guest relations - just to say we were disappointed that such a vital part of the outfit was out of stock and surely they must have an idea of how many pairs of shoes they need
I told him about a pair being found but said that we had already waited nearly an hour for them to find some and now it was going to take ages to go and get them. The man I was speaking to said what did I want him to do about it. I said nothing I just wanted to tell someone that I didn't think it was very good - if you are turning little girls into princesses all day make sure you have enough stock to do it
It's here that Disney Customer Service came into play - he arranged for a driver to take us to the Contemporary and wait while we picked up the shoes - slight problem they couldn't find them when we got there - by this time I was feeling sorry for our driver. He made a few phone calls and went up to the shop. After another long wait he appeared with the right shoes
He then gave us a lift back to the beach club to dump our stuff in our room. Then took us to the MK via the back route which was really interesting. He parked at the back of main street and we emerged through a building already in the park on main street.
He took us over to guest relations and gave us 5 FP's each and a $100 gift card. I was a bit embarressed really as the compensation seemed to exceed the original problem.
Just one final point to the story DD left her wand in the minivan and when we got back to the beach club later it was there waiting for her
Dress was much better this time and dd got loads of wear out of it. Hair lasted about 2 days again.
We are going to Disney again in August this year. And dd is booked in again for BBB. I've only booked her in for the hair and makeup this time but have a feeling that when we get there and she sees all the dresses we could be upgrading. I suppose this will probably be the last year she'll want to do it anyway. Although not sure what DH will say about the upgrade as she had the difference in price between the 2 packages to complete / top up her iPad fund
DD has loved every visit to the BBB and it has definitely made her visits more special.
