build a bear party

[jennilynn510]

anyone one out there ever have a build a bear b-day party?? i'm trying to save my house since my DD b-day is very close to use going "home"
is the cost worth the convenience ??

 

[kato0627]

I did a build a bear party a few years ago for my DS. We are planning a party for Jan for DD(7). It is really not too bad for what the kids get.
I let them pick the 10.00 bear and a tee shirt which runs about 3.00.
I do not do party bags, since they are leaving the party with a new friend.
The kids were all happy. I did price other parties and BAB was on the lower end. I then took the kids to the food court and we did cupcakes/juice.
This year I am doing Pizza and cupcakes for the kids.
good luck

 

[kpadalik]

I did a BAB party for my DD6 (when she turned 5). It was great! Keep in mind they don't close the store for your party, so there are other people shopping. But they did a great job w/ the kids. Really worked w/ my budget and made sure that 8 5-year olds stayed w/i the price range. We did our own little "parade" through the mall to the food court, where we did cake and presents. Also, since DD has her birthday at beginning of Dec, parents appreciated the fact they could drop their kids off at the party for an hour or two and finish some Xmas shopping!

 

[DBarber600]

Ask if BABW has "party partners" in the food court. We had an evening party. We were able to get a 10% discount from Chik-fil-a. Sometimes our BABW gave free kids meal coupons at CFA after birthdays as well.

 

[justwinnie]

Compared to gym or indoor playspaces, BAB is pretty reasonable. You pay per child and if you have no-shows, you don't have to pay for them. Most other places are a set price for X number of kids then Y price for each extra kid.

We did a BAB party for our daughter's 5th birthday too. I wasn't so sure how it'd go, but since her birthday is in the middle of the summer and we have a small house without central AC, we didn't want a house party. I was so pleasantly surprised.

I thought the hosts were great. The bear and clothing selection in our price range were pre-selected so the kids didn't roam around the store picking things out (no one had to be told "no" about their selection). It made things so easy!

The kids all received stickers in their bear condos as a party favor from BAB. If they are running any sort of give-away promotion, they'll give it to the kids too.

My daughter received an autograph bear and a group photograph. We bought the record-a-sound in the bear and had all the kids say happy birthday so my daughter could remember her special day.

On the next school day, I saw all her friends bring their bears to school.

We had a 2 PM party so it wasn't too busy in the store.

You can print invites/thank yous from the website. I found BAB note cards in the dollar bins at Michaels, so I just used those for invites and thank you cards.