Do your girls bring their American Girl Dolls on Disney Trips?

[Daisy-J&D]

My two girls have AG dolls and I am KOTS and will be doing all packing. My girls aren't SUPER into their dolls but they do love them. Should I pack them in their luggage or leave them behind? Curious if you have brought your dolls and regretted it or if they came on the trip and it was good. I am thinking having them in the hotel room might be a good thing? The dolls have a disney princess outfit and I may get another outfit for this trip (maybe). I'd love to hear your thoughts on this-total overthinking I know. I hate bringing stuff we don't need you know?

I think that if your girls aren't that into American Girl to begin with then I'd jump at the opportunity to leave them at home.

Maybe someone else can confirm but I don't remember seeing little girls carrying AG in the parks. Maybe once or twice... not in an abundance that your DDs will feel left out by not having theirs.

 

[Stinkerbell1973]

DD brings hers when we go. Most times we're at Fort Wilderness so Claire just stays in the camper. However last September, we stayed at POP and each day when we returned to the room, Claire was always "posed" in some funny way on one of the beds, on the table, once in the window...mousekeeping clearly had fun with that. They did cute things too with a washcloth and the doll - made a crown, made a pet and put it in Claire's lap, etc.
DD got a Duffy bear while we were there that week too and we'd come back to Claire and Duffy playing as well.
She was not allowed to take it to the parks. She did ask the first day but DH and I shut that down pretty fast. She understood why.
She got the Minnie Mouse outfit for her doll while we were there - bought it from that gift store at the Contemporary near Chef Mickey's (can't remember the name) and Claire wears that outfit almost all of the time! Claire is a disney freak too. LOL.

 

[kirstenb1]

Our rule is I only bring things I'm willing to lose/get damaged. We drive to WDW over 2 days, and I just hate the thought of something getting left in a hotel on 95. Especially since I, genius that I am, have managed to lose 2 cheap hoodies that way!!

 

[ZeroMyHero]

We did bring DD8's AG doll to WDW with us last year, but we did not bring her to the parks. I was too worried about leaving her (the doll) behind on a ride or losing her somewhere, and thankfully DD8 understood. She took her doll on the plane in a doll carrier with some clothes (I found a decent knockoff carrier at Target - the AG ones are very pricey) and it kept her entertained while we were in the airport and on the plane. I didn't regret bringing the doll along since DD was old enough to be responsible about carrying her while we traveled.

I would never put an AG doll (or any doll for that matter) in checked luggage. I would be worried it would either get damaged or stolen. Also, I didn't see anyone carrying an AG doll in the parks while we were there, and I did look. Next year, however, DD2 might try to convince us to bring a doll to the parks. She really loves them and is always carrying one around so I'm sure one will come on vacation with us, but I'm not sure if I'll let her bring it to the parks. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess.

If your daughters really want to bring their dolls, I would at the least get something to put them in so they can be carryons for the plane, but if they will leave them home, I would save myself the hassle and tell my girls they can send their dolls a postcard from Disney.

 

[HamTown]

My then 4 yo DD took her AG doll to Epcot one day dressed in a Snow White outfit to eat with the Princesses in Norway. She understood that it was her responsibility to carry the doll in the backpack. (backpack was eventually camouflaged and stashed in the stroller for rides)

The doll stayed in the room the rest of the trip because DD didn't want the responsibility of carrying the backpack around. We got a couple of cute pictures, but I wouldn't do it again.

 

[andieb0602]

DD insisted on taking her Bitty Baby with us. Poor Sarah never even made it out of the carry-on. The new toys kept her attention and when we were in the room all my kids wanted to do was watch Stacy on the Disney Parks channel. (Man I wish I could get that on dvd for when I need to get some thing done around the house!)

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I always bring some stuffed animals with me on my trips. One notable one is my Perry the Platypus. He's been to WDW once, Masschussets, Rhode Island, Washington DC, Vermont, Hawaii and will be coming with me on my upcoming vacation.

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

My girls have brought their dolls to DW a couple of times, but only because we drive and stop at an AG store in Atlanta, GA. We will probably stop there again on our next trip, but I think I'm going to try and talk them out of bringing the dolls. I have 3 girls and that means 3 dolls. They always want to buckle them into the one unused seat belt and then you can't put anything else there. If they aren't on the seat, they end up on the floor or on top of other stuff where they could get dirty or damaged.

They also want to bring all the stuffed animals they've bought at DW in the past, and it's getting to be a lot of stuff!

I would never let them bring them into the parks b/c anytime I let my kids carry something into a store or the zoo, it always ends up in the stroller or in the bag/purse that I am carrying! I often refer to myself as the pack mule.