Gripe WDW with boys!

[anneliese]

O.K I feel bad, but I am so frustrated being a mother of two boys 4yrs and 2yrs and trying to find something special for them to do or see on this trip. There are so many princess character dining experiences. The tea party . The bibity boutique. So many things for girls and nothing for boys.
THis is true in the real world also. Racks of clothes and shoes for girls and hardly anything for boys.
I am glad that parents of girls have these special things but I would love to do soemthing special for my boys .
Is there something I have missed or does anybody have any suggestions?
Feeling very sad,
Anneliese

 

[RadioFanatic]

I think there may be some things. Aren't there some pirate cruises - I think POFQ, Poly and Contemporary does them - someone correct me if I'm wrong. Also, do they like Star Wars? They have a make your own light saber exhibit in DTD. What about HDDR or the Polynesian show? Both are fun for kids. How about the kids tour of MK? They get to see Peter Pan and Wendy at the end of it and I heard kids love it. Hope this helps!

 

[tazdeb]

There are many things for boys to do. There are pirate cruises, fishing trips,canoe rentals,sporting events at downtown disney,etc.... besides nothing that you mentioned above is labeled female only. I've seen boys in the baking class at the Grand Floridian as well as the Princess breakfast. As for shopping, there are plenty of male charaters that they could get....TAZ

 

[jjj444]

I agree with everything you said especially about the racks and racks of girls clothes and very limited boys clothes. As far as the parks we are taking our son to Donald's Breakfosurous and we will probably do the lightsaber in DTD. Boys get the shaft!

 

[debster812]

As the mother of a 9YO boy who has already been to Disney 4 times in his short life, there is PLENTY for him to do. To me, simply being AT WDW is plenty special. But, there are Pirate Cruises, Cookie making in the Land, Haircut with colored gel and confetti at the Main St Barber Shop, renting SeaRaycers, riding in the front of the monorail........

 

[deedeetoo]

You can go to Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh characters) or Chef Mickeys. Both would be good Character Dinners for boys. Ohana and Whispering Canyon both have fun antics that are good for boys.

As for the other stuff, my personal opinion is that it is not necessary to do extra "special" things. There is a ton of stuff in the parks and at the hotels to do without paying extra for tea parties and bbb. It almost seems like people on this board go out of their way to find things to spend money on. And then they say its because the kids want to do it. Would the kids even know about this stuff if Mom wasn't telling them about it in the first place? I don't think too many kids are surfing the web looking for things to do on their Disney vacation. OK, I got that out of my system. I'm done now. Back to your regularly scheduled program...

 

[Magic2000]

I see your boys are only 2 and 4, and some of the above mentioned events are for ages 4 and up (Pirate Cruise, Cooking Class at the GF).

I'd suggest maybe the Light Saber sword, or renting some boats with them. You may also want to check out the Chip & Dale movie night at Fort Wilderness. I think there's also a petting zoo at Fort Wilderness. Or maybe do the carriage ride at POR.

Although I have 3 girls, I agree there's not much for boys.

Hope yall have a great trip!!!!

 

[mom2aredhead]

O.K I feel bad, but I am so frustrated being a mother of two boys 4yrs and 2yrs and trying to find something special for them to do or see on this trip. There are so many princess character dining experiences. The tea party . The bibity boutique. So many things for girls and nothing for boys.
THis is true in the real world also. Racks of clothes and shoes for girls and hardly anything for boys.
I am glad that parents of girls have these special things but I would love to do soemthing special for my boys .
Is there something I have missed or does anybody have any suggestions?
Feeling very sad,
Anneliese

I agree - I am the mother of a 3.5 year old boy, and shopping especially frustrates me to no end...there's a girls DEPARTMENT, and a boy's RACK. Thank goodness Disney came out with the Cars movie or I would have little reason to shop for clothing there for my son.
I am lucky - my son LOVES Mickey and the gang, so we have no problem finding special character things to do at WDW.
HOWEVER, when planning, it is VERY frustrating to see "My princess girl's perfectly princess tea party" but no "My pirate boy's scallywag cruise" or something similar. If there was, people here would be up in arms becuase girls are being excluded.
And before anyone starts...
Yes, there is a pirate cruise, and it is marketed for all kids (not just boys, which is kind of my point)
Yes, boys can attend the tea party or dinner at CRT if they choose (or their Mom's choose for them)

and most importantly,

Yes, the OP is entitled to feel some frustration at the level of "princess stuff" marketed exclusively toward girls, and the lack of comparable things geared toward boys.

But please don't feel bad, anneliese, you'll be in WDW and will have a fabulous time, tiaras and all!!

 

[TAEMom]

I am with you OP. One year, I made our boys endure CRT for my DD. It sure would be nice if she could reciprocate by sitting through a meal with the Power Rangers!

Okay, realistically, DS 11 is too old to care much about any of the characters, but DS 6 would just be thrilled to eat with any of the Star Wars characters or Power Rangers. Fortunately, he does like Mickey and friends. It really does seem unfair that there are about 4 places that girls can eat with princesses, but no place for the boys. Do they think that boys' parents won't be willing to pay for character meals?? This is WDW, I have to believe that they have thought of this!

 

[Kimmumum]

OP---I completely agree. Yes, there are things for boys to do but nothing compared with what the girls can do.

My boys are 9 and 13. I was so excited last year when the rumors were flying around about the character lunch/dinner that was supposed to be Toy Story. My boys, so some reason , don't want to see the princesses or Pooh AGAIN.

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

OP - I'm also in complete agreement with you! I love my son dearly but I get jealous of all the cute trimmings for girls and then there is a rack or two for the boys. My other pet peeve is why are all boys clothing covered in trucks and bugs? I splurged on a onesie from Janie and Jack mainly b/c it has a goldfish on it and my son LOVES fish!

I do think all the princess stuff is too cute and great for all the little budding princesses out there but agree there needs to be a more "boy" centric character meal somewhere in one of the parks. Either toy story or maybe a pirate theme or something. I think Disney would be surprised that a character meal like that could be just as popular as the princess breakfasts especially for all the boys out there. I'm sure there are also girls out there who aren't into princesses who might like a pirate breakfast as well or maybe do a pirate & princesses breakfast like the parties. Come on Disney give us something!

 

[Colleen27]

O.K I feel bad, but I am so frustrated being a mother of two boys 4yrs and 2yrs and trying to find something special for them to do or see on this trip. There are so many princess character dining experiences. The tea party . The bibity boutique. So many things for girls and nothing for boys.
THis is true in the real world also. Racks of clothes and shoes for girls and hardly anything for boys.
I am glad that parents of girls have these special things but I would love to do soemthing special for my boys .
Is there something I have missed or does anybody have any suggestions?
Feeling very sad,
Anneliese

No suggestions, just commiseration. I have a 9 yo DS and we've run into the same thing. DD5 did the Perfectly Princess Tea on the last trip and will be doing BBB on this one, but there isn't anything comparable for boys. It doesn't bother me in the real world, cause I have a princess and a typical boy who couldn't care less about clothes & shoes, but it would be nice to be able to plan something special for him at Disney. I really wish they'd do more to capitalize on the popularity of Pirates of the Caribbean to come up with a more boy-focused event comparable to the Princess Tea, or at least a character meal.

It does get somewhat easier as they get older, though. Last trip, DS was 7 and there really wasn't anything that interested him; the pirate cruise sounded too young for him and that's about the end of the more boyish events. This trip, he's 9 and taking surfing lessons at Typhoon Lagoon, and for the following trip, he'll be old enough to do the steam trains tour.

 

[mama4]

While I've never felt "slighted" at Disney w/ my 3 boys (there is simply so much to do there we really don't need anything extra other than a couple of character meals) I DEFINITELY know what ya mean about the clothing. I have actually left TWO stores in a row because I couldn't find what I needed for my sons. I asked Old Navy about this since their boys clothing has dwindled down to nearly non-existant here and the cashier said "Yes- that's all we are currently carrying because the boys clothes just don't sell as well as the girls". I haven't shopped there since. It just irritated me. I have a 9 mth old daughter now and she has more clothes than me.

 

[NemoMOm]

I'm so glad I'm not alone! We went in Feb. w/ DS (2) and I've been complaining ever since. There is very little special things to do for little boys. I see alot of people recommend Pirate things but as a 2 yr boy does not understand what a pirate is, it is not too thrilling.

As far as merchandise? Forget it. I was hoping to buy some Toy Story stuff but everything is for 4+! We went with about $200 for souvenirs for DS and came home w/3 t-shirts.

I think the companies think that only parents of little girls want to spend money! I don't know about the rest of you but I have to go to specialty stores like Children's PLace t o get dressy clothes for the holidays. I guess since I have a boy we don't need to celebrate the holidays?

Sorry, but I really have a hard time with this issue.

 

[NemoMOm]

Sorry OP, I had intentions of giving a suggestion and not just rant .

The character meet and greet and meals were the things we did. I highly recommend Hollywood and Vine. DS watches the Little Einsteins so he thought was really neat. Also, at MGM they can meet Buzz and Woody at Al's Toy Barn.

Sorry again!

 

[Colleen27]

As for the other stuff, my personal opinion is that it is not necessary to do extra "special" things. There is a ton of stuff in the parks and at the hotels to do without paying extra for tea parties and bbb. It almost seems like people on this board go out of their way to find things to spend money on. And then they say its because the kids want to do it. Would the kids even know about this stuff if Mom wasn't telling them about it in the first place? I don't think too many kids are surfing the web looking for things to do on their Disney vacation. OK, I got that out of my system. I'm done now. Back to your regularly scheduled program...

I'm one of those that does all the special stuff, but I don't kid myself that it is DD wanting to do it. We like to do that stuff with her, though, and we'd like to do it with DS too if there were comparable events that appealed to him. The Princess Tea, for example was a ridiculously expensive event, but it also offered great character interaction and an American Girl style doll for my doll-crazy DD, not to mention a load of wonderful memories. The BBB is a fun touch for DD, who would get a new costume anyway, and a great way for me to get some fun pics of her.

I do think there are some things kids come up with on their own, and Disney is better at capitalizing on that for girls than for boys. DD was the one who asked abut "visiting the castle", which led to our CRT ADR. DS has asked about pirate parties, after going to Princess & Mickey character meals, and he's looking forward to the pirate tutorial they added near PotC. He asked about Cars attractions - I think he was hoping for go-carts or something. And since we do watch the Travel Channel Disney shows together, they both ask about doing things they see (which is how we ended up with parasailing and surfing on the intinerary for our Oct trip!).

I don't see it as strictly a boy/girl issue, either. My DD is a thru and thru, but none of the stuff she wants to do would have appealed to me at her age. I'd have been right there on my son's side, asking why there isn't a Pirates or Peter Pan dinner and why Disney can recreate Cinderella's castle but not the Black Pearl.

 

[perdidochas]

O.K I feel bad, but I am so frustrated being a mother of two boys 4yrs and 2yrs and trying to find something special for them to do or see on this trip. There are so many princess character dining experiences. The tea party . The bibity boutique. So many things for girls and nothing for boys.
THis is true in the real world also. Racks of clothes and shoes for girls and hardly anything for boys.
I am glad that parents of girls have these special things but I would love to do soemthing special for my boys .
Is there something I have missed or does anybody have any suggestions?
Feeling very sad,
Anneliese

POTC gift shop for boys.

IMHO, most attractions are more boy friendly.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I don't know about the rest of you but I have to go to specialty stores like Children's PLace t o get dressy clothes for the holidays. I guess since I have a boy we don't need to celebrate the holidays?

You have to, becuase what do you find everywhere else? Elastic waist black polyester pants, a clip-on tie with a cheap, ill fitting, button down shirt too short to tuck into the elastic pants, and a vest with a scottie dog on it. Or a reindeer? Seriously! It REALLY goes well with my niece's satin and tulle holiday dress, patent leather shoes and butterfly barettes. I mean, SERIOUSLY, A PLAID SCOTTIE DOG?? EVERY CHRISTMAS???

 

[mama4]

You have to, becuase what do you find everywhere else? Elastic waist black polyester pants, a clip-on tie with a cheap, ill fitting, button down shirt too short to tuck into the elastic pants, and a vest with a scottie dog on it. Or a reindeer? Seriously! It REALLY goes well with my niece's satin and tulle holiday dress, patent leather shoes and butterfly barettes. I mean, SERIOUSLY, A PLAID SCOTTIE DOG?? EVERY CHRISTMAS???

Yep, but I still try JCPenney, Sears, Dillards, etc. every year. Childrens Place has been my best bet too....

 

[anneliese]

Thank you guys for the great suggestions.
We do have reservations for Hollywood and Vine , Whispering canyon, and crystal palace. Some of the things you suggested. So I am happy about that. I am all for some sort of pirate event or Toy Story. My kids love Toy Story.
Disney needs something that is primarily for boys. Like the princess tea Party is for girls.
I do wonder why the clothes don't sell well for boys. I guess they aren't as cute as the girl's stuff but for those of us that don't have girls we need an outlet!
My four year old already told me ," No princess stuff!"
Yikes! I am so out numbered.
Does anybody know where and what name the store is that sells the make your own lightsaber?
Thanks!