Gripe WDW with boys!

[GreatLakes5]

My two eldest are boys and where WDW is concerned their highlights are:

Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review
Light Sabres - though DD thought they were just as cool ;-)
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Canoeing at Fort Wilderness
Marine Rentals anywhere!
Biergarten...nothing like an oom pah band....they loved this!

I think older boys actually get Epcot as "their park" when they get older. Mine love anything at the front of the park as far as action and excitement go. Youngers I would think would love the CARS guys at MGM.

As for clothes - fuhgettaboutit - I've been attempting to dress a boy "cute" for 12 years now. The cute boy stuff is pricy - usually no cute racks at Target or Kohl's or what have you. Then again, they also don't seem to care so it's just fine with them!

 

[mom2aredhead]

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

Me too...don't know why I think it'll be different. Then I see the dog.
I found some really cute "Claiborne" outfits at Macy's for Christmas and Easter. A little pricey, but my MIL (I love that woman) whipped out all kids of coupons, credits, etc. so it was all good!

 

[anneliese]

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???

OH HOW TRUE!!!. I looked at my son's Christmas pictures and he is in the same red sweater with a snowflake , or two . Sometimes they are big sometimes small. But it is still a red sweater with a snowflake every Christmas!!! My brother has a girl that was born two months later and she has a really different dress every year.
SO not fair!

 

[mom2001scrapper]

I've yet to make it to Disney but we are going in September so I can't really say what Disney offers for boys, but I can agree that it is truly a little girl world. I hate shopping for clothing for my son. I hate being limited to a few racks in a corner or everything being sports. I love Disney clothing but get upset when everything has swords on it or the characters are fighting. We have enough violence in our world why have it on young children's clothing????
Julie

 

[wendygrace]

I'll commiserate as well. The other thing that bugs me is that "boys movies" get turned into "girl clothes" or only "baby clothes". Ds loves Peter Pan and so I went looking at Disney. They had cute pjs with Tinkerbell everywhere and cute outfits with PP and TB and Wendy on baby outfits that were just adorable but where are the Peter Pan outfits for the older kids. All they get are T-shirts. *sigh*

 

[mom2aredhead]

...are You Listening?

 

[ilovejack02]

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???

LOL I hit gap or Ralph lauren dept right after xmas every year and get next yrs stuff. Best time to go.
I would NEVER put my kid in a plaid scottie dog either

 

[Cielei]

I too am a mom of 2 boys (turning 4 next week and just turned 5) that gazes wistfully at the plethora of little girls clothing. I do manage to eek out some cute stuff for them though. I usually do gap kids, ralph lauren, H&M and jcrew just started a new line for kids called crew cuts that are really cute. I usually find cute holiday clothes at Gymboree and Heartstrings. (What can I say, I fall for the sweater vest everytime!)

We are doing breakfastosaurus, the hollywood and vine breakfast (my boys LOVE little einsteins), crystal palace. chef mickey's and liberty tree tavern. It really would have been wonderful to have had the option of a truly boys themed meal. I am sure we will have a wonderful time with the options we have though! On the brightest side, we leave for Disney World in 1 day and 5 hours according to my countdown!

 

[donnajon]

The boy clothes don't sell because what they offer is tacky! Give us one rack of ugly girl clothes and that wouldn't sell either! I am realy dreading now that DS is in a size 8 - those are really bummy looking clothes! And while have sorta kidnapped this thread, what is with the character clothes ending in size 6x. DD7 is extremely tall but not overweight. But she wears a 7 or 8. Hard to find character clothes for her and she is in first grade. With childhood obeisity being what it is, you would think the clothing manufacturers would also make larger clothes geared toward the younger kids.
I agree about the boys stuff. What helps with us (although your boys are younger) is to go during Star Wars Weekends. Then DS10 is in heaven! and he doesn't mind doing the girly stuff with his younger sisters.

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

I am a mother of three boys, while I can find things most of the time for my youngest....where do you find decent clothes for a 8 year old? Anyhow, all three of mine love chef mickey's. They can be loud, and no one cares, it has become an must do on every trip. I know what you mean though, a year ago or so when the rumor of the toy story meal was going around, I was thinking its about time.....I guess disney didn't think so. In time I hope that they add more, until then I keep my fingers crossed that the magic of being there will be enough for them.

 

[GreatLakes5]

The boy clothes don't sell because what they offer is tacky! Give us one rack of ugly girl clothes and that wouldn't sell either! I am realy dreading now that DS is in a size 8 - those are really bummy looking clothes! And while have sorta kidnapped this thread, what is with the character clothes ending in size 6x. DD7 is extremely tall but not overweight. But she wears a 7 or 8. Hard to find character clothes for her and she is in first grade. With childhood obeisity being what it is, you would think the clothing manufacturers would also make larger clothes geared toward the younger kids.

I feel your pain! My DD is 6 - at last check up the pediatrician informed me she'll be 5'11 in adulthood. We already get looks when she wants to play kid things - she's the height of an average 9 year old. She, too, needs 7 or 8 & suddenly those clothes are so mature. In the Disney store same thing...she wants cute little characters and sometimes those are a bit harder to find.

We do a lot of catalogs for the kids - LL Bean, Lands End, Boden....

 

[declansdad]

I think that many of you are missing the point. Yes there is plenty to do at Disney, and some of it may be considered more masculine. However, Disney does market specifically to girls through the princesses. DW and I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for Disney to confirm a "Heroes" character meal. It has been rumoured for a long time but yet every new announcement seems to relate more to girls than boys.

So I agree, it is frustrating.

 

[GreatLakes5]

Perhaps because my boys are 11 & 8 now I don't have a good frame of reference, then....I can see your point that if they were in the very early elementary and younger age ranges, (I just accidentally typed "rages"...hmmm....freudian mommy slip?) this may be more important to them. Do you think boys just grow out of some of that earlier than the girls?

I know my daughter would visit the princesses (or any character) and she will continue to want to. Offer my boys a Heroes Dinner....I don't know that it would be that important to them anymore. Again, ask them 3-4 years earlier and it would.

As mommy, however, sign me up for the heroes dinner! Will Tarzan be there?!?

 

[belle&beast]

My DS (turned 2 on our trip) loved Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and Playhouse Disney at MGM. For our next trip he will be almost 4, so we are planning Liberty Tree Tavern, Hollywood & Vine for sure. He still likes the princesses, too- probably because of his big sister, but he received even more attention at Akershus than she did! He left with a face full of lipstick kisses and would NOT let me wash them!

For cute boys clothes, I shop at outlets and find a lot at OshKosh and Carter's and occasionally at Hanna Andersson. I usually buy Christmas outfits at Gymboree or The Children's Place. It is tough, but we have found he needs a lot more play clothes, so it is not so bad to spend more on his dress clothes.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I agree that there is not much out there for boys when it comes to the speciality offerings from Disney. my DD and DS are a bit too old for a lot of that stuff since they are now in their teens, however, we do have shared custody of my DN who is 18months. We have taken him to Disney once, but I think he is much too young to even notice that he is slighted. He was content just to see all the characters and play with the merchandise in the many many shops.

When DS was smaller, I'm not sure he ever felt slighted. We did not however, go out of our way to do all these speciality things with our DD (nor were they really prevalent at the time). We viewed dining at CM, CP and Park Fare as something for everyone...not girl or boy related. The kids played in the Toy Story arcade at MGM and both were thrilled to death. Both kids got equal time with characters of their choosing and the Kidcot stops were fascinating for both of them. So much normal stuff that is available to all, but I agree...it does bite the big one that Disney doesn't have any special offerings out there geared to the boys. I would think a breakfast with Buzz and Woody (and a few others) would be a HUGE hit. Perhaps a cowboy/astronaut themed dress up party for the boys where they could get wild and crazy. Maybe if we all complain to Disney enough, the men in suits will think twice?

 

[Blondiex46]

I agree my twin boy are 13 and really other then the pirate thing the car thing at MGM is for boys, but having an older son finding something special for him was always difficult. Not ranting either just agreeing.

 

[mama4]

Do you think boys just grow out of some of that earlier than the girls?

I definitely think they do. I have a 16 yo son as well as 3 and 4 yo sons. My oldest son went through a short period of time where he liked certain characters (Barney at 2-3 -not my fave, Lion King characters at 4 or 5) but was pretty much over "characters" by around age 6. Furthermore, my youngest boys have never really seemed too "attached" to a character. Ds 3 liked Diego a few months ago (we even bought him a Diego bike for his bday) but now he won't even watch the show Ds (soon to be 5) has really started liking Star Wars lately but will not admit to a favorite character. He just says "I like them all". Dsis wants to buy all of our boys Star Wars tshirts w/ their favorite character but I guess he will just have a Star Wars "group" picture on his Well, I have a little girl now too so it'll be interesting to see how different she is about characters.

 

[Twingle]

Just wanted to let everyone know that Disney DOES read these boards, and if you are bothered enough, write Disney a nice letter. I really believe that once the Pixar part of MGM opens (bunch of threads about this on the Rumors board), there will be a Toy Story or Hero meal. Also, I did a survey last fall about the interest in a Pirate themed character meal - which may not be friendly to the younger kids, I know that there are plenty of preteens that would enjoy this.

BBB and the Barber shop on Main street does boys hair. They do a Mickey head on the back (it takes FOREVER to dry, be warned!), and put confetti on top.

My son is seven, but some of his favourite things are going to character meals - even the princess ones with his sisters, because the ones we went to the princesses made a BIG deal about him being a big brother to two princesses. Also, in DTD he really liked picking out the pirate treasure at the Disney store, the Lego store, and making his own snacks at Goofy's candy shop.

We haven't done the Pirates Cruise yet, but he wants to. There is also some cooking class at the Grand Floridian that he wants to do. Again, just haven't gotten there yet.

When he was younger he liked baking cookies at The Land, getting his face painted, Star Wars weekends (even though he had never seen the movies), and going to Tom Sawyer Island. He also really liked playing dress-up, we purchased a directors megaphone, beret and "rolling board" (have no idea what this is called in real life. it's black with a board on top that you slap down before the cameras start) and he would "film" our trip.

As far as clothing boys, I totally agree, but my son is far pickier about what he wears then my daughters ever were. He does not like to wear t-shirts that have words on them - pictures are okay, but no words - and he doesn't like to wear solid colored t-shirts because they are "boring". Do you know how hard it is to find a shirt that has pics but no words?!?!

 

[kileybeth]

I just read through this entire thread and am wondering why?

Entertainment value maybe? love to hear what others think!

I have 4 boys. also 2 girls. I had 3 boys first and never even glanced at the girls racks unitl my 4th (the girl) was born. I love dressing my boys. When they were younger, I often had them in matching outfits (despite the age differences, all 5 years apart!) I would have to say it must be what some people are looking for in an outfit/activity?

I am definitely a "classics" kind of person. I like the polos and khaki look. But I like that for my girls too!

I can't afford all the extras at Disney so we have concentrated mostly on the free stuff but I don't feel at all slighted? Have you ever had to stand and watch as 3 boys picked out there treasures in that Star Wars store or the Pirate store at the end of those rides?

Also, one poster mentioned that lots of the rides seem to have a boy theme to them.

We have also enjoyed character interactions with Princes while in the parks. Although my boys like the attention of the Princesses as much and my daughter enjoyed her flirting with Alladin more!

There are already a lot of store suggestions on here for boy shopping so I won't repeat but cute stuff is out there! I just bought a great striped polo with Buzz on the back (sz 5-6) for my DS4 at the Disney store last week and a cotton sweater vest with Mickey on it) Both on great sale. I think the vest may have been intended for an "Easter" kind of wear but my DS will wear it out to dinner, to visit Grandparents, etc. We also buy most of our "staples" for the boys from Old Navy or Gap (clearance rack usually!) and they always look super.

Going to Disney for FD in September with 2DD and 2DS , I'm thinking the boys will have as much fun as the girls!

 

[hsmamato2]

I LOVE Childrens place clothes for boys- they have the cutest dress up clothes and colors! But it's one of the few who carries nice looking boys stuff- and believe me, there comes a point where your ds will look at that sherbert colored striped oxford shirt and yell, NO WAY! my older ds wears only white dress shirts with navy pants...sigh...I still have fun with ds2 though- I cleaned out CP last week-all dress clothes were 4.99!
Little ds is set for the next year!
At WDW- My boys LOVE Chef Mickeys-ds1 is almost 14,and still won't give it up...they love the traditional characters like Goofy and Donald-
I don't personally care too much for the 'girlie' stuff at WDW,I never liked stuff like that when I was little! But at WDW,it's one of those places where I feel like there really is enough fun to go around,so we don't complain
POTC ride,really,almost anything that's not exclusively 'princess' is fine with us....The Stitch breakfast was BIG hit-
I don't like the POTC clothes however, all those ugly grimacing cartoon faces turn me off, though a simple skull and crossbones shirt with the POTC logo I found at walmart suits us fine....
Let's face it, Elizabeth or not,POTC is mainly a movie litle boys love,and their moms(I won't specify why,here ) My guys love buzzing around the pirates room at world of disney
and little ds LOVES Stitch--due to sales - he owns around 17 different Stitch t-shirts,all brightly colored and adorable!
I refuse to dress my boys in ugly clothes- I have no dd's and in our family we all love bright colors,hawaiian shirts, bright crocs,etc.... I don't buzz shave my boys heads, I like hair,short,but there and lookin' good-and I don't think i'd change even if i had a dd too....