How much do build a bear parties really cost?

[100AcreWood]

I checked the website and I'm confused about the cost - what do you get for $20 a kid for example? Our build a bear is closed for remodeling but will open a few weeks before dd's 7th birthday. I would like to invite only 8 kids at the max and keep the costs below $200. Would love any tips! Do they ever have coupons for birthday parties?

 

[jgottlob]

For that cost, you basically get a naked bear. Outfits, shoes, panties, sounds all cost extra. We did a bear, casual outfit, panties and shoes for 23 girls, no sounds or hair accessories. Total before any food or cake was $980.00. I think it turned out to be about $38.00 per girl.

 

[Lady SnowElla]

In August I took DD16 & her three best buddies to Mall of Louisiana to hang out for her 16th birthday. They tried on possible homecoming dresses. The girls brought their own money for clothes they bought themselves. The big event my 16 year old asked for was a visit to Build A Bear. They each selected the simplest bear. I added a sound to each that matched their personality. They each picked out one outfit for their bear. No shoes or other accessories. It was about $160.
They then took their bear to ride on the carousel in the middle of the mall.
I ordered Chinese from the food court for them as that was what they wanted and I had ordered a cookie cake for the birthday girl.
It turned out to be an inexpensive, fun sweet sixteen.

I don't know about any coupons. I know that the simple bears were about $15 so hopefully there is a little shirt that is included.

 

[lovemydeals]

The nice thing about build a bear is taht you can set the price ahead of time. If you only want each guest to spend $20 let them know and they will work with you. you could let each guest pick a $10 bear and one piece of clothing. Or a more expensive animal and a cheaper piece of clothing, etc. there a lot of combinations.

I havent seen any coupons recently. Your best bet might a discounted gift card, such as through discover. You can use rewards to buy a $25 gc for $20.

 

[ceecee]

You can pick what to spend, we limited it to $20 a girl which at the time would buy a cheaper animal and a tee shirt or just the higher priced animal. The party coordinator was great about leading the girls on what to get. They also got a $5 coupon and stickers in their condos. DD got a birthday CD as well in hers. It was one of the best parties DD had, we had 9 girls and then had cupcakes and juice boxes in the food court at the mall where BAB was. The Chick-fil-a cow was there and he came over for a photo op with the girls!

 

[wuzzles]

There is no discount for scheduling a birthday party. You still pay full price for all the animals and accessories. The advantage to scheduling a party is that you get an employee devoted to building the bears of just your group so you won't have to wait in line.


Something else to consider - not all Build a Bears have a party room to have your cake, etc. Some just hand you your bears and direct you to the food court. You said your location is being remodeled so definitely ask before booking if that is important to you.

 

[4littleones]

They do have 10% off a Party of $200 or more. But those coupons don't come around like they used to. I just bought one on ebay for $5. It was worth it to me.

I also bought a $200 e-gift gift card for $159 on Raise and then converted it to a regular $200 gift card by calling Build a Bear. I needed a "regular" gift card to use in the store the day of the party to pay...so I had to convert it. That plus the 10% will help me out quite a bit.

It is expensive but no more so than booking a party at Bounce U or something. Plus the guests get a nice stuffed animal to take home rather than just party favor stuff.

 

[memy26]

When we had dd's party there I mentioned in the invites that I would be spending $20 per child and if they wished to spend beyond that they were free to do so but at their expense. Most of them chose a $15 animal and a $5 tee

 

[4littleones]

They do have 10% off a Party of $200 or more. But those coupons don't come around like they used to. I just bought one on ebay for $5. It was worth it to me.

I also bought a $200 e-gift gift card for $159 on Raise and then converted it to a regular $200 gift card by calling Build a Bear. I needed a "regular" gift card to use in the store the day of the party to pay...so I had to convert it. That plus the 10% will help me out quite a bit.

It is expensive but no more so than booking a party at Bounce U or something. Plus the guests get a nice stuffed animal to take home rather than just party favor stuff.

 

[pookybean]

My dd had a build a bear party last year. We did the cheapest bear and a princess outfit (the girls all wore their princess dresses too, so cute!). The party attendant had the bears and the outfits they could choose from laid out ahead of time so to avoid their wanting something else other than the princess dresses. They were 4 so it was easier to do it that way, unless they all do....?

we then went up to the food court where there was pizza from sbarros (they gave us a deal) and since we did it on a friday night we were allowed to decorate a few tables from the food court.

i thought it was a nice party, very affordable, quick and easy. we had the smallest amount of kids we could, i believe i had a coupon, but i don't remember what. the party earned me a couple of gift cards and a ton of points on the stuff for stuff card too.

 

[luvmy3]

Our BAB did not have a party room where you could eat so I had dd's party at a time in between lunch and dinner and just gave them cupcakes.
Not having to provide a meal for all the kids can help keep costs down.

 

[100AcreWood]

My dd had a build a bear party last year. We did the cheapest bear and a princess outfit (the girls all wore their princess dresses too, so cute!). The party attendant had the bears and the outfits they could choose from laid out ahead of time so to avoid their wanting something else other than the princess dresses. They were 4 so it was easier to do it that way, unless they all do....?

we then went up to the food court where there was pizza from sbarros (they gave us a deal) and since we did it on a friday night we were allowed to decorate a few tables from the food court.

i thought it was a nice party, very affordable, quick and easy. we had the smallest amount of kids we could, i believe i had a coupon, but i don't remember what. the party earned me a couple of gift cards and a ton of points on the stuff for stuff card too.

I like the idea of having the choices put out so they are clear on the options. I'm not trying to be cheap but we went to one of these parties and they let the kids buy any bear they wanted, plus shoes and an outfit! I can't do that for sure. It's a big deal for my kids to get a bear and an outfit.

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[FoundMyPrince]

For that cost, you basically get a naked bear. Outfits, shoes, panties, sounds all cost extra. We did a bear, casual outfit, panties and shoes for 23 girls, no sounds or hair accessories. Total before any food or cake was $980.00. I think it turned out to be about $38.00 per girl.

 

[Fire14]

couple of ideas: I get coupons in my Good housekeeping, redbook or LHJ fairly often, haven't seen any lately. You could buy gift cards at Costco or another warehouse club to help with cost.

 

[pookybean]

I like the idea of having the choices put out so they are clear on the options. I'm not trying to be cheap but we went to one of these parties and they let the kids buy any bear they wanted, plus shoes and an outfit! I can't do that for sure. It's a big deal for my kids to get a bear and an outfit.

Thanks for the advice guys!

I will say that when all the girls left i took my dd back to bab and got the bear some undies and shoes....lol i don't know why or how a panty-less bear got to be such a bad thing in my house!

 

[cnjmom]

We had my son's sixth birthday party at Build-a-Bear. I had my son limit it to his best friends, plus his two siblings (10 kids total). I think I put a limit of $18 for the animals, and some kids picked cheaper and one or two went over, but I was OK with that since I had quite a few under $18.

What I did instead of buying clothes at the store is I purchased little cotton doll/bear T-shirts from an online site for about $2 apiece. I purchased iron-on letters from AC Moore (with coupons) and either pirate (for boys) or flower (for girls) iron-on appliques and we personalized the T shirts with the kids' names for the bears to wear with one of the appliques. The kids loved having their bears wear T-shirts with their names on them, and it was a heck of a lot cheaper than even purchasing just T-shirts in the store.

I think I might have spent just under $200 for everything. We walked down to the food court after and ate cake and ice cream which we brought ourselves. I was nervous about letting them pick out the outfits themselves, and with the personalization on the T-shirts, I don't even think they felt like they missed out on that experience.

ETA: I just looked at the photos and forgot to mention that I made conventional party hats for the bears to wear as well...that added to the festive attire of the bears.

 

[Juliet25]

My DD had her birthday at BAB a few weeks ago. I ended up spending about $220 for 10 kids to get an animal (under $20) and an outfit. I signed up on line and put my price at $25/kid. I was offered an incentive (can't remember what it was exactly), but I was offered a certain % off to up it to $30. When we got there, I let the kids pick out an outfit other than the ones they showed us (which would have kept us in the price range I indicated), so that upped the price a bit (to like $32.50-35/kid).

I was able to keep the price low by buying a $250 BAB GC on ebay for $200; using $5 for $10 gift cards (promotion they were offering in the spring); and getting the extra % off. "Rack" rate is expensive, but the party itself really wasn't that bad for what you got. We did cupcakes and juice in the food court afterwards, so no need to pay for a meal, entertainment, or a goody bag.