How's the quality of gowns? BBB vs. Disney Store?

[Disneyland_Mama]

I was just wonder if anyone has compared the Princess costumes at the BBB or the Disney Store? I booked DD4 a BBB package with the hair, nails, make-up and gown. (For a small fortune) But when I went to the Disney Store this week I saw the new Princess gowns for Halloween. They are beautiful. The details are gorgeous! I was wondering if the costumes at BBB were comparable. TIA!

 

[jnordan]

Bumping you, because I want to know, too! I bought a gown from the Disney Store for DD to receive the day we go to BBB and PPT w/ Aurora. It's MUCH cheaper than going the BBB route . . . But I am curious . . .

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

I know... DD wants the Aurora dress as well. Isn't it beee-uuu-tiful? I am wondering if I should just buy it from the Disney Store and take it with us and then scope out the dresses once we're in WDW. If the BBB are better, than I'll just return the Disney Store dress? And if the Disney Store dresses are better, than bust it out and buy the assessories at BBB.
Oh, the worries of a princess' mother.

 

[musicwoman]

I want to know also. I booked my 4 yr old at BBB and was going to go for it (the expensive treatment), but would love to know if I should just go buy a dress at the DS or wait til we get to the BBB.

Any help would be appreciated!
Tina

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

I found lots of photos of the dresses on disboards Photos/Video link. Go to DTD and click on BBB. They show all the princess dresses. I think the Disney Store dresses are prettier. I know the Snow White, Cinderella, and Belle dresses are WAY better at the Disney Store. Aurora looks comparable. I think instead of the full Castle package ($175) I'll get the hair, make-up and nails ($45) and then what I saved, buy the assessories (shoes, crown, wand) and whatever else DD fancies.
Let me know what you think of the dresses, since you all seem to have the Disney Store dresses on hand. TIA!

 

[jnordan]

Thanks for the photo-viewing suggestion! Now that I've seen them, I'd say that the BBB photos seem a little nicer -- and "truer" to the actual dresses worn by the princesses in the books/movies . . . BUT, the Disney store dresses are still so pretty, and my 4-year old won't know the difference, so I think we'll stick with what we've already bought. Thanks again, though!

 

[jnordan]

OK, now I'm going back and forth over everything . . . The Castle package also includes accessories for the gowns, and PHOTOS! So, if you figure that the castle package, minus the $45 that I'll spend anyways by just doing the crown package, adds about $90, is it a bad deal? $90 minus the $40 I spent at the Disney Store leaves us with $50, and then with "accessories" and photos . . . maybe it's not a bad deal??

Now I'm even more confused.

If I just did the $45 package and then wanted photos, how much would they cost on their own?

Thoughts?

 

[Barbers2005]

I bought the Aurora dress at BBB in May, and I thought it was quite a bit nicer than the one at the Disney store. The details are just gorgeous, and the fabric is much prettier. I thought the one from BBB looked more like a mini ballgown, and the one at the Disney store looked more like a costume. That being said, the one at BBB was $85, so you save a bit getting one at home and bringing it with you.

 

[Aryn]

I work at the Disney Store and I think the BBB Ariel dress is nicer than the one I sell in my store. We are doing the BBB in a month and we are going to get the dress down there, I signed up for the Castle pkg, but I might downgrade if I can save some money just getting the dress, no shoes and using the photopass card instead of buying the pictures.
I still do not know what I am going to do.

Aryn

 

[jnordan]

Argh! I just deleted my post. Apparently I can't even do math??!? The difference between the castle and crown packages is $130, not $90. . . Now it's all making more sense. I think I'm in the "buy the dress at the disney store, do photo pass pictures" camp, now that I've got my numbers straight! OK, I think I need more sleep . . .

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Argh! I just deleted my post. Apparently I can't even do math??!? The difference between the castle and crown packages is $130, not $90. . . Now it's all making more sense. I think I'm in the "buy the dress at the disney store, do photo pass pictures" camp, now that I've got my numbers straight! OK, I think I need more sleep . . .

Fuzzy Disney math!
I think I'm going to just buy the Disney Store dress and take it with us and do a "gown comparison" when we get there. Have fun with DD at BBB!
We leave in 9 days!! Whoo hoo!!

 

[bcvprincesses]

Thanks for all the info. We are doing the BBB in Oct before MNSSHP and I was thinking of letting the girls have the full package. Does anyone know how long it takes with the pictures? I don't want to be late for dinner.

 

[rebecca314]

We just did BBB in August and they just take a dress from the store there. A couple girls who had appts when we did never selected a princess and so their godmothers-in-training took them around to the dresses and had them pick one out. These are the $60 dresses that are available throughout the various parks. When you check out, you will see individual charges for each item: dress, shoes, tiara, etc. I would not have gotten the Cinderella tiara for her had I realized the Fairytale Princess hair-do includes a tiara.

I'll be posting more about it tomorrow (waiting for the music for our video) and I think you can see some good examples.

Rebecca

 

[rebecca314]

Thanks for all the info. We are doing the BBB in Oct before MNSSHP and I was thinking of letting the girls have the full package. Does anyone know how long it takes with the pictures? I don't want to be late for dinner.

The make-over itself is 20-25 minutes, but we had to wait to get into the dressing room because it was so crowded! I opted for press-on nails for DD4 so that we could save time.

The photo shoot is elsewhere. By the time we walked over there, we waited 20 minutes for the family in front of us. Our photos took 15 mins or so, but then you have to go to the kiosk and pick out which ones you want for the package.

Do you have an appt yet? If not, call now!!!!!! That place was PACKED with people trying to walk in and they were booked solid!

HTH, Rebecca

 

[jnordan]

Does anyone know how far in advance this can be booked?

Also, do you think that if I have 9:30 appointments for hair, makeup and nails and are there waiting as they open the doors, that we can then hop in a cab and make it for Aurora's tea at 10:30?

 

[rebecca314]

Does anyone know how far in advance this can be booked?

Also, do you think that if I have 9:30 appointments for hair, makeup and nails and are there waiting as they open the doors, that we can then hop in a cab and make it for Aurora's tea at 10:30?

We got a cab after a 10:30 appt. to make a 12:05 res. at the Castle. Guest Services helped us and called them to say we were running late. We got to CRT at 12:15, so no problems. I think it would be hard to make the tea at 10:30 if you were doing the photos. Otherwise, you might be OK.

Also, we made our appts about 3 months ahead of time. A month before we arrived we tried to re-schedule due to our CRT lunch but they were already booked.

HTH, Rebecca

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Yickes!! We have a 3:30 appt. with dinner ADR's at 5:00 at 1900 Park Fare. I suppose I can jump in a cab and just have the rest of the family meet us over at the GF. I didn't realize it took that long.

 

[rebecca314]

You can see DD in her Cinderella dress in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-A1ea7Z1sI

Rebecca