Is BBB / Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique REALLY worth it?

[Mazz83]

Worth it for an almost 3 yr old? She'll be about 2 weeks shy of 3... Thanks!

 

[kristin1724]

It was totally worth it for us. My dd was 5. We brought her dress and we went to the DD location. I wasn't sure if she would get that into it before we got there but I was wrong! She LOVED it! And she got to be chosen to be in the front window which made it even more special because there were people constantly stopping and paying attention to her and speaking to her. I couldn't get over how she responded to it - she's an only child and had always had a lot of people pay attention to her but for some reason this was different. She also doesn't like me messing with her hair very much but she sat perfectly still the whole time. I scheduled the appointment for the day we were going to MNSSHP so we didn't miss any time in the park and I also didn't have to worry about getting her ready for the party because it was already done.

 

[melanielll]

I think everyone with a small child should do it because watching the little princesses walk around is one of our favorite things about the MK. Sure - this is selfish. You spend your money for our enjoyment. I am ok with that. The area around the back of the castle is magical since they opened the salon. Also - we have never seen bad behavior from a princessed-up child. They are walking regally and enjoying their sparkle. I thank every parent who does this. We (my daughters and I) are angry that this didn't exist when they were young. Instead, Disney had this...

 

[Imagineer5]

My DD has done it twice. At 3 and 4 - I would say 4 was a better age as at 3 she was still very shy, but afterwards LOVED all the attention. I think for the $60 package price it is 100% worth it. I bring my own boutique dresses although generally have let her pick out a princess accessory in the shop. it takes maybe 30 minutes and then she is decked out for the day. I am not a huge fan of the non-princess bun hairstyles (with colors) but maybe that's just bc my DD is young.

At age 3:

At 4:

You can see that we also do a meal at CRT afterwards

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Like others have said, the idea of "worth" is entirely up to you! : ) My husband and I don't have kids yet, but we were actually speaking about this recently, as we have two nieces just getting into BBB age and all things princess, and were debating if we would want to treat them on our next family trip (if they join us, of course!). Our thoughts were this: if we can financially swing it, we would want to do it. Our thoughts were, it would stink to waste money on something and feel like the experience wasn't worth the price tag, but one can always make more money. But we can never get these years back with our nieces. They will only be this young, this in love with princesses, and this willing to believe for a VERY limited amount of time, and once those years are gone, there's no way to get them back.

Again, though, that's just our POV. Some people would argue that the money spent at BBB could be better spent on several other experiences throughout the trip that would be just as memorable, and I wouldn't disagree with that either. It all depends on you : )

 

[leebee]

Things I've noticed about kids who've been to BBB (yes, I've been looking for this because I've always been curious):
>> Tight bun hair-do; I notice many BBB princesses take their hair down before lunch time;
>> Expensive, over-priced polyester princess dresses HAVE to be hot and sweaty in the Florida sunshine. I see families where the adults are in shorts and tank tops and the princesses are in long sleeved, long dresses with the sweat rolling down their brows and wonder why do that in the Florida heat. I've also seen princesses in their shorts/tees wearing their princess banner;
>> Have you looked at the shoes? Without socks, in the heat?
>> The money and the time. It's an expensive "souvenir" for one child, and the time invested is quite a bit... and at WDW, time is money!

Anyhow... if BBB had been around when DD was of the age, there's no way we'd have done it, based on the above. There WERE times when we'd have a salon night, including bubble bath and doing nails before bedtime, then doing hair and makeup in the morning before going to a princess breakfast, so a DIY BBB, but there's no way we'd have done the actual BBB.

 

[Shmily1]

I'll let you know in April when DGD turns 3. We have reservations the morning of her birthday and she is sooo excited! She gets to be a "pincess" and wear "mate-up"! We have reservations at Akershus right after her appointment, then Chef Mickey's for dinner.

 

[melanielll]

Our thoughts were this: if we can financially swing it, we would want to do it. Our thoughts were, it would stink to waste money on something and feel like the experience wasn't worth the price tag, but one can always make more money. But we can never get these years back with our nieces. They will only be this young, this in love with princesses, and this willing to believe for a VERY limited amount of time, and once those years are gone, there's no way to get them back.

This is us, completely. Also - you can be my aunt anytime.

 

[hoffman1]

It has been several years ago but we did the full package for our niece when she was about 4. It was totally worth it.
She absolutely loved it. She was young enough to still believe in all the magic. We did the one in the castle and she thought she was transformed into a real princess. She walked on air the rest of the night.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

About the dresses. . .there are ladies on Etsy who make princess dresses like real clothes. I only know this because years ago a little girl in our neighborhood lived in her Princess Sofia outfit, which came from Etsy. It was a cotton dress that was made just like Sofia's. I've also seen a little girl in a Doc McStuffins outfit that was also made of cotton or cotton blend (this was at Halloween, but apparently, as per Dad, she lived in that outfit. . .). I've seen them at WDW as well . I've seen seen itsy teensy little Disney Bounders running around in Belle or Jasmine or Ariel or Merida shorts and t-shirts outfits, having a ball without being scratchy or hot.

 

[Bubbenstein]

It really depends on your child and if it's something they would enjoy doing. We do the BBB every trip and usually purchase a dress from the Disney Store before going. I generally like those versions better than the park options and they can be considerably cheaper if you find them on sale. The package without the full costume is pretty reasonable....I think around $60. I love the character interactions afterwards and the pictures are always my favorite from the trip.

 

[CloveLeaf]

We loved it. Just got back from Disney last Saturday. My DD is 5 and we got the frozen package for her, since she absolutely loves Elsa. She was super excited and got a lot of attention afterwards. We did it at the MK location and it wasn't chaotic at all

 

[pookybean]

I started reading this thread and then saw my own comment from 2015...lol

I wonder if the op took her daughters? I love hearing updates!

 

[gracer9977]

I did this in 2014 with my DD who was 9 and my DS who was 6. We bought an Ariel costume at Walmart and brought it with us. My DS got the Knight package (spiky hair with glitter sprinkles, a shield and a sword), my DD just got the basic Crown package. We had this done at the castle in MK and afterwards went around the corner so that we could have professional pics done at Castle Couture. My kids balked at having the pictures taken but after dropping the amount of money in BBB I wanted nice pictures. Pictures done and my DD was out of her costume and back in leggings and a tshirt. Only her hair survived the rest of the day. I was okay with this since it was hot and she said the shoes hurt. At least I got the pictures done first.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

My dd was 9 and her cousin was 7 when we did it and no, it wasn't worth the cost to me. After it was all said and done the girls could have cared less but I was the one who really wanted them to have it and again they could have cared less. When we got back to our hotel room that night they wanted the tight bun out immediately because it was hurting their heads and I felt bad. To me know looking back it took a lot of time and the area was chaotic and the girls were just like ehhhhhh about the whole thing.

Opps just saw this was from 2015 lol!

 

[southernqueen]

Has anyone been with their African American daughter? I'm curious to see how her hair came out. Thanks!

 

[DOREEN1779]

This was in 2011 so not sure it is still the same, but the barber let her choose the style (1 or 2 ponytails) and colors and the cost was around $10. We didn't have an appointment, but if we had, it would have been even quicker. We just went first thing in the morning.

We did this also. We had more glitter, less color. It was fast and lasted the entire day. No complaints about the ponytail hurting or head itching. We also did not have an appointment but went in the morning.

 

[LovesTimone]

Just want to put this out there, those costumes are hot to wear, and its hitting in the 90's right now and with the humidity its even hotter. So I would take that in consideration when planning, you spend all this money then in a couple of hours off comes the costume, and the make up is running, or worse they start feeling sick or dehydrated...

DD's when they were little liked to wear shorts so I would look for shorts and t-shirts to fancy up, a bit of ribbons, and some shiny material does wonders, and make some Tu tu to go with them. I even found some cotton t-shirt style dresses to decorate. DD loves Belle, so I found a yellow solid sleeveless dress, I bought some sheer and shiny yellow material along some yellow ribbon a made some cap sleeves, and trimmed out the bottom with a scalloped pattern, then I made a I made a rose hair bow for her hair and she was set for dinner with the other princesses. She did have on bike shorts so that after dinner we could ride the attractions, and she was fine able to move around and get in and out with out any trouble. I also made the blue bell dress. I bought the dresses on-line for around 12 bucks but I bought several thing I got like 25, off 100.00 plus I used my coupons and got free shipping so about 10 per dress, extra material and ribbon maybe 10 to 15 dollars, I used coupons at Joann's. So about per dress was about 15 to 18 dollars, and they played dress up in them, and wore them for a couple of Halloween parties, so I got more than my money worth.

 

[MamaBelle4]

We did this also. We had more glitter, less color. It was fast and lasted the entire day. No complaints about the ponytail hurting or head itching. We also did not have an appointment but went in the morning.

Did you do this recently? May I ask the price and what it was called? I looked at the MK barbershop and all I saw was the child haircut.

 

[mdsouth]

Oh and I've heard that girls get extra special princess attention having been through BBB while in the parks. But isn't that true of any princess-clad child?

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Yes, any child dressed up like a princess gets lots of attention from the CMs and just general guests in the parks. My daughter was dressed up like Cinderella in a gown my mother made. I had put her hair up into a low bun using a cute butterfly clip that I purchased for 10.00 at Walmart. She looked cute and loved the attention. Our bus driver at the resort made a special announcement on the bus over the speaker to the other riders when we boarded. He said something to the affect that the were now in the presence of royalty. My daughter loved it.

We didn't want to give up the park time on our visit and also my dd isn't super-girly so we let BBB go. Instead, she got a very cute ponytail with colors and pixie dust at the MK barbershop for around $10. She got many complements during the day and had a lot of fun for a lot less money and a lot less time. If you don't do BBB, this might be an alternative.

We did this. My daughter loved it and all the attention she received from everyone. It lasted all day, even the glitter.

Oh this is awesome. Do you have any pics you can share? Or point to me to?

We did this also. We had more glitter, less color. It was fast and lasted the entire day. No complaints about the ponytail hurting or head itching. We also did not have an appointment but went in the morning.