Its Not Fair

[Mermaid_Ariel]

I am kind of tired of people complaining about the "no boys meals" thing. First of all - in answer to your thread title - life's not fair.

Second - Disney is a business. The Princess meals are some of the most expensive on property and are consistantly booked solid so why would Disney not want to continue to offer the same or more of these meals. The crown package at the Bibbiddy Bobbity Boutique costs over $150.00 and judging from the parks plenty of people are booking these too. These are the reasons Disney has "princess" offerings.

Wow, I found this to be rather rude as well. You can absolutely state your opinion without being rude about it.

Anyway, OP wasn't saying that they should eliminate the Princess meals. Rather, that Disney would profit from the demand of offering character theming geared towards boys.

I think it'd be fantastic to have Star Wars character meals, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. Although, I definitely think there would be more of us adult women lining up to see the Captain!

 

[Melora]

Before we adopted our daughter from Russia I had 5 kids. 3 boys and 2 girls.

When were adopting our now 8 year old (she was 5 when we brought her home) my girls were teens already. I had 10 & 4 year old boys (my oldest son was out of the house).

I was already planning her first trip to Disney World before she got home to America and I was thinking OH BOY I can take her to see princesses and buy all the cute stuff they have for girls. Stuff that was not really interesting to my boys and my older girls grew out of.

She does love the princess stuff but (as I said earlier) she loves the pirate stuff too. She dressed as a pirate for the P&P Party. So while she can do everything Disney has to offer, my poor boys don't get excited when we head for the Tinker bell store. My youngest always says "Why don't they have a boys section in here?"

We don't do the princess meals though because they are so geared towards girls. We do the Fab 5 meals and everyone really enjoys those.

I love to see more stuff with Buzz and pirates.

 

[diavolobella]

My kids are too old now to want to be either a Princess or a Pirate (my daughter would have preferred Pirate anyway, because she's not into Princesses), but I agree with those who say there should be more activities for boys, and also agree that people can't buy more "boy" merchandise because it simply doesn't exist. If you build it, they will come!

As for me, I'm a 40-something woman, and I'd trip all over myself to go hang out with Captain Hook! He's so deliciously rotten!!

 

[lntsmom]

I am kind of tired of people complaining about the "no boys meals" thing. First of all - in answer to your thread title - life's not fair.

Second - Disney is a business. The Princess meals are some of the most expensive on property and are consistantly booked solid so why would Disney not want to continue to offer the same or more of these meals. The crown package at the Bibbiddy Bobbity Boutique costs over $150.00 and judging from the parks plenty of people are booking these too. These are the reasons Disney has "princess" offerings.

Lastly - I can't think of anything that appeals ONLY to boys like, or even to the same extent as the princess do to girls. Girls would love pirates, monsters inc, pixar, toy story, star wars and all th other things that people ask for for boys. Disney hasn't ignored these things there are several pirate cruises at different hotels, there is the jedi training academy and there used to be a pirate tutorial (not sure if its still there). When the families of boys book activities (like the pirate cruise) and buy merchandize about "boy characters" at the same rate as the families of girls book activities and buy merchandize about princesses I bet Disney will add more opportunities.

Your tone turns my stomach. I see from one of your later posts that you don't have children.

As a woman who had her first child at age 33, but who had spent her entire adult life in education and had a nephew prior to having a child, I can assure you that the mother:child relationship is different from any other adult:child relationship.

Mothers of boys will tell you that there are two types of character meals: 1. Those tailored for girls 2. Those that are generic. Do you not see a disparity here?

My boys would love a Star Wars themed meal, an Adventure Themed meal with Indiana Jones, various Star Wars characters, etc. They would enjoy a Pixar themed meal, too, although my older son is a bit beyond even that. When you have boys, at least testosterone driven ones like mine, you find that your character meal choices are much more limited than families who have just girls.

Our last Disney trip, to DLR, was about a month before they switched the meal at Ariel's to a princess meal. Had the change happened before our trip we would have skipped the meal altogether.

I just don't understand your response to the OP. Do you feel the need to attack everyone who holds opinions that differ from your own? You say that you are allowed to post your opinion. Post it, but don't feel free to attack others in the process. I, for one, am tired of the bullies on this site and I have vowed to speak up each and every time this sort of behavior goes on. Posts that have the tone yours has are ruining the culture of the boards!

 

[ICF]

I agree with the OP 100%, I think there is plenty Disney could do w/Woody & Buzz, Pirates, Star Wars, etc....

With Toy Story 3 coming out in a couple of years, there is no reason they couldn't do a Toy Story breakfast with Buzz, Woody, Jesse, army guys and a couple of others.

Star Wars meals would be SO COOL....kids or no kids, I'd be going to that one when I was there!

 

[Cass]

They used to have a Villains meal at Park Fare, my DD didn't like it and gave all the characters 'a talking to'

Pocohontas was the big movie at the time and I had to restrain her from kicking Governor Radcliffe in the shin.

 

[ICF]

Disney does not own star wars or any of the pixar characters

Disney bought Pixar a couple of years ago...they do "own" the characters.

As for SW....If George Lucas lets his characters go around the park in costume and in the parades I don't think he can object much to a SW breakfast at MGM.....espcecially with his 2 new series coming out in the next 6-12 months that he could hype through the breakfasts.

 

[shellybaxter]

Do you have boys??? Your tone turns my stomach. Who are you to be so friggin' nasty?

Mothers of boys will tell you that there are two types of character meals: 1. Those tailored for girls 2. Those that are generic. Do you not see a disparity here?

My boys would love a Star Wars themed meal. Or an Adventure Themed meal with Indiana Jones, various Star Wars characters, etc. The problem is, these aren't Disney characters. When you have boys, at least testosterone driven ones like mine, you find that your character meal choices are much more limited than families who have just girls.

Our last Disney trip, to DLR, was about a month before they switched the meal at Ariel's to a princess meal. Had the change happened before our trip we would have skipped the meal altogether.

I just don't understand your response to the OP. Do you feel the need to attack everyone who holds opinions that differ from your own? I, for one, am tired of the bullies on this site and I have vowed to speak up each and every time this sort of behavior goes on. Posts that have the tone yours has are ruining the culture of the boards!

Woah - time out - I was not trying to be nasty OR a bully. I don't like bullies either. I was trying to bring a different point of view to this topic. Its been discussed to death on these boards and no one ever states the business reasons Disney might use to decide which activities to offer, instead they simply accuse Disney of being "unfair." My points were that Disney is a business and therefore is under no obligation to be "fair". I'm sure they use market research and sales data to determine what they will offer, not the complaints of message board posters.

If moms want more "boy" stuff then instead of complaining on boards like these they need to go out and buy every piece of pirate, or star wars, or cars, or toy story etc merchandise available and thrist for more. That's what happened with the Princesses; Disney put stuff out, people bought it, they put more stuff out, more was purchased, and on and on until the Princess were a marketing phenom. The same thing happened to a smaller extent with HSM and Hannah Montana, that's why there is now a Hannah package at the BBB.

Pirates are getting closer to being at this level. Disney even did surveys about possible pirate meals but one hasn't emerged yet so I can only conclude that it either didn't test well or was determined to be too expensive/difficult to pull off.

I understand its frustrating for families with boys, but people need to be realistic with their expectations. As magical as Disney is, it can't meet the wants of people unless its fiscally feasable.

I'm sorry that my frankness came accross as rudeness; that wasn't my intention.

PS - What was the meal at Ariels before it was Princesses? I wasn't aware it wasn't always the Princesses

BTW - I have no children but do have a neice and a nephew that I take to Disney occationally

 

[dis75ney]

I agree that there should be more meals that aren't related to the Princesses or the Fab Five. There are plenty of other characters that Disney owns that could be used (Pixar, Pirates, and why not bring the villains back - with a disclaimer that they could frighten smaller children). However, that being said, my DS7 is most looking forward to two meals - breakfast at CRT and 1900 Park Fare dinner with Cinderella and the stepsisters. I must make note that DS is one of the biggest flirts I've ever know - when I first asked him who he wanted to eat with (expecting him to say Mickey or Donald), he said - and I quote - "I want to eat with the Princesses because they're pretty!" He's also looking forward to 1900 Park Fare for the stepsisters - I played one of the stepsisters in our community theater version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella and DS loved how funny both sisters and the stepmother were. I think he's expecting the same thing at WDW...

He's also looking forward to Donald's breakfast at AK - so he can know for sure why Donald doesn't wear pants. I'd love to hear the escort's answer for THAT question!

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Your tone turns my stomach. I see from one of your later posts that you don't have children.

As a woman who had her first child at age 33, but who had spent her entire adult life in education and had a nephew prior to having a child, I can assure you that the mother:child relationship is different from any other adult:child relationship.

Mothers of boys will tell you that there are two types of character meals: 1. Those tailored for girls 2. Those that are generic. Do you not see a disparity here?
My boys would love a Star Wars themed meal, an Adventure Themed meal with Indiana Jones, various Star Wars characters, etc. They would enjoy a Pixar themed meal, too, although my older son is a bit beyond even that. When you have boys, at least testosterone driven ones like mine, you find that your character meal choices are much more limited than families who have just girls.

Our last Disney trip, to DLR, was about a month before they switched the meal at Ariel's to a princess meal. Had the change happened before our trip we would have skipped the meal altogether.

I just don't understand your response to the OP. Do you feel the need to attack everyone who holds opinions that differ from your own? You say that you are allowed to post your opinion. Post it, but don't feel free to attack others in the process. I, for one, am tired of the bullies on this site and I have vowed to speak up each and every time this sort of behavior goes on. Posts that have the tone yours has are ruining the culture of the boards!

Exactly!! There aren't any character meals or other activities geared toward little boys at all. We have done the "generic" things as well as the princess meals...just to experience it. But with a boy, once is enough.

Woah - time out - I was not trying to be nasty OR a bully. I don't like bullies either. I was trying to bring a different point of view to this topic. Its been discussed to death on these boards and no one ever states the business reasons Disney might use to decide which activities to offer, instead they simply accuse Disney of being "unfair." My points were that Disney is a business and therefore is under no obligation to be "fair". I'm sure they use market research and sales data to determine what they will offer, not the complaints of message board posters.

If moms want more "boy" stuff then instead of complaining on boards like these they need to go out and buy every piece of pirate, or star wars, or cars, or toy story etc merchandise available and thrist for more. That's what happened with the Princesses; Disney put stuff out, people bought it, they put more stuff out, more was purchased, and on and on until the Princess were a marketing phenom. The same thing happened to a smaller extent with HSM and Hannah Montana, that's why there is now a Hannah package at the BBB.

Pirates are getting closer to being at this level. Disney even did surveys about possible pirate meals but one hasn't emerged yet so I can only conclude that it either didn't test well or was determined to be too expensive/difficult to pull off.

I understand its frustrating for families with boys, but people need to be realistic with their expectations. As magical as Disney is, it can't meet the wants of people unless its fiscally feasable.

I'm sorry that my frankness came accross as rudeness; that wasn't my intention.

PS - What was the meal at Ariels before it was Princesses? I wasn't aware it wasn't always the Princesses

BTW - I have no children but do have a neice and a nephew that I take to Disney occationally

When I read your first post my immediate thought is "She obviously is not the mother of a boy or boys". When I read your 2nd post where you say you have no children at all, it made things much more clear to me as to why you have the opinions you have. Nieces and Nephews are great but I guarantee you will have a different opinion when you have your own children.

As for the comments about mother's of boys not buying the merchandise...well, I am tired of hearing that. Just as another poster has said.... my son (4 years old) has every collectable, clothes items, movies, electronic game, for his favorite Disney characters that are out there. In fact, when I go to local stores to find more items or new items they are sold out within the first day or if not, then the first week. I turn to the internet only to find the same thing in a lot of circumstances. This is "Car's" merchandise as well as "Toy Story" merchandise. Both of those movies have been on DVD for a few years now and the merchandise sells out like the movies are brand new. I don't believe the excuse anymore that the parents of boys don't buy enough.





As the mother of a boy, I would LOVE to see a couple of things added to WDW that is geared toward boys of all ages. Whether it's a character meal or an activity or a special show. It's absurd to think that it will not bring as much attention or money as the princess dinners.

 

[abbybeth]

Here are my disclaimers: I am a girl, 24, no kids, no neices or nephews. I love the princesses.

That being said, I definitely agree that things are overly skewed to the girls and there should be a meal or two thrown in there that cater to the boys.

Granted, if there were a Star Wars meal, I would book a trip down there so fast it would make your head spin! LOVE those jedi (and the stormies too ...) A pirates meal, especially with the concepts that were apparently at least once in consideration, would be pretty cool too.

 

[kimgof]

Maybe it's not a matter of boy or girl, but just different. We all see the character meals with Mickey and such. Changing it up with other more current movie themed meals, like Toy Story or Monsters Inc. would just be a great change. I realize that Disney is making lots of money on the existing character meals, but a change at maybe some of them or adding new ones to the list would certainly make them more money. I have two boys and a girl , they all love Star Wars and Toy Story and they will sit at CRT because they truly want their little sister to have a good tim. I believe that maybe some of the adults get a little bored too. Everyone needs to do Chef Mickey at least once in their trip but how fun would it be to see Woody and Buzz and the rest of the characters! Maybe the ASM resort should start doing movie themed meals, that changed based on the movie. That would keep things fresh and interesting.

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Maybe it's not a matter of boy or girl, but just different. We all see the character meals with Mickey and such. Changing it up with other more current movie themed meals, like Toy Story or Monsters Inc. would just be a great change. I realize that Disney is making lots of money on the existing character meals, but a change at maybe some of them or adding new ones to the list would certainly make them more money. I have two boys and a girl , they all love Star Wars and Toy Story and they will sit at CRT because they truly want their little sister to have a good tim. I believe that maybe some of the adults get a little bored too. Everyone needs to do Chef Mickey at least once in their trip but how fun would it be to see Woody and Buzz and the rest of the characters! Maybe the ASM resort should start doing movie themed meals, that changed based on the movie. That would keep things fresh and interesting.

I agree. Even if it's "geared torward boys" I think everyone will still enjoy it.
I love your idea of having a movie themed meal at ASM's.

 

[glitzybabes]

Disney bought Pixar a couple of years ago...they do "own" the characters.

As for SW....If George Lucas lets his characters go around the park in costume and in the parades I don't think he can object much to a SW breakfast at MGM.....espcecially with his 2 new series coming out in the next 6-12 months that he could hype through the breakfasts.

Sorry I did not know that. So what is disney wanting for to have a Pixar character meals? But wouldn't we be right back to this is for girls too?

As for Star wars, now that would be mostly boys.

 

[madamy]

Amen!

It's funny because it almost seems (from a buyer's perspective seeing products, etc) that as a culture we value little girls more than little boys.

It is not about who we value more, It's all about who shops. Women!! I have two girls, one loves everything pink, sparkly and princess(she is 19). My youngest age 12 likes skateboards, sports equipment and electronics.

I have a great time shopping with my oldest, because as a girly- girl myself, I love the stuff. It not so much fun spending hours in a video game store or skate shop. If I am shopping alone, I wouldn't step foot in either of these stores unless necessary.
Sure I buy video games and soccer balls. The enjoyment I get from purchasing it, is seeing my DD 12 happy. The stuff it self is not appealing to me. But pass a store window with pink sparkly stuff, you bet I stop, look and buy because it is fun for me. Since women shop considerably more than men, they sell more stuff that appeals to us.

My youngest wouldn't be caught dead in BBB or CRT. She has asked to go to CM and L&S breakfasts for our up coming trip. She is content with the choices that are available. Not once did she ask, how come there is no Toy Story breakfast?

I would bet money a much higher percentage of woman make the ADR"s and do the trip planning too. Btw, DH's favorite Disney movie Little Mermaid! Some boys like princesses too.

 

[nessz79]

I would bet money a much higher percentage of woman make the ADR"s and do the trip planning too. Btw, DH's favorite Disney movie Little Mermaid! Some boys like princesses too.

My oldest loves the princesses although he's not vocal about that anymore as he gets older. So I agree!

 

[nessz79]

As for the comments about mother's of boys not buying the merchandise...well, I am tired of hearing that. Just as another poster has said.... my son (4 years old) has every collectable, clothes items, movies, electronic game, for his favorite Disney characters that are out there. In fact, when I go to local stores to find more items or new items they are sold out within the first day or if not, then the first week. I turn to the internet only to find the same thing in a lot of circumstances. This is "Car's" merchandise as well as "Toy Story" merchandise. Both of those movies have been on DVD for a few years now and the merchandise sells out like the movies are brand new. I don't believe the excuse anymore that the parents of boys don't buy enough.

Yup! I am a stereotypical woman who loves to shop and I love to spend money on my boys! I just wish there was more variety out there for boys. For me, it's not that there's not enough quantity out there, but there's not enough variety of things for boys. Especially clothes! It's so hard to find bright clothing for boys. My oldest boy loves brightly colored clothing and all I find in stores is dark blue, dull red, army green, etc, etc.

 

[SunnieRN]

I am not sure if I agree that there are not areas that could have toy story or pirate themes.
At MK there is a character meal, three times a day, with the same characters. Why not make one of those meals (or alternate days) and instead of appealing to the small fry, have someone like Ratatouille or Buzz and Woody? For that matter there isn't any reason at all not to make that a Peter pan character meal.
In Disney Hollywood the possibilities are endless, play and dine has characters geared to younger children in the morning. Why not make that a toy story, incredibles or adventurers themed meal in the evening?
None of these would have the expense of a pirate cruise (although I think that sounds awesome)!
Just my $.02 worth... With "disney magic" anything is possible!!!
I did send an email to disney concerning the fact that parents can not accompany their children on the pirate/princess party. I can guarantee that until that changes my grandson wont be able to go....at least until he is old enough that he wouldn't want to go!!
One thing I found interesting in a different thread is that someone stated that only families with young girls get chosen to stay in the castle during the YOAMD. That is sad if it is true as many young boys would get a kick out of staying there also!!

 

[aarmando20]

I like that Idea rotate the characters on different days. Great Idea.

 

[SunnieRN]

I like that Idea rotate the characters on different days. Great Idea.

Thanks!!