Let's Talk Princesses!

[PHamrick]

One of my favorite aspects of the Disney cruise is the princess experience for my super girly-girl. I love that the workers call her princess everywhere she goes. I love that no one bats an eye at her multitude of princess dresses. I love how the characters interact with her as if what they are talking about is the most important thing in the world. She has the absolute time of her life meeting all of them and it's all she is talking about for our upcoming 7 day cruise. I'd like to invite you to share any of the following:

--favorite princess-themed memories
--best tips for packing costumes and accessories
--experiences at the BBB
--best interactions with characters (including tips of what to say!)
--princess-themed photos!

OK, PSA: my daughter also plays with super heroes and plays sports with her friends and her brother. At five, she is already a strong, independent girl. I would prefer NOT to have a charged discussion about how the princess-centric focus is hurting our girls, focusing on outward appearance is awful, etc. I value your opinion on the matter; I prefer to celebrate girliness today rather than debate it. Start another thread and we can debate it there! THANKS!!

 

[PHamrick]

Also, I'll start. Here is a picture of my daughter from two years ago on the Dream. I don't know WHAT she was telling Ariel, but they were having a conversation! At this point, she was a few weeks shy of three.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Sigh... I love my wonderful and precious boys, but there are times when I wish I also had a girl.

 

[Jwhittin]

If I could figure out how to post pictures I would...

 

[PHamrick]

If I could figure out how to post pictures I would...

I did it by clicking on the upload file button at the bottom and selecting the picture I wanted off of my computer.

 

[Jwhittin]

Got it, thanks! Here's my princess with some princesses. I wish she'd gotten dressed up but I guess her dress was at the cleaners that day. I love the one of her sitting with Tiana, and princess Minnie just loved her sparkly shoes.

 

[PHamrick]

Got it, thanks! Here's my princess with some princesses. I wish she'd gotten dressed up but I guess her dress was at the cleaners that day. I love the one of her sitting with Tiana, and princess Minnie just loved her sparkly shoes.

Those are so precious! I love how the princesses drop right down to the floor in their big dresses to get to the girls' levels.

 

[cheermom2four]

OMG I cannot wait for my girly-girl to experience this for the very first time!!! I was giddy when DH and I went alone a couple months ago I can only imagine with my dd will do!!!

 

[2prettygirl]

I think the entire experience of the meet & greets is a wonderful memory! The princesses interact with the kids just like they are the real life thing, it definitely makes it magical for the kids! We did the BBB for both princess dress up and pirate night and it was worth every penny! Once again, the girls were brought into the world of magic where they were the real deal just like the fairy Godmothers working on them. We packed our own dresses for this just to save money and we had purchased them online for a great price when on sale! Pirate night was an awesome experience as well, it was so fun watching them get dressed up in their pirate attire. I ordered pink pirate shirts online and they wore these with denim skirts, ended up matching great with all the pink pirate attire they are given at the BBB. Over all the entire trip was so worth it! I love the memories it made for our family!

 

[Mr. Drauer]

A few years ago on the Magic, both of our girls were wearing Tiana dresses, and around 9:30 as we were heading back to change, Tiana was being escorted down the hall near the main atrium. She grabbed both of the girls, took them over to the small balcony on deck 4 near the elevators, and sat with them to talk and take pictures. It wasn't even a scheduled princess time - she spent about 10 minutes with them, and then a line started to form, and the CM told everyone that this wasn't a scheduled princess time, but she would be out on Deck 3 at 10:00, and to look for her there. It was pretty awesome.

 

[TestingH2O]

Everything having to do with Tiana on the Dream last time.

 

[2-pointdoe]

I pack the princess dresses in the space bags, the kind you roll up to remove the air. My daughter is 8 so she is almost out of the princess stuff. This was the cruise we just got off on May 15th.

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

My granddaughters are 11 and 12. They've never been around Disney or seen the ocean and I'm so pleased they want character dresses. I'm hoping they truly do have the time of their lives. Bring on the pixie dust

 

[PHamrick]

I pack the princess dresses in the space bags, the kind you roll up to remove the air. My daughter is 8 so she is almost out of the princess stuff. This was the cruise we just got off on May 15th.
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I love the Elsa and Anna picture! They were not on the boats when we went last time. I know they will be a major attraction for us this time around! I will be early in line for the meet and greets!

 

[AllieD10]

My daughter is going to have a blast when we go on the cruise for the first time. She can't wait to meet all the Princesses! Does anyone know if Anna and Elsa will be on every cruise or does it change often?

 

[perky]

I am excited for more princess pics! I need to work on making a nice high and smooth bun. Last time I did dd's hair in a high pony then ran it through the center of a small tiara. It was tricky to keep it in place securely though. I'd love tips on that. I was going to have dd get her hair done on ship, but then I realized it's not an option on the Wonder.

Note to self: I should bring some glitter. Lord knows Disney has deposited enough glitter in my house, time to repay the favor!

 

[fab1976]

My daughter was very much into Frozen when she was 2. We went on our cruise in January when she was 2.5. She wanted nothing to do with princesses and was SO SHY with Anna and Elsa! I had to carry her over to meet them and Anna came right over and tried talking to her about how much she likes ice cream and chocolate and asked if my daughter liked chocolate too. The cute part was the photographer got right into the conversation giving examples of chocolate ice cream to combine the two lol. I'm hoping she will one day open up and we can get some awesome shots like above but I think she's going to defy me and be a complete not princess girl! I have awesome shots of my son at WDW when he was 4 with princesses, opposite of what people usually expect!

 

[Tashamu2004]

A few ways to amplify the princess magic--

It's not cruise specific but check out Kenny the Pirate's Disney world centric character locator site and iPhone app. He gives character interaction tips and ideas to spark conversation and it's made so many of our WDW character greets awesome!

Instead of tiaras I've purchased princess themed headbands to go with their dresses that are more like Disney bounding. On etsy I like Tennybug boutique.

Also, I like oh yeah apparel for cute custom Mickey ears. I have Anna and Belle ones from this shop. Super cute.

 

[Flossbolna]

I love the Elsa and Anna picture! They were not on the boats when we went last time. I know they will be a major attraction for us this time around! I will be early in line for the meet and greets!

Just wanted to alert you that the Elsa and Anna meet does not work like the usual meet and greets. You need a timed ticket that you can get on the first day. There will be info about this on the first day's navigator. The Princess Gathering now works the same way.

My daughter is going to have a blast when we go on the cruise for the first time. She can't wait to meet all the Princesses! Does anyone know if Anna and Elsa will be on every cruise or does it change often?

Currently it seems like Anna and Elsa are on every cruise. Just remember to get a ticket for them on the first day (see my comment above).

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My Princess tip is that if you hang out in the atrium between the two dinner seatings, there usually are some Princesses around, especially on the classic ships. I have seen some small girls spending a lot of time with Cinderella every evening there and on another cruise we kept running into Tiana every evening.

 

[PHamrick]

Thanks for all the tips everyone! Keep them coming!

Anyone know if Aurora is on the Fantasy or has been recently? She's my daughter's favorite. I haven't seen her on the Personal Navigators recently, so I might have to prepare her...