Pirates League for MNSSHP, earlier, or not at all?

[Pesky]

Hoping you all can help me out with this question based on your experiences. DS (soon to be 7) and DD (soon to be 9) are super into pirates right now as we've introduced them to the movies The Goonies and Pirates of the Caribbean series. Right now, for Halloween (and MNSSHP, little do they know), DD wants to be Elizabeth Swann (probably the first movie nightgown version but possibly the pirate one) and DS wants to be Captain Jack Sparrow. Remember this is April so while I am pushing to fix this sooner than later, probably won't firmly fix until July so possible they can change their minds (I think it somewhat unlikely at this time). We will be going to MNSSHP about 2/3 way through our trip and will not be going to the park before that time the day of the party (we will have toured MK before that). So we'll likely be entering somewhere between 4 and 5 pm the Sunday of the party.

I know PL has a Jack Sparrow look so that can work for DS but if DD wants to be the nightgown version of Elizabeth Swann, her options probably won't work as much. If she wants to be pirate Elizabeth or Angelica, PL options works just fine. I can see her wanting to do the mermaid look possibly and DS being intrigued by the full face skull look. I could easily do a Jack Sparrow makeup job on DS and some makeup for DD as well so it is not a necessity to visit for MNSSHP. They do like face painting and just don't get it done often. DD also loves wearing makeup.

The trip is a surprise so not like I can consult them. DH is not terrifically helpful at all ("why would we pay for this? It's messy."). Sigh. My options are:
1. Book PL for the day of the MNSSHP and try to do that first thing before the party gets into full swing and they complete their pirate look there (assuming we will still be pirates -- see above).
2. Book PL for another day (depending on the day I book, we'd likely go to HDDR later that day or park hop to another park, so they'd be in face paint for that).
3. Forget PL and just let the kids get their faces painted at AK or something in a totally non-pirate way.
4. Forget face painting altogether.

Assume at this juncture cost is no issue (it may be but I can always cancel a reservation). I'm about to come up on my 180 day mark so wanted to try to decide if I should book. Thanks in advance!

 

[mm1971]

I did PL with my daughter one year for MNSSHP and she loved it. We actually went to PL in the morning and she got to be a pirate all day and at the party. You get a lot of fun responses from the CM's. She did not do full face paint though. Not sure if that would get uncomfortable or messy. We brought our pirate clothes with us so it was just the makeover. I would say go for it if you think the kids would enjoy it and want to be pirates. I also remember that by Disney standards, it was relatively inexpensive. Good luck.

 

[TexasTSL]

Just FYI, Pirates League is only open until 2:00 p.m. on MNSSHP dates, according to the CM I spoke to yesterday. We wanted to do the same thing with my son, as far as PL right before MNSSHP, but when I called to book, I was told the latest available appointment was at 1:45 and the PL would be closing at 2:00 on party days. We weren't planning on going to the park that early, but we may get the extra park day and do it anyway. We are not sure yet.

Also, my son did the full skull face last year, and he absolutely loved it, but it is extremely messy and hard to keep in place for too long. If we do PL at 1:45, there is no way he can do the full skull face again. Good luck with deciding what to do!

 

[DisneyCAL]

Both DD and DS did PL last September, although not for MNSSHP. They loved the experience and so did I. DS got the ghosted pirate which was full face paint, and didn't mind it. DD did the mermaid option. They do have an empress look you could make it work for your DD. I do have to tell you that if you want to forgo the PL and just do paint on your own, when we took the ghosted pirate paint off, it was difficult to get around the eyes and he was left with the perfect johnny depp look, so you could always put a lot of black around the eye and then try to wash it off, lol. If you have hopper tickets and can use it that day just go in early, do PL and eat in park before the party starts. We spent most of the day at the resort, then got dressed and went in early had dinner at BOG at 4pm and started our party. It was a great!

 

[megster1123]

I keep reading that the makeup is kind of difficult to get off at night, but does it smear throughout the day? We have an 11am booking the morning of our MNSSHP and I'm worried that the inevitable midday nap is going to cause smearing and totally wreck the paint. And yes, they both want the ghost pirate so that's a lot of white paint to smear.

 

[Pesky]

FYI, both the gal I talked to at Pirate's League and the nice lady who sold me the MNSSHP tickets said that PL hours are usually extended on some party nights (not necessarily all). The gal at PL said last year for some nights they didn't know until 2 weeks beforehand but the gal at the ticket sales said that usually the extended PL hours (until 7 pm) are announced in July or August. We'll see who is right! In the meantime, I booked PL on a non-party day so we can always do it if they like to or skip it if I can't move it to the actual party day.

 

[TexasTSL]

I keep reading that the makeup is kind of difficult to get off at night, but does it smear throughout the day? We have an 11am booking the morning of our MNSSHP and I'm worried that the inevitable midday nap is going to cause smearing and totally wreck the paint. And yes, they both want the ghost pirate so that's a lot of white paint to smear.

The ghost pirate is very messy. My son had it done last year. It won't last through a nap! He loved it, but it was really messy to take off, and it will smear throughout the day. We had it done at 8:30 in the morning and it started getting really bad after lunch. The mouth part smears pretty badly with eating.

Also, just a warning. We took some of the paint off in the bathtub, after wiping a lot off with baby wipes. I felt horrible because the paint stained the bathtub really badly at the Wilderness Lodge. I could not get it off, and neither could the cleaning ladies. I felt really badly about leaving the tub like that, but I didn't realize that it would stain the tub that way.

 

[megster1123]

The ghost pirate is very messy. My son had it done last year. It won't last through a nap! He loved it, but it was really messy to take off, and it will smear throughout the day. We had it done at 8:30 in the morning and it started getting really bad after lunch. The mouth part smears pretty badly with eating.

Also, just a warning. We took some of the paint off in the bathtub, after wiping a lot off with baby wipes. I felt horrible because the paint stained the bathtub really badly at the Wilderness Lodge. I could not get it off, and neither could the cleaning ladies. I felt really badly about leaving the tub like that, but I didn't realize that it would stain the tub that way.

Ok that makes me nervous now, what kind of crazy tub-staining makeup are they using?

 

[TexasTSL]

I'm not sure what kind it is. It looked really good and held up for a while, but it stained really badly and since they have to put on so much for the ghost face, my son still looked like he had on eyeliner even the next day or was maybe a little bruised the next day! It looks great, but I definitely wiild not do it too early in the day. We got a 1:40 appointment and there is no way we're getting the ghost face that early, even though that's what he really wants. I'm just hoping they extend hours for Pirates League so we can do it later.