Someone convince me!

[ANKx4]

We have a trip planned in October with my in laws and all of their respective families. There will be 5 kids with us, three girls (7, 7, 3) and two boys (5, 3). Grandma is asking about BBB. In all of our trips we have never even remotely considered it. At all. I don't have a great reason why. Maybe just because our oldest is more pirates and mermaids?! The other two girls are quite princessy, though.

I'm sure the girls would love it, but...it just does nothing for me.

But if Grandma feels like she REALLY needs to do this with them...can someone convince me that it is a great plan? (Is there even any remote chance that reservations could be found at this point? Which could be an easy out for us)

Could Pirates League maybe be a better option? I know it is less expensive. And would offer something for the boys.

OR

What other special things can you brilliant friends throw out for us to distract Grandma with?!? I know she wants to do something a little extra special with/for them. And I don't at all want to take that away from her...even if I don't LOVE what she chooses.

Thanks!

 

[SugarQuill]

I'd suggest a Wishes or Illuminations cruise- those are both super special that Grandma and the girls could go do. If you have Princess lovers in the group, 1900 Park Fare could be a good choice, and I think I remember there being something about a high tea option at the GF as well.

 

[POOHsie]

Just my opinion. BBB is expensive and once you do it, kids want it for the next visit, too. The girls' hair can be done in your room with gel, sparkles, ribbons and hair clips. Maybe your boy would like a pirate T-shirt or pirate mickey ears. Girls could choose T-shirts, and/or Mickey hats of their liking, too. Lots of things are way cheaper than BBB. We never went to BBB with our DD, and she never felt she missed anything. Our budget for WDW visits was tight.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

I actually like the idea of letting Grandma take the kids to BBB... but, I really think that with your mixup of kids, PL would be a better choice. Maybe Grandma can take all the kids to PL? Its cheaper and has plenty of options for boys & girls. The "girlier" girls may chose to be Mermaids.

My daughter is seven, and when asked if she would rather a mermaid makeover or a princess (she's done BBB before).... she chose Mermaid... so we have PL booked for our upcoming trip.

 

[ladurant2982]

We let my 7 yr old DD do BBB for her bday trip. She loved it and luckily hasn't asked again! It was fun and she was super cute afterwards. Made for some great pics and special memories. I say if Grandma is willing to do it, let her!

 

[J and R's mom]

Hi Fellow Texan!

We have been taking our girls to WDW since the oldest was 2-and-a-half years old. She is 11 now. And we have never considered doing BBB. I didn't really want to take the time to do it and neither DD seemed really interested in it.

Well, we are taking a trip with just the girls in October and my mother is coming with us (AKA Grandma). My now 11-year-old has asked to do BBB. My mom was all for it. Since my goal this trip is to try things we haven't done before, I figured...why not. My youngest DD (now 9) has NO DESIRE to do BBB. She is very much a tom-boy...like her mother was.

So Grandma will take DD11 to BBB and I will take DD9 to ride some rides while the oldest is getting dudded up at the castle. Then on to afternoon tea at GF, which will be new for us too.

I say let them try it once. My DD11 will be taking her own Elsa dress and just getting the $95 package with the tee-shirt, tutu, hair, make-up.

For the boys, maybe you can take them to ride rides while Grandma takes the girls to BBB. If you go to the BBB Downtown, then maybe the boys can go to Lego Land or something like that while the girls do BBB.

We had a pick of times when I called about a month ago for the MK castle location. I would guess, if you call soon, that you will still have plenty of times to choose from.

 

[baler31]

I'd suggest a Wishes or Illuminations cruise- those are both super special that Grandma and the girls could go do. If you have Princess lovers in the group, 1900 Park Fare could be a good choice, and I think I remember there being something about a high tea option at the GF as well.

+1 for the cruises, great for the entire family. We have done for family and friends for gatherings and they are always a hit.

 

[KerTggr]

I've never been, but seems you get more for your money at BBB than PL based off other's trip reports. For example: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3166480

Alternatively, she could buy them cute outfits / costumes that they could open one of the mornings before going out that day.

 

[kittyninja]

I say let her do it!! If the kids want to and she does then let them have the special memories that BBB can create! Maybe let them do BBB and you and the boys have special alone time and then (if DG-Ma is willing) on another day let the boys do PL with grandma for special time and you girls have special mom time!! Trust me, kids LOVE to have special time with parents (or grandparents) without other siblings! I'm 20 and my sis is 27 and we both fight over mommy time still!!

I think it would be fun for all!!



Edit: I see now that the boys aren't yours? Still applies though...special time without those yucky boys! Maybe then could have time for princess meeting that the boys wouldn't be interested in? Or the Lego store like a PP suggested!!

 

[ANKx4]

Thanks, everyone! I knew I could count on some help around here!

How much time is this going to eat up?

I think part of my concern is that one of my bros-in-law will only be with us for 4 days (They went to DL last year, so they think that's no big deal ) So I'm trying to balance this experience vs ALL of the other things that could be happening during that time.

For our family it is not a big deal, really. We go regularly, so what we miss this time we will catch next time. But it is one of those travelling with the whole universe (ok, not really...we only total 13) and trying to juggle everyone's expectations/plans/preferences kind of things!

 

[gonnago]

Just my opinion. BBB is expensive and once you do it, kids want it for the next visit, too. The girls' hair can be done in your room with gel, sparkles, ribbons and hair clips. Maybe your boy would like a pirate T-shirt or pirate mickey ears. Girls could choose T-shirts, and/or Mickey hats of their liking, too. Lots of things are way cheaper than BBB. We never went to BBB with our DD, and she never felt she missed anything. Our budget for WDW visits was tight.

Small world we live in Moundsville WV.Sorry to hijack the postfor an off topic comment.

 

[POOHsie]

Small world we live in Moundsville WV.Sorry to hijack the postfor an off topic comment.

Howdy!

 

[NavyDad]

We have a trip planned in October with my in laws and all of their respective families. There will be 5 kids with us, three girls (7, 7, 3) and two boys (5, 3). Grandma is asking about BBB. In all of our trips we have never even remotely considered it. At all. I don't have a great reason why. Maybe just because our oldest is more pirates and mermaids?! The other two girls are quite princessy, though.

I'm sure the girls would love it, but...it just does nothing for me.

But if Grandma feels like she REALLY needs to do this with them...can someone convince me that it is a great plan? (Is there even any remote chance that reservations could be found at this point? Which could be an easy out for us)

Could Pirates League maybe be a better option? I know it is less expensive. And would offer something for the boys.

OR

What other special things can you brilliant friends throw out for us to distract Grandma with?!? I know she wants to do something a little extra special with/for them. And I don't at all want to take that away from her...even if I don't LOVE what she chooses.

Thanks!

We did it our first trip when our oldest DD was around 7 and Grandma was along that time as well. It was a great day and a once in a lifetime thing. We have not done it again since but it sure was special that trip.

We did it at the DTD location one afternoon and then went to dinner afterwords. The funny thing is that DD that was dressed up as Sleeping Beauty fell asleep at the table and DD that was dressed as Cindarella lost her "slipper" when coming back from the rest room. Our waiter at Hoop Dee Doo got down on one knee and placed it back on her foot with a lot of style so that made it even more special for her.

Overall it's a great one-time experience especially if Grandma is willing to pay

 

[ANKx4]

No luck finding availability that would even kind of work with our rather tight schedule (and 5 kids). Maybe next time.

So what can we do instead? Doesn't have to be anything "fancy." Just something I can suggest to Grandma as a "consolation prize" of sorts.

Thanks again! Getting excited...and impatient!

 

[leebee]

I've never been "taken" with the concept of BBB for DD. It's expensive. I look at those little girls in the Florida heat, dressed in their polyester dresses and plastic shoes, with their hair drawn into buns tight enough to raise their eyebrows 2", and just shudder. It's hot and expensive, and I just was never thrilled by it.

Lots of options. Grandma could take them to have their faces painted while at AK (while parents sit someplace with a/c and iced tea!), or she and the girls could get hair wraps (AK, HS, maybe even your resort pool). You/they could go to La Nouba, or Cirque du Soleil. Is there availability at the Dessert Party? Maybe just the kids and Grandma could go to that. Illuminations Cruise? We like that better than the Wishes cruise. Grandma could take the kids bowling at Splitsville, or for a round of mini golf, or to one of the water parks.

Don't know what you already have planned, or how much time you have. These are just some ideas of things the kids could do with Grandma, that would be special.

 

[SA mom]

We did BBB when we were at Disneyland. My daughters were 10. It was just okay. It started out fun, but it was long and very uncomfortable on the head. One of my daughters only made it 2 hours with her hair in that tight bun ($100 later). They both wanted to go to Pirates League, but Disneyland did not have one at that time.

One the good thing was that I was able to reuse the hair piece for the girl that hated the tight bun and made it into a Padme Amadala hair style.

 

[MeanestMomEver]

In my opinion, if Grandma wants to treat the girls to this idea, then you should give the go ahead for her to offer it to your daughter. Let your daughter decide if it's HER thing. Maybe she would love to do it but just never expressed an interest because she senses you aren't excited about it and she wants to please you.

If she wants to politely decline, maybe she could have another idea ready. "Thank you for the offer Grandma, but I'd rather do a pirate cruise. Could we do that instead?" For example.

But make sure your daughter knows that if she wants to do this with grandma, then you want her to have a good time!

I hope grandma is going to do something special for the boys too.

Let Grandma have her fun. She's not going to be around forever and you never know if this might be her last trip. It may be more important, exciting and more rewarding to her than to the girls. And that's ok!

What a sweet offer. I can't tell you how much I wish my own mother had lived long enough to do something like this with my daughters! She died before they were born.

Anyway- those are my opinions.

Have a great trip!

 

[MeanestMomEver]

Oops. Sorry just saw that it's not available.

Grandma might like the Tea Party at the G Flo

I'm always a big fan of the pirates and pals fireworks cruise.

 

[LittleMissMusical]

What about the pick a pearl option in the Japan pavilion or at the BC? They make a show out of opening the oyster and have a range of inexpensive settings to mount it. I have a beautiful ring and pendants from years of visiting WDW, and it's a wonderful reminder of my trips.

 

[1stvisit0909]

The face painting is cool. we had them done at DHS and I think it was $15-20 each - AND they can be touched up for free all day long if you have the receipt (at any face painter in any park). My girls LOVED it totally. Choices for boys and girls.