Tips for Disney World?

[anomamatt]

Hi all,

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[OKW Lover]

I don't have any practical suggestions for you but just wanted to assure you that Disney is very welcoming for gender non-conforming individuals.

 

[wilkeliza]

For the princess gathering just let them know he wants the princess package and not the prince. Use him/he pronouns and CMs will catch on. Most are pretty good at dealing with gender non-conforming people. If anything before your tea have one adult stop by and speak to the manager or even call when you get to Florida and ask them to put a note on that reservation so they have a heads up.

 

[Princesca]

I haven't experienced this at Disney. I imagine CMs will be fine... I think the most dissonance you'll experience is probably comments and/or questions from other guests: other children, and possibly some adults. ("Mommy, why is that boy a princess?" etc.) Unfortunately, this is likely to be quite brow-raising for a lot of people who haven't had experience with gender nonconformity. I am not sure how or if you should prepare your child for that, but if he is accustomed to not having to deal with that, it might be a good idea to just have a talk with him (if you haven't already) about how he is unique, and that people may be surprised, or have questions, and that it doesn't mean he is in any way wrong for being the individual he is. I just think if a child grows up in a very accepting environment, it can be upsetting to have those first experiences in a more diverse population where everyone may not be as accepting.

Kudos to you for being so supportive of your child!

 

[kamik86]

I would be very surprised if Disney had any issue with it. I know at CRT I have definitely seen a few little girls request swords and never saw a CM bat an eye they just switched the want for a sword and moved on. (I so would have been one of those little girls too, I always thought that boys get cooler toys)

 

[anomamatt]

Thanks for your comment!

 

[Princesca]

Thanks for your comment! We live in a bastion of liberalness, so we rarely have to deal with people making rude remarks. But the few times we have, he reacts much better than I do (I usually ignore them). He's told kids at daycare that "it's OK to be different and wear what you want".

He's so excited to meet all the princesses (I told him too early since we still have a long while to go). I'm still working out all of our plans, but for whatever special events we do, I will be sure call ahead to make sure he gets whatever the "girls" get (doll, tiara, etc).

One thing I did with my niece that I thought was cute (insert pat on own back here) is I went to Dollar General and bought several cheap little princess things - one for each day. Not necessarily Disney themed... but like a sparkly baton (scepter), a crown, etc, and wrapped them in brown paper and tied with string, like packages, and addressed them to her like they were mailed, return address with TinkerBell's name. I used Disney stickers for stamps. I snuck them outside the door or under her pillow so she wouldn't know they were from me and called them TinkerMail.

I live in Kentucky, so a bit of a culture shock is just the first thing I thought of when you mentioned this. Much of America is more traditional, especially in that "middle America" zone of people with whom DisneyWorld does tend to be super popular. Thankfully, most people are tactful, in my experience, but there are always ones who aren't. I'm glad that your son is already somewhat experienced with these differing perceptions. Good for him for maintaining his uniqueness! Life is too short to be ordinary.

 

[anomamatt]

Thanks, that is an awesome idea.

 

[Princesca]

Thanks, that is an awesome idea. I looked into Disney's packages they offer (from Disney Florist) and they are crazy expensive. I love the idea of doing something small every day.

Yeah! It's cheap, and she loved it. I think I did socks, a princess wand, some costume jewelry... and I figure that's a way to make sure that your son has a perfectly princessy experience! You can also go to MagicYourBand.com and order decals (or custom design your own) to cover MagicBands with. So many different ways to make it all the more magical.

 

[MinnieMouse84]

I don't have any suggestions, but I applaud you for allowing your son to express himself the way he wants.

 

[marchingstar]

your trip plans sound fantastic, and I really hope your family has a blast

One idea that's crossed my mind: Disney gives out all kinds of celebration buttons (first trip, birthday, a more generic "I'm celebrating"). Maybe you could get a button made for your kiddo with "Princess [Name]" on it? It might not always mean staff default to bringing the 'princess' gifts, but I would hope it at least means they'll offer, for instance, a wand or a sword?

 

[KPeveler]

He will not be the first boy princess or girl prince/knight I have seen. They willl also welcome him at the BBB if he wants a princess makeover. I have heard of boys doing the experience and loving it. Just give a heads up to the stylist that he is a princess that uses he/him, and they will just go with the flow.

 

[OKW Lover]

I hope that the OP will fill us all in with their experience when they return. It could be very helpful for others in similar situations.

 

[Terri_Berri]

Sigh, I wish I got a princess makeover when I was a little boy

Actually, I still want one.

 

[beagee]

This is us exactly, except we have a daughter and she's a year older. We just returned from a DW trip. So much of Disney is about "gender" that I was a little nervous. But it was really a non-issue. The few times that it came up, the cast members were awesome in a didn't-bat-an-eye kind of way, which is just what you want.

A few kids had questions or mixed-up pronouns in the pool or wherever, but in our experience, it's always like "Oh? You're a girl? Okay." And they get back to doing whatever they were doing. (On the other hand, other parents are much more likely to make it into a Thing by apologizing or getting flustered.)

Have fun. Your son must be so excited for such a princess-filled trip! Candidly, Disney is a little more magical for princess lovers than superhero fans.

 

[anomamatt]

Thanks for all the recent posts!

 

[anomamatt]

. . .

 

[OKW Lover]

@anomamatt Appreciate the followup here. Glad to hear that all went well for you.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I don't have any practical suggestions for you but just wanted to assure you that Disney is very welcoming for gender
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[anomamatt]

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