Is BBB / Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique REALLY worth it?

[Katholicchik]

Trying to decide if we want to do this with my two daughters (5 and super uber girlie and 7 not so much).

I know I can bring my own costumes and purchase the cheapest package, but even still, for two that's going to be a lot for us -- in addition to all the other fun stuff we want to accomplish while on property.

I have read that it takes 2 hours. I have read that BBB is utter chaos in the MK location. What say you? Worth it or skip it?

 

[Katholicchik]

Oh and I've heard that girls get extra special princess attention having been through BBB while in the parks. But isn't that true of any princess-clad child?

 

[Crystal824]

It really depends on you and the child. We did it once when my daughter was 3. I think it was worth it for us. We got the largest package that trip. She really enjoyed getting all dolled up, having her make-up and nails done. We are actually going to do it again on our upcoming trip She is now almost 5. However, we are not getting the largest package this time. We are either bringing clothes or getting the tutu package. We haven't quite decided. DD really isn't into the dressing up in character outfits anymore (she says they itch). She loves tutus. We did go to the location at DTD. It was fairly crazy in there, but the experience was still good.

 

[BellsFam]

DD is 5 will almost be 6 when we go. We went to WDW when she was 3 and didn't do it and regretted it. This time she's very excited to do it.

We've bought the dress and I will buy the accessories so our expense will be the hair and makeup.

I think everything in WDW is chaos! BBB though you can only go in if you have an apt. So it limits the amount of people inside. I would think DTD would be more chaotic because you don't need a park ticket for DTD, there's generally more people there...

 

[Luvstotravel]

Some people will think it's worth it. Some will think it's a waste of time and money. Like everything in life, only you can decide its worth.

 

[worm761]

Worth is dependent upon the person paying the cost. It is not worth if for me. While DD is 5, loves dressing up, and loves all things princess, she doesn't like her hair pulled up or anything like that. She's super girly in that she is almost always in a dress and wears a crown most of the time ( a cute headband!). She got plenty of attention from the princesses and all other characters because of her personality. She is very outgoing and talked to them. Some of my favorite pictures are of DD talking to the princesses having real conversations. Now I would just love to know what Ariel thought of her story about what she did when she was a mermaid and was playing with her daughter Melody!

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

I've debated doing it, but always decided against it. Maybe if the princesses were there it would be different. It does take a lot of time. Maybe if we took 10 day trips like some I would consider it, but we do 5 day trips.

 

[bcwife76]

Some people will think it's worth it. Some will think it's a waste of time and money. Like everything in life, only you can decide its worth.

This exactly. To us is it NOT worth it because we never spend more than 3 days at the parks so any time taken up by something other than rides or shows (or eating LOL) is what we consider a waste of time. Plus (and this is just MY opinion) I don't actually like that look on young girls.....I don't want my kids looking like that with all the hair spray and make up and spend the money on the dresses....they can buy some awesome souvenirs for all the money spent at BBB.

 

[miknsusn]

We didn't want to give up the park time on our visit and also my dd isn't super-girly so we let BBB go. Instead, she got a very cute ponytail with colors and pixie dust at the MK barbershop for around $10. She got many complements during the day and had a lot of fun for a lot less money and a lot less time. If you don't do BBB, this might be an alternative.

 

[pookybean]

i think it was worth it for my girls, a highlight of our trip and the pictures are so cute! if your younger girl would like it more and the older just tolerate it then maybe the older would like to do pirates league? that was so much fun and you get just as much attention looking like a pirate (or mermaid siren) than you do as a princess. pirates league is much cheaper than bbb, so by doing one girl each place you will save some money. i also agree with bringing the dress and changing rather than buying.

 

[Funfire240]

For us it's definitely worth it, especially to see DD and her reactions and let her have her princess time. To me that's priceless, but again, that's just how I feel. She takes a dress from home and we try to get early morning appointments and it has never taken us 2 hours (we've only done the MK location). Even one time we had a 1:30 pm appt. that ended up backed up and we were still out in less than 2 hours.
It's definitely a personal opinion on how one feels about the value. To me, we vacation once a year to Disney so that's my time to splurge and spoil my kids. As long as DD loves it, we'll continue to let her go.

 

[tnd]

We did Pirates' League this year for our then 9 year old son and 3 year old daughter. They loved it and I got some amazing pictures. My daughter was not interested in BBB, she wanted to dress up as Jake and nothing would dissuade her. She was a really cute Jake and got a ton of attention, though many people thought she was a little boy. I would think BBB would be similar for a girl really into the princess thing. We may try it this year.

 

[Katholicchik]

Some people will think it's worth it. Some will think it's a waste of time and money. Like everything in life, only you can decide its worth.

I know... but that's why I'm trying to figure it out.

 

[Katholicchik]

We didn't want to give up the park time on our visit and also my dd isn't super-girly so we let BBB go. Instead, she got a very cute ponytail with colors and pixie dust at the MK barbershop for around $10. She got many complements during the day and had a lot of fun for a lot less money and a lot less time. If you don't do BBB, this might be an alternative.

Oh this is awesome. Do you have any pics you can share? Or point to me to?

 

[Katholicchik]

i think it was worth it for my girls, a highlight of our trip and the pictures are so cute! if your younger girl would like it more and the older just tolerate it then maybe the older would like to do pirates league? that was so much fun and you get just as much attention looking like a pirate (or mermaid siren) than you do as a princess. pirates league is much cheaper than bbb, so by doing one girl each place you will save some money. i also agree with bringing the dress and changing rather than buying.

A great tip. Really! Thanks!

 

[miknsusn]

This was in 2011 so not sure it is still the same, but the barber let her choose the style (1 or 2 ponytails) and colors and the cost was around $10. We didn't have an appointment, but if we had, it would have been even quicker. We just went first thing in the morning.

 

[Katholicchik]

This was in 2011 so not sure it is still the same, but the barber let her choose the style (1 or 2 ponytails) and colors and the cost was around $10. We didn't have an appointment, but if we had, it would have been even quicker. We just went first thing in the morning.

This is aaaaawesome. My oldest would totally go for this. Thanks! Maybe I'll do this for her and the princess / mermaid package for my middle kid. Very cool.

 

[Katholicchik]

Does it wash ok ok? Or bleed with sweat?

This was in 2011 so not sure it is still the same, but the barber let her choose the style (1 or 2 ponytails) and colors and the cost was around $10. We didn't have an appointment, but if we had, it would have been even quicker. We just went first thing in the morning.

 

[miknsusn]

Ours washed right out when we were ready. I seem to remember reading here that some kids with very blonde hair had trouble, but my DD with light brown hair did fine. It lasted all day and might have gone a 2nd day but she was getting tired of having it pulled up. Even the glitter stayed put!

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

Thanks for sharing the picture! That's an awesome deal for 10 bucks and a quick stop. So fancy!