When we have Disney birthdays I like to incorporate both things the kids WANT to do and also surprise items for them. We decided to let the kids choose one character meal as their birthday celebration meal and for Tess’s birthday she chose to eat at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I’m SO glad we asked her what she wanted to do because I would have never guessed she’d want to eat at CRT as much as she did. She talked about it a ton leading up to the trip and was so excited to see Cinderella at her house and was worried she might be asleep 😉
As a surprise for Tess I scheduled a Bibbidi Bobbidi reservation for her on the same morning as our Cinderella’s Royal Table meal at the castle. Not only was this going to be her first every BBB experience, but it was all of our first experience with BBB at the castle! Britt has had her makeover at BBB at Disney Springs a couple times but never at the castle.
Since Tess was so excited about meeting Cinderella part of her birthday gifts was a Cinderella dress and telling her the news about her special makeover! Here’s a video of sharing the news with her, and per usual with our kids and surprises she wasn’t all that pumped haha
Monorail Mornings are our JAM
I was able to snag an early entry reservation for Tess at BBB which worked out so great to be allowed in the park a little early so we could snap a few pics. I LOVE castle pics with babies and really wanted to take a few minutes to snap a few of Spear 🙂
Not very trusting haha!
Something I adore about Kye is how into stuff he’ll get and how he’ll want to wear a sticker or button or anything that a cast member gives him 🙂 He rocked that “I’m celebrating” pin!
Probably my most favorite castle pics as a family!!!
We had to walk around the castle but with that beautiful lighting who would mind? Any chance for extra pics is a win in my book!
It’s really important to me to be the kind of daughter in law that I want my sons to marry someday. I know how hard it will be to “let my sons go” and I appreciate all the efforts Mrs Charlotte makes in being a great mother in law. I try to really think about her perspective and think it’s so great when she gets quality time with JUST Zach as I know that’s not common when sons grow up! I tried to make sure to snap pics of them together because I feel like that’s something I know I’ll want someday so I’m sure she does too! I think it’s so important for our kids to have those bonds with their grandmother but it’s also important for them to grow up thinking that’s the norm so I’ll get invited on their Disney trips someday too 😉 Mrs Charlotte and I are similar in many ways and I think that makes it even easier to be a good MIL/DIL to each other because we are able to understand how the other feels. I know she gets TRUE JOY seeing the kids at Disney just like I do and we always want her to be part of all the memory making that she can be!
Our little Cinderella at her fountain 🙂
I will go ahead and share my opinion regarding BBB at Disney Springs vs BBB at Cinderella’s Castle. You can see Britt’s first BBB experience here, and her second one here…both at the Disney Springs location!
- Prices for both experiences are the same, but for Cinderella’s Castle location you do have to be in the park so park admission is required.
- The time for the experience at the castle takes away from your time at the parks (the main reason we always have done Disney Springs location, but with having annual passes this year we didn’t mind the “eating up” of park time)
- Disney Springs only allows two adults to watch the experience, at the castle all the adults in our party were allowed in to watch
- Disney Springs has the Fairy Godmother in a magical moment, this does not happen at the castle
- The wait time felt longer at the castle, but I think it feels longer because you are watching your clock thinking about the rides and things you’re not doing while you’re waiting. We waited a good 30 min or so past our reservation time to actually begin her experience.
- Disney Springs has a small area for a few photos right after the experience but remaining photos have to be taken at a different location in Disney Springs and the backdrop is pretty cheesy. After our experience at the castle we were escorted to a photo area with much better backdrops and styling and posing.
- Disney Springs has more space and is better mapped out and planned since it was built specifically for this purpose, the castle location is more cramped but obviously there isn’t much they can do about that!
- We felt the photo pass photographers were much, much better during the experience at Disney Springs. Again space is a big issue at the castle and this probably plays a role in their ability to roam around and get good photos!
- There is just something magical about being in the castle during the experience and it’s a feeling that Disney Springs can’t replicate.
- Both experiences were great with the “fairy godmother in training!” and we LOVED both locations for different reasons. We did all agree, however, that in the future we will probably stick with Disney Springs location!
Life’s Tough Choices 😉
If you’re considered Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique for your daughter here are some pointers:
- Bring your own dress. I bought Tess’s from Disney Store at 40% off.
- Purchase the cheapest package. I believe the prices have gone up so the cheapest package is like $65. But it includes the makeover (hair, makeup and nails) plus a sash, a tiara, a mickey hair clip, a bag, plus the extra items leftover from the makeover (the nail polish, makeup, and extra stickers).
- Make sure nails are cleaned and clipped and hair is washed before the experience.
Here we go!
Tess hit her chin on our pool ledge a week prior to our trip so she still needed the bandages! I think the blue and pink eyeshadow helped draw attention away from the chin though, right? 😉
This experience was eye opening for me as Tess’s mother. Really this was the first time she’s done something where a lot of attention was just on HER and it was just about HER. Tess is more reserved than Kye and Britt and I realized during her makeover that she’s not comfortable in the spotlight. When her fairy godmother in training would ask her questions she’d clam up or say she didn’t know or wait to let Kye or Britt answer for her.
Zach and I had several big conversations following this morning. I never want Tess to feel like she doesn’t have a voice. Britt is especially our most outgoing child who tends to fight for the attention (middle kid haha) and wants to make sure all eyes are on her all the time. I never want Tess to grow up having any sort of resentments against her sister or us, as her parents. While she may be naturally reserved and totally content in letting Britt shine and taking that more backseat role, I never want her to feel like she wasn’t able to have that spotlight on her because we didn’t allow her to in some way.
It takes effort to ask Tess a question and then MAKE SURE SHE is the one who answers it. She’s slow to answer, quick to brush things off (saying “I don’t know” or “I like it all” or other blanket statements) and we have so many other kids who are eager to fill that void. Since this day we’ve made sure to ask Tess things first and to not allow anyone else to speak for her.
It’s also easy with two girls to lump them together with things. Kye and Daddy have guy time, Britt and Tess and I have girl time. While that’s wonderful and important to foster their sister bond, it’s also important to make sure we’re giving Tess enough attention on her own – JUST her. Seeing her so uncomfortable was hard for me, I assumed she’d LOVE having a makeover and would be all about it. But she wasn’t. And that’s okay. Just as it’s important for us to make sure she is able to have a voice and to have attention, it’s also important to learn what she prefers. Some people just don’t like that sort of attention and that’s okay!
Tess said she thought it was fun but she doesn’t think she wants to do it again in the future and, of course, I’m totally fine with that. Kye wasn’t into the Pirate’s League and we have no regrets on not following through with it. I’m so glad we did it this time and that she enjoyed it and if she decides she wants to do it again , great and if not that’s great too!
Kye might have enjoyed chatting up the fairy godmother in training more than Tess did 😉 It’s so interesting to see him entering into the preteen phase of life and showing more interest in the opposite sex. Zach joked about him getting a picture with her and he really did want one 🙂 Doesn’t he instantly look SO MUCH OLDER?!?!
Introducing Princess Tess!
Following her makeover we were escorted to another building near the castle where they did a photo shoot for Tess. I LOVE how these turned out and the photographer was AWESOME with her! So, so many cute ones!!!
I knew we ran a risk of the makeover running late so I gave us PLENTY of time before our breakfast! We had some downtime and decided to do a couple of rides between the two reservations. Tessie lead the way and kept her little hands like this the WHOLE time because she didn’t want to mess up her nail polish 🙂
It’s a Small World!
Little nap 🙂
LOVE the “Hidden Mickey” pin!
Phillarmagic
Just a princess making wishes 🙂
Both Kye and Britt did SO GREAT! We did have to tell Britt that it was about TESS and not her as she kept bringing up her BBB experiences and we wanted to make sure Tess just got to enjoy her day for HER. It was a VERY girly morning and Kye not only never complained, but he embraced it. He wanted to pop in the princess store and purchased a sword so he could be the princess protector and personal body guard 🙂 Sweetest big brother ever!
Our breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table!
Their dresses match flawlessly and it was the moment Tess had been waiting for!
Spear checking out Cinderella 😉
We LOVE CRT. Yes it’s pricey, but the food is SO GOOD and the environment is beautiful and the princesses are always so great. It’s a phenomenal experience I highly recommend for every little girl to get to experience at least once!
Kye not only chatted up the fairy godmother in training but we also had a LONG wait to get our table for CRT (sigh, it annoys me. Why require reservations if you’re always so behind on them?) and Kye started talking with a young girl who was there on her own. She was really into Star Wars so they talked and talked while we waited. It was super cute because he was so into it. She ended up being seated beside us and offered to take a family photo for us. Real life yall, real life.
As soon as she took this picture Spear reached out and got my fresh, hot coffee. Thank the LORD it went the other way and not a single drop got on him…it just got all over the table instead.
I ordered the shrimp and grits last time we came for breakfast and LOVED IT so I was pumped to try it again but they did change the menu up and it’s different now than it was. Still SUPER good but I felt bad telling Zach to order it when he could have had steak and eggs!
A breakfast fit for a princess!
Cinderella is a for sure meet and greet at this meal (hence why I went with her as the focus for Tess since I knew she’d FOR SURE get to see her). The other princesses are not a guarantee but we’ve met the same ones every single time: Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine and Ariel.
Kye played up his role as princess protector so he rocked a serious face for all the princess pics haha
Ariel was the best for sure! She’s so stinking cute and even got soldier Kye to sneak a smile 🙂
I love how confused Ariel looks and how excited Kye and Britt are!
Spear and I share our favorite princess…he was ALL about Ariel and kept looking at her and reaching for her hair and she was smitten with him and just didn’t want to leave him!
One photo…three Jasmines!
Something new at CRT is that they handed out really neat mats that are laminated and feature all the signatures from the princesses. I guess Belle is often seen there too since she signed it. I do not know if they are not doing signatures anymore and doing this instead of because we didn’t do signatures that morning. I’m trying to phase my kids out of the signature thing because I feel like it takes so much away from their actual experiences and interactions. I LOVE this idea and hope it sticks! I do wish it was smaller so they could use it in their scrapbooks but it makes a great placemat!
Our waitress was super talented and made Kye’s mat a bit more boyish by adding Goofy!
CRT is a sit town meal where you order what you’d like to eat even though it’s a set price. Kye was still hungry and wanted more waffles and said he was going to ask for more. We figured why not let him. Usually restaurants with a fix price at Disney tend to either be a buffet or an “all you can eat” type meal. I don’t know if it’d always be honored if more food was requested but Kye asked if he could have more waffles and more waffles is what he got!
Who doesn’t love a birthday cupcake for breakfast?
It was SO magical to witness proposal!!! The groom did a package where the ring was presented inside a glass slipper. I was dying!!! SO AWESOME!
Thanks to Casie’s All Things Crafty for the adorable onesie!
It says “The Prince has Arrived!”
She may be a princess but she can sword fight with the best of ’em!
Feeding time before heading out!
When dining at CRT all girls are giving a wand, boys are given a sword and all children are given a wishing star and then they have some really cute little interactive experience where they teach kids how to make a wish…I have three videos: Britt being confused as to what was happening, saying bibbiti bobbiti boo, and making their wish!
Dreaming of her Prince 😉
When we headed to get the stroller Kye ran into a Cast Member who interacted with him. Yall this is what makes Disney what it is! This little 30 second moment really stuck with Kye. He LOVED it!!!
Passholder perk…we don’t mind just being in the park for a couple of things and then leaving 😉 We headed out after breakfast and got to check out the wishing well for the first time ever (we literally just never go that way). The kids were all about it and were lucky G-Mama was there b/c she had change haha
The kids know my story about when I was a child and how I’d always make the same wish for my birthdays or in a wishing pond: for unicorns to be real. Britt continued on the tradition and wished for unicorns as well as koalas 😉
Britt has been talking up the Incredibles monorails SO MUCH. Every time we’ve visited she’s hoped we’d get to ride one and FINALLY her wish came true! When it pulled in she said “My dreams are true!” haha! Easy to please 😉
We had such a magical morning celebrating Tess and enjoying each other! I love being able to RELAX at the parks and this morning was truly just that!
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Awesome photos and such a beautiful family!! Thank you for sharing Disney tips and stuff!
I ONLY HAVE ONE WORD…..TESS WAS SIMPLY ADORABLE!!! Oh man those pix, what some framers you have. And I am so glad Mrs. Charlotte got to go along. I desire to be the type mother in law she is and I strive to be. My dil’s are not that close to me though. Maybe Jarrod’s wife is more so. Jennifer was when her boys were younger. I am just so happy right now getting to see Tess’s makeover and how awesome simply beautiful she was… Emily I am telling the truth…y’all make some handsome and beautiful babies. That Tess is going to break many a heart and she has that Southern Bell trait of cocking that lil head already and looking so demure…As usual I enjoy the blog and getting to spend time with your family through words and pictures. Give all the kiddos a hug and Zac and Mrs. Charlotte my best…and to you my friend…much happiness and God’s blessings.
Love and hugs,
GiGi