Bippidy Boppidy Boutique

And the moment you have been waiting for... the girls are transformed into princesses at the Magic Kingdom!
So, first things first, you go into the castle and choose your princess dress. I KNEW Gabs would want Belle, so I packed Ellie's dress from last year, now Gabbi's size, and why would I want TWO of the same dresses in the same size?! And sure enough... Belle!
Ellie, on the other hand, wanted anything that was a two piece. She had been talking about being Jasmine since about two weeks before we left. That's ONLY because Jasmine "shows her belly". LORD, help us!
Once we got there and started trying on costumes, the Jasmine costume was a little big, and Ellie wouldn't tolerate it! I had to explain to the helpers at Bippidy Boppidy the situation, and they said, "well, she could be Ariel." I said, "you have to understand... that is NOT gonna work for her!" She said, "We do have a two piece Ariel costume!" Ok then... you DO understand! That'll work just fine!
So, now that dresses are on, the girls were caped and got into their boutique chairs.
They bring around a menu, per se, of hairstyles from which to choose. Gabs picked the really tight, straight on top of her head, bun.
Ellie was going for more the rock and roll style. And she wanted red hair. Actually, she realized Ariel has red hair and was going for full character.
This is the photo I facebooked for those of you who saw it and many who commented. This is Todd the Bod, proud daddy, watching his girls get made up amidst many other little girls and several dads, in fact.
This was Gabs's first experience, and ol girly poo was LOVIN' it!!
Ellie, being a straight up veteran, was less "excited" than Gabs, but acted like a pro in the chair.
They use so much goop and gel that I was cringing just thinking about trying to wash all that mess out that night. Ugh.
And then came time for the hair extensions. Ellie was feeling pretty fine!
It was a bit odd having all that red hair hanging on top of that blond crown. But she loved it, and that is really what this whole experience is about!
Good ol' Daddy! He patiently awaited, hair, make up and nails!
It was almost time for pixie dust. So, they handed Gabs the face cover. I think that is one of my favorite parts of the whole experience. So cute.
Did I happen to mention that my new camera has a panoramic feature on it that allows you to scan from due left to due right, and all in between.
We used it at the LSU game and were able to scan the entire crowd to show what the Superdome looked like chock full. And this is what the boutique looks like on both sides. COOL feature on the camera, huh?!


and then came time for the nails. Oh. And then make up!
And last of all... the pixie dust. For anyone who is at Disney, if I am not mistaken, you can go in the gift shop right by the back of the castle and across from the carousel, and the workers in that shop will sprinkle your little one's head with pixie dust. ( I think)... it looked like they were doing that anyway. And that is without having been in BBB.
And a final sprinkling for Gabs.
There are different packages you can purchase at BBB. By far it makes more sense to shove a dress and some shoes in your backpack and then just purchase the makeover. I mean, to the tune of saving about $100 or more. But, with that package, you miss out 0n the professional portraits too.
Since Ellie got dress and all, we had the fancy schmancy package for her, and they let us put both of them in the portraits that came with her package. So, we kinda made out like a charm on Gabbi's package!
And then, just a BBB sash, and a wand, and ta daaaah!!

Voila. Like that... two princesses!! They don't let the girls see themselves at all during the makeover. And right before the big reveal, they signal to the professinal photographers who are present at all times in the room, to come over for the girls' big moment.
I'm not sure Gabbi knew just what to think!
But Ellie looks mighty proud!
ANd then they get a goody bag to take with them with leftover fingernail polish, eye shadow and lip gloss. Not a bad gig, really. I think it is well worth the money, because it a straight up , A+ experience for the girls!
Once outside, we had to pause for a Daddy and Princesses photo op.
I thought Gabbi looked so different with her hair all slicked back like that.
And then, a photo op with good ol' Mom. Must say, one of the best parts of our trip! They just absolutely LOVE it!
Oh, and if you go with bringing your own dress, and your kid wants the bun like Gabs, don't forget you will get a rhinestone crown (and a couple of rhinestone Mickey Mouse bobby pins and a rhinestone barrette... see good deal, huh?) , so you won't need to purchase the crown and wand, for some crazy amount. I didn't want my princess to be without a crown, so I DID purchase it, forgetting that they get one. Soooo, that explains why I am wearing one!
We like to do BBB later in the day, 4:30 to be exact, because we figure we can hang around in the evening and watch the fireworks. The sun is going down, and the castle is starting to put on its show with all the lights making it change colors.
That crane there was NOT good for photo ops, but we were later told that it was there because they were finishing getting the lights off the castle from the holidays.
As the castle turned purple, we could see our babies' eyes getting heavy. They'd had a really eventful day, after all, so we headed to the car.
Our two little princesses had to watch the fireworks from the car, because on this magical night, we were homeward bound!! Great memories!!

MO