By: Jenn Chevalier

Once upon a time there was a fairytale experience featuring fairy godmothers, dazzling makeovers, and magical memories available to all children ages 3-12 who have dreamt of being royalty. This experience is known as the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and it is located at Walt Disney World, Disneyland and aboard the Disney Cruise Line ships. Kids will arrive as themselves and leave as a princess, knight or sea captain. My children participated in this experience at Walt Disney World inside Cinderella Castle in 2019 and again on our recent cruise in August 2022 aboard the Disney Wish. Although the experiences are quite similar at all locations, today we are focusing on the experience aboard the Disney Cruise Line.

My family set sail on the Disney Wish this past summer and my daughter (Callie age 7) and son (Quinn age 10) both participated in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience.

The first step to this process is booking your Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique reservation via your Disney Cruise Line online account by navigating to the "Onboard Fun" area of your reservation. The booking window date is different for certain guests. Your Disney Cruise Line reservation must also be paid in full in order to book any onboard activities or reservations:

• First-Time Guests: 75 days prior to sail date

• Silver Castaway Club Members: 90 days prior to sail date

• Gold Castaway Club Members: 105 days prior to sail date

• Concierge Guests and Platinum Castaway Club Members: 120 days prior to sail date

• Pearl Castaway Club Members: 123 days prior to sail date

Take a look at your cruise itinerary before choosing your appointment slot to be sure that you are not making your reservation on a day you will be participating in port adventures or on your Castaway Cay day! As this is a high demand reservation, you may not have the option to choose your ideal appointment time. However, if possible I recommend getting one a little later in the day before dinner time. This will allow you to have all sorts of on-board fun including enjoying the pools and waterslides without the worry of ruining hair or makeup. If you do happen to get a reservation earlier in the day you can always return to the Boutique later on and ask for a little touch up of pixie dust! We had our reservation scheduled just before dinner and both Callie and Quinn went to dinner feeling like true royalty.

On our cruise, these were the options available for the kids to choose!

If you were not successful in making a reservation for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in advance, I recommend stopping by the salon on embarkation day to ask about availability. The cast members may be able to squeeze you in at some point during your cruise!

JENN'S TRAVEL TIP: If you are unable to get a reservation at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or just are in need of a little extra magic throughout your day, you can stop by the salon at the Boutique and ask a Fairy Godmother in Training for pixie dust! This is free and available to all guests (note: they do not provide pixie dust on Pirate Party nights)

The selection of gowns is incredible!

When you arrive at the Boutique you will choose the package you wish to purchase. There are multiple packages you may choose from including Deluxe Carriage Package, Castle Package, Disney Frozen Package, Princess Signature Package, Royal Knight Costume Package and the Captain Mickey Costume Package. We chose the Castle Package for Callie and it included:

• Hairstyling

• Shimmering makeup and face gem*

• Princess necklace, sash and cinch sack

• Nail polish

• Disney Princess gown of your choice

• Coordinating accessories

Once we selected our package, she had her choice of one of three hairstyles: enchanted, fantasy or pixie magic. She went with the Fantasy style and couldn’t have been happier with her choice!

A very happy Princess Callie!

JENN'S TRAVEL TIP: If you already own a princess dress (or in some families cases, a whole trunk full of princess dresses) you can bring your own and opt for the Deluxe Carriage Package. This package will be slightly less expensive than the others because instead of including a dress it will include a commemorative Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique t-shirt! This package is also perfect for those little ones who may not love wearing a dress in the first place!

Quinn was not so much a fan of those Princess inspired packages and wanted to become a knight so the obvious choice was the Royal Knight Package. This package included:

• Knight costume

• Knight backpack

• Hairstyling with gel

• Mighty sword and shield

• Confetti

You may think boys, especially those a little bit older, may not enjoy the experience but you would be surprised! Quinn was ecstatic once he sat in that chair for his turn for some royal treatment. To make his big Knight reveal even more special our Fairy Godmother in training gave us quite the magical moment.

Once he was transformed into a knight the Fairy Godmother in training had stuck his sword in his chair and then tried to pull it out but couldn’t do it. She then had my husband try to pull it out but he “couldn’t do it” (wink, wink thanks for playing along on that one). Once it was Quinn’s turn to try he was able to pull it out immediately. There was a big spectacle made about how this proved he was indeed, a real Royal Knight. We loved that Sword in the Stone magical moment for him.

Once our time at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique had come to an end, we were officially walking through the ship with royalty: a princess and a royal knight and they were treated as such by both cast members and other cruise line guests! Walking through the Grand Hall and through the ship Quinn was stopped by a few little princesses and their mothers to get pictures with this “real life prince.” Callie’s big princess reveal in the mirror, where she saw herself all made up for the first time, or Quinn’s magical sword moment make every single penny spent well worth it.

Our Knight Quinn was grinning from ear to ear!

JENN'S TRAVEL TIP: If you have are travelling with a little Mousekateer who would love the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience, it is likely they would also enjoy the Royal Gathering. This experience is a separate ticketed event but one that is no additional cost to your cruise and allows you to meet multiple princesses at one time. Tickets for this event are made available in the "Onboard Fun" section of your cruise activities planning section 30 days prior to your sailing but do ‘sell-out’ quite quickly. So, make sure to mark this date on your calendars! How perfect would it be to enjoy this event after a magical makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique?

Overall, I would rebook this experience ten times over to be able to relive the joy I saw in my kids that day. It is a very popular experience (clearly for good reason) whether it is at Walt Disney World, Disneyland or aboard a Disney Cruise Line ship so be sure to talk to your Pure Magic Vacations Travel Agent about when your eligible booking window opens!

Jenn Chevalier, Travel Advisor with Pure Magic Vacations

Contact Jenn here!