Build A Bear/Ridemakerz party question

[almostamom]

For those who have had or attended a party at either Build A Bear or Ridemakerz (same concept but with cars), what was the budget for each guest? We've never been to either, but we're having DS' party at Ridemakerz in a few weeks. I originally thought I'd set a $26 limit per child since I know the truck DS wants is $26, but the guest list has gotten a tad larger than originally anticipated making $26 per child a bit beyond the budget. Cutting the limit to $20 eliminates about 10 of the vehicles the children can choose from (including DS). Do you think that will present a problem? There are still about 20 to choose from. I've been promised that the workers will not try to get me to spend more than the predetermined amount.

TIA,
Linda

[Karenn]

Will the employees actively steer the kids towards items of the right budget? We had DD's birthday at build a bear this week. None of the employees did anything to make sure that any of the children kept to the budget. In fact, they were trying to talk kids into items that would put them well over the budget. We had a $35 budget (only 4 kids) and they still ended up going over by a few dollars per bear. (Who knew bears needed Hello Kitty underwear? :ROTFLMAO:) I think if the sales team had been more proactive, then sticking to a lesser budget would have been fine. I was pretty clear about the budget- they had it in writing & verbally. I guess I'd have to be particularly emphatic to be certain they'd stick to it.

[motherofone]

We did a build-a-bear party and the employee leading the party pulled out a large pile of outfits ahead of time that fit the budget ($25) that we chose. She told the kids which bears they could choose and then let them pick an outfit from the table of pre-selected clothes. There wasn't really an opportunity for the kids to pick any extra accessories. When we checked out at the end of the party, the cost of some of the outfits was slightly less than what we budgeted for.

[motherofone]

oops double post

[Karenn]

We did a build-a-bear party and the employee leading the party pulled out a large pile of outfits ahead of time that fit the budget ($25) that we chose. She told the kids which bears they could choose and then let them pick an outfit from the table of pre-selected clothes. There wasn't really an opportunity for the kids to pick any extra accessories. When we checked out at the end of the party, the cost of some of the outfits was slightly less than what we budgeted for.

That's exactly what I was expecting to happen! Instead, our party guests were just turned loose to shop like any other shopper and boy did they shop! I'm just glad we only had the four kids rather than the 20 or so that we'd initially considered inviting!

[jenmcadams]

My DD has been to 2-3 build a bear parties...In all cases, there was a set budget (anywhere from $20-35) and the employees seemed to help the kids stick to it. At the last party, there was a special going on ... any animal, any outift, any pair of shoes for $30 and the host just used that.

[almostamom]

So it seems that I should really keep in the $25 - $30 range which means we either need to rethink the guest list or increase the budget.

Thanks for the advice.

Linda