One of my daughters “official firsts” happened at Walt Disney World in the barber shop. Her first haircut. (Well, not technically her first, she cut her bangs herself, ugh)
I’m fairly sure that my daughter is somehow related to Rapunzel. Her hair grows extremely fast, which we realized very early in her life. So we decided that we would wait to do her first haircut until we knew that she would have enough hair to donate it to Locks of Love.
If you don’t know anything about Locks of Love it is a “public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.” Their mission is to “return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.” – Locks of Love website.
As you can see, Diva Daughter had really beautiful PERFECT curls and because we were not positive that the curls would stay after her hair was cut (which they didn’t) we wanted to make sure at least some young lady would be able to enjoy those beautiful perfect spiral curls.
At the time we had Diva Daughter’s hair cut the “Harmony Barber Shop” had no appointment schedule, so you never knew how long you had to wait, but as of July 2010 the Barber Shop began taking appointments which you can make by calling 407-WDW-DINE or at the lobby concierge at your Disney Resort. This is EXCELLENT news because the wait was really the biggest down-side.
T
he Harmony Barber Shop, which is open from 9am till 5pm, seven days a week, has three barber chairs there so at least three people SHOULD be able to get hair cuts at any given time, but the three times we’ve been there we’ve never seen more than two people cutting hair.
We had sort of false impression of what we would be getting. Seeing as it was named the Harmony Barbershop we were expecting almost character-style hairstylists, maybe even a little singing. Which did NOT happen. I personally didn’t find it much different than any other haircut you would get at a walk-in hair salon in a mini-mall.
Haircuts are $19.00 for adults and $15.00 for children under 12 (before tip). One of the special things is the pixie dust that they will sprinkle in your hair and the colored hair gel that you can have added. You can get a “1st Haircut” special that has a certificate and mickey ears that have “First haircut” embroidered in them for only $18.00.
It’s a good memory. And of course its nice to be able to say that your child got their hair cut at Disney World. Its part of what makes Disney special. But it does take time, time you could be riding rides because its inside the park, so just make sure its something you REALLY want to do before you make your reservation.
My son and my husband have also had his hair cut there. My son had a mickey mouse put into the back of his head in red gel for $5.00 extra, which he liked.
The Mandara Spa at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort Hotel also has a full-service hair salon where you can get a cut, color, perm, or just style for the night out. Reservations can be made by calling (407) 934-4772. However, guests under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian present during services.
There are other spas on Disney property, but to my knowledge these are the only two that offer haircuts, however Disney’s Grand Floridian Spa is currently down for refurbishment until early 2013, and may provide this service when they re-open.
So if your children get gum in their hair that you just can NOT get out, or you just realize any of you are looking a little shabbier in those pictures than you’d like, men and women, girls and boys alike can all get a cut while on vacation to Walt Disney World.
- Packing: What to Leave at Home (aglassslippervacation.com)
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Marquee at Walt Disney World Resort (chipandco.com)
