Working in merchandise at Magic Kingdom, this is a common question. Guests will approach the cart, see the ever-popular bubble wand has returned, and ask if we have that for boys. Unfortunately, we don’t. The only one we have is the sea green bubble wand with an image of Ariel and friends from “The Little Mermaid” swimming around the top. A few months ago, we had a similar wand, except it was blue and did not have any characters on it. When we had that wand in stock and not the other, parents were asking if we had any bubble wands for girls.

What shocked me the most was the fact that parents were refusing the buy their child a bubble wand purely because it wasn’t for boys. I would suggest buying the wand and taking it home and decorating it however they wanted to. Looking at these children, I could tell it didn’t matter who was on the toy; it just mattered to them that they were the owners of the toy. The parents, on the other hand, did not want their child to have a toy that they believed was meant for a girl.

I do understand that money is an issue, especially on a cart that is cash only in a park that promotes the use of a Magic Band to make purchases. The bubble wand is more expensive at $18. However, it just is completely crazy to me that parents won’t buy their children a toy purely because it is not meant for them. I remember one night I was working on Main Street and this younger boy, maybe around late elementary/early middle school aged, came up to my cart and started playing with the Elsa spinner. The toy works by pushing a button to make Elsa’s skirt light up and spin around. This little boy was so entertained by this toy and stood at my cart for a solid five minutes playing with it while his parents stood nearby, holding their spot for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. As soon as it was time for Celebrate the Magic to start, the little boy’s parents called him over. This little boy went to his parents and asked them if he could get something off his cart. His parents said to wait until after the show. As soon as the show was over, the little boy and his mom came over to my cart so he could potentially pick out a toy. As soon as he picked up the Elsa toy, his mother told him no and said it was a girl’s toy. The little boy looked disappointed as they retuned to their spot to watch the fireworks. It was so shocking that this mother told her child no and could have ruined the rest of his night because she wouldn’t buy him an Elsa spinner because she thought it was for girls.

I reached out to some of my fellow cast members, asking them for similar stories, specifically about the bubble wands. Most said that they have lost sales because the only bubble wand we sold had Ariel on it. One girl did tell me that they would buy the wand, but were going home to cover up Ariel with a sharpie. At least that was a step in the right direction. Someone else had a made a good point: other children won’t care what the toy is; they may want that same toy, regardless of what it is. However, parents are the ones that will judge other parents on their decisions to buy their child a toy meant for the other gender.

We live in a society that is slowly becoming more accepting of differences. We are starting to see the lines blurred between genders, yet parents are still not allowing their children to have a bubble wand with a female mermaid swimming around on it.