Dressing children in matching clothes at the parks

[ANNFMUR]

We are going to the world in march. I was suddenly in a panic about losing my kids in the crowds. Does anyone else have their children wear matching shirts so they can keep track of them visually? If so where do you find them. My girs are 8, 5, and 2.

During the summer I have them in matching suits so I have only one pattern to track at the pool. This has worked well for me.

[princessh]

I asually try and dress my kids in the same disney shirt. They have tons of shirts at the disney store. :flower:

[Brina]

I have twins who are literally never dressed alike other than for portraits or when they wear their soccer uniforms. I don't own any matching outfits for them, and I don't buy new clothing for trips. When we visit the parks I choose a color of the day and dress both boys in the same color tshirt.

[3princesses4us]

I like that idea of wearing at least a matching Disney t-shirt. It's easier to spot the same color. In fact next time we go my girls will also be 8, 5 and 2 and I plan on putting them in an unusual colored shirt so they'll be easier to keep track of.

[lovehoney]

I'm going to try and have the whole family wear coordinating colors. That way I don't have to find the same exact shirts for all of us.

So far I have matching maroon Mickey shirts for my DSs and DH and I are wearing maroon Tshirts.

I purchased everybody a long sleeve Tshirt from Old Navy in Red with Blue and tan stripes for the boys and Blue with red and tan stripes for Me and DH.

I also plan on making Mickey Tie dyed shirts for everyone. I'm having trouble finding a white, 100% cotton T shirt for DS5. I've looked at Walmart, Target, Hobby Lobby and Kohls. So far no luck. I would use an undershirt but the ones I've seen are too thin.


I don't have matching Jackets so if it is cold all this matching is sort of useless! :rotfl2:

Have fun!

[ANNFMUR]

Dharma trading company has a large selection of shirts fit for dyeing. They must have a web site I have not visited in a long time.

[Allison]

Last year each of my 3 kids had 2 different tie-dye shirts from their day care. It worked out great for them to wear those on the same day and I didn't have to buy anything new. The tie-dye really stood out in a crowd and it was easy to spot them.

[mommystieg]

I dress our DDs in coordinating colors and boy, did that come in handy this past June. We were at AK when one of those lovely summer thunderstorms rolled in. I had the two older DDs and DH was carrying the baby while we headed for cover. Once I found a place to keep dry I realized we were missing DH and DD#3!! The girls were all dressed in bright orange so all I had to do was head out into the crowd and find the man carrying the baby in the bright orange shirt!!
I started dressing the girls in matching shirts/coordinating colors because it looks really nice in the pictures. And then we usually buy a set of matching shirts for the whole family and have one picture made.

[Belle1962]

I dress both the "kids" with me in the same t-shirt and either jeans or jean shorts.

The one "kid" is my DS (24) and the other "kid" is HIS son (4). Since the 4 yo looks sooooo much like his daddy I figure I can just point to his daddyand tell security--"looks like that but 3 foot tall". :rotfl:

[PoohD]

Go for bright red! A red t-shirt from Wal-Mart and even a red hat! Most people, kids and adults seem to be in white with some designs. Opt for a solid color. I made sure my kids were in red whenever we out in a crowd. The color really stands out. I even encouraged my husband to wear something other than white so I could find him when the crowds got really thick.

[Eeyore'sthebest]

OT: But, if you have a digital camera, take a picture of your kids every morning prior to leaving the hotel for the day. This way, heaven forbid, if you get separated you have an accurate picture of what they are wearing. My DD loves to pose so it was never a problem. I just told her she looked adorable and I wanted a picture.

[PaulaSue]

I almost always dress my girls in matching or at least same colors when we go out to anything special. It just makes life easier for me.

Sometimes I have a hard time finding the same shirt so I go up a size or 2 for my youngest. I have 7 (today :flower:) an almost 5 who is almost as big and a 2 1/2 year old.

[My2Cinderellas]

glad to hear I'm not the only nut who likes her girls to match! We always have a few matching or coordinating sets and I've been on the lookout for bargains for our trip this spring. My biggest score was when Dillards marked down all the summer stuff to $1.99 a piece - picked up a couple of sets for each girl. DD7 will be a size 8/10 and DD5 will be a 6x/7 this spring, so it's easier to match since I'm buying in the same sizing bracket.

[estherhead]

to me the key is to have my kids dressed in bright colors. So many people dress in black, grey, khaki, etc, that a child in bright colors really stands out. My dad always wears a hot pink shirt to the parks. No other men are wearing it so we can find him. Last year he was sick one day and didn't feel like the pink, so he wore a tan shirt with a navy blue baseball cap. I lost him OVER and OVER! It was like that was a uniform for 50 year old men. LOL!

[allaboard]

For the past two years we have gone to Disney and had our children wear the same colors on the same days. We didn't go so far as to make them the same shirts. We didn't need to after all. We have two girls and a boy. So a couple of months before the trips I would start watching while doing laundry to see who had what color of shirts. I picked out the 5 colors I thought most of them had already ... then shopped for others. One day they all word Animal Kingdom shirts ... but aside from that day ... it was just the same color but with different pics, etc. We always have a RED day, a BLUE day, A YELLOW day, a GREEN/GREY day ... and last year a HOT PINK (girls) and ORANGE (boy) day. It is so nice to look around and make sure I see three kids in red quickly. (or whatever the color that day is) This next trip may be different for us since I might have to convince our oldest daughter to keep doing this!! She'll be 11 !
:wave:

[NJDisneymom]

Oh how I would LOVE to have 3 girls to dress up!!!!!! I love to do coordinating outfits, but its harder with a boy and a girl. I am a bit of a GYMBOREE fanatic. That would be an awesome place to get coordinating, but not exactly the same outfits for your girls. The disney catalog also does some cute family dressing pieces that you can do and having all 3 girls you can easily just buy all the same t-shirts, etc.

[My2Cinderellas]

Oh how I would LOVE to have 3 girls to dress up!!!!!! I love to do coordinating outfits, but its harder with a boy and a girl. I am a bit of a GYMBOREE fanatic. That would be an awesome place to get coordinating, but not exactly the same outfits for your girls. The disney catalog also does some cute family dressing pieces that you can do and having all 3 girls you can easily just buy all the same t-shirts, etc.


Gymboree is one of my favorites for this! Sometimes the girls get the same outfit and sometimes coordinating ones. Another good source is hanna andersson. I like to get the same dress in different colors. My girls each have the souvenir sundresses with knit capris and look sooo cute.

[Schmeck]

The Children's Place has matching clothing to fit the OP's range of ages - toddler clothing and big girl stuff in the same fabrics, just designed a bit differently.

I always dressed my two girls in matching outfits for WDW, it just made the pictures look so much cuter! One girl would be in lime green, and the other in pink. Same outfits, just a different color. Land's End has a lot of matching stuff too, especially bathing suits.

Now my DDs have such a difference of opinion about how to dress - DD14 is into Star Wars t-shirts (bought a wardrobe for herself on our last trip) and boys shorts (but at least she doesn't wear them low). DD11 is into jeans and girly shirts. There was no way to dress them even close to identical on our last trip :(

Ah, the good old days, LOL!

[MissMichelle]

I'm actually thinking of doing this a few of the days---Especially President's Day when I know it'll be busy.
I also bought a bunch of Disney T's for $4.99 (same price for long sleeved) and the older girls got the same ones *both 9* and that'll come in handy.

[amyjo]

We're having the kids wear same color t-shirts each day. I got lucky at Target a few months ago and found t-shirts on sale for about $2 each. I picked up light blue shirts and green shirts that day. I got matching Mickey shirts at the Disney store on sale, too! And, they all have matching baseball caps from our local minor-league team that they will wear. My mom had t-shirts printed up with our family crest on them (for all 18 of us going together) that she wants us all to wear one day. My dh is going to croak when he hears about it. I'm trying to decide the best time to break the news--waiting until we get there is NOT going to be a good idea! LOL!

[mamacatnv]

Hair bows and brite head doodads! The shirts/clothing is a great idea but I always put a brite something on my DD's head and it is so easy to see her in a crowd. I just pull up a little bit of her hair on top and then add the ornamentation for the day, the nice thing about this is it is good for anything, the parks, the beach, pool etc.......

[girlsx4]

I have 4 girls. I usually dress my younger 3 in matching Gymboree outfits and find a coordinating top for my oldest.

Susan
mom to 4 girls

[Schmeck]

Hair bows and brite head doodads! The shirts/clothing is a great idea but I always put a brite someting on by DH's head and it is so easy to see her in a crowd. I just pull up a little bit of her hair on top and then add the ornamentation for the day, the nice thing about this is it is good for anything, the parks, the beach, pool etc.......

DH's head?? :rotfl: I know it's a typo, as you also put in 'easy to see HER in a crowd', but the idea of sticking a brightly colored hair doodad on your Dear Husband's (DH's) head...

[BeccaGrace]

I love dressing the girls in matching outfits and know that in a few years they won't think that is much fun anymore--so I'm going to get away with it for as long as I can:)

I've been buying clothes on clearance for this trip for a year and they will be either matching or coordinating (i.e. same outfit but different character--one has a Cinderella poncho and the other has Tink) during our entire trip:) I also have 5 matching shirts for all of us the first day and the last and then I have character shirts for the adults that fit with what the girls are wearing. DH doesn't match us but he has character shirts that he doesn't know about--he'll find out when he opens the suitcase and every shirt has a Disney character on it instead of his usual NFL logos:)

My favorite match is going to be for dh and I...he's wearing a t-shirt with Goofy on it and mine says, "I love Goofy guys"...

[daisyduck123]

We all (my mother, me, DD11, DS7) wear matching shirts/shorts each day of our trip. We have 3 or 4 matching Disney t-shirts & about 5 matching sets of tie-dyed t-shirts. We can always find each other and it looks great in our scrapbooks.

[DisneyDotty]

When we were at WDW last June, our family (me, DH, DD 11 and DS7) had four or five matching Disney t-shirts. My family was reluctant to wear them at first, but after getting lots of attention and positive comments from CM's, they started to enjoy the "ensembles." (Ya know, WDW is THE tourist spot--so why not look like a tourist?) We bought the shirts at the Disney store, at WDW shops, and at Disneyshopping.com. At Disneyshopping, you can even personalize your shirts. :flower:

[JenEeyore]

We have tradition of dressing alike with our family on WDW trips - not exactly every day, but when possible, I try to get similar shirts, or at least similar colors to help in crowds, plus gets some fun photos. We dressed all alike the day we got picked to be GRand Marshalls in MGM parade, and people thought it was a hoot. We've gotten our shirts at Disney Store a few times, or some are other vacation pick ups, or even Target. Or all match same character for the day. Good luck with your packing!

We are unexpectedly going with friends on Dec 16th and I'm in process of picking our outfits now too. :cheer2:

[chi_girl]

I have no life :rotfl2: and tend to dress my dds alike a lot. At least once a week. Either the same color shirt/sweater or a similar outfit in different colors. I just think it makes them look so adorable. Now that winter is approaching it is a bit harder, but especially during the summer and spring months. :teeth:

[ch261]

My DS's have matching tye dye shirts, VERY bright. They wore them everywhere last summer- amusement parks, the zoo, etc. for that exact reason. I look back at the pictures and it looks like those were the only shirts they owned! :rotfl2: It definitely does help, though! I could spot them easily a mile away.

[tedj4]

Guilty here! We have twin girls (9) and I already warned them that we would be bringing all matching outfits so I can spot them easily. Hey, it's Disney so they didn't argue. Normally they wear uniforms to school and just wear different hairdos. Relatives always seem to buy them matching clothes so I have some things to choose from. Whatever works! CBR 12/3-12/10!

[J&ADisneyMom]

I just returned from WDW. While at MK, we saw a family with matching orange t-shirts that said Disney across the front. The grandma said they ordered them online. I saw them everywhere (mom, dad, two kids and grandma) and they really looked sharp. And if I easily spotted them around the parks, it must have been great for them to find each other!!

Shell

[bear74]

I plan on either wearing matching homemade shirts with DD or at least the same color for her, me and DH

[dreamalittledream]

I am always dressing my 2 girls in the same colors or collection (gotta love Gymboree) and it helps not only me keep track of them but other people as well. At a recent party when my little one was looking for me, someone commented that they knew my girls were sisters because they had the same dress.
For our trip next year, I have several matching shirts and jackets for my girls and my neice. that way we can keep track of them at a quick glance and others will also know they are together. I didn't get red b/c we are going in Dec and I assume lots of people will be wearing red for the Holiday.

I also like it when DH is wearing a bright color, yellow or orange so we can find him quickly.

[dbarker]

I try to match the whole family. That way, if the worst happens and I panick, I just have to point to my own shirt, and that is what my kids have on. Sometimes we wear matching Disney shirts, but my favorite is a solid bright colored t-shirt (orange, red, .... )

[JakeJoshMom]

We plan matching colors for all the days we are there.
It makes the pictures look great and keeping up with everyone is really a breeze.

[jenniskinni]

I dressed my family all in the same color each day, or one child matched one parent and the other matched the other parent. That way if I forgot what color to look for, I could look at my own shirt! It worked our great and our pictures turned out cute! Of course, my older son would have been embarassed to have the exact same shirt every day, so I mostly just stuck with the same color.

[java]

I have to agree on the matching color idea. As a mom of 3 boys and a girl a color of the day shirt always works. And don't forget to wear that color also- it is just as easy for the kids to spot you in a sea of Mom's :banana:

[bags6490]

I love this idea for safety and cute reasons, both. My husband hates this more than anything! Don't know why. My 2 youngest girls (1 and 2) both had overalls on one day (just by chance) when we were at home and he even made a little comment about the way they were dressed. He knows better than to ask me to change them though! He knows we are having a good day if everyone has clothes on and keeps them on. :rotfl:

[Sleeping~Beauty]

My little princes are only one size apart and I often dress them alike anyway. We had gone to Disney with a group of 10, 5 adults and 5 children. One day we all were JCFD navy shirts. It does make things easier.

[MomOf2DisneyKids]

we always did matching shirts....usually the 4 of us...one or two days, we did DD and I matching and DH and DS matching. (complementary colors, of course, :rotfl2: ) I love the matching shirts, for the safety help (if necessary) and for the nice scrapbook pics. :teeth:

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

I try to match the whole family. That way, if the worst happens and I panick, I just have to point to my own shirt, and that is what my kids have on. Sometimes we wear matching Disney shirts, but my favorite is a solid bright colored t-shirt (orange, red, .... )

I do the same thing, and have for years. My DD is now 11 and she looks forward to picking out our shirts.
On one trip we went with BIL and his family (3 DN's). For the first 2 or 3 days he made fun of us for doing this. :sad2: He said there would be NO WAY he would loose one of his kids and not know what they have on ...Well I was fresh and had one of his girls hide around the corner on him(everyone was in on the joke, but him)....when I asked where she was, he had no idea. The first thing my DH asked was what did she have on. Guess who didn't remember.:rolleyes1 I didn't make him suffer, we let him in on the joke. That same night we made a trip to Walmart to pick out 5 matching shirts for the rest of their trip. Plus, the bonus is pictures always look nicer when everyone matches.
We are planning our next trip for 2006, this time with a 3yr. old with us. You can bet everyone will match whatever he is wearing. I have also made ID bracellets, and a hanging name badges for him to wear. Can't be to safe......I like the post that said to take a picture each morning of them...We'll be adding that to our list.

[DisneyFanatik]

[QUOTE]We are planning our next trip for 2006, this time with a 3yr. old with us. You can bet everyone will match whatever he is wearing. I have also made ID bracellets, and a hanging name badges for him to wear. Can't be to safe......I like the post that said to take a picture each morning of them...We'll be adding that to our list.

I like that picture idea too. I used to carry a currnet picture of my kids around with me, but now with digital cameras it is a great idea to have a picture of EXACTLY what they look like that day. Another hint is to have the kids carry around a picture of the whole family. This way security can know who they are looking for (parents) and in the case of a very young child no one else can "claim" him/her.

[dismom9761]

I used matching colors for my four and it really helped.

[CastMemberDWA]

I see families do this all the time. The only trouble with using disney shirts as your match is that you will find others in the same shirt.

I worked at DAK the other day and a family had all the kids in matching navy blue shirts which had white horizontal striping. Good looking, and easy to spot that they were together. They stood out amongst the rest well. So I would just find what you can at a local Target or Walmart at home then pack those.

[Bugfella]

Our entire family wears matching T-Shirts when we visit the Disney Parks (Mom, Dad, son, daughter and our guests too). One year our daughter wandered off. The main reason we found her so quickly was that some folks noticed our shirts and told us a little girl with the same shirt was wandering up the walkway. My daughter even talks about how the "green" shirt saved her.

We like to buy the Hanna Andersson boxy Ts. They have vibrant colors with stripes and you can get everyone in the family the same shirt from infants to adults. Plus when then go on sale they cost only 12 to 14 dollars each.

We considered buying matching Disney T-Shirts, but everyone buys them. Remember - not only do you want to see your kids, but they need to see you too.

We buy our kids shirts a size up for 2 -3 years of use and add a new color each year. Now we have 3 days of matching shirts.

Another added benefit is that we have seen less folks cutting through our party as we are walking around the park because they see us as a group.

Good luck with your decision! :cool1:

[krcit]

We went last year with another family and dressed all 6 kids alike. There were 3 girls and 3 boys so they didn't always match exactly-but always had the same color. The brighter the better-one day they all had orange on and those pics are gorgeous!!! All the girls are tomboys so that helped, lol-they liked wearing Gap T-shirts and denim shorts every day.

[lilmary914]

Disney Store has some bright yellow long sleeve shirts with a cute disney insignia on them and they are only 7.99. I got the same one but in red.
Good Luck,
Mary

[paigevz]

Yes, I put them in the same colors and in Disney.........not necessarily the same Disney theme, but usually the same color.......I did have my older son in a gray Grumpy while the little on had a white Thumper.......both white and gray, just transposed. I'm so anal about it that I pack another shirt of the same color for the little one in case he needs a change. It makes for adorable pictures.

Zazzle.com..........you can make disney themed shirts (or nearly any other theme) in any colors you want..........add sayings too! Made my little ds a lime green with Peter Pan, his name in red, and in red on the back it says "Second star to the left and straight on 'til morning" too cute.

Made matching brother shirts for the boys with Brother Bear characters in natural with brown writing........"I'm the big brother" and "Raging ball of wild fur"

They've even got a ton of villains I can't find anywhere else.....including the Big Bad Wolf from the three little pigs (but not the pigs, or I'd make a shirt for the little on with the pigs and the big one with the wolf).