Controversial but Important Topic...

[Brian Noble]

Fun and cute or tacky and embarrassing?

I tend to lean towards "cute"---most of them are. But, it really depends on the mindset of the wearer.

 

[kate_wdw]

Fun and cute or tacky and embarrassing?

Both. They can be fun or they can be embarrassing (depends on your taste and perspective).

Clothing tastes are highly subjective, and on hard to fit body types, those types of shirts aren't necessarily the most comfortable or flattering fit.

I say make them optional for group members and let non-participants know in advance so they can coordinate if desired. I also say that non-participants who wear something clashing shouldn't get their noses out of joint if they're excluded from or sent to the back of some pictures.

 

[imhereforthedolewhip]

We are not a matching t shirt kind of family. I always thinks it looks cute and dorky on other families though. My husband and son would just not go for it! My son doesn't even want to wear disney shirts there but he will wear them at home. He is six and told me disney shirts at disney are "over the top"

 

[kate_wdw]

My son doesn't even want to wear disney shirts there but he will wear them at home. He is six and told me disney shirts at disney are "over the top"

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I am an individual who acknowledges my personal flaws and one of my biggest is being very judgmental of others who I do not know.

Except when I'm at Disney (OK maybe I judge examples of bad parenting but that's it). Matching shirts? Knock yourself out. A Senior Citizen wants their face painted? Good for you, go get your Mickey on! Accountant in your regular life wants a Princess Tiara while meeting Cinderella? Well Bippity Boppity Boop to you.


There is no Disney flag big enough you can wave while on a WDW vacation that should cause anyone to cast judgement upon you!

 

[1stvisit0909]

I am not judging but at the risk of being divisive (politics, religion, matching t-shirts), I am looking for views.

We have a multi-generation family trip coming up (grand parents, aunts / uncles, kids etc.). Some want to wear matching, especially designed T-Shirts while at parks, including my wife. I am horrified at the prospects of this.

Life will go either way (barely) but I am interested in thoughts of others. Fun and cute or tacky and embarrassing?

We did christmas shirts for our foursome. The pictures where "totes adorbs" as my 13 year old would say. ha.

I dont know about really large group, but I guess if it was simple design it would like more like a reunion shirt? Those are big around here too.

 

[Mikie]

Matching T-shirts can be a source of many great family memories.
Hugs Mel

My favorite

"I don't do matching t-shirts"

fantastic! I also have an extended family trip coming up and DH is the holdout against matching or coordinating shirts - maybe we'll make him this one

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I am not judging but at the risk of being divisive (politics, religion, matching t-shirts), I am looking for views.

We have a multi-generation family trip coming up (grand parents, aunts / uncles, kids etc.). Some want to wear matching, especially designed T-Shirts while at parks, including my wife. I am horrified at the prospects of this.

Life will go either way (barely) but I am interested in thoughts of others. Fun and cute or tacky and embarrassing?

It's just one day, right? I mean, you're not going to have clean, personalized shirts for every day of your trip. I say suck it up and do it one day to be cute.

 

[MeanestMomEver]

No more tacky than wearing a black beanie with plastic circles for ears and your name stitched on the back!

I think it's corny and silly and THATS the point! It's Disneyworld, it's vacation so why not squeeze every little bit of family kookiness you can out of the trip. There's no specific dress code for spinning in a gigantic tea cup or taking an "exotic" cruise past 40 year old plastic animals with a "skipper" that tells bad jokes and pretends to steer a boat.

In my opinion, if it's important to the young children in the group and you are willing, do it for them. No other park goers else will care or even notice what you are wearing. And, like others have said, when I see families in matching shirts my impression is that they are a fun, close-knit, loving family, excited to be there and really celebrating their time together. It makes me smile.

Here's an idea for you though. Say they are all getting red shirts with a design and some crazy nickname for day one. And bright green shirts with some kooky saying for day two, etc... You could one up all of them. You could tell them you don't want a matching shirt (as long as they don't mind too much) and you could, on the sly, get a shirt made in the same color of the day (or even white or gray) that says
"Just Dad"
Or "I don't do matching shirts"
Or
"I'm with them."
Or "I just wanted to go camping"
Or. "I forgot to pack my matching shirt"

 

[HopperFan]

I am an individual who acknowledges my personal flaws and one of my biggest is being very judgmental of others who I do not know. Except when I'm at Disney (OK maybe I judge examples of bad parenting but that's it). Matching shirts? Knock yourself out. A Senior Citizen wants their face painted? Good for you, go get your Mickey on! Accountant in your regular life wants a Princess Tiara while meeting Cinderella? Well Bippity Boppity Boop to you. There is no Disney flag big enough you can wave while on a WDW vacation that should cause anyone to cast judgement upon you!

Perfectly said!!

 

[ArwenMarie]

I am not judging but at the risk of being divisive (politics, religion, matching t-shirts), I am looking for views.

We have a multi-generation family trip coming up (grand parents, aunts / uncles, kids etc.). Some want to wear matching, especially designed T-Shirts while at parks, including my wife. I am horrified at the prospects of this.

Life will go either way (barely) but I am interested in thoughts of others. Fun and cute or tacky and embarrassing?

I could never wear matching t-shirts. I would seriously die of perceived embarrassment (perceived because I know that no one cares lol).

I think it's just a personality thing. I also have always hated wearing Halloween costumes. Even when I was a kid, I remember my more outgoing friend literally forcing me to be a ghost or something so we could go trick or treating.

I also couldn't wait to get out of my wedding dress and back into normal clothes. It felt like a costume.

I think the families who do wear them are adorable though, go figure!

Anyway, long story short, I think it's just a personality thing.

 

[MichelleVW]

We don't do matching t shirts...but usually do "theme days" Even my husband can't complain about that. Texas Ranger day, University of Texas Day, Stephen F Austin State University day ,etc. It makes for cute pics and it's easier for the ride operators to know who's in our group!

 

[Mimi Q]

I think they are fun & cute.

 

[Bluegrrl]

I am not a fan of the matching shirts, but I have to admit, it does help to keep your party together. I recently went to a bachelorette party at Epcot, and the Matron of honor made everyone matching shirts in light blue and pink. Since the bride loved Muppets, we all had the shirts printed with our favorite muppet on the back (I love Red Fraggle) and the date of the wedding on the front. Not really Disney, but it did:

A. Told everyone what we were celebrating - Perfect strangers were happy to help us take pictures of the party, CMs could identify us and put us all into the same ride vehicle or table.
B. Kept the party together/identifiable (Keeping 16 partying and slightly buzzed women together at Epcot is chaos!)
C. Some of us didn't know each other, but we all knew the Muppets. It provided a talking point/base for introduction; "Hey, you like Pepe? Yeah, I do - what's your name?"

And finally - It was just cool. Oh, and the Matron of Honor made us all hairclips that matched our Muppet. So now the shirt and clip are both a cool memory that I can keep from a day that I spent with a dear friend.

 

[NinaBella]

When I mentioned matching shirts (one day, hawaiian shirts) on a cruise board I got the 3rd degree that I was going to scar my kids for life and to let them be individuals.

On the Disney board people think they are cute. My husband's family reunion orders matching shirts for everyone but a different color for every family attending. Some cut them into muscle shirts or cut them into v-neck or side tie shirts.

When are you going? I think the personalized baseball jersey are nice for cooler months. Although t-shirts are cheaper.

If you really don't want to wear one, then don't.

 

[hallie]

Life is too short to waste even one minute caring what strangers at Disney think of your t-shirt. Relax and have fun!!!!!

 

[MOM POPPINS]

We wore these for Star Wars Weekend! We enjoyed wearing them to see Mark Hamill on the weekend he was there! Our daughters and I like to wear matching shirts a lot, however our boys rarely do.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

I kind of like the matching t-shirt thing, but I am positive I couldn't talk anyone in my family into doing it.

If you're concerned about the ease of keeping the group together, what about just asking everyone to wear the same color shirt. Red day, green day.....

 

[Mikie]

OP, you asked simply whether it was fun and cute, or tacky - and I fall in the "fun and cute" camp although I would never be the kind of person to do this outside the Disney bubble.

When my extended family goes together I'll show them some custom designs or coordinated shirts I have in mind (for about 3 out of our 8 days) and let them each decide whether to join in. Anyone who said no, I'll tell them if they're one of only 1 or 2 who declined and maybe ask if they're willing to at least wear a plain red shirt on the day everyone else is wearing red with black Mickey ears and a script initial.

Independence and individuality are awesome, but so is turning your family into part of the theming at Disney! It also makes for very fun character interactions and pictures if you plan on meeting characters who are depicted in your shirts.

 

[scjo68]

We have done the matching shirts. For many years we made matching tie-dye mickey shirts. I learned how on Disboards! Each year it was a different color combo. We wear them just one day- on our Chef Mickey day, so we match in the picture.

This past year, instead of tie-dye, we each wore mickey tees that were all identical, except they were each a different color.

We actually received lots of compliments on our tie-dye shirts. Some people wanted to know if we bought them in the park.

Cast members also complimented them Also, when they would normally ask how many in our party, they would see us in matching tie-dye and say, "I'm guessing you four are together?"