Controversial but Important Topic...

[glamdring269]

Ha, there is no way I would ever agree to that.

 

[KimBean]

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!

Cute! Where are you from? Lol! Just kidding. Houstonian here.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I say wear them! The pictures look so nice when everyone matches. We wore white Mickey Mouse T shirts in 2010 (DH and teen son included). DD and I wore matching Santa hats every day of our December trip.

All the men in my whole extended family even wore matching Hawaiian shirts and everyone wore matching leis when we went to a luau on Maui a couple years ago. That picture looks spectacular!

So yea...I guess I'm a matching shirt kind of girl!

 

[Crl1817]

The quick visual identification of us looking like a group is a real advantage to me. My kids are adopted and ds is a different race than the rest of us. In crowds people will often cut him off from us, I am pretty sure because they don't realize he is with us. It's both interesting as a commentary on how the brain processes this kind of visual information and a little frustrating at times.

 

[brookmey]

When I was growing up we would always kind of laugh and roll our eyes at the families with matching shirts and we all swore we would never do it.

But, we went on an extended family trip in 2011 to celebrate my parents' 40th anniversary. My parents, all the grandkids, DH and I and my sister. My sister wanted to do matching shirts because it was a special occasion and my mom was really into the idea. So, we each had a different colored shirt and on the back it said "1971-2011 Celebrating 40 years of Disney and 40 years of marriage."

The front of each shirt said something different. Grandma, Grandpa, Daughter #1 (me), Daughter #2 (sister), Son-in-law (my DH) and the grandkids were given numbers according to birth order, like Grandkid #1, Grandkid #2, etc. all the way to 6. We got a lot of compliments on the shirts and they weren't gaudy or tacky, plus we each got to wear the color of our choice.

DH and I really didn't want to do it, but we sucked it up for 1 day and we're glad we did. It did help make the trip a little more special and the picture we have of all of us together with our shirts does look pretty good.

 

[MartDM]

I don't blame you for being horrified...I would be too. I think the matching t-shirt thing is a little much. That said though, there are plenty of families who apparently get a kick out of matching clothing for the day, so you won't be the only ones.

Perhaps you & the wife could "accidentally" spill something on yours about 1/2 hour after entering the park and then have to change.

 

[KimBean]

To OP successful thread... I now know to start all threads with the word "controversy." Hahaha!

 

[LBIJim]

lots of great comments and ideas. BTW....I was only partially serious. I would prefer not but will go with the flow. I do have to check though about whether the plan is to do this for every day we go to the park.

NO!!! Stand your ground and refuse to wear the matching T-shirts. At MOST, wear it for a group photo, then ditch it.

Perhaps you & the wife could "accidentally" spill something on yours about 1/2 hour after entering the park and then have to change.

Excellent solution.

 

[DJSMOM]

A few years ago, my son, husband, MIL, FIL, BIL, and SIL and myself went with shirts that said our family name and the year on the back and each a different one of the 7 dwarves on the front. It was before my daughter was born so now she could be Snow White.

We had Dopey and at the bottom Uncle Tony
Sneezy (my SIL has bad allergies) and Aunt Sue at the bottom
Grumpy -PopPop
Happy - Grandmom
Sleepy - Mommy
Doc - Daddy
Bashful - DS

Our pictures looked great and we got a lot of attention. We ordered those shirts on zazzle.

The last trip, we have tie dyed shirts made for the 4 of us. Again out pics looked awesome. We even used the shirts again on our cruise for embarkation day.

I say go for it. There are not too many places you can be a total dork and get away with it. It's not like you are matching to go shopping at Target.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

The only way I'd do it would be if the kids wanted to do it and actually suggested it. They usually make me smile when I see them in the parks, but it's not something I'd ever put the time and energy into making.

 

[disneyjunebug]

I think it would be great for a family picture. We had a portrait made not at Disney, all of us wearing Polo Shirts, only each of the branches (there were 5 of us "kids" at the time) and our families wore different colors, with my mom and dad wearing a sixth color. My dad died not long after that and it remains one of my favorite pictures to this day (even if it has my ex husband in it! )

That being said, when I used to take school groups to Disney (in my younger days -- I start my 30th year teaching in about 6 weeks), I would get hats of a wild neon color and make the kids wear them everyday. That way, when I saw some Neon Green Hat running through the park, I knew it was my kid that I could yell at later! (not really, the punishment was having to ride IASW with me singing the whole time.)

 

[jmuller120]

I made these for my family for our trip last week. We only wore them on our Magic Kingdom day and got lots of compliments! The pictures with them turned our really well and I think it helped that they were unique but still had a theme to them. We didn't do any matching the rest of the days so everyone was willing to do it for one day.

 

[NashBridges]

I wouldn't wear one, simply because all the ones I've seen are that cheap stiff material t-shirts you'd get at Michaels or any other craft store. The cotton isn't near soft enough for me. I rarely wear an actual t-shirt in Disney, I'm usually in a tank top anyways.

I don't think they're tacky, just not for me.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I made these for my family for our trip last week. We only wore them on our Magic Kingdom day and got lots of compliments! The pictures with them turned our really well and I think it helped that they were unique but still had a theme to them. We didn't do any matching the rest of the days so everyone was willing to do it for one day.

LOVE THIS!!!! Where did you get the stencils? This is perfect for our family of 5 as It's my wife and I, our 3 year old and my parents. Everyone is on board for some kind of shirt except my old man, but if I could give him a dark blue Mickey, I think I could convert him.

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

Fun & cute! Go for it! Your at Disney and more than likely will never see any of these people again in your life.

 

[Disney Dynamite]

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 picked up the following saying from one of my favorite TV shows (How I Met Your Mother) - Happy wife, happy life. In the grand scheme of choosing your battles, I don't see matching t-shirts as a big deal, especially not at Disney. My DH and I saw lots of groups with matching shirts on our last trip. From an outsider's perspective, they definitely fell on the fun and cute end of the spectrum.

 

[Lanie]

I think those shirts look fun when there's a big multi-generational family wearing them, not so much when it's just Mom-Dad and kids... That being said, not me wearing them so IMHO do whatever your family wants to do, big or small!

If nothing is offensive on them, and it makes the people wearing them happy, it's all good!

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't plan on them myself but if my mom wanted to do it, for example, on a big family trip or reunion, I might suck it up and wear one, at least for one day - it's a bit much to expect everyone to wear the same shirt every day anyway. It's not something I would like, but I don't find it "horrifying."

Maybe you could have some input into what the shirt looked like.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Not my thing either (plus, do you get new shirts for each day???), but trust me nobody will look at you sideways.

omg I always think the SAME thing, do these families bring 8 sets if matching shirts, do they have 8 identical matching shirts, or do they all do laundry constantly?? In the summer and other times I often change my shirt couple of times a day at WDW…….

I like some, and dislike a few others, but matching shirts seem to be popular at WDW. I like the families that wear the red Incredibles shirts.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

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

Both.

Matching family shirts almost always look awful, but if the family who is wearing them enjoys it, who cares what other people think? The biggest pro and con, from my perspective, is that I think it makes pictures look especially awful, but it also makes locating family in the crowds much easier.