Do kids really wear costumes to MK?

[alieck]

I have just recently realized people do this(obviously we haven't done Disney since I was a kid and don't recall).

I have a cinderella dress I got used, a minnie mouse, and a tinkerbell. Surely my 2 1/2 yr old will not wear it the entire day. Should I really push her wearing it and then bring a change of clothes for the day? I know she'll have to wear normal shoes to get around in. I don't want her to feel left out if everyone else is dressing up.

What percentage of kids her age are dressed up do you think? I'm thinking of only bringing one costume and maybe letting her wear it for a character dinner.

Any thoughts? I'm obviously clueless on this!(and we leave in 1 week)!

 

[playswithstars]

I have just recently realized people do this(obviously we haven't done Disney since I was a kid and don't recall).

I have a cinderella dress I got used, a minnie mouse, and a tinkerbell. Surely my 2 1/2 yr old will not wear it the entire day. Should I really push her wearing it and then bring a change of clothes for the day? I know she'll have to wear normal shoes to get around in. I don't want her to feel left out if everyone else is dressing up.

What percentage of kids her age are dressed up do you think? I'm thinking of only bringing one costume and maybe letting her wear it for a character dinner.

Any thoughts? I'm obviously clueless on this!(and we leave in 1 week)!

I've seen lots of little girls spend the whole day dressed up. The most common are the princess ones and with the BBB a lot want to show off their makeover I think.

 

[tzolkin]

She certainly won't feel left out if she's not wearing a costume. We really didn't see that many little princesses on our trip (but we also didn't do any character meals...) Since you already have the costumes, I would bring them just in case she wants to wear them. If you have meals planned, let her wear the dress and take a change of clothes if she's uncomfortable.

My younger DD had an inexpensive Cinderella dress that she wore. I removed the tulle from underneath, so it was just a thin satiny dress. She wore it all day with pink crocs and was very comfy. I bought her a nicer one for this trip (she wore the old one all summer outside), but it doesn't seem as comfortable. We'll try it and see.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I have just recently realized people do this(obviously we haven't done Disney since I was a kid and don't recall).

I have a cinderella dress I got used, a minnie mouse, and a tinkerbell. Surely my 2 1/2 yr old will not wear it the entire day. Should I really push her wearing it and then bring a change of clothes for the day? I know she'll have to wear normal shoes to get around in. I don't want her to feel left out if everyone else is dressing up.

What percentage of kids her age are dressed up do you think? I'm thinking of only bringing one costume and maybe letting her wear it for a character dinner.

Any thoughts? I'm obviously clueless on this!(and we leave in 1 week)!

Lots of kids do, lots of kids don't.
My experience with my DD has been this:
When she was 3, we went in Feb. and she wore her Cinderella dress around the MK for a whole day. It was cool enough that she had capris and a sweatshirt on underneath.

Our next to trips to WDW were both in August. It was, of course, VERY HOT. She was 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 and she chose just to wear her dresses to the princess meals. She also really enjoyed wearing t-shirts to the appropriate meal - ie a shirt with Pooh and Friends on it to Crystal Palace. Most characters commented on her attire whether it was a dress or a t-shirt.

Anyway, as a parent, seeing your little girl dresses as her favorite princess, with her favorite princess, is a special thing and makes a great photo. My suggestion is to bring at least 1 along and play it by ear. Cinderella, Minnie and Tinkerbell are all available for meet and greets although Tink's line is very long. The other 2 can be found at some character meals and may be easier with a little one.
Have a great trip!

 

[ktlm]

My DD was 2 yrs 10 mths. Our 2nd day we went to the Princess lunch at Akershus, and I let her wear her Cinderella dress that morning. Once she realized how much special attention she got, she refused to take it off...the rest of the week! (Luckily, I had brought a Minnie Mouse dress too, so I got her to wear that 1 day). That said, does your DD wear the costumes a lot at home? Mine already loved to wear her costumes before the trip, and I don't let her wear them out in public at home, so I'm sure that was a part of her wanting to wear them all week.

 

[RMulieri]

Lots do, lots don't. Those princess dresses get very HOT and are Scratchy. My dd wore hers for 5 mins and wanted out of it.i would bring clothes to change into.

 

[Aliceacc]

I have a cinderella dress I got used, a minnie mouse, and a tinkerbell. Surely my 2 1/2 yr old will not wear it the entire day. Should I really push her wearing it and then bring a change of clothes for the day? I know she'll have to wear normal shoes to get around in. I don't want her to feel left out if everyone else is dressing up.

What percentage of kids her age are dressed up do you think? I'm thinking of only bringing one costume and maybe letting her wear it for a character dinner.

)!

It's only because of the DIS that I had any clue of this last year; our last trip before that had been in 1990.

Do NOT push your duaghter into doing it. You know what they say about choosing your battles. Having a hot cranky itchy toddler along is not anyone's idea of a good time, particularly the toddler in question.

The overwhelming majority of kids in any park at any given moment (possibly aside from Halloween) are NOT in costume.

That said, I brought one for each of my girls last August, and will do so again this August. They both wore costumes to our dinner with Cinderella and the Step Family at 1900 Park Fare (a total riot!). My 5 year old opted to keep it on for the evening at the MK and LOVED the attention it brought her; her 8 year old sister opted not to. Both girls had shorts on underneath, and neither costume was expensive enough for me to mind jamming it into my bag for the evening.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

DD typically dresses up for character meals/BBB and then we let her wear it for a little while and bring a change of clothes. We go at warm times a year so the full dress gets too hot to wear all day. If she's refusing to take it off, we take her on Splash Mountain so she'll change (she doesn't like wearing wet clothes!!!). We dress DD in customs for the whole week so she stays "dressed up" without being dressed up- KWIM???

 

[brandylouwho]

I guess I am just restsating what other have already said, but there are plenty of kids not in costume. My eldest wouldn't make it 10 minutes in one (that is just her personality).

My kids usually wear Disney Ts or homemade Disney tops (thanks grandma) and we try to coordinate them to match where we are going that day (Pooh for Crystal Palace, Cars design when we go to DHS). But you don't even HAVE to do that. I am just an overplanner & think about what they are going to wear waaaay too much.

 

[Kaler131]

My kids have never dressed up (except for MNSSHP) nor have they ever cared to. They will wear t shirts with their favorite characters though....

 

[DISNEYNV]

There are tons of kids at Disney and NOT all of them dress up. Don't feel that your little one needs to wear a costume unless she really wants to that is! It's nice for pictures, but they are sort of uncomfortable and hot to wear. If she doesn't like to wear costumes how about a princess night gown? They sell really pretty ones that are light and comfy that look like pretty dresses at the Disney store. And she could wear shorts underneath or wear it in the evening and be ready for bed when she falls asleep on the buses back to your resort

 

[ms_missy66]

My girls are 6 and 4 and have never dressed up. On our last trip, they seemed to notice there were little girls in princess costumes and commented on how pretty they are, but when I asked if they wanted to wear theirs, they both declined. The costumes we have are itchy. They can barely deal with them for Halloween! They sometimes put them on for dress up at home - but that doesn't last long.

Like others said, there are lots of kids who do dress up, but I would definitely the majority do not.

 

[livndisney]

DD typically dresses up for character meals/BBB and then we let her wear it for a little while and bring a change of clothes. We go at warm times a year so the full dress gets too hot to wear all day. If she's refusing to take it off, we take her on Splash Mountain so she'll change (she doesn't like wearing wet clothes!!!). We dress DD in customs for the whole week so she stays "dressed up" without being dressed up- KWIM???

Kristine!

(That is brilliant, wish I had thought of that LOL)

 

[~Kristina~]

My kids have no interest in wearing them at Disney. Too hot!

 

[Faldred]

I'll echo the comment that many do, many (probably far more) don't wear costumes. Kids wearing costumes seem to get a kick out of the extra attention they get -- our boys actually got more "fawned over" because I think it's less common for boys to dress up.

As for wearing all day, our three (DS3, DD2, DS2) managed it without complaint or other signs of discomfort on the one day (out of four) in the MK that they were dressed up, but it was a cooler day (high in the mid-70s), so that helped.

 

[santa's surpriz]

My DD6, has been to WDW twice and always seems to be dressed in her Snow White costume and always gets a little extra attention, especially during parade time. She gets so excited when they come and smile at her. IF I am quick enough I can get a great oicture. I just melt. I never put the two together until one day at MK in January I stood next to the mom of Peter Pan in the parade and she commented on all the extra attention my daughter got.

Although I do not need to encourage her to wear a costume, she loves an excuse to wear it for a week! I do love that it adds to her magical memories.

 

[turtlegirl1]

You see a lot of costumed kids. I personally don't know hw they handle the heat all dressed up all day, especially in those little princess shoes they look so uncomfortable! But I guess the kids are so caught up in everything around them, they don't notice the little annoyances, like sweat & blisters! DD did wear her princess dress during the evenings, but not all day.

 

[ktlm]

especially in those little princess shoes they look so uncomfortable!

If you take the costumes, I would suggest leaving the princess shoes at home. I knew DD would ask to wear the princess shoes so I purposely did not even bring them. There are lots of princesses in tennis shoes running around WDW.

 

[SLK1]

My girls have never expressed any interest in dressing up (and I would probably discourage it anyway). Those costumes seem to be extremely uncomfortable (and itchy!) and knowing you're going to be walking a lot, it is hot and crowded...I just can't see being in anything but shorts and t-shirts!

To each his own, but I think the whole dressing up thing has picked up in popularity recently, probably because of the BBB. I try not to encourage any unnecessary "I'm a princess, you work for me" attitudes around here!!!!

 

[jgazda]

We are fortunate to have a family member that sews and has made our daughter 5 (yes...I said 5) dresses for her to wear to the parks. Since they are hand made they are more comfy and she wears them most of the day. I of course bring clothes to change her into but for the most part it is character dresses and crocs for her.