Do most kids dress up for character meals?

[srr1933]

We are going to Disney in October. I am planning on going to CRT Breakfast, 1900 Park Fare dinner, Chef Mickey's breakfast, Crystal Palace dinner, and either Ohana breakfast or Akershus breakfast. I am planning on tryig to get BBB reservations for right before CRT. Other than that, I wasn't planning on my daughter dressing up. Will she be the only one not dressed up at all the other character meals? I can certainly let her wear her costume for more than one time but I thought it would be uncomfortable for her to wear them to the parks afterwards. I know she thinks they are itchy. I don't want her to feel left out though.

I also have a 4 yo son. What do I do with him? I can see him getting upset with big sis because she is getting to wear costumes and get all fancy. Is there a costume for a boy to wear? Do boys normally dress up with their sisters? I do plan to get his hair done at BBB with her but I have no idea about a costume or if I should just put him in regular clothes.

Do you think this is too many character meals? Looking at it, it seems like a lot.

Thanks,
Sandy

 

[DOES THE SHOE FIT]

We did the CRT lunch last november and my 5 year old DD dressed up as did most of the other girls. I simply wound up carrying her dress around when she got to hot in it after walking around the park the rest of the afternoon. My 8 year old DS did not dress up nor do I recall seeing any of the boys dressed up. They do give the boys a sword so that might make your son feel better if you feels left out. But the princesses do a good job of making the boys part of everything when they come around to each table. We also did the character breakfast at Ohana's and neither of my kids dressed up and I don't recall any kids dressing up for that. They hand out Lei's (sp?) to everyone so that makes it festive. Have fun

 

[3"Mouse"keteers]

If you do CRT, he can dress us as Prince Charming.

 

[praline3001]

ahhh the big question~ costume or no costume~

They are hot, itchy and the majority of little girls want out of them 20 minutes after being in them!
But they still want to dress up~ or at least like the idea of dressing up! We moms can't win!

I have a solution~ its what I did with my DD last summer and it worked out perfect! I got on ebay and found a seller who makes the most adorable princess sundresses!!! I had a few made and my DD wore those with biker shorts underneath. She got big bonus points for being an original and she was comfy and cool in the heat!

I am not sure if I can post ebay sellers names on here and if I can't I am sorry~ mod please delete the name LOL
mom2rtk
she makes the cutest sun dresses!
There are tons of ebay sellers so if you don't care for hers, do a search for custom disney or boutique disney and you will find some adorable/non itchy ideas!

 

[NMK62303]

Our DD's did not dress up in Princess costumes for either of their princess breakfasts (CRT or Akershus) but we did have their hair done at the BBB and kept "refreshing" it the next two mornings for their princess breakfast days and doing their makeup as well, also I had their different special princess shirts for them to wear on those days, and that seemed quite sufficient for them. I do recall seeing other little girls dressed up but not everybody if you know what I mean. Ours seemed to be just fine with their hair/makeup/shirts -- Cinderella even commented (to my DD who is a HUGE Cinderella fan) how much she liked the girls' makeup, hair, and Princess shirts.

And no, I don't think that is too many character meals!! Our kids LOVED the character meals, and I did too, because that meant we did not have to stand in long lines to get pictures/autographs in our books!

Have a great trip!

 

[WDWAtLast]

ahhh the big question~ costume or no costume~

They are hot, itchy and the majority of little girls want out of them 20 minutes after being in them!
But they still want to dress up~ or at least like the idea of dressing up! We moms can't win!

I have a solution~ its what I did with my DD last summer and it worked out perfect! I got on ebay and found a seller who makes the most adorable princess sundresses!!! I had a few made and my DD wore those with biker shorts underneath. She got big bonus points for being an original and she was comfy and cool in the heat!

I am not sure if I can post ebay sellers names on here and if I can't I am sorry~ mod please delete the name LOL
mom2rtk
she makes the cutest sun dresses!
There are tons of ebay sellers so if you don't care for hers, do a search for custom disney or boutique disney and you will find some adorable/non itchy ideas!

Thanks for this info! Her dresses are beautiful! I also sew and hadn't thought about making "princess" sundresses - but I think I might now!! We will be at WDW in August, too hot for Princess costumes, and my 7-turning-8 year old would rather wear a sundress, anyway!!

 

[thisis99]

We were just there a couple of weeks ago, at Crystal Palace. Most of the kids there were not dressed up.

 

[Faldred]

We had 7 (yes 7!) character meals last week when we went -- the only one where we really "dressed up" the critters in costumes was CRT. DD2 had a Cinderella dress (and was adorable), but DS3 probably got the most comments/compliments for his Jack Sparrow costume, and DS2 got some notice for his Peter Pan.

(We realized after we got the costumes that we got a pirate and Peter Pan for the boys... )

 

[praline3001]

We were just there a couple of weeks ago, at Crystal Palace. Most of the kids there were not dressed up.

True~ but that character meal is a bit different than the princess ones. The only character meals I see the "works" with is CRT,Norway princess meal and 1900 park fare.

The other meals are a toss up~ usually a t shirt with a pic of one of the characters at the meal...

Now 1900park fare breakfast I see a lot of Alice costumes as she is there for breakfast.

 

[ShannonMB]

We have gone to CRT a couple times, as well as several other character meals. I, too, felt like my DD wouldn't want to be dressed up all day at the parks, and I didn't want to carry a dress around all day, either. We haven't done costumes at any of the meals we went to, and though there certainly were others dressed up at CRT, DD didn't ever mention not being dressed up/feeling left out. I love the idea of the sundresses, and DD DID wear a cute little dress each time.

I'm sure your DD would love to dress as a princess at any of the princess meals, but I don't think it's a big thing at any of the other character meals.

Have fun!!

 

[nicki.momof3]

The disney store has reallly cute crincess sundresses right now. We got two - one for CRT and one for norway pavillion.

Super cute and comfy

 

[disneybliss2]

My dd wanted to dress up for the character meals, but we went in June and between the combination of heat, not real wearability on & off rides, and feeling "itchy" in them we took the dress with us and changed once we got to the restaurant. We had one breakfast (CRT) that she wore the dress straight from the hotel to there. I took regular clothes, and once done w/ the breakfast she changed into them and I rolled her princess dress up and tucked it away in our backpack. I did the opposite for dinners--rolled it into a cylinder shape, tucked it in the backpack (lightweight & didn't take up a lot of space, so not a problem) and changed in the restroom once we checked in at the restaurant. That way she got the best of both worlds.

Not sure about your son...I only have girls. I would ask him ahead of time if that is something he would be interested in, though. He may not even want to dress up--then your problem is solved. If he does, then you have time to plan ahead accordingly. If he does show interest, could he be a pirate, Captain Hook, Power Ranger, a prince?

I think you've done great w/ the character meals. You've chosen some great ones. I'm sure your kids will have loads of fun! Enjoy your trip!

 

[srr1933]

The sundress idea is a great one! She is definitely dressing up for CRT since we'll do all the pictures after hair and makeup at BBB. I think I'll get her a couple sundresses for the others. Ds would love to be a pirate. Anyone know where I can get a good pirate costume?

What about 1900 Park Fare dinner and Akershus for breakfast. Are those typically more formal? I can totally see not dressing up at Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace.

Thanks for the tip!

Sandy

 

[praline3001]

I have seen seas of princesses at both ASh. and 1900.

NOW if you want your DD to get some extra special attention~ have a BALL and be the belle of the ball for 1900 dinner~~~~ I have the best idea

At 1900 the step sisters REALLY steal the entire show. Cindy is rather BORING but the steps are hysterical!!!
I am having an actual druzilla costume made for my DD8 as she is dying to do this! They made fun of her last time dressed as a princess so she wants to dress up like the steps
But designs by Dena on ebay has an adorable step sister outfit... she custom makes items so you would have to get with her on prices ! depends on how detailed you wanted the dress~
http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=designed*by*dena
The design is the second pic!

 

[praline3001]

Here is a pic of the steps making my DD hide the cindy on her dress
The gloves and crown were my DD idea LOL

Here is another photo of Druzilla making fun of my DD cindy crown. They LOVE making fun of all the ugly princesses and just dont understand why nobody wants to be beautiful like THEM~~~ they give this line all dinner long ~ they sing loud and off key~ and are a riot!

SOOO when they actually have someone dressed like them?! OMG its hysterical! They go nuts over their very own princess fans

 

[mrsbeth]

We haven't done the princess meals before, only Character meals. But this summer were doing the Storybook Princess Breakfast at Akershus. I'm so excited!! My daughter wants to wear her Snow White costume (without the white neck-thing, Mom!). I made it for her for Christmas and it's a cotton/poly. I think she'll just wear it in the park until after our ADR. I hope to do her hair and make-up myself with lots of glitter.

I wanted to say thanks for the sundress idea, too! Because I do sew and I was trying to think of something to make for her for other days, just for fun. Disney Sundresses! I just love the clearance aisle at Joann Fabrics. There are usually a few bolts of disney fabrics that didn't sell last season.

So I'm headed to the store!

 

[praline3001]

Oh other ideas for little boys~~

if you have 1900park fare breakfast have him dress up like the mad hatter!!!!

If your going to WC for dinner~ do him up like a cowboy/big hat and all

 

[Miss Ang]

We did a meal at the castle when my dd was 8 and no, she did not dress up. I can't imagine she would've been comfortable in that itchy costume all day and I couldn't imagine carrying it around either. There were a few girls dressed up but not all. I'm not one for doing something just because "everyone else will be doing it" and have never wanted my dd to be that way. She's (almost) 14 now and she still doesn't follow the crowd when it's not something she wants to do. I'm quite proud of her for being able to be herself.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

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[arielmomma]

Not all of the children dress up, but I always dress up my children. I make all of my own costumes. I just recently taught myself to sew and I can do it, so anyone can! I make them all out of very light, non scratchy material. My daughter's are basically modified sundresses. She wears them all day in the parks and we haven't had any problems with her becoming overheated or really sweaty. As for my son, he has just as many costumes as his sister. He has a pirate costume, hercules (which was a huge hit at 1900 Park Fare), jedi knight, Aladdin, peter pan and power rangers. He only wears the power rangers and the jedi when we go when it is cool, but otherwise, he dresses up nearly every day that we are there. He gets lots of extra attention for doing it (he eats it up). If you can dress up your son, I would recommend it. There are tons of costume pattern ideas online. I made up my own by modifying some patterns I had at home.