Dressing daughter up for the parks

[sherezada]

My sister says I should dress up my daughter (princess costumes) every day we go to the parks. I said I might do it for Magic Kingdom but otherwise I will just dress her comfortably (Disney-themed T-shirt and shorts). She got really upset that I wouldn't budge on this, saying that most little girls will be dressed up at the parks and I'm somehow robbing my daughter of that experience.

What say you? I can't even imagine having my poor little daughter in a dress on a hot day at Animal Kingdom! She will turn 3 years old on the trip and hasn't particularly requested wearing a dress at the parks.

 

[mom2rtk]

Why would it matter what your sister says? I would do what makes your daughter happiest. Lots of little girls will be dressed up, but not even close to "most".

 

[dreamcatcherkwe]

Many little girls are dressed up in princess dresses at the parks but many are not! I would say the majority are not. My daughter wears comfortable clothes and not princess dresses to the parks.

 

[Kayabee]

She's your dd, you know what she will want to do. As cute as the girls are in their dresses, I can't imagine having to wear them around all day every day. IMO, comfort for little ones is key at WDW, one day in MK is perfect, and cute Disney themed outfits is perfect for the other days. She won't be missing anything, your sister doesn't know what she is talking about LOL.

 

[tjmw2727]

At that age unless she really likes to dress up I would just stick with your plan - and even then have more comfortable clothing to change her if she gets itchy. You will see lots of kids dressed up but IMHO more that are not dressed up. I like your idea of comfy Disney themed clothing for her- the pictures will be cute and she will be happier. So thank your sister for her advice and have a great trip !

 

[WendyLou]

I agree with your plan, think it would be cute for MK day if she's comfortable. If not, the only wrong outfit is one in which she's unhappy and ill. Anything goes at Disney. Maybe save the other "dress up" times for character meals if you have any scheduled.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We do a costume on BBB day at MK. That's it.

When DD was 3 we did Belle costume for Akershus day and a Minnie costume for Chef Mickey's but we would change her shortly after the meals.

 

[Alesia]

Your sister needs to learn to mind her own business. Your daughter will be much happier if she wears what she's comfortable in.

 

[ConnieB]

Wearing costumes can be fun for some little ones, but typical costumes tend to be a bit hot, often uncomfortable and depending on the design can be to unweilding to be practical for all but the most dedicated "dress up" fans. I often see unhappy Princesses and wonder if the child wanted to dress up or if it was Mom's idea (or maybe Aunt's idea).

When my girls were about 3 or 4 they went through a phase of wanting to wear their dressup clothes everywhere.....tears when I tried to change them into "real" clothes to go on errands....I indulged them when it wasn't going to be a problem (who cares at the grocery, bank, library.....but not sure the church folks would have understood, etc). Thankfully it was rather short lived as they started realizing the limitations of moving around in dresses longer than they were tall, lol. But there were days in our Arizona summer that they had on velvet-like costumes and I was worried about the heat being too much, they didn't care, they were Princesses, but mom was worried, lol.

I imagine that if we were Disney-fans back then, I'd have not thought twice about letting them dress up for Disney......but if that phase hadn't happened, I doubt that I would have tried to force them to wear dress up just for Disney. As you can see from my ID photo, they now have their own "dress up" style for Star Wars and they have similiar outfits for Disney too. It's actually rather popular for both children and adults to have "special" clothing for Disney, but not serious costumes (search Disney Bounding for examples).

I would imagine that OP's sister suggested it for the cute factor....and the attention a cute little one in costume gets at Disney.....Guests will awwwwww a lot, Cast Members will call them princess (which makes the child beam most times), characters will make a fuss, etc. Vacation photos have an extra ounce of cute.......but if your child isn't comfortable all day, I guarantee the non-photographed times won't be cute.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

DD has only ever worn a costume for BBB, dinner at 1900PF, and MNSSHP. She's always worn a tank top and cotton shorts underneath so she can very easily slip out of her costume to go on a ride/if she gets hot/in case of rain.

She also never wore dress-up shoes - Stride Rite has some comfortable and 'dressy' looking sandals that look fine with costumes (and have more padding than many other brands). I can't imagine how uncomfortable trying to walk miles in costume shoes would be.

DD typically wears tank tops and shorts to the parks, and seems to fit in with what the majority of other kids are wearing. I do put DD's hair up every day since it's very long; I put a pretty bow or mini tiara in (like they use at BBB).

 

[disnut8]

My sister says I should dress up my daughter (princess costumes) every day we go to the parks. I said I might do it for Magic Kingdom but otherwise I will just dress her comfortably (Disney-themed T-shirt and shorts). She got really upset that I wouldn't budge on this, saying that most little girls will be dressed up at the parks and I'm somehow robbing my daughter of that experience.

What say you? I can't even imagine having my poor little daughter in a dress on a hot day at Animal Kingdom! She will turn 3 years old on the trip and hasn't particularly requested wearing a dress at the parks.

Has your sister even taken her daughter to Disney World and dressed her up in a costume every day? If the answer to that question is no, then don't listen to your sister. If the answer to that question is yes, then speak to your nieces and see what they liked about the experience (but not while their mother is around).

I see a lot of girls dressed up as characters and they seem fine. But I've only seen a few girls on any given day and it appeared they had shorts and t-shirts on underneath so the dresses would be gone after whatever special thing they had going on that morning was over.

For your Magic Kingdom day, I would advise putting the shorts and T shirt on under the gown and then either take a backpack for caring around the dress when/if your daughter wants it off or rent a locker when that happens. Also, while the shoes make the outfit, if your little one isn't used to wearing "slippers" all day, I'd advise to just use the old tennis shoes. Unless you are Cinderella and it's getting to be midnight and you are at a ball, shoes don't really matter.

 

[deedeew80]

My DD will probably only wear her Cinderella dress when we do BBB and have dinner at CRT. She may wear her Sofia the First dress when we have breakfast at H&V. Other than that she will be wearing comfy clothes, but Disney themed! It's really only your decision. Bring the dresses with you & go from there. ;-)

 

[tabistar]

We do Disney t-shirts and shorts. Yes, there are some girls in princess dresses, but not the majority. I did see one little girl put her Elsa dress on over her clothes as we waited to meet E&A, then she took it off right after. It does make for cute pictures, but I don't think it's practical to wear them all day, every day.

 

[nat8199]

I am pretty sure that my DD wore a princess dress every day of the trip last year when she had just turned 4 and is planning to again this next trip. She only ever wears dresses, though, so the princesses dresses weren't a stretch for her. She has also been known to wear princess dresses running errands. We only took 2-3 with us last time. This time around she has a bigger collection, and I am planning of surprising her with 2 new ones, so she will wear a different dress each day of our trip if she wants.

 

[nat8199]

Oh! And she always had short and a t-shirt on under the dress and I usually had extra clothes in the stroller. If she wanted to take the dress off, then she easily could have. Even in September, though, she wanted her dresses on!

 

[Ladcassidy]

DD7 is a "fancy" girl. She wears dresses every day at home -- multiple different dresses, in fact -- so wearing a dress every day at Disney is normal for her. If we have special plans (princess meals or meeting A&E), she wears a princess gown, often a fancy Disney nightgown. I usually carry other clothes for her to change into, but she never has done so. Other days, she wears dresses that look "Disneyish" (bright colors, polka dots, sparkles and bows). She wears shorts or capris under the dresses for more freedom. And tennis shoes. ALWAYS tennis shoes.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

granddaughter will 3.5 when we are at Disney this summer. she will not be wearing a princess dress on any of days but that is her choice. as much as she wants to meet A & E she prefers her shorts and a t-shirt. when she and I go to Disney store she could careless about the gowns, it is all about t-shirts and Minnie Mouse

 

[Mikie]

At that age, each of my daughters were very girly and loved watching princess movies, Princess halloween costumes, princess barbies, but they had no interest at all in wearing princess gowns in the parks. I brought costume tiaras for them for a couple meet & greets (and because I thought they *might* regret not being "fancy") and they wore the crowns 5 minutes and never once asked for a dress, despite seeing plenty of other girls in them.

Recently my 3 year old niece (also a princess lover who does wear princess dress up sometimes as around-town wear) wanted her dress brought along for some pictures and character meals, but changed out of it for most of the day.

Depends 100% on the child. I did like having comfortable disney-themed clothes for the cute pictures and the added character interaction (Donald played around a lot when my daughter wore her donald shirt).

 

[Tara922c]

I think it depends on what your DD wants. At 3, my DD was super excited to wear her Cinderella dress. After about an hour or two in the hot park, she wanted to take it off. At 5, she lasted about half a day in a princess dress and refused to wear it the rest of the trip. She likes the whole princess thing, but she is all about being comfortable. This trip, she will be 8 and has no desire to dress up.

 

[IrishNYC]

I wouldn't worry about what your sister says. She sounds like she doesn't have any kids.

I plan on bringing one dress each day we go to MK. I will bring vacuum sealed in a baggie so it takes up as little room as possible, and if DD wants to wear it she can, then it goes right back into the bag when she's done. I don't expect her to wear it for very long if at all.