If girls can be princesses, can boys dress up too?

[happylittlefamily]

We always let our daughter wear her princess and fairy costumes to Disney because there are always so many girls that have done BBB and just dress up. Today, as I was packing, I realized that I never think to pack the boys' costumes like Lightning McQueen, the super heroes, etc. Are the boys allowed to dress up outside of the MNSSHP like little girls?

 

[OhioDisneyDad]

Whew! For a minute there I thought we were heading down the boys as princesses path again (it's scary down that path).

I say if the little guy wants to dress up as his favorite character I don't see why it would be a problem.

 

[bytheblood]

Why not!? Put that boy in his pirate costume or as Buzz (or whatever) and let him have some fun.

 

[sp0ngem0nkey]

I saw a brother to a princess wear Spiderman costume last week.

 

[Raenstoirm]

Because of pirates league there are always pirates floating around. I see no reason why a boy cant dress up too.

 

[arbolita]

As a previous poster mentioned, I've definitely seen little boys (and girls) dressed as pirates running around in the park, so I don't see why there would be an issue if your son were to wear a costume reflecting a specific character/movie. Go for it and have fun!

 

[WDSearcher]

Yes, little boys can dress up too -- as their favorite prince or pirate or cowboy or astronaut or whatever.

 

[chartle]

Until age 10 its officially not at all an issue for anyone.

10 and up maybe.

 

[h2odivers]

Of course pack some costumes for him. As a matter of fact. people always take there little princesses to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, but did you know they offer a "Knight Package" Which for I believe $15 dollars he gets his hair styled, a mighty sword and shield.
Let him dress up all he wants...unless he's 16 yrs old. LOL

 

[Brad Bishop]

Do these kids really want to be dressed up all day?
(before you go into auto-defense mode, which I suspect some of you will, please consider what I'm asking here - are the kids really enjoying this?)

From me thinking back to when I was a kid the last thing I'd want to do is to dress up in anything but shorts and a shirt at the Magic Kingdom. I asked my sister about it and she was on the same page with me.

So at the risk of being slammed for this: Is this a deal where the kids are actually asking for it (I could see this more with the girls than the boys) or is this a deal where the Moms want to dress up their little princesses?

To me the costumes look like they might be fun on Halloween but all day long at a theme park I'd only think: itchy and hot - I don't really want to draw attention to myself.

I asked my daughters about this, too (17yo and 24yo). Neither expressed any interest, now or in the past, of ever dressing up like a princess - well, except on Halloween and I think they'd both prefer to be Zombie-Princess (one was dead-cheerleader one year! - "Daddy - would you do my makeup?"). Both were on board with the comfort shorts/shirts scenario.

The fact that the boy never asked for it is telling to me.

Now, if the kid really wants to do it and really enjoys it I have no beef with that. Let them have a ball. They're not hurting anyone. I just look at it and wonder if it's something like that 'Toddlers in Tiaras'-show that is happening.

As Craig Furgunson would say: I look forward to reading your letters.

 

[ktlm]

Do these kids really want to be dressed up all day?

From me thinking back to when I was a kid the last thing I'd want to do is to dress up in anything but shorts and a shirt at the Magic Kingdom. I asked my sister about it and she was on the same page with me.

So at the risk of being slammed for this: Is this a deal where the kids are actually asking for it (I could see this more with the girls than the boys) or is this a deal where the Moms want to dress up their little princesses?

To me the costumes look like they might be fun on Halloween but all day lot at a theme park I'd only think: itchy and hot - I don't really want to draw attention to myself.

I asked my daughters about this, too (17yo and 24yo). Neither expressed any interest, now or in the past, of ever dressing up like a princess. Both were on board with the comfort shorts/shirts scenario.

The fact that the boy never asked for it is telling to me.

Now, if the kid really wants to do it and really enjoys it I have no beef with that. Let them have a ball. They're not hurting anyone. I just look at it and wonder if it's something like that 'Toddlers in Tiaras'-show that is happening.

As Craig Furgunson would say: I look forward to reading your letters.

When my DD was 2, she wore her Cinderella dress morning to night every day for a week at Disney. We begged her to wear something else as that dress could practically walk by itself. We got her in a Minnie costume one day, but she was absolutely not going to wear regular clothes. It started out because she went to a Princess meal in her dress, and all the CMs, and some of the park guests gave her a bunch of attention. "Hello Princess" "How are you today Princess" "Cinderella, you look beautiful". She was hooked. Our attitude was that she is at WDW, so if she wants to wear a Princess dress for a week, let her. Can't really do that anywhere else. Now that she is 5, she mostly prefers to wear regular dresses to the parks (She is a girly girl who insists on dresses rather than shorts, pants, or jeans. She would throw an absolute fit if I tried to make her wear shorts or pants at WDW). Sometimes she doesn't even wear a Princess dress to a Princess meal. Sometimes she will still want to wear the Princess dress to the meal, and then she usually does want to keep it on the rest of the day. She still begs to do the BBB, although I just hate how the girls look when they leave there. It is Disney, so we generally let her, but I would prefer not to. There are definitely little girls out there who want to wear those dresses all day in the parks. I'm sure there are some who have Mom deck them out too though.

As far as little boys, we always see several dressed as Buzz, Woody, or Pirates running around. At DL last summer we saw a Peter Pan for the first time. He was adorable. If your boys want to dress up, they certainly can!

 

[WDSearcher]

Do these kids really want to be dressed up all day?
(before you go into auto-defense mode, which I suspect some of you will, please consider what I'm asking here - are the kids really enjoying this?)

From me thinking back to when I was a kid the last thing I'd want to do is to dress up in anything but shorts and a shirt at the Magic Kingdom. I asked my sister about it and she was on the same page with me.

So at the risk of being slammed for this: Is this a deal where the kids are actually asking for it (I could see this more with the girls than the boys) or is this a deal where the Moms want to dress up their little princesses?

To me the costumes look like they might be fun on Halloween but all day long at a theme park I'd only think: itchy and hot - I don't really want to draw attention to myself.

I asked my daughters about this, too (17yo and 24yo). Neither expressed any interest, now or in the past, of ever dressing up like a princess - well, except on Halloween and I think they'd both prefer to be Zombie-Princess (one was dead-cheerleader one year! - "Daddy - would you do my makeup?"). Both were on board with the comfort shorts/shirts scenario.

The fact that the boy never asked for it is telling to me.

Now, if the kid really wants to do it and really enjoys it I have no beef with that. Let them have a ball. They're not hurting anyone. I just look at it and wonder if it's something like that 'Toddlers in Tiaras'-show that is happening.

As Craig Furgunson would say: I look forward to reading your letters.

I think that if your daughters were a bit younger than 17 and 24 they might answer differently. Like ... if they were 6 and 8. Just because they say NOW that they couldn't ever imagine it when they were little doesn't mean they wouldn't have jumped at the chance when they were kids. I look at some of the stuff I did when I was a little kid and think, "Man ... what was I thinking?", but at the time, it was incredibly important to me.

While I do believe that 85% of the dressed up kids are in those costumes because they want to be, I'm sure there are plenty of parents who kind of talk their kids into it for the "magical moment" it will create or whatever. But most of the little princesses that I see walking through the park are very much enjoying being called "princess" by CMs and having Characters curtsy to them. And the occasional little boy I see in a Woody costume or wearing his Buzz pajamas seems to be pretty darn comfortable too.

And remember that just because a child starts off the day in their princess or Woody or whatever costume doesn't mean they necessarily stay in it all day. When my nephew was of "dress up age", he insisted on wearing his Peter Pan costume to MK in the morning so that he could ride "his ride" (aka, the Peter Pan ride) in costume. As soon as we stepped off the ride, he'd be all, "Where are my shorts?" and we'd hit the nearest rest room and change. If we had suggested that he forego the Pan costume just this once, he'd have fought us on it. Wearing his Pan costume was as much a part of the WDW tradition as anything else we did. To this day (and he's 22) he remembers those rides, and also remembers how sad he felt when he was 9 YO and decided he was finally "too old" to be Peter Pan any more. We tried to talk him into a Peter Pan hat last time, but his girlfriend (not nearly the Disneyphile he is) looked alarmed, so we did not press ...

 

[Brad Bishop]

When my DD was 2, she wore her Cinderella dress morning to night every day for a week at Disney. We begged her to wear something else as that dress could practically walk by itself. We got her in a Minnie costume one day, but she was absolutely not going to wear regular clothes. It started out because she went to a Princess meal in her dress, and all the CMs, and some of the park guests gave her a bunch of attention. "Hello Princess" "How are you today Princess" "Cinderella, you look beautiful". She was hooked. Our attitude was that she is at WDW, so if she wants to wear a Princess dress for a week, let her. Can't really do that anywhere else. Now that she is 5, she mostly prefers to wear regular dresses to the parks (She is a girly girl who insists on dresses rather than shorts, pants, or jeans. She would throw an absolute fit if I tried to make her wear shorts or pants at WDW). Sometimes she doesn't even wear a Princess dress to a Princess meal. Sometimes she will still want to wear the Princess dress to the meal, and then she usually does want to keep it on the rest of the day. She still begs to do the BBB, although I just hate how the girls look when they leave there. It is Disney, so we generally let her, but I would prefer not to. There are definitely little girls out there who want to wear those dresses all day in the parks. I'm sure there are some who have Mom deck them out too though.

As far as little boys, we always see several dressed as Buzz, Woody, or Pirates running around. At DL last summer we saw a Peter Pan for the first time. He was adorable. If your boys want to dress up, they certainly can!

If the kids are having fun then I say let them. There was about a 10 year lapse in me going from where people dress pretty much in Summer shorts/shirts clothing to when I went in 2007 and saw a lot of little princesses around and it really made me wonder. I think I posted something about it way back when and got kind of blasted over it. I hopefully posted something more gentle this time around.

My basic point is: If the kid wants to dress up - let them. They're not hurting anyone. If they want to wear street clothes - let them do that.

My eldest (24yo) came to me this year about wanting to be a dead bride or something along those lines for Halloween - it involved rotting skin and the like hanging from her face. I need to practice applying makeup.

 

[WDSearcher]

If the kids are having fun then I say let them. There was about a 10 year lapse in me going from where people dress pretty much in Summer shorts/shirts clothing to when I went in 2007 and saw a lot of little princesses around and it really made me wonder. I think I posted something about it way back when and got kind of blasted over it. I hopefully posted something more gentle this time around.

My basic point is: If the kid wants to dress up - let them. They're not hurting anyone. If they want to wear street clothes - let them do that.

Totally agree.

Although I think the original question was more along the lines of "are boys allowed to wear costumes to WDW" as opposed to "should boys wear costumes to WDW".

The answer to the first is, "Of course." The answer to the second is a lot more complicated!

 

[KathleensKid]

My ds had a great time dressed as a Jedi in DHS. And dd wore princess dresses several times. In each instance, they had regular clothes under their costumes and took them off and/or put them back on as they wanted. It was kid directed and not me forcing something on them.
If your ds wants to wear costumes, go for it!

 

[*sarah*]

DS dressed in his Buzz costume one day on our last trip. He LOVED all the attention the castmembers gave him, asking him where Woody was and if he was going to save the galaxy. It was so cute.

 

[Jey12]

DD5 would wear a tricked out princess outfit everyday, everywhere if I'd let her. I don't know exactly what happened to her because I was your Fox and the Hound kind of girl, and still am. So the princess stuff is a little much for me, but while at WDW if it's what she wants why not? Thankfully she loves Jessie so for MNSSHP this year she'll be in her Jessie costume. I think if I would have to endure one more day of a princess gown, well . I also see where the PP is going and that I'm sure some little girls are told it's what they're going to wear because it will look cute in a picture. I bring a change of normal clothes along with us for DD so when reality of wearing a princess dress hits her she'll have something to change into. I hope.

To the OP go for it! That is if DS wants to wear a costume. The BBB offers the knight package and it might be something worth checking into as well if DS is willing. I'd prefer DD wanted to knight package because she could do the knight package 10 times and still not touch the cost of the princess package. There's nothing wrong if a little boy wants to dress up as his favorite character such as Buzz, Lightning McQueen, Batman, etc.. (I'll stop there because I've seen where threads go if I keep suggesting and I also do not want to go down that road again. )

I would just suggest bringing normal clothes along with you in the event they decide they've had enough of wearing a costume. Have a great trip!

 

[Wadecool]

Whew! For a minute there I thought we were heading down the boys as princesses path again (it's scary down that path).

I know, right? Very scary down that path.

 

[Lisa x]

I think it is so cute to see little boys and little girls in their costumes!

When I have children, if they want to dress up, they can, boy or girl. I will take a pair of shorts and a t.shirt in my bag though (so small they hardly take space or weigh much anyway) incase it becomes too hot and itchy!

 

[Patience]

We were there last week and saw lots of boys dressed as pirates and several dressed as jedi and Buzz.

Regarding the wearing of princess dresses, my 4 year old DD had a BBB appointment in the castle at 4:20. We brought the dress with us and changed her at BBB but she wore the dress around the Magic Kingdom afterwards and also wore it to our dinner at 1900 Park Fare. I had her regular clothes in case she complained about being itchy but she never did. She loved wearing that dress and felt so special! She wore a different princess dress to our dinner at Akershus (we stayed at the resort that morning since it was our second day at Epcot) and she changed into it right before we left for an early dinner. She never complained about wearing that dress either. If she had whined or complained, I would have changed her because I am certainly not going to listen to that on vacation over something like a princess dress.

Edited to add: MY DD also wore the tiara from BBB every single day after she received it on Monday. Her bun lasted 3 days and then she just wore the tiara in front of her ponytail. I could barely convince her not to wear it to preschool yesterday (because I didn't want it to get broken).