Princess dresses: parks vs Disney Store?

[Aggiegrl]

Are the princess dresses for sale in the parks the same as the Disney Store versions? If not, what the the differences?

My girls want Cinderella and Merida. Trying to decide if we should purchase them at the Disney Store and pack them, or just buy them there. Our CRT ADR is 8 days into the vacation, so we should have plenty of time to purchase them.

 

[mousefan73]

there are some differences. What excately I cannot tell, but when I did look there were some..

Another question: The world of Disney at DTD, are these dresses "park" dresses or Disney store dresses
??

 

[Saimaeve]

They're the same for the most part. You may find more of a selection at Castle Couture than you would your Disney Store. But nothing crazy. Last year I was able to get my daughter Rapunzel's wedding gown at a cheaper price online at Disney Store than in park. But other than that it's the same.

Oh! I found a better selection of accessories in park.

 

[Mommymarie]

Over the years,my daughter (now 9 and still wearing gowns) has had both. They are of the same quality in my opinion. Sometimes there are subtle differences in the style of the dress, but not noticable. To me, it is similar to how the Disney Store comes out with "new" princesses dresses every season....all pretty much the same with little differences. You can get the dresses for less money at Disney Store than in the park...especially if you snag free shipping/disney visa card discount/or some other promotion. Have fun at CRT!

 

[alicat8]

I just found these dresses-I haven't gotten ours yet, but I really like the idea of them not being itchy or glittery, and they look like the "real" thing. When I touch the dresses in the Disney store, I'm kinda horrified at the feel. Just thought I'd suggest them, even though it doesn't really answer your question http://momapprovedcostumes.com/

 

[Aggiegrl]

Thank you everyone. My girls are 2 and these are their first dresses. We just came back from the Disney store, and came home with a Cindarella and a Merida dress. I'll have to look at the link for the other type of dress. My daughter who tried on the Merida dress said something about the sleeves bothering her, but still insisted on getting it. At their age, I could easily pull off a switch without them noticing, especially since we have two months before we leave.

 

[ibela]

My daughter always complained about the sleeves and that they were itchy. I bought online from a different retailer and it was cheaper and less itchy. Eventually we just moved on to princess t-shirts which were a) more practical and can be worn more and b) definitely cheaper and c) more comfortable. If you google cinderella princess dress you'll get a lot of hits, worth exploring.

 

[Aurora0427]

Are the princess dresses for sale in the parks the same as the Disney Store versions? If not, what the the differences?

My girls want Cinderella and Merida. Trying to decide if we should purchase them at the Disney Store and pack them, or just buy them there. Our CRT ADR is 8 days into the vacation, so we should have plenty of time to purchase them.

They are totally different dresses. The differences are noticeable. I personally think the park dresses are prettier, and closer to the characters actual dress. The park dresses have better detailing, and are just overall nicer. The Cinderella dress is noticeably nicer. I will try to post a picture of my DD in her DP Cinderella dress. We bought it in February at MK.

 

[Aurora0427]

.

 

[Winnowill]

Note that the Parks dresses are significantly more expensive ($65 vs $50 at the Disney Store). I've even scored "last" season's dress at the Disney Store at clearance prices for as little as $22. Planning ahead

 

[Aggiegrl]

Note that the Parks dresses are significantly more expensive ($65 vs $50 at the Disney Store). I've even scored "last" season's dress at the Disney Store at clearance prices for as little as $22. Planning ahead

Yep, today I paid $44.95 and got a 10% discount for having a Disney Visa. There were Izzy and Ariel costumes on the clearance rack, but those wouldn't do for my princesses. I did get a Merida crown for $3.99 though.

 

[Mommymarie]

They will look gorgeous

 

[mom2rtk]

They do not sell the parks versions at the Disney Store. The design and quality of the Disney Store dresses varies throughout the year. Always check back and see what is available. I have always found the ones out prior to Halloween are prettier than the ones they bring out the rest of the year. They offer deluxe versions of various princess dresses from time to time. These are more expensive, but a lot nicer than even the parks dresses, and generally a much nicer quality.

 

[Aggiegrl]

They do not sell the parks versions at the Disney Store. The design and quality of the Disney Store dresses varies throughout the year. Always check back and see what is available. I have always found the ones out prior to Halloween are prettier than the ones they bring out the rest of the year. They offer deluxe versions of various princess dresses from time to time. These are more expensive, but a lot nicer than even the parks dresses, and generally a much nicer quality.

It looks like they recently did a switch given the accessories and dresses on the clearance racks. The version we bought is plenty nice for us. I put my arms in the sleeves and checked all the seams and I didn't find anything scratchy or itchy. I think my daughter was pulling at the Merida sleeves simply because she hasn't worn long sleeves in forever. The sizing also seems better. I remember looking at them last year when they were sized XXS, XS, S, etc. None of the sizes fit them well. Th XXS was tiny, the XS was way too big. Right now they are sized 2, 3, 4, etc. My girls wear 4T shirts and the 4 is large enough for growing room without being baggy. The 3 also fit.

 

[mom2rtk]

It looks like they recently did a switch given the accessories and dresses on the clearance racks. The version we bought is plenty nice for us. I put my arms in the sleeves and checked all the seams and I didn't find anything scratchy or itchy. I think my daughter was pulling at the Merida sleeves simply because she hasn't worn long sleeves in forever. The sizing also seems better. I remember looking at them last year when they were sized XXS, XS, S, etc. None of the sizes fit them well. Th XXS was tiny, the XS was way too big. Right now they are sized 2, 3, 4, etc. My girls wear 4T shirts and the 4 is large enough for growing room without being baggy. The 3 also fit.

The timing seems right. They should be bringing in the Halloween lineup soon.

And my daughter always fussed about this or that being itchy, even if I thought it wasn't. I think some are just more sensitive to it.

 

[sgfgrover15]

Thank you everyone. My girls are 2 and these are their first dresses. We just came back from the Disney store, and came home with a Cindarella and a Merida dress. I'll have to look at the link for the other type of dress. My daughter who tried on the Merida dress said something about the sleeves bothering her, but still insisted on getting it. At their age, I could easily pull off a switch without them noticing, especially since we have two months before we leave.

Part of it for me is an age thing also. At 2 there can be accidents of all sorts where a girly girl of 8 is likely to be more careful and able to take better care of the dress so where I may buy a more expensive dress at 8, I would take the bargain for a 2 year old.

 

[ktlm]

The Disney Parks dresses are different than the Disney Store dresses. Both are good quality dresses, but often the Disney parks dresses are prettier and better quality. It just depends on the dress. They change out the styles and now and then one of the places has a dud- or one of the versions will be scratchy and the other not. We have had a few times where we have preferred the Disney Store version and several times where we far preferred the parks version. DD is 8 now, so she is mostly over the Princess dress up other than Anna and Elsa, and Halloween, but from ages 2 to 5 she wore those dresses about every day and we had a bunch from both the Disney Store and the parks.

I actually much prefer to buy the more expensive dress for a 2 year old that is going to wear it every day and get your money's worth out of it, than for a 7 or 8 year old who will wear it at WDW and DL, and maybe once or twice at home and be done with it. As DD got older and wore them less often, I cringed spending the Disney parks/store prices, where when she was young and wore it all the time it didn't phase me (much )

We were at Disneyland last week and the Cinderella parks dress right now is absolutely gorgeous. It is the prettiest Cinderella dress we have seen in years. Cinderella is DD's favorite and we have had several disney store and disney parks Cinderella dresses, so we always pay attention to that one even though she is out of the dress up all the time phase. It was so pretty that I was a little sad that DD isn't into wearing the dresses all the time anymore. I don't recall what the current parks Merida dress looks like, I don't think we paid much attention to it. The Cinderella one always gets our attention because at age 2, she actually wore a Disney Store Cinderella dress every day for a year until it was ragged, tattered, stained, and she had outgrown it until she could no longer squeeze her body into it. We had a rule that it was only worn at the house, and if we went anywhere she had to wear real clothes, and the only time she wore anything other than that dress was to bed and if we left the house. The minute we got home it went back on.


Both the Disney store and parks dresses wash suprisingly well. We have never had any issues with putting them in the washing machine on the gentle or hand wash cycles, and then hanging them to dry. Other than the one dress that DD wore every single day all day when she was 2, most of hers looked practically new by the time she outgrew them even though she wore them a lot.