So what if I WANT to dress for dinner ...

[Allegro]

we're not talking black tie and tails here but maybe dress the kids in some non-play clothes and have DH wear a nice pair of slacks and a golf shirt. Maybe I could wear a skirt?

We are going back to our hotel every afternoon and have early ADRs each night so the opportunity to change clothes is there. And it would be nice not to look all scruffy for dinner.

Will we look stupid and out of place?

 

[paulh]

its something we always do dress up for evening meal,we do the same as you go back and change.And no you wont look out of place
Paulh

 

[Bob P]

Go for it! You will NOT look out of place. You will see people in pretty much all different types of clothing at sit-down meals (except swimwear).

 

[TigerKat]

We always go back to the room to relax, shower & change for dinner. We don't necessarily dress up every night. You won't feel out of place, as stated previously you'll see it all!

 

[peanmunch]

I agree. We always go back to the hotel and shower and change for dinner. my Dh and boys usually change into dressier shorts and polo or buttun doen short sleves and I put on caapri's and a dressy summer shirt.
Lori

 

[Jacklynn]

My husband and I's anniversary is during our trip and we have an 8:00 ADR at California Grill. We're going to get dressed up... like he will probably wear his suit... not sure if I can get him to wear the actual jacket or not yet though lol

 

[Booyakasha]

Pretty scary when you have to worry about being over dressed during dinner.

I wish Disney would do a better job of inforcing the dress codes at the resaurants where they are required and clearly explained when you make and ADR. It is something very easy to control as every party must check in with the host/hostess.

B.

 

[disnut8]

You won't feel out of place. Quite honestly, if I'm having a meal at a Disney restaurant, the last thing I'm doing is commenting on people's attire.

 

[snowbunny]

have DH wear a nice pair of slacks and a golf shirt.

I think that is pretty much the definition of "business casual" (the official dress code for the signature restaurants), so no, you will not look out of place.

 

[Hopefully]

Absolutely go for it. You will not be out of place.
This is what we do most days too. We go back to the room, rest a bit, freshen up and change for dinner. Especially if dinner is in a non-theme park restaurant. On some days if dinner is in the theme park we have been in all day we might go as we are. But that is the exception to the rule.
We usually stay in an Epcot area resort and many of our evening ADR's in WS restaurants. We tend to get dressier here, even though they are techinically in a theme park.
You will not be alone.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

OP, thank you for starting this thread. This is exactly how our family dresses for dinner on our non-park nights.

You will not feel out of place one tiny bit. Sometimes on the boards, you can get the impression that people are not dressing for dinner, but here were are, all gathered on one thread - kinda our own little support group

Dress and enjoy, you're on vacation, you're in Disney and you're going out for dinner with your family. What in the world could be better than that?

 

[kidzmom3]

I don't think you will be out of place, but unless you are done for the night (park wise) you may be uncomfortable. We often have ADR's at nice places, but afterwards we intend to continue in the parks. So its always casual in our family.

 

[raven69david]

Don't be upset at us since we don't plan on changing prior to our ADR's. Most of ours are early evening and should be after kids have slept, woke up and have headed back to the parks. We won't be able to go back and change and we'll be in shorts and mickey mouse crocs (provided it's not cold).

The only place i'd feel funny not being dressed business casual, or better, would be at V&A's. It's nice to see others in nice places such as Le Celliers, Coucourse Steakhouse, Boma's, Narcoossees to be dressed in park clothes. It's comfortable to dine and lets you get back to park hopping/exploring without having to return to the room. Hopefully others don't get offended by it, but after all, it's MY vacation and being happy & comfortable is why i'm at WDW with my family (plus i wouldn't really care what anyone else thought anyway )

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Like others have noted, my DH, DS(15), & I always go back to the room to shower & change for dinner. The guys usually wear khakis (or similar) & a polo or button down shirt. I usually wear a shirt in the summer, & slacks in the winter. We don't worry what people think about our attire. Showering & changing for dinner helps us to feel refreshed to better enjoy our evening out. IMHO, that's all that really matters.

 

[Allegro]

Thanks all. Its good to know that I have a "support group." I know no one will be looking at me but I still like to fit in KWIM. To each his own but in general I think I was born a few decades too late. I like a little formality in my life at appropriate times.

And to be honest - I can't see why DH would be more comfortable in a pair of jeans vice a pair of khakis (I'm sure he could argue the opposite ) I was especially looking forward to dressing up a little for the California Grill. Our kids are young and the parks close early in January anyways, it is doubtful we will spend a lot of time at the parks in the evening. Even if we do get to go back, it's not going to be for long. They can survive a few hours in their nicer clothes.

Let's see -

Day 1 Chef Mickey's - We'll have travelled all day; it will be nice to be out of travel clothes.
Day 2 - California Grill - Yup, bolstered by the knowledge that people won't point and laugh we are dressing up. We're going to watch Wishes from there.
Day 3 - WCC - Gonna keep it casual. Seems like a casual kinda place.
Day 4 - Kona Café - casual "nice" (read no jeans).
Day 5 - LTT - Kids will be dressed like pirates.
Day 6 - going to do counter service. Gotta press my evening gown.

So all told no too many nights but some.

 

[Rivercat]

I've seen many people "dressed up" for dinner at WDW, especially at the Epcot restaurants and nearby resorts, and at Downtown Disney. That said, if the additional stress of feeling like you absolutely have to rush back to the room and change is going to impact your enjoyment, then don't worry about it! After all, isn't that why we love Disney?

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Thanks all. Its good to know that I have a "support group." I know no one will be looking at me but I still like to fit in KWIM. To each his own but in general I think I was born a few decades too late. I like a little formality in my life at appropriate times.

I love your thoughts about being born a few decades too late. I'm 43 and feel the same way as you.

 

[LarryJ]

Allegro,

Who cares, I think a suit or sport jacket in tie and you in a nice dress/paints suit would be great at dinner at places like the Ca. Grill, Narcoossee's, Bistro, V&A's ... those are the four more fancy/adult restaurants that I can think of right now. Heck one year I even brought and wore my Tux to a dinner at V&A's just because we wanted to "DRESS UP" and didn't care what others thought. Back in the 1990's and until after around 2000 there were prom dates, weddings at V&A's so anything goes back then, but that trend seems to have gone away maybe because of the steep price increases in the last 5 ro 10 years. I do think the dress code has gone down hill since around 2000 since in 2005 I saw jeans, t-shirts and shorts for our dinner at V&A along with some younger children even tho well behaved. Even in 2005 I wore a sports jacket and tie to dinner at Bistro and will probably do the same this year just because I want to and that will be our big dinner out along with Narcoossee's since V&A is now in our opinion is just not special anymore.

Larry

 

[Booyakasha]

Allegro,

Who cares, I think a suit or sport jacket in tie and you in a nice dress/paints suit would be great at dinner at places like the Ca. Grill, Narcoossee's, Bistro, V&A's ... those are the four more fancy/adult restaurants that I can think of right now. Heck one year I even brought and wore my Tux to a dinner at V&A's just because we wanted to "DRESS UP" and didn't care what others thought. Back in the 1990's and until after around 2000 there were prom dates, weddings at V&A's so anything goes back then, but that trend seems to have gone away maybe because of the steep price increases in the last 5 ro 10 years. I do think the dress code has gone down hill since around 2000 since in 2005 I saw jeans, t-shirts and shorts for our dinner at V&A along with some younger children even tho well behaved. Even in 2005 I wore a sports jacket and tie to dinner at Bistro and will probably do the same this year just because I want to and that will be our big dinner out along with Narcoossee's since V&A is now in our opinion is just not special anymore.

Larry

Larry,

Good for you! I think if you show up at V&A's in jeans, shorts or anything else less than business casual, you should be thrown out and charged the cancellation fee. The better restaurants are not the parks and one should dress accordingly. If you don't have time to change after the parks before you go to California Grill or Flying Fish or Artist's Point or Jiko or.... (etc. etc.) then make a later reservation, leave the park earlier or don't go. There are PLENTY of places to go where "park attire" is appropriate.

Cheers!

B.

 

[Uncleromulus]

This is the first time I've EVER heard of anyone being let in V&A in shorts and a t-shirt. A few meals back a gentleman showed up w/o a jacket and he was given one to wear in the restaurant.
And as we know, jeans , shorts and t-shirts are all perfectly acceptable under the WDW version of business casual.
To those who like to dress up for dinner--great!! As has been noted there will be others that way also, so no need to feel overdressed or out of place.