Who gets dressed up for dinner?

[anabelle]

Seventeen of us will be heading to WDW this summer. My dad is treating us. So we want to make my mom happy. My mom should have been born a princess, because she has always been prim and proper. She expects a sit down dinner every night with all of us (9 kids and 8 adults) and we all have to dress up nice. She doesn't expect long formals, but nice sundresses on the girls and dress shorts for the boys.

How many of you dress up? We have always gone casual to dinner. Is it hard?

 

[okeydokey]

So would you wear dress up clothes to the parks all day, or carry a change of clothes, or leave to change and come back? Honestly, all three of these sound like terrible ideas. It is HOT in the summer and you want to dress cool and comfy. maybe a compromise for a couple of sit down nice meals only.

 

[MamaJessie]

If somebody was paying for my trip, I'd make sure I cleaned the family up for dinner.

 

[design_mom]

We do not get dressed up for dinner. However, if we are eating at our resort and we are hot and sticky, we'll usually clean up/change clothes before dinner (not into fancy clothes, but clean ones).

I think it would be inconvenient to do so for every meal. I agree with the previous poster that maybe one or two "dress up" meals would be more do-able. However, if it was really *that* important to my mom, I'd probably do it for her.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

We don't. We've been staying at the values and mods, so getting back and forth to the hotel to clean up and then go back to the park/other resort is WAYYY too time consuming for us.

 

[waltskids]

We always do, even if it's just to shower and change in something nicer such as capris, khaki shorts for DH and DS, sundress, etc. We are usually in Disney in the warmer months so I can't imagine going to dinner without going back to the hotel to freshen up.

 

[DrMomof3]

We usually change into "nicer" clothes if we're going out to dinner. Sundresses or nice capri outfit for girls, khaki pants or shorts with polo shirt for boys. We almost always go back to the hotel for an afternoon swim and then change for dinner.
We have some nice photos of the family dressed up!

Amanda

 

[DISNEYFOS]

We typically go back to the room and freshen up as well. I kinda agree with the others if that is her only request and she's paying for the trip..Its pretty reasonable.

 

[littlbugmom]

We always go back to the room for afternoon breaks, so cleaning up and dressing better for dinner/evening is very easy. We usually still go casual but it's a nice, clean casual with "restaurant" clothes.


Will all of these dinners be ADR's? That's a lot of people to get into a restaurant every day. However, even though it would take some strategic planning, I'd do it for my mom. Not only because she's paying for it woohoo but because it's something that's important to her.

 

[anabelle]

We always go back to the room for afternoon breaks, so cleaning up and dressing better for dinner/evening is very easy. We usually still go casual but it's a nice, clean casual with "restaurant" clothes.


Will all of these dinners be ADR's? That's a lot of people to get into a restaurant every day. However, even though it would take some strategic planning, I'd do it for my mom. Not only because she's paying for it woohoo but because it's something that's important to her.

Yes, we have an ADR everyday. To my parents, the nightly dinner is more important than the park time. It should be interesting getting everyone cleaned up and at each restaurant on time.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Seventeen of us will be heading to WDW this summer. My dad is treating us. So we want to make my mom happy. My mom should have been born a princess, because she has always been prim and proper. She expects a sit down dinner every night with all of us (9 kids and 8 adults) and we all have to dress up nice. She doesn't expect long formals, but nice sundresses on the girls and dress shorts for the boys.

How many of you dress up? We have always gone casual to dinner. Is it hard?

My family generally gets "cleaned up" for dinner, that being said, in parks for a day and with an evening reservation and no time to get back to resort, we leave a change of our clothes (shirts, fresh things) in locker. We just like it that way....same thing as some people on cruise Always get dressed for dinner, that'd be us to
We just Like it......
So, I guess point is, if you have too, it is doable!
Have a great trip by the way!

 

[erikawolf2004]

We take an afternoon break, shower and dress nicely for dinner...wouldn't do it any other way. It is nice to be refreshed in the afternoon, especially if you are going when it is hot and humid(which is most of the time) and I think we are more relaxed at dinner and know we aren't all sticky and smelly-haha. Because we take the break in the afternoon we are up for a little more park time or DTD, etc after dinner also.

Erika

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

We like to go to the hotel in the afternoon for a swim, nap, and shower. Then we get dressed to go to the parks at night. Typically this means my husband and kids wear CLEAN clothes And they might bring something a little warmer to wear. I DO get dressed up but only in a sundress or skirt, something I can still go on the rides with and shoes that are fine on my feet (I have Dansko sandals that look and feel great!). But 'dressed up' is relative! You can certainly look and FEEL nice so just choose wisely and save the shorts and t-shirts for the mornings and afternoons.

 

[ancestry]

We don't get dressed up at all. On vacation it is all about comfort. Even at the signature restaurants we do the minimum that we have to in order to adhere to the dress code. Don't get me wrong, we can clean up (i.e. get dressed up) nicely when necessary. I just don't think that Disney on our vacation is the place to get "cleaned up".

 

[sau418]

We always take an afternoon break as well and put on nicer clothes to head to dinner. That being said, as with other posters, this could mean a cotton sundress (just as cool as shorts), capris, and polos, for DH. CRT was the only meal I know we did not do this for as it was lunch and in the middle of our day, but by no means were we wearing clothes with holes or stains either.

I know with my parents and DHs parents dressing for dinner is seen as a sign of respect.

 

[disykat]

We go casual and prefer mostly counter service meals to save time and money. However, I agree with a few others, that if it is important to the person who issued the invitation and is paying, I'd find a way. The only time we've ever changed clothes for dinner on vacation is when we did the Disney cruise. Basically we recycled the same "casual yet dressy" outfits several times and did it because it was required. This sounds like a "requirement" for the style of trip you are being invited on.

Hopefully you can set a late afternoon break to go back to the hotel, swim and then change. If you do it right, it won't seem like an imposition. I'm guessing they are expecting relaxed family dinners over commando style touring. Just set in your mind that park time ends at 4 (or whatever) followed by a swim and then family time and consider anything else you get to do in the evenings a bonus.

It might be helpful to just ask them what they'd like the evening hours to look like and plan accordingly.

 

[anabelle]

I never thought about wearing the same thing twice. I wasn't too worried about the girls because they will actually wear the sundresses again. But my boys will never wear dress shorts again. They have actually told me they would just prefer to wear Dockers to dinner that dress or cargo shorts.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

If we are going to a nice place, yes we dress up somewhat for dinner. We usually go in January so showers are not relly necessary. Sometimes I even pack a wrinkle free outfit in my park bag for the day and just change right b4 we leave the park to save a trip to the hotel room.....those extra trips can take forever...

 

[FoundMyPrince]

We get "dressed up" for one dinner during the trip - and that's all. We usually have one meal at Narcoose's and get a little dressed up (khakis, dress shirts, girls wore matching dresses, etc.). I think that was the only time we went back to the resort to shower before dinner. Yes, we had ADR's for each evening, too. We thought it would take too much time to travel back to the resort, shower, change, and travel to the park. Honestly, that down time was good for our children as we wanted them "on good behavior" for the one fancy meal of the trip.

I do think, if the mom/dad are paying for the trip and this is their one request that you should go with their request.

 

[JJsmama]

Yes. We clean up for dinner too. I don't think nice shorts and a clean shirt on the boys and sundresses on the girls is too much to ask - especially since they are paying.

You call your mother 'a princess', but it may just be the way she was raised.