Will I regret not taking the princess dresses?

[ajk912]

I have Cinderella and Belle princess dresses that I bought at the Disney store last year for the girls' Halloween. I am thinking of not taking them on our trip in two weeks, because it's going to be SOOO hot and I imagine it will be cumbersome for the girls to wear them. Is that about right?

The only day I am thinking the girls may want them is on CRT day. We aren't doing BBB, I may make the girls' hair cute on my own if I make time to go find the glitter hair stuff and mini-crowns. I did buy the girls princess tee shirts at the Disney store for CRT though. I want the trip to be special though, and if the princesses ooh and ahhh over the dresses more..maybe I should find a way to make it work?

I am also concerned how to pack the things. It's not like I can crush them in a suitcase, these suckers are going to take some space. ugh.

 

[MoeFam]

Is it the kind of time that you could have them change into them for the CRT time and then back into regular clothes for in the parks? If it were me- I would want a princess dress But I am girly like that! If you don't think they will be bothered- then don't worry about it. As for the packing- what about Space Bagging them?

We did the same thing - got a Tinkerbelle on clearance last year for our trip to BBB this year- those things are EXPENSIVE in the stores!

 

[Aliceacc]

WE leave on Wednesday, and I'm also probably skipping the princess dresses. I just think they'll be soooo hot!

We're only doing one princess meal-- 1900 Park Faire dinner with Cinderella and the stepsisters. And BBB is most certainly not in our budget.

 

[Miss LD]

I took my niece (6) to CRT in July and dressing up was a huge deal to her. She didn't care too much till we got there but a lot of the girls were dressed up. plus, the pictures were adorable!
We brought a change of clothes and were fine.

 

[EthansMom]

We don't do the princess dresses for DD.

The girls we see dressed up look cute, but they often DON'T look comfortable. I would much rather have DD comfy. She's got 4 or 5 princess t-shirts and a couple Disney sweatshirts, so we'll be taking those. But no way am I dealing with a long frouffy dress that may be too warm, too long, too itchy and WILL get something spilled on it.

IF DD really had to wear a princess dress, I'd keep it to a special event like having breakfast at Cinderella's Castle or attending Spectromagic....

 

[happymommy]

Depends on the child, honestly.

I would never ask my DD to do that - she was a princess one year for Halloween (and needed a turtleneck under the dress for warmth, plus she said the dress was itchy). She couldn't wait to get the dress off. It was a lot of $ also (got the crown, wand, etc).

Orlando is hot in summer. I think I'd just do a princess tee shirt instead personally. I've seen little girls that look miserable in those dresses in the heat. I wonder if it's the girls' decision, or the parents?

I also don't like to pack heavily. We did the Disney 7 day cruise this year - some folks bring so much stuff! We didn't dress up in costumes on Pirate Night, brought some dress clothes that we didn't need (my DD wanted to hang with her friend on formal night and get room service, didn't wear her dress). If I did the cruise again, I'd only bring one carry-on!

You could bring it just in case, if you have room. We only bring carry-ons to WDW. Don't they fold up pretty small? You could also box up the dressy stuff and send it ahead.

I'd wear a little sleeveless tee under - they can be scratchy!

 

[perkinsrose]

If packing space is not an issue, I would bring them. Personally, I would never spend the big price tag to buy dresses in the parks. But plenty of choices available to buy. Also, there are tiaras & princess-like hats everywhere.

We brought DD's halloween costume. It was a hand-made medieval style princess dress. Not itchy/scratchy factor--DD would last about 2 minutes in something that wasn't comfortable. Our dress was fine to roll up in suitccase.

DD loved it. BBB fairy godmothers-in-training made a big deal about it and commented how nice it was for DD to wear pale purple to match them. DD wore it to Magic Kingdom for about half the day & for BibbidyBobbityBoutique. She wore shorts & tanktop underneath and it was easy to remove & roll up to put into my backpack when she was tired of wearing it.

We travel in Feb so not terribly humid but it did hit near 80degrees. August/Sept might be a whole different experience.

 

[Miss LD]

We don't do the princess dresses for DD.

The girls we see dressed up look cute, but they often DON'T look comfortable. I would much rather have DD comfy. She's got 4 or 5 princess t-shirts and a couple Disney sweatshirts, so we'll be taking those. But no way am I dealing with a long frouffy dress that may be too warm, too long, too itchy and WILL get something spilled on it.

IF DD really had to wear a princess dress, I'd keep it to a special event like having breakfast at Cinderella's Castle or attending Spectromagic....

I felt bad for the girls who came dressed in princess clothes and wore them all day. My niece wore hers for the lunch only. It is really HOT. But, for the lunch it was well worth it

 

[Tammysue5]

We did the BBB last year and then CRT and the girls were thrilled that they were dressed up! This year we are doing GF 1900 Park Fare and I am doing a mini makeover in the hotel room w/a cute sundress! The girls are quite ok w/this... (still I might try to take the dresses along...better to have and not need than to regret not brining them)

 

[AwaitingMagic]

We went to the Pirate and Princess Party in May. I was so excited because my ten year old non-girlie girl wanted to wear her Snow White dress. She had it on five minutes - it was too hot even then. It was easy to pack though - I just rolled it and put it in a gallon size ziplock bag and squeezed all the air out. It was a size 10 and it fit fine. Luckily, I had taken the bag with us with a t-shirt in it and she already had shorts on under the dress. I'd take them and let them wear them and then throw the bags in a backpack or something. They weren't heavy or cumbersome - the girls will have so much fun dressed up for CRT.

 

[familyfirsttimer]

We did Princess nightgowns that my girls changed into for CRT. They were cute and frilly and way more comfy. We just put a cute (cheap) tiara in their hair and thei pink gows, they looked adorable and felt like it was special

 

[sk!mom]

My DD loved dressing up and wore princess dresses all the time at home but we did not take the dresses to WDW. She was 5 on her first trip and we did CRT- she did not care that she wasn't dressed up. We had two 4 year olds with us on our June trip this year and neither of them wore dresses to CRT. They didn't ask about dresses or seem to care.

We've been to 5 princess meals over the years and there have always been more girls not dressed up. Those who are actually look uncomfortable to me in the heat.

In June, those who had been to BBB looked miserable sweating in the make-up, hair dos, and dresses in that heat.

 

[swald91]

If you are checking your bags, I would bring them & then decide whether or not once your there. I know when I am in a dilemma about things... & if I didn't bring it I would've regretted it!!!! We leave in 14 days & I know it will be hot but if your girls would like to wear them & you plan on doing bbb-why not?

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

If it were me, I would definitely bring the dresses for your meal at CRT. While not all the little girls are dressed up, probably not even half, the princesses do make a big deal out of the dresses and my DD just felt really special wearing her princess gown while actually dining in the castle! That said, they are not the most comfortable things to wear all day, especially in the heat, and I would never expect her to wear it all day. She wore a shirt and shorts underneath and after breakfast we just took the dress off, rolled it up, put it in a ziploc bag and put it in the bottom of the stroller. If you don't have a stroller, they would also fit in bags in a backpack. You can scrunch those dresses down pretty small and once you take them out and hang them up for a while, the wrinkles do come out.

Really it's up to your girls, if they would love to wear the dresses, then I would definitely bring them, if they really don't care one way or the other, then they will still look adorable in the princess t-shirts. Either way, I'm sure they will love being in the castle with the princesses for a meal! Have fun!

 

[adisneymama]

I agree depends on the child. DD loves hers for the character dinings. If she is comfortable in it we let her keep it on, but I always have clothes for her to change into. As for the space in the luggage, I have packed DD into the travel space bags. I have three in one small carry on suitcase along with the crowns etc and extra clothes for all of us in case the airline looses our luggage. Fit no problem. Have fun on your trip!

 

[DISNEYFOS]

It really depends on the child. I usually can't get my daughter to wear normal clothes at WDW ..Each day she is a different princess. And really where else can you do that!

Aug is a bit tricky though, very hot/humid during the day...
She may want to dress for dinner/fireworks though?

I would vote for bringing them. ...and we pack them in the suitcase

 

[shoppgirl]

I packed a huge Belle dress and a smaller Tink costume from the Disney stores for my girls to wear. They wore them last week, when temps were in the 90s (plus that humidity factor!). They loved the attention they got in them. So many people commented on how great they looked, since we did the BBB too before our CRT. All the princesses at CRT commented on their dresses and said that my Belle must have been in Princess Belle's closet that morning! Plus my Tink probably flew to MK on her own and didn't need Jasmine's magic carpet.

Only my Belle complained she was hot, and I don't blame her because the skirt was so big. I forgot to pack a change of clothes for her as I didn't expect to be in the park all morning. She did fine though. So many girls wore them, and some of these dresses even had the long sleeves, or some of the Jasmine outfits had the pants. I squished them into the luggage and they honestly did not take up a lot of space. It's all polyester, tulle, etc, and they don't wrinkle! We also took them to Expo hall for a photopass portrait session in their costumes and the pictures are priceless. I say if you have even an inch of doubt, bring them. Then let your child decide the day of if she wants to put it on or not.

 

[Benducci]

I would want my girls to be comfortable but to be honest- if they don't dress up as princesses in Disney, where do they get to dress up? I would think it will make the CRT more special if they were dressed up. Is there a way to bring them for the meal & then put them in a locker? My girls loved wearing their dresses all day.

 

[carj]

We had breakfast at CRT at 9:50. My DD wore her comfortable clothes to the park and at 9:40 we stopped into a bathroom and changed. As soon as breakfast was over, she changed right back into her comfortable clothes.

Her favorite moment at Disney was when the footman said "Welcome home princess!" Now I know that he would probably have said that even if she hadn't been wearing her Cinderella dress. She thought that the footman believed that she was really Cinderella.

Also, she got lots of compliments from the princesses and it made for an adorable picture with Cinderella!

There is no way that she would have wanted to wear her dress all day but she loved wearing it for breakfast!

 

[pikafreaks]

Just a thought to add......


Bring the dresses and get a locker for them.

We did that last year for the girls and it worked wonderfully.
Were doing that again this year. If they want the dress, great its there. And if they want to take them off, great ~ just stuff them in the locker~