Posts Tagged ‘princess dresses’

Our First Disney Trip: Fashion

Saturday, June 24th, 2017

I wrote most of this post before we left on vacation, so I’m just adding notes and photos, which is why some of it sounds like we haven’t gone yet.

This is where I admit I went WAY SUPER OVERBOARD with our Disney trip outfits. I started with a plan to get us matching family Disney shirts for just our first day in the Magic Kingdom. Then I decided we needed matching family Disney shirts for EVERY day of parks. I eventually backed off the fully-matching idea and went with park-themed shirts for each day, plus a few extra shirts (it’s June in Florida, I have a nursing baby and a toddler, we all need extra shirts) and a princess dress or three (oooooor a few more) for Caroline to wear to character meals. Oh and pajamas. And maybe a bathing suit or two. I bought all those things. (Many links in this post are affiliate or referral links – if you don’t want me to get any pennies for your click just type in the stores and search for the items instead of clicking through.)

Short version: I found that the best sources for Disney t-shirts were normal stores – Target, Old Navy, Kohl’s – and sometimes the Disney Store. I did almost all my shopping online. For custom shirts, Etsy was my go-to. My NUMBER ONE TIP if you’re shopping for Disney shirts would be to sign up for Ebates. Everywhere from Etsy to the Disney Store to Target offer cashback – I’ve made almost $40 with the shopping I’ve done for our trip, and that doesn’t include extras like new prescription sunglasses. If you use my link to sign up, I get a bonus and you get $10 free to get you started. Ebates are great, sign up even if you don’t use my link, then get the plug-in for Chrome so it alerts you when they’re available.

Long version: Day by day guide with sources!

FREE DAY/PRINCESS DINNER

We have reservations at 1600 Park Fare the night before we start doing the parks. Beginning with a magical princess character meal means even if every other day is a hot mess, at least we get to meet Cinderella and Prince Charming.

I am wearing a princess tank top from Zulily (if you haven’t purchased from them before and use my link to sign up, I get a credit). E is wearing his Gaston t-shirt also from Zulily. Caroline is wearing a vintage Mickey print dress made by Rainbow Waters, who I’ve recommended before as one of my favorite spots to buy Caroline fun clothes. Evan is wearing his Kylo Ren t-shirt from the Disney Store. Lincoln is wearing a Moana shirt from Old Navy and Finnegan is wearing a Mickey shirt from The Disney Store. I also bought Disney bathing suits for most of the kids. The two best were the absolutely fantastic Stitch full-body wet suit for Finnegan and the Moana bathing suit for Caroline, both from The Disney Store.

Disney bathing suits

Various Nemo pajamas were super on sale from Target online.

Finding Nemo Pajamas


A note about costumes: Caroline owns a lot of princess dresses and is generally a kid who LOVES to play dress up. Since we’re going to be eating character meals with several princesses I wanted to make sure Caroline had the option to wear her dress up. Unfortunately, a lot of our dress up isn’t really Disney-World-friendly – either I bought it too big so she could get more years of use out of it, it’s too long for walking around, or it’s the cheap kind that gets itchy pretty fast. People in one of the Disney FB groups I joined highly recommended Mom Approved Costumes and I ordered a couple dresses for Caroline and Jedi capes for the boys. I LOVE them. They’re packable, machine-washable, have completely finished interior seams and no itchy parts. If you use my link you’ll get 10% off your first order and I earn points in their loyalty program. The dresses run about $30 a piece, which is more expensive than the cheap ones you can get from AliExpress or even the toy department at Target, but a lot less than the nice ones from The Disney Store. I’m bringing: Elena (from The Disney Store), Cinderella (from AliExpress), Ariel ballgown (Mom Approved), Ariel day dress (Mom Approved), Anna day dress (Mom Approved),  Moana (Mom Approved), a Dark Side cape for Evan (Mom Approved), a Jedi cape for Linc (Mom Approved), and pirate costumes for both boys (AliExpress). The princess dresses ended up working out perfectly but the boys never wore the pirate costumes because of time. Next visit we’ll do more pirate stuff.

Caroline wore all but one of her princess dresses and said she found the Mom Approved Costumes even more comfortable than her regular clothes. She bonded with all the princesses over her great outfits and reveled in being called princess every day (to be fair, they call all little girls princess, but she felt extra special).

princess dresses at Disney

Caroline also ended up in Linc’s Jedi robes, because he didn’t care about them and she did VERY MUCH. There weren’t any other kids at Hollywood Studios with their own robes, so ours were a big hit and I would definitely recommend them.

 

MAGIC KINGDOM

We are all wearing our Best Day Ever shirts from MouseApparel. I cannot recommend this shop enough, the owner was helpful and gracious and almost as excited about our trip as I am. She went out of her way to make sure every detail of our shirts are exactly what I imagined. She even wrote me back immediately after I asked my first question even though she was AT Disneyland. My in-laws kindly embroidered the kids’ names on the backs of their shirts.

family disney shirts Best Day Ever

Family matching Disney Shirts

EPCOT

We have a princess lunch booked, so we went with a Frozen theme. This was the moment I knew E was going to be just as into this whole over the top Disney thing as I am: when I showed him these shirts and he said “Definitely order those.” Sandwiches shirts from Once Upon A Mickey Tee. Caroline’s Frozen tee is from Kohl’s, Finn’s tee is from The Disney Store, and the two Miles from Tomorrowland shirts are from ThredUp (if you use my referral link, you and I both get a $10 credit), which is a website/app that consigns kid’s and women’s clothes. Lincoln’s is new with tags and was only a few dollars. I would start browsing there as long in advance as you can, since they add new stuff all the time.

family disney shirts Epcot

Family matching Disney Shirts at epcot

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Our plans for Hollywood Studios are 90% Star Wars, so that’s our shirt theme. My husband and oldest child insist they are Sith Lords (There are always two) so they get dark side shirts from Teepublic. The rest of us are good people, so we’re on the right side of the rebellion. All our shirts are from Kohl’s. Linc was BB8 for Halloween, so he’ll wear the hat from his costume too. He wears it all the time. I cut my Rebels t-shirt into a tank and a friend hemmed the edges for me. Then I decided I needed a second Star Wars shirt and bought one that says “A Woman’s Place Is In The Resistance“. Perfect for Hollywood Studios AND everyday life.

family disney shirts Star Wars Hollywood Studios

Family star wars shirts

ANIMAL KINGDOM

The shows and characters at Animal Kingdom are animal based (duh) so I went with animal movies for our outfits. My shirt and E’s shirt came from Teepublic (I spent a lot of time browsing there, they have some really great shirts). Mine is hard to see but it has Disney birds in cages – Donald, Kevin, Zazu, Wise Old Owl, etc. The kids thought it was HILARIOUS. Evan and Lincoln’s shirts came from ThredUp. Caroline’s Lion King shirt came from Kohls’ and Finn’s shirt came from The Disney Store. I was worried Linc’s shirt would be way too big for him, so I did some more browsing and found a Mickey-lion shirt on the Disney Boutique Custom Resale group page. People destash all the shirts/dresses/shoes/things their kids wore ONE time in the parks, so it’s a great place to look for discounted but original stuff.

family disney shirts Animal Kingdom

Family animal kingdom shirts

I also ordered two custom embroidered shirts to put over our Tulas. Lincoln and Finn both love being worn. It’s also the easiest way to nurse Finn without having to take lots of sitting-down breaks. After reading some advice in the Tula Love group, I ordered a 4T for Finn’s standard Tula and a size 8 for Linc’s toddler Tula. Using a t-shirt as a cover is cheaper and easier than either buying new Tulas or having custom covers made, even if we only use them for this one week. The shirts worked well! I didn’t get a SINGLE good photo, but we got tons of compliments. Unfortunately, the white shirts got filthy pretty fast and I ended taking Finn’s off.

To prepare for our trip, I’m collecting all the clothes each kid needs each day (shirt, shorts, socks, underwear) into large Ziploc bags and labeling them by day/park. That way when we’re trying to get out of the hotel at 6 am no one struggles to find their shirt or puts on the wrong one. I’ve also packed separate Ziplocs for each kid to bring to the park with back-up clothes. I plan to put the bags they take their clothes out of each day into our park bag, so I have large Ziplocs available for storing dirty/wet clothes, protecting electronics if it rains, or holding unfinished snacks. This system worked really well. It was great to streamline our mornings and make sure nothing was missing.

Post-vacation note: BRING EXTRA CLOTHES FOR EVERYONE. Even if you’ve been carrying them around for 3 days and no one has needed any extra clothes and you think “We’re fine, I can stop lugging this extra stuff around.” No. You cannot. That is the day you will need them and buying shorts at Disney World will cost you at least $25. 

May I also strongly suggest these Old Navy compression capris I now own in four different patterns? Yes, we went in June and it was very hot, but I haaaaate shorts and I needed something that prevented thigh chafing and wouldn’t fall down or stretch out. These leggings were perfect. They dried quickly when I got wet, looked cute, and some even had cute matching sports bras to wear under my tanks. I actually saw at least half a dozen other moms wearing those pants, so I’m not the only one who thinks they’re perfect for Disney.

Another note: Crocs were great for the kids. They were a good choice and I’m super glad they broke them in ahead of time. 

Ok, one last note: You can wear almost anything you like and will be comfortable in. No one will care. You can’t be too earnest or too dorky at Disney World. I’d say about 30% of people were wearing Disney shirts, 30% had matching family shirts, and 30% were just wearing regular clothes. So don’t let it become something you stress about too much, unless you are like me and having things to stress about is actually part of the fun of planning.

Let me know if I missed anything you were looking for or need help finding Disney shirts!