Sure, anyone can tell you to wear comfortable shoes and to dress for the weather (e.g., the hot Florida sun or afternoon showers), but let’s face it. When you’re at Disney World, you’re probably going to take photos that you’ll want to look at for years to come, so you shouldn’t dress like a slob.
Did you know that while kids are allowed to dress up, people age 14 and older are not allowed in the parks if they are in costume? While you may not be able to dress up in a costume, there are still ways you can capture the essence of a character without actually dressing as that character. My best suggestion is to think of that character’s color palette and accessories. For example, Snow White dresses in blue and has a red bow in her hair. Plus, she poses like this:
Notice that my fingernails are also yellow, like Snow White’s skirt. See? You can dress up at Disney without literally dressing in costume. However, I wouldn’t recommend wearing a blazer all day in the middle of summer at Disney World.
Here’s an example of me channeling my inner Princess Jasmine. Jasmine wears all blue and is (I think) the only princess who wears pants. She also has a blue headband and fabulous gold earrings and necklace. Bonus points if you pose in front of your character’s ride.
Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean that I always want to dress up like a princess. (Although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love dressing like a princess!) Sometimes you just have to go with a classic, and what’s more classic than Mickey Mouse? Of course I have my Mouseketeer hat, my “home” T-shirt with Cinderella Castle on it, black shoes, red Fitbit, Mickey bangle bracelet and yellow Magic Band. I could have gone with my red Magic Band, but I decided on yellow to match Mickey’s iconic yellow shoes because, well, I don’t own a pair of yellow shoes, and I can’t picture myself buying a pair either.
Thanks to Disney’s purchase of the Star Wars franchise, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is loaded with Star Wars experiences. My favorite character from the newest movie is BB-8. And when I saw this T-shirt and Mickey ears on Etsy, I had to have them. These are probably my favorite pair of ears I own, and I own several, haha! Plus, I wore my pearl earrings (because they are little white balls, like BB-8), white scalloped shorts (because of the color and round shape of the scalloping) and carried around my BB-8 thermos, which you can pick up at the popcorn cart outside of Star Wars Launch Bay in Hollywood Studios. I just wish I had an orange Magic Band!
Dressing up for Disney World doesn’t mean that you have to dress like any particular character either. Sometimes it’s fun to dress in a theme instead of a character. For example, my husband and I wore “safari gear” on a trip to Animal Kingdom. I even made sure to wear my purse that looks like a satchel.
Have more suggestions or ideas of what to wear on your next Disney trip? Let me know in the comments!