Bring Princess Dresses and Pirate Gear for the Kids

“Make sure you pack princess dresses and pirate gear for the kids, they are a must in the park these days. Bring it, or buy it!”

When I was little the only Disney certified dresses you could buy were the little Minnie Mouse ones. My sisters and I all had one and we would wear them at least once to the parks–and more if my mom would let us. When I was Snow White and Cinderella for Halloween my mom would hand make me kick-ass costumes: all three of us were the bane of any costume contest when we were in grade school, that’s how good she was.  But nowadays?  You can just walk into a store and buy anything and everything princess based.  Need a dress?  Check.  How about shoes?  Okay sure.  Want a wand and crown too? I…guess. And of course you need a wig!  What?!

While I don’t see a lot of kids wearing wigs in the park, you do see almost every little girl in a princess dress and a lot of the boys dressed either as pirates, Peter Pan, or Captain Hook. It’s so prevalent that I feel badly for any parent that shows up without a nice dress or costume to put their kid in, because surely they are going to end up buying something!

But more than just fitting in with the crowd, wearing a pirate costume or a princess dress can get your child some extra interaction with the characters. Captain Hook will surely ham it up for a tiny Peter Pan or Tinkerbell, and every Princess loves comparing dresses with little girls that are dressed like them.

In short: I wish I was five years old so that I could buy it all, wear it around and not feel silly.  But alas they don’t make them in adult sizes (and the adult costumes just don’t compare!) and adults aren’t allowed to wear costumes in the parks, so I shall just have to score tickets to the Not So Scary Halloween Party sometime.