First time for 4 year old Princess - bring her dressed in dresses?

[Beca P]

So our 4-year-old Princess is all about the Princesses - we bought her a few Disney Princess Dresses but they are "scratchy" she says - Picky Princess. We go to Disney in a couple weeks. So anyway, thinking on park days I will bring her in comfy "Disney" t-shirts and shorts, Minnie ears, and pack the princess dresses for special parts of the day, right?

She will want to wear the outfits but then will get annoyed and scratchy and complain about the feeling of the materials... Plan for this ahead right Mamas? And if she insists on wearing it from the morning, fine.... then, in that case, bring the backup Disney princess t-shirt and shorts and let her change into that when she's "all done" w dresses. I donno. What was your experience... ToddlerZilla much? (ek, also picked up sparkles hairspray - WIN!)

 

[jacknsally19]

My dd - who is six - never really wore princess dresses at the parks. (She wore them on her Dis cruise). I would maybe just bring a dress for when she is going to meet princesses - or dine with them - and that’s it.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

My daughters only wear the dresses from mom approved costumes. I think the brand is little adventurers. My dd has a lot of sensory issues and these are really comfy, have reinforced seams, crushed velvet breathable bodies, no sparkles (score one for mom) or crinoline. And they pack into nothing. These I could foresee her wearing in the parks, but not the big poufy dresses. For what you’re describing I’d bring a dress along, but only if you’re doing a character dinner or princess character m&g in that particular park (ie if you’re going to AK, don’t even bother toting). If not, then leave at hotel.

 

[LovesTimone]

Having dealt with a picky princess, who now is a Mommy to a little prince. DD had the same complaint... Scratchy...I went a couple of routes with different princess outfits.
Here's a few suggestions on how I dealt with the Scratchy, Itchy, pokey,.... dresses.

* First turn the dress or whatever inside out, and look at the seams, cutting away any extra threads or extra fabric , checking to see if there is backing that might need to be cut away, or beading, jewels that has like plastic threads poking out.

* DD had a Belle dress that she loved, but the the sleeve's drove her crazy. So I covered the elastic band on the sleeves & top of the shoulder and the underarm (basically the whole arm hole) on the inside with some rayon, or silky fabric scraps material I had. While I used my sewing machine, you could easily hand sew on, or even hot glue.

* For another dress, I bought a over sized white tank top and used it as like a slip. Also used little boys white packaged tanks or t-shirts to go under some of her dress. I bought the boys because they were better quality, and softer than the ones offered in the girls department, and cheaper if I remember correctly.

* I also made several tulle skirts in several colors, with elastic waist bands that she could pull on and off to her hearts desire with out any drama. She would just put them on whatever she was wearing.

* For some of the outfits, I would buy a solid color t-shirt in the appropriate color for the princess we were wanting to create. Then add some decorations to the sleeve, like ribbons, or tulle and/or hot glue on some gems on, bring along a tiara, some sparkly jewelry and few hair clip and we were ready to go. Then she would slip on the tulle skirt when she wanted to.

 

[Nancyg56]

our Princess wore dresses or costumes at dinner. During the day she wore her little Disney tops and shorts. It is all about comfort.

 

[KayaWildfire]

We had our princesses change into dressss, they didn't wear them all day. We had each dress packed individually in a gallon size bag for the flight to keep the glitter out of the suitcase. If you squeeze the air out, they are almost flat. We just grabbed whatever dress we needed for the day in it's bag and took it to the parks like that in a backpack. When it is wanted, simply shake it out and you are good to go.

 

[Cinderelly911]

Yes. Bring the dresses or a change of clothes. They get hot, sweaty and itchy - also don’t underestimate a 4 year olds ability to change their mind. My DD wore her Jasmine costume when she was 6 to Epcot and within 5 minutes of walking in the park was “done” with people calling her princess and saying hello to her ...lol! Luckily I packed a change of clothes.

 

[Cherrychip]

My daughters wore their dresses over their regular clothes. Less scratchy, and if they got tired of the dresses, they could just take them off and I would roll them up and put them in the backpack. Granted we went in early March so it was hot, but not HOT during the day so they didn't mind having the double layers while they wore the dresses.

 

[MrsJanmik]

I'm debating this too - my current plan is to bring both the costume and the regular clothes and give her the option the change back and forth. However, I'm going to stick to our less itchy, less bulky costumes. I'm sure my family will think I am riddiculous . . . Lol

 

[10CJ]

If DD wore her dress in the morning we packed other clothes to change into. We sometimes saved the dresses for an evening dinner.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I would go with her mood in the morning, and just make sure I bring the other outfit - comfy things if she starts out wearing the dress, the dress if she starts out in regular clothes but plans to change for a character dinner.

I also like LovesTimone's idea of checking the inside of the dresses to see exactly what the problem is and maybe being able to fix it.

Another option is the "casual Friday" princess look:

(Note -not my kid - just a Pinterest search.)

 

[sullyfam]

My middle is the "itchy" queen. When she was that age, I followed her lead in the morning.

We brought several Disney princess dresses from home. She could wear one, but she wore bike shorts and a tank top or lightweight tee underneath. In my park backpack, I would roll up an additional outfit for her and put it in a zip lock bag so that when she was ready to change, I had it handy. If she woke up and wanted to wear regular clothes, I would throw the princess dress in the backpack. She could change into it for princess meets or character meals etc.

Another good tip is to bring "new" Disney inspired clothing that is more comfortable than the itchy princess dresses. Chances are that if it's appealing to them because it's a Moana dress or an outfit with Elsa and Anna, they'll want to wear it and you'll deal with less "itchy" complaining and changing of clothes drama.

This time of year, it's hot, humid and rainy in Disney. So being prepared with multiple clothing options is always the safest bet!

 

[ame6405]

I got my 5yo some little tank tops to wear underneath her Queen Elsa "magic ice dress." The sheer fabric is itchy to her. She hates all things crinoline against her skin...a fact we learned when she was expected to wear a poofy, itchy dress in my sisters wedding.