Dapper Days at Disney World

I like wearing costumes. I find it fun. When I decided to do the Princess Half Marathon, the next thought was what costume would I wear. Over the years we've had fun encouraging Ashley to wear costumes to Disneyland -- they make terrific photo ops. I'll post some of those pictures another time. When I saw on a Facebook thread Dapper Day was the same day as the race, I knew I wanted to participate. Don and Ashley also jumped on the Dapper bandwagon. 

All good stories start with "Once Upon a time," this is no exception. Once upon a time (in this case, last fall). some friends from Disneyland posted pictures of Dapper Day, a chance to dress up in your "Sunday Best" and promenade around Disney. It was founded in 2011, and and happens once in the fall and again in the spring (only in warm climates could February be considered "in the spring"). There are official times for meet-ups. They even sell group tickets. It is not a day sanctioned by Disney, nor does it appear on the Disney calendar. I double-checked with guest services the night before and not all of them were not aware of the event. 

Disney frowns upon people over 10 wearing costumes to Disney (for fear of being mistaken for the official Disney character, and for that person not acting at all Disney-like), hence Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween, Bats Day and Dapper Day are times the rest of us can join in the costumed fun.

Had I but known about the official website in advance, and their tips for looking "Dapper," we would have put a bit more effort into our costumes. Some are just amazing! People wear outfits they purchase at vintage clothing stores. They put a lot of effort into their hair and make-up and the entire effect is amazing. People could tell we trying, and gave us smiles for that, but it was nothing compared with the real serious cos-play crowd.

The outfits of some of the other people were simply stunning. Add a sepia tone and block out all 21st century references, and you feel like you are stepping back in time looking at their photographs. Mr. Daps captured some pictures in his blog. Other friends have posted pictures from Disneyland. With California Adventure having a section that is reminiscent of Walt's early days in Hollywood, there are many photo ops. Our top picture is in front of a gift shop on Main Street. The bottom one is inside first aid (I needed some Vaseline to help me recover from the race). We saw others taking pictures there and decided to follow their lead.

It was fun waling around the park dressed up. Unfortunately I forgot to take my gloves out of my non-period purse and Don left his "Indiana Jones" hat in New Jersey.  So glad we heard about this before we left home so we had a chance to be part of the magic. 

I hope we can relive that magic on a future trip.