The Wanderlust Librarian | Costumes at Disneyland

Confession time: I am a horrible costume builder. 

In fact, when Halloween time rolls around... I cringe because I can never think of a good costume to pull off! This anxiety was made worse when a few friends wanted to dress up when we went to Disneyland. 

Dress up? With costumes?  *gulp*

Turns out, Disneyland has an official position on wearing a costume: "(one cannot wear) adult costumes or clothing that can be viewed as representative of an actual Disney character". In plain people talk: an adult can't wear something that looks like a legitimate Disney character. The only time an adult can wear a full fledged costume in Disneyland is when there's a special Halloween party that you buy a special ticket for. 

How does one dress like a Disney character but not?  Disneybounding. 

The term was new to me until this year. Disneybounding is taking the color palate and essence of a Disney character and using those items to make a "costume". This means, that ANYone can wear it into a Disney park and represent their favorite character and still stay well within the rules. 

This was something I could definitely get behind! My travel companions and I decided to dress up as a cohesive group. We chose the classic movies, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. Each of us chose a different character within those movies. 

Clothes are a huge part of Disneybounding. Accessories really push it all over the top. My friend, Taylor, brought bows and hats for us to use and they really made the difference between "It looks good." and "We look AWESOME!". She found things on the cheap. The cost was $1.00 ea for the big bows and $1.00 for a pair of the little bows. She got the shirts at a shirt outlet in Stockton for $3.00 and the pants for $10.00 at K Mart. 

The cartoon Mr. Smee

The Bloggess as Smee (and a hat... I NEVER wear hats)

TinkerScout with green jeans! 

Tinkerbell

                                                                               

 Happy Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
and Pluto!! 

Grumpy Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

                                                                               

A lot of cast members (people who work at Disneyland) really loved it. It solidified us as a group and it made people smile. At the end of the day... it was just fun. Everyone was comfortable, happy.. and full of Disney spirit! My friends and I are already planning our next Disneybounding adventure. 

What would be yours?

Go out there and find your costumed adventure. 

Happy Halloween! 

4 Kids | Quick, I Need a Halloween Costume!

It's October 30th, which means Halloween is tomorrow! Do you have your Halloween costume yet? 

When I was a kid, I often waited until the last minute to put together a Halloween costume. Never a good idea. My costumes were all embarrassing.

I don't want that to happen to you! If you don't have time to check out one of the great Halloween costume idea books from the library, check out Disney's Spoonful website that has some pretty cool ideas. And some of these you can most definitely pull together in 24 hours!

Paper Doll costume from spoonful.com

Get a piece of cardboard, some scissors and felt pens and you're halfway there! A paper doll! Easy as pie! The instructions actually call for a few more items, but at the last minute, you just need a little imagination to make this cute costume happen. P.S. Use duct tape. It's really good! And if you want the instructions for this costume, click here.

Pizza costume from spoonful.com

I almost fell off my chair when I saw this  costume. I actually made one of these a few years ago and it really was super-easy. And who doesn't like pizza? You can follow the simple instructions here. I just ran to the fabric store and picked up a piece of craft foam, lots of felt and Tacky glue. It was a big hit during trick-or-treating!

Pumpkin face from spoonful.com

And now for you real last-minute trick-or-treaters, here's a costume idea for all ages that's quick and easy: pumpkin face! All you need is some orange face paint and a little patience. 

If these don't strike your fancy, stop by any SSJCPL branch and check out our Halloween costume books. Most of the children's books are checked out, but I found one in the adult collection (available at several library branches) that will give you some great ghoulish ideas: A Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations and Destinations by Leslie P. Bannatyne. 





Happy Halloween, and please be safe!