Costuming Ideas for Your Child to Play in While in Walt Disney World

There are a lot of children who are dressed up as princesses or pirates when they visit Walt Disney World. Let's face it, it's fun to play dress up for most children and Disney is the ultimate playground.

Disney offers a service for little girls (ages 3 and up) to dress up as the princess of their dreams called Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique has two locations- Disney Downtown Marketplace and the Magic Kingdom.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique offers different packages raging from $49.99 plus tax up to $200 plus tax. It's a salon setting where the Fairy Godmothers-in-training pamper the little ones while they have their hair, nails and make-up done. Some packages include costumes and photos of their day.

There is also a service offered for little boys (ages 3 and up) called cool dudes which includes colorful hair gel and confetti for $7.50 plus tax.

Advance booking is highly recommended for this service and a credit card is required to make the reservation which must be cancelled 24 hours in advance.

Visits generally last 1-2 hours depending on the package you choose.

With today's economy, this doesn't always fit into a family's vacation budget. Here are a few tips to let your child play dress up and feel special without breaking your budget.

1) Paint fingernails before your trip or during your down time. Use a coat of light pink on her nails first, and then either add stick-on applications found at most dollar stores or a darker color to make 3 dots on their fingers- instant Mickey heads.

2) Children's make up sets, washable hair jell, confetti, sparkles can be found at most dollar stores and several retail stores like Target. You don't even have to buy that, a tiny bit of mom's make-up won't hurt anything.

3) Stick on jewels can also be found easily enough and cost very little. The glue is usually gentle for most children's skin but you may want to try it out before your trip. A child with a rash is uncomfortable and that isn't fun for anyone.

4) Pull out that Halloween costume and put it to use, or grab it when it goes on clearance after Halloween.

Sometimes a little alteration to any simple outfit is just enough to make it work out beautifully. Add some netting under a skirt to give it some puff but remember to also add some soft fabric (like some cotton batting) inside to make it comfortable against the child's skin.

5) You can make a crown out of a simple head band and some pipe cleaners. A wand can be made out of a cheap baton. You don't need a ton of talent to do it. Just try different things. If it doesn't work, pull it apart and try something else. You'll get it, just give it a try.

6) Hairstyles can be fun. Disney pulls their princesses hair back into a tight bun so it will last for days. You can do this too or you can do braids, ponytails, pigtails...whatever. Buy some cheap scrunches or fake hair and add glitter and ribbons to it.

7) Forget about those clunky princess shoes. Use white comfortable walking shoes. I have seen more little girls suffering wearing the pretend shoes than I care to remember. They are hard to walk in and painful after a few hours. White walking shoes can be 'dressed up' easily enough with fabric paint and glitter.

Lace, ribbons, beads, and glitter- a few minutes with a hot glue gun or a sewing machine...the possibilities are endless. Most kids don't care how much you spent, they just want to look special and pretty. Plus you could spend some quality time with your child creating her personalized princess look together.