My five favorite things to wear to Disney World

The first couple times we went to Disney World, I didn't think much about what to wear. I simply opened my closet and grabbed some t-shirts, shorts, and my sneakers, and thought I was good to go.

Over the years I've learned a lot about going to Disney and have started having a little more fun (and getting a little smarter) about what I wear for a day at the park.

Here are my five favorite things to wear that I wish I'd started doing sooner:

1. SandalsOkay, I know this sounds strange at first, but that's because your probably thinking of cheap flip-flops or "nice" sandals that aren't appropriate for walking in. But trust me, when I wear my Merrell Slide sandals, I can walk around the park for hours and my feet still feel great.

You can read about the pros and cons of other brands and see photos in my blog post about the best sandals for Disney World.

1. DressesAfter seeing photos of other women looking adorable wearing a dress as they greet Minnie Mouse or Winnie the Pooh, I've been on a quest to find cute dresses before every Disney trip. I tend to wear a casual sundress during the day and a maxi dress in the evening. I get most everything from either Amazon or Kohl's.
2. Crossbody purseOn our first couple trips, I wore a fanny pack. It worked fine, but I've come to learn since then that wearing a fanny pack is a shameful, embarrassing act that could get me shunned from society. Perhaps worse than that, when I made the switch to dresses, I thought a dress with a fanny pack looked... weird. So I did some research and decided to try crossbody purses. I like to travel light, and this is a nice option that is fairly attractive and not bulky.You can see reviews of not only crossbody purses, but also sling bags and backpacks, in my blog post about choosing the best bag for Disney
3. Mouse earsOkay, this is really sad that it took me so long to indulge in mouse ears. I guess I didn't really think about it, or thought it was an unnecessary expense (which it is).But you know what? On our last trip I worse a couple different pairs of floral ears that I got from an Etsy shop called The Mouse Project, and it was so much fun and I got tons of compliments! Seriously, I will never go to Disney without mouse ears again.
4. Disney accessoriesAs you can probably tell at this point, my currently Disney outfits don't scream "Disney" -- I don't wear "DrinkerBell" t-shirts or anything like that.So I like to dress it up a bit with some Disney accesories. I have a great rose gold Mickey necklace that got a lot of compliments on my last trip. The nice thing is that -- unlike the Mickey ears -- I can wear them often in my normal life back home as well.Other options for Disney jewelry are a watch, headband, or earrings. On our last trip I bought my jewelry before the trip, but I think it would also be fun to shop for something new and fun at the parks and resorts.

I hope this post has inspired you to try some new and fun things to wear for your next Disney trip!

Jen Blaske is a musician, author, and former school teacher who lives in the Atlanta area. She has written a total of four books, one of them non-fiction and three of them humorous fiction.