Has this ever happened to you? You think up an amazing runDisney race costume. You put time and effort into assembling your vision. Blood, sweat, tears, and credit cards go into this creation. Race day dawns, you don your spectacular costume… and no one gets it.
It happens to everyone! Despite our best efforts, it can be hard to make all but the most obvious and/or elaborate race costumes clear to spectators as we go running by. It might be a matter of angles, or the details are too small to see on course, or maybe more than one character has a similar outfit or color scheme (shoutout to my Provincial Belles in Wonderland!). I mean, sure, we’ll feel better when we post our photos to Instagram later and get those soothing enthusiastic comments, but in the moment, it sure is nice when the spectators are clearly cheering for you.
So what if I told you I’d cracked the runDisney race costume code? What if I told you I had the solution? It’s easy, it’s cheap, and it works for pretty much any character ever! Heck, it works for concepts. It’s not particularly sexy, but it’s virtually guaranteed. Your runDisney race costume idea list is gonna be a mile long; trust me.
MY runDISNEY RACE COSTUME SECRET SAUCE
What is this magical answer? It’s… clear block lettering!
All you have to do is buy some iron-on letters. I usually buy these off Amazon* for around ten bucks but there are plenty of options out there in different colors and sizes. Iron your character name, or your concept, or your movie quote, or whatever onto the shirt (or any clothing) of your choice et voila! You are instantly recognizable!
Something I like about this method is that since you’re applying the letters yourself, you control the item of clothing. No more buying a shirt and hoping it doesn’t chafe. Bring your favorite workout top to the party. Or pants or shorts or a skirt if you want, although keep in mind the less the item moves on and around your body the more legible the letters will be. You can even remove the letters after; no need to buy more shirts!
For bonus points, you may choose to add additional relevant iron-on patches, like I did with Zero below. If Disney doesn’t make anything official, Etsy is rife with such things.
Oh, and if you don’t have an iron, your Disney hotel room does. Nothing like a little last-minute panic ironing to make a trip more fun, no?
A couple caveats: depending on your, y’know, personal chest shape, you’ll need to keep placement in mind. And you can obviously only fit so much on a given shirt. Place your letters with care and maybe have a friend double check the spacing before you bust out the iron. Fabric glue and sewing will also work in a pinch. Finally, I know it can be tempting to select fun colors or fonts, but the block lettering and contrast are clutch for readability from far away.
PROOF OF CONCEPT
In my last Walt Disney World Marathon, I ran as the Haunted Mansion’s Ghost Host. What does the Ghost Host look like? No one knows! He’s a disembodied voice! All I had was some Haunted Mansion Minnie ears, the right purple and green color scheme… and a shirt that read GHOST HOST.
Not only did I receive multiple spectator cheers, Prince Naveen himself called me into the photo stop with a “Come on, Ghost Host!” He never would’ve known if my shirt hadn’t told him.
I have used this trick for characters such as Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas and Dante from Coco:
(Actual on-course spectator testimonial: “Oh, she’s Zero!”)
I’ve used it for concepts such as Potatoland from the current Mickey cartoons and the Rainbow Corridor from the OG Imagination Pavilion:
Once I simply slapped on a Tangled quote and surprisingly got a couple spectator shoutouts for that too!
There you have it! Like I said: quick, easy, cheap, recognizable. Now go forth and get those spectator cheers your runDisney race costume always deserved!
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