Disney Deinfluencing: I Love A Race Costume… Too Much

Much ado is made in the runDisney community about Panic Crafting. This fine art is the practice of at the very least creating but possibly even conceiving of your runDisney race costume within 48 hours or less of the race date. Judging by the number of Panic Crafting posts that pop up on socials, it is almost a badge of honor to whip up a impressive costume at the last minute. The more compressed the timeline, the better.

While I’ve certainly done my fair share of last minute additions and harbor great respect for Panic Crafters, Panic Crafting is not my preferred modus operandi. In fact, I have the opposite problem: I start planning for race costumes too far in advance.

EXTREME RACE COSTUME PREPAREDNESS IS NOT ALWAYS HELPFUL

Perhaps this statement confuses you. How can one be too prepared with race costumes? Easy: by losing interest.

In classic ADHD fashion, I keep getting stuck in the following loop:

Step one – Get a Really Great Race Costume idea months in advance (we’re talking, for example, committing in March when the race is in January)

Step two – Find good deals on workable race costume elements and buy them because what if they sell out or go up in price in the future???

Step three – Suddenly think of a NEW Really Great Race Costume idea

Step four – Repeat steps one through three an indeterminate number of times before I either get nailed down by a group costume with friends or the race is too close to pivot (Or, in a delicious yet tragically rare occurrence, the hyperfixation stands the test of remaining time)

Needless to say, this system has its drawbacks. Namely the a) purchasing of b) stuff that I now may or may not use. And that’s a problem, because

RACE COSTUME ELEMENTS START TO ADD UP… IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

You might think that when I say race costume elements start to add up I must be primarily thinking of money. And I’m not not thinking of money. The impetus behind the Disney Deinfluencing series is encouraging everyone (including me!) to make their purchases thoughtfully, without succumbing to tactics like scarcity marketing that encourage impulsive spending and compulsive hoarding. The goal is to avoid buyer’s remorse, whatever that looks like for you.

When I make my race costume purchases, I don’t go crazy or anything. I’m not spending irresponsible amounts of money. Still, spending any money on something that I ultimately don’t need and won’t use makes me all itchy. That’s the opposite of extracting value, which is embarrassing for someone who spends so much time harping about value.

Further, I live in a modest two-bedroom apartment. I have finite amounts of space to work with. Even when I get my race costume items for cheap-to-free, seeing things pile up makes me uncomfortable. What to do?

Never fear – you know what to do! I polled my Instagram followers to find out how they avoid giving in to race costume madness, whether that be hacks for saving money, saving space, or making individual costume components stretch. Let’s get right in there, shall we?

USE WHAT YOU HAVE

Shop your closet. Start your race costume journey by checking out what you already have and seeing what ideas that sparks. Make it a fun challenge: how much of a race costume can you complete without buying anything new at all?

It may help to frame it as

Disneybounding instead of details. Disneybounding is the practice of dressing in color schemes and shapes that evoke a character instead of dressing a costume outright. Because it’s a simpler homage rather than a film-accurate recreation, you’re more likely to find the parts you need. (Worried you won’t be recognized on course? Try labeling yourself.)

DIY with stuff around your house. DIY may require buying crafting supplies (and doesn’t always save money!), but it doesn’t have to. Do a sweep of your house, gather all the felt and glitter and old t-shirts and cardboard you can find, and get creative.

Reuse your existing race costumes. As Lizzie McGuire established, there is no shame in being an outfit repeater. You may feel some pressure on social media to come to every runDisney race with a new costume, but who really cares?

Okay, I care – I like a little something new for photographic variety. However! You can save money and time by tweaking an existing costume with new elements, improvements, and thematic twists or mashups. I’m currently pondering my fourth iteration of Sally the rag doll. Stay tuned for Princess Weekend 2026, is all I’m saying.

BUY WHAT YOU CAN REUSE

Buy legit workout gear that doubles as a costume. A couple respondents specifically cited Crowned Athletics, but it can be any athletic wear that brings the prints, patterns, and design flair that can make a costume in its own right. I may have put my Pooh costume concept on the back burner for now, but my bee set remains viable for general training.

Reuse everything you can. Buy things that aren’t too specific and can be applied to multiple different race costumes. Solid colors and basic designs are much more versatile. Put the specificity in cheaper, smaller accessories, overlays, and DIY elements.

Case study: I purchased a Dante skirt for my Alebrije Dante costume. It worked great for that costume… and is completely useless for just about anything else, which makes me sad.

Buy used, sell used. Thrift, thrift, thrift! Buying used is cheaper and environmentally responsible. On the flip side, once you’re done with a costume piece, you may be able to sell or donate it on the secondhand market.

Borrow from a friend. Swap whole costumes or individual costume elements around with likeminded runDisney buddies.

When all else fails, fall back to basics with strict budgeting. Set an amount – I heard $50 but it can be whatever works for you – and don’t go over. Easier said that done, but you can supplement with the above DIY/shop your closet entries.

PUT THAT BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP ME

Finally, here’s my favorite idea!

Have dedicated race costume storage. Remember when I said it’s not just the money, it’s the clutter? One respondent suggested purchasing some sort of large storage tub for all your runDisney race costume pieces. I have quite a few costume elements that I don’t use in regular life but I’m not ready to say goodbye to. Right now they’re hanging out in various random places in my bedroom – and it’s adding to the disorder.

How basic yet genius is to just… put everything away in one place? I should have thought of it already, and yet here we are. Probably because it’s been a slow process of amassing things; I just didn’t notice the creep until it was already overwhelming. A decade plus of runDisney will do that to a girl.

Anyway, if you’re wondering which of these suggestions I will be implementing immediately, this is it!

BUT WAIT – DIDN’T YOU HAVE AN IDEAS PROBLEM?

You may notice that while the above does effectively address assembling a race costume cheaply, efficiently, and effectively, it doesn’t touch my personal problem. Namely, what do I do about the Too Many Race Costumes Too Soon trap?

Whelp, as much as I hate to say it, I think this is a case of Know Thyself. I have identified the pattern, and it is up to me to attack it head on. I will let myself generate as many ideas as I like – but self-reflection has taught me to hold before I commit. The rush of coming up with a fresh concept fades. Unless I genuinely am under a time crunch, I need to give myself a refractory period before I execute.

I also recently began sketching my costume ideas. Firstly for us neurospicy dopamine seekers, sketching is an enjoyable act of creation and imagination in and of itself, regardless of artistic skill. As a bonus, it helps me visualize what I would need for a given costume and what of that I already have.

Or maybe I just need to commit to more group costumes. Can’t pull out on the group once you’ve all agreed upon something – it’s rude!

THE RIGHT RACE COSTUME IS THE ONE THAT MAKES YOU TRULY HAPPY

And there you have it! A handful of ways you can maximize your race costume output without minimizing your living space OR bank account.

Prefer to throw caution to the wind and Buy All the Things for your race costume? Have at it! There is no perfect consumption set point. What you can afford, what you have space for, what you can use, and what brings you unadulterated joy is entirely personal to you. There is admittedly the environmental impact, but I think we can mostly blame corporations for that. You do what you can. 😅

This concludes my second Disney Deinfluencing post. I have at least one more post planned for this series, but there may well be more to discuss. Have a suggestion? I’d love to hear it! Hit me up via the comments or the social media app of your choice.

Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Threads @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!