How have you celebrated children's birthdays at WDW? [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

momto2

11-04-2005, 09:13 PM

tallym

11-05-2005, 04:22 AM

I wasn't sure weather to reply to not as I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but.....I really can't understand crlabrating a birthday on any other day other the actual "birth" day. Surely this is the whole point of a Birthday?? :confused3

I know a lot of people do this and Iam really not getting at you personally. If you want to celebrate it 6 weeks later that is entirely your buisnesss. But surely CM must take it with a pinch of salt now if some one says its their birthday.

Would you put birthday pins on your children? I guess its just my bug bear please don't be offended :sunny: But personally I think you should make your childrens "birth" day as special as possible because thats their special day , surely to bring a cake out and blow out candles a month later is just Fake and undermines the actual birthday. in my opinion.

I hope I haven't overstepped the mark? I hope you have a wonderful trip whatever you decide to do! :earsgirl:

beattyfamily

11-05-2005, 06:28 AM

My kids' birthdays are the end of this month. However we can't get to WDW until earlyJanuary. We told them that because it was so close to their b-days we would celebrate their birthdays at WDW. Has anyone ever done this? Celebrate when it isn't their actual date during the trip? What did you do? :earboy2: :wave2: :earsgirl:

Go for it if you want to! We gave our DD a trip to Disney for her 6th birthday...no party at home this year. We went a weekend before her birthday because it was free dining and it ended the following weekend which was her actual birthday. I have NO problem with that. It was her birthday gift and a special trip to celebrate her birthday, just a week early. People have parties for their kids all the time that do not fall on their actual birthday for various reasons.

Anyway, I had a birthday shirt made for her. I got her the birthday pins. I ordered a cake for one of our meals. I had her wear a birthday hat (with Ariel on it) for our Princess meal at PSB because that was her 'official' meal celebration.

She had a magical time and I'm sure she won't soon forget how speical it was to celebrate her birthday at WDW.

mcdisney2005

11-05-2005, 06:33 AM

We will be celebrating my son's 6th birthday when we are down there the end of November. His birthday is 3 days before Christmas so he kind of gets screwed on his birthday so we thought this would be a great way to give him a special treat while we are down there. We are making a shirt for him and have let the hotel and Chef Mickey's know that we are celebrating his birthday. I will also get the pin for him as well.

kellyg403

11-05-2005, 06:37 AM

All my daughter wanted for her birthday was a chance to eat at the Castle. Her birthday is the last week of November, we aren't going until Dec. So we decided to make a reservation to celebrate her birthday on the same exact day Dec. We won't celebrate throughout the parks, but her lunch at the castle we will. Its part of her birthday present. We will celebrate here at home on that actual weekend, but we are still going to surprise her.

Just my thoughts...

Kelly

bicker

11-05-2005, 06:40 AM

My wife and I had this discussion recently. We made a commitment (to ourselves, of course, but also to my family) that we would take our nieces and nephews to WDW for their 5th, 10th and 15th birthdays. We're taking Benjamin for the first time in January, though his birthday is this month. Even though the vacation is for his birthday, we take our responsibility to model good behaviors very seriously, so won't try to mislead CMs into thinking it is actually his birthday. The trip is, without question, Benjamin's birthday present. That's something we not only feel comfortable telling CMs, but we'll probably make up t-shirts to that effect.

samshane

11-05-2005, 07:50 AM

My middle daughter was too young for a party when we went last time so we had a dinner at Cinderella's castle and I called ahead and had them bring out a cake for her. She loved it. She also got a certificate declaring it Princess Sarah's special day.

This year her b-day is right after we get back and she said NO to any celebration at Disney as she is having a bowling party with all of her 4 and 5yr old friends. She'd rather have that!

DisneyMomx7

11-05-2005, 09:02 AM

DD (8) and DS (5) were lucky enough to be at Disney on their actual birthdays. DD (turning 7) actual birthday is December 30th. Always a bad time for a birthday. THis year we're going to be at Disney January 6-10 and we're definitely going to celebrate her birthday. We always go to Disney in the summer and this is the first time we're going to be down there anytime remotely close to her birthday so we're going to take advantage of it. It's only a week difference so I don't feel guilty about it at all.

JanMary

11-05-2005, 11:07 AM

I am glad this topic has been raised as I was wondering about it too.

My two DDs both have December birthdays and we are taking the family to WDW for first time in January. As it is after their birthdays I just assunmed it would be too late to have any kind of 'birthday thing' when we were there.

However I have a lunch reservation at CRT for just myself and the girls (DH and DS banned - much to DH's releif!) and it would be lovely to make it a belated birthday celebration. How much is it to order a cake? Arrange a certificate? Who do you phone? Where can you get birthday pins? Wher can you get birthday hats - sepecially with Ariel?!

There is no way I would want to pretend it was actually their birthdays (and the girls would soon tell anyone who seemed misled!) but it seems that it is still ok to do a belated thing and that would be lovely.

tallym

11-05-2005, 11:48 AM

But wheres the cut off point? :confused3

Whats to stop everyone going to CRT and "celebrating a birthday and even wearing a birthday pin? After all we have all had a birthday at some point that yr.

Miffy2003

11-05-2005, 12:02 PM

Every day I am in WDW is like a birthday to me!

I have no problem with people getting their kids birthday badges even if it's not, personally.

Have a wonderful trip :sunny: :sunny:

Gerweniel

11-05-2005, 12:29 PM

Hi!
My older son's 13th Birthday is on Christmas Eve! I promised him we'd celebrate this milestone B'day by having a Disney trip as close to his actual day as possible. It is unrealistic for us to be at Disney on Christmas Eve proper, so we are celebrating it earlier in the month. We won't be getting a "birthday button", but I do intend on purchasing him a cake as a surprise for him one evening. (hehehe at the Whispering Canyon).
He is getting to choose some special restaurants for dinner, thanks to the Dining Plan - (Teppanyaki and Coral Reef), and if I can swing it, I'll let him rent a boat with his brother for an hour or something like that.
I am hoping that he will have fond memories of his 13th Birthday, even if the trip doesn't happen to fall on the actual day.
;)

JeffM624

11-05-2005, 01:09 PM

On our son's 7th birthday we stayed at the YC.
During our time in the park he wore the "it's my birthday" button and ended up having a great time. When we got back, Capt. Bob had sent balloons and a cake to the room and a birthday card that was an autographed group photo of characters. The next day we had a very low key birthday for DW

Vickie46

11-05-2005, 01:12 PM

Who cares! Enjoy the Magic of Disney.. if you want to celebrate you, your child or whoevers birthday.. then DO IT! I don't see a problem with it and I really don't know why others do.. but enjoy yourself and your children.. they are only small for so long!

bicker

11-05-2005, 02:28 PM

We won't be getting a "birthday button", but I do intend on purchasing him a cake as a surprise for him one evening. I cannot imagine that someone would be concerned about anyone paying for special celebratory considerations for a belated birthday; rather, the concern would be, I'd suspect, whether to impose on Disney's generosity in that regard. I surely would not have any concern whatsoever celebrating Benjamin's birthday in January, as long as I'm picking up the tab for the special considerations! :)

arkansas mom

11-05-2005, 09:04 PM

My son had not yet started pin collecting but always dragged me to the displays and showed me all the really cool pins he would buy if he collected. Well, on his b-day, he was showing me the pins he loved, and I was grabbing them when he turned away. By the time we worked our way through the store I had picked up about a dozen pins and a lanyard without him noticing :smooth: . As he paid for a couple of small items at one register, I slipped over to another and purchased his first round of pins. We stepped out and sat at a table to look at the items he purchased and I said :bday: and put the lanyard around his neck.

TxDisneyFan

11-05-2005, 09:14 PM

My son's 10th birthday will be Dec 19. We will be arriving at WDW on the 18th. I have been planning our visit since March. We'll start the day with a wake up call from Mickey. We'll have breakfast at Chef Mickey's. There are a couple of things I want to try to do, hopefully we'll have some pixie dust sprinkled on us....

I think you should celebrate when it is conveinent for your family. We just happened to be able to schedule our trip during this time.

Our dd is 7. She's asked us to go on a Disney cruise for her 10th birthday. With the prices so high, I'd better start saving money now! :rolleyes:

alleghator

11-05-2005, 09:15 PM

And ... we're also very careful about modeling good behaviors for our kids. Our Emily's birthday is one week after we get back. With planning the first family trip to WDW and all ... there's no way I'm throwing a kid birthday party as soon as we get back. So, we'll be celebrating her birthday at Disney World. But, at NO point will we tell anyone that it actually *is* her birthday, and we'll make sure she knows to do the same.

As a previous posted mentioned ... many of us frequently have birthday parties on a convenient day, rather than on a child's actual birthday. I do think there's a personal "line" we each have, though. To me ... 6 weeks away seems a bit of stretch. But, I'm not in your family ... you do your thing, and I'll happily sing along with you if I hear you start a round of "Happy Birthday" somewhere. It's none of my business when the actual birthdate is.

--Heidi

momto2

11-05-2005, 10:26 PM

Had no idea that this simple post would cause such controversy. Obviously you don't know me, but I would never pretend or lie to anyone about my child's actual birthdate for any reason. As someone mentioned, we often have parties with their friends that aren't on the actual date for convenience sake. So I was just wondering how people celebrated when they were 'celebrating' one's birthday at WDW not on the date. Of course, my children will still celebrate their birthdays on their dates and my DS will have a party with a few friends. They have always wanted to go to Disney for their birthdays but this hasn't been nor will it ever be possible. So the next closest date we could get was January.

Thanks to all of you who get the Disney magic and realize that we all can't make it ON THE DATE. They both are each picking a restaurant to 'celebrate' their b-days and I will, like many of you, tell the waitress that we will be celebrating their November b-day for this event. No cake, just a huge, magical, Disney treat!

Lisa loves Pooh

11-05-2005, 10:53 PM

Our oldest has celebrated on her actual day twice.

We are vacationing in Hawaii next year. My youngest will have her birthday either during or just after the trip...we will celebrate on her day--even if it is on an airplane (but we are trying to avoid that).

We are going for my mother's 50th b-day--so it is a birthday trip. But as a family we will celebrate it on her actual day.

You can do what you wish as far as how you celebrate your child's b-day. However to pretend it is that day whenever you travel..just doesn't seem right to me--at all--ever. Given the trip for whatever reason is not planned so that the birthday is during the trip...no problem with you doing something in honor of their birthday.

I think most--magic or not--who take exception is when you are basically celebrating an un-birthday disguised as a birthday.

My only other example--one year for Valentine's day we had a dinner reservation. I was preggers with long and bad morning sickness. Just as we were leaving for our date...I got sick and we had to call and cancel the reservation. We rescheduled the date--and though it was for Valentines' day, we didn't make a big fuss about it and didn't bother to mention it to the restuarant. B/c it was no longer February 14th! So no compimentary rose for me.

tallym

11-06-2005, 08:06 AM

I agree Lisa....Thats the point I was trying to make :earsgirl:

I took my dd to Disneyland Paris for her 5th birthday and we celebrated on the actual day..it was a very special memory I cannot imagine at all celebrating her 5th birthday a couple of months later??

My Ds will be 14 next September dutring our trip so again we will be celebrating on the actual day.

A trip to disney should be special enough without pretending its your birthday as well, it belittles those whose actual real birthday is that day and Iam in no way suggesting anyone here does this but I have known people say its there birthday to "get " things...like room upgrades special seats in restaurants etc.

It just seems so unfaif to those whoose birthday it is.
But Iam obviously in the minority here so I'll just slope off now :rolleyes:

I,ve surprised myself as to how strongly I feel about this...Iam usually really easy going, honest :teeth:

alleghator

11-06-2005, 08:16 AM

Not all of us can plan trips to go when we want to go. I'm a school teacher and I have to go when school is out. Even if we were staying home during our Spring Break, I would most likely be planning my daughter's birthday party that week (so she could have a non-school-night sleepover party). Are you suggesting that no matter what I should always have her birthday party on her birthday?

I don't expect anyone to give us anything we're not entitled to. I plan to make T-shirts for my daughter for our trip that specifically say "celebrating my birthday" or "about to turn 7" .. not "it's my birthday." Subtle? Maybe. But, I'm not trying to be sneaky or cheat anyone, and I don't appreciate the implication.

My son's birthday is in June ... I am not smooshing his birthday a few months later into our March trip. But, my daughter will be celebrating her birthday 1 week earlier in 2006. I hardly think this makes me a bad person or a bad parent.

--Heidi

tallym

11-06-2005, 08:40 AM

Heidi ...No where in my posts have I said you are a bad parent or implied it??? :confused3

In fact I did say Iam absolutely not suggersting anyone who has posted here is trying to get a freebie but that I personally know of people who have done this.

I cant see why you think iam talking about You??? :earsgirl:

of course we cant all have parties on the actual day but most people i think you agree have parties within days of the the actual day....not months or even weeks...thats just silly :rotfl:

skiwee1

11-06-2005, 08:41 AM

As othes have said as long as you are actually going to pay for the cake or whatever then there really isn't a problem. I really do not see a reason to even tell a CM that it one is celebrating a birthday unless one is hoping to get a freebie. Too many go to WDW and have to tell every CM in site that they are celebrating a birthday and really are expecting some "magic" to happen. Of course we all know that "magic" is just another word for freebie. I don't need some stranger handing me a free cupcake to make me feel special. To me, having my loved one go the extra mile and order me a cake means so much more.

beattyfamily

11-06-2005, 08:53 AM

Before I left for the trip, I didn't know having a birthday shirt or a birthday button meant you'd get free stuff. That wasn't why I had my DD wear one. She wore one to feel like the trip was her birthday celebration and also her birthday present, which it was. She wore one to feel special with the "Happy Birthdays" she got from total strangers.

We got nothing for free the whole trip except at Tony's, they put confetti on our table and asked if she wanted a birthday sundae and we said no thank because she's such a picky eater.

At Le Cellier, they were going to bring her a free moose dessert (not the one that looks like a moose) but I said no thank you, she'd like the chocolate moose on the menu and I paid for it.

At Sci fi they put a candle on her older DD's dessert that I paid for and took our picture. Nothing free and I didn't expect anything free. She wore the shirt and button because this was her birthday trip and present. Period.

I just wanted my DD to feel special and I didn't think about 'free stuff'. She did feel special and had a great time and we got exactly what we wanted out of it.

I can't understand why this bothers some people. It's nobody's business but the family celebrating. To each their own. Someone celebrating their birthday a day, a week or even a month early or late doesn't affect me/you. It doesn't take away from me/you. I am always amazed that these "birthday at Disney" threads become such a debate; something SO minor in the grand scheme of things. :rolleyes:

skiwee1

11-06-2005, 08:59 AM

beattyfamily

11-06-2005, 09:04 AM

Beattyfamily, I think it just gets a little old when you go to WDW and everyone around you happens to be celebrating a birthday. Every table around us at LTT last trip were celebrating birthdays! It was ridiculous. LOL! Really looks a little over the top. Judging by this thread it obviously is over the top. I can only speak for myself but I see no reason why anyone has to show off their birthday to perfect strangers. If you get enough fulfillment from your own family then you don't need to seek it out from strangers. To each his own.

I actually agree with you on two counts...

I did also see a lot of people with the birthday buttons on; I was more aware since my DD had one I think because I never really noticed it on all my other trips. I know what you mean (overkill) but my Dd had a great, special and memorable birthday trip regardless. One that will stand out to her for years to come. And it was a one time thing.

And I also agree with to each his own.

I was only trying to say we didn't celebrate her birthday at WDW for 'free things' not by a long shot. We didn't get the free things some are talking about.

tallym

11-06-2005, 09:07 AM

Hmmmm!! ;) I think I will make a t-shirt for my DS next Sept. It will read.

TOday is my actual real birthday!!! :rotfl:

Only joking! Like another poster said I can't see the point in advertising it. I actually have a Birthday wishes cruise planned and no way would ds wear a t shirt or even a birthday button ...not v cool to a 14 yr old! :earsgirl:

alleghator

11-06-2005, 09:11 AM

beattyfamily

11-06-2005, 09:13 AM

:( Sorry about my tone in my above post. I'm just grumpy this morning.

Also, I'm so psyched that I got CRT for breakfast and that we'll be able to celebrate Emily's birthday with her favorite princess. And, now I feel like people are going to be looking at me funny when we sing "Happy Birthday" to her.

--Heidi

Hey, no appologies necessary! Please have a wonderful trip and meal at CRT and please don't feel badly singing Happy Birthday to your DD!!! :wave2:

sltwinmom

11-06-2005, 09:36 AM

Just started reading this post, but the other day, when I was making my reservations, the CM asked me how old my 2 DS were and when I told her they would be turning three a few weeks after our trip in January, she said that she would make a note of it on our reservations because after all, we are taking the trip in Celebration of their birthday. So I guess Disney doesn't have a problem with people celebrating events on days other than the actual day. She also told me to be sure to tell them at Chef Mickey's so that the boys can be in the "Birthday Parade". Don't know that we will do this because a friend's DD-4 will be with us and don't think that would be very magical for her not to be included as well.

virgojmk

11-06-2005, 10:17 AM

Our problem is we are planning a first ever WDW trip in Jan and it's a surprise. The problem...we will be there for my actual birthday, my dd's actual birthday and our 16 year anniversary(just so happens they are all in a row). Our dd is autistic and is bugging us for a birthday party. Any suggestions on how to stall her? She will find out about the trip on Xmas, 2 weeks before, but that still leaves us with 7 weeks of stalling.

Blondiex46

11-06-2005, 10:18 AM

I wish I could take my grandaughters but my son and the mother want to be the first ones to take them, so I can't until they do and I have been 3 times since they said that.

The twins will be 12 on 12/9 so I just called and told DW and everyone I could and hopefully we will get a dance of the characters. :Pinkbounc

pooh2001

11-06-2005, 08:27 PM

Birthdays - yes, try to be honest.
Our DD always celebrates her birthday our first night at WDW in late June.
It's her actual birthday. She has a party either a few weeks before we go to WDW with her friends or a few weeks after we return from WDW.
Because of our WDW vacation plans - she always has her birthday dinner at WDW. My DD friends like the bithday party after we return from WDW because the 'goody bags' always have something WDW in it. :flower:

We once went Memorial Day week. My DS birthday is that week. He turned 10 and had to trade his child AP pass for an adult AP pass (this was a few years back). They CM helped my DS celebrate his birthday and his new adult pass. She gave us walk on passes to my son's favorite ride - Buzz Lightyear. She also gave my DS a coupon for a Mickey ice cream.
My DS did not mind his adult pass after that day. (we did not mind paying the extra $$'s either for being honest). Our kids do not lie about their age.

My DD now has an adult pass for 2006. (she hates the finger scans :rotfl: )
But she'll still get her birthday dinner at Whispering Canyon or 1900 Park Fair.
I like 1900 Park Fair - I can order a small castle cake for her there. I get my DS the 'dog bones' - to celebrate another year of school well done.
Whispering Canyon is fun - but it's very loud - and no specialty cakes.

disneymouse

11-07-2005, 07:01 AM

well my daughter turned 2 oct 27th. we had planned a party for her with a clown coming to our house. hurricane wilma came and her party was cancelled due to no power anywhere :guilty: it was a bummer. we did have alitlle party with the neighbors (thank God for generators!)
so on november 28 -a month later- you bet we will celebrating her birthday again complete with birthday pin and cake! :goodvibes