Can I tell them we are celebrating a birthday even though we are not?

[CBB]

Our trip is early December a few days before DH's birthday. I told WDW we were celebrating DH's birthday. Would it be bad to tell them that we are celebrating DD5's birthday even though we are not (her Bday is not until March). I think DD would enjoy all the little perks (autographs, cup cake with candles) whereas DH wouldn't really care. They probably will know that I'm lying since I didn't state that when I booked the package. What do you think?

I'm adding my later post here for an update.

Thank you all for your posts. I really feel terrible about even considering it. The fact is I didn't put much thought into this and didn't even consider what my DD would think. Our ADR will be open in a couple of weeks. I was just thinking that since DH doesn't really care about celebrating his Bday, (we just happen to pick the trip dates 5 days before his Bday because it worked our for everyone) we would celebrate something for our DD. I thought when they asked "what are you celebrating" it would be just bdays, anniversaries, or honeymoons. Of course a WDW trip in itself is very special. We took our DD when she was a little over 2 and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately she doesn't remember much, actually any, of it. I feel that DD has made some accomplishments this year - she's reading at level 4 books, doing beginner math, playing piano, has just learned to swim by herself (which is a big deal for her because she was very scared for water), and will be starting Kindergarten in 2 weeks. I know DD would be extremely thrilled getting an autographed card from the characters as we will be doing several character dinings. She loves little things like that. Would it be okay to tell them that and ask if she could get an autographed card from the characters when I book our ADR? I don't really care about the cup cake since we'll have enough desert than we could care for and DD doesn't even like cup cakes. To those who mentioned that she would enjoy celebrating DH's birthday, I think you are right. DD makes cards for us all the time pretending it's our birthdays. Thanks again for all of those who weighed in your opinions. I thought some of the posts may be a little harsh, but I completely understand where you're coming from.

[r1lissa]

If you think you need to ask for approval, then in your heart, you already know that it's not the right thing to do.

[JUJU814]

Not only would they know you're lying, but your dd would know..and is that something you want to teach her?

[catne]

you know, I have another take on this...not everyone can actually make it to Disneyworld right when the event happens. You have people who get married in June, but can't take their honeymoon until December due to work/vacation schedules. So, can they say they are on their honeymoon in December even though they've been married for 6 months? Well, of course they are on their honeymoon...because a honeymoon is a trip you take with your spouse to celebrate getting married. Even if you have to delay that honeymoon, it's still a honeymoon. Same thing with people taking anniversary trips, graduation trips, and yes, even birthday trips before or after the actual day. You can't always match up when you can get off, when you can afford it, when you can get reservations, and everything else with the exact days of the event you're celebrating. Look how many families celebrate Christmas the weekend before 12/25 because that's when everyone can get together...is that not a Christmas celebration since it's not on December 25? I say celebrate whatever you want...this is Disney's Year of Celebrations...go for it!

and you know what...when you call to make a Disney reservation this year, one of the first things they ask is "what will you be celebrating?" You are perfectly welcome to answer, "well it's a little early, but we're celebrating our birthdays at Disney this year." And they will gladly put birthdays on your reservations.

Now, I do have to give one warning...don't tell your daughter that she'll get a lot of special treatment everywhere because it really doesn't happen that way...there will be some, but not everywhere. Mostly, you'll hear a lot of "happy Birthdays" everywhere. Occasionally you might get a birthday cupcake, but mostly you just have everyone telling you Happy Birthday. It's still plenty enjoyable for the birthday person...but the "perks" you hear about are not guaranteed to happen. Maybe, maybe not. It's nice when they do happen but you really can't expect a lot.

[Smithfam7]

I'm not coming down on you when I say this, but please consider the messages you are teaching your DD. Kids follow the examples that their parents set, and if we want to raise the best children that we can...we need to be the best role models we can be. I would be concerned about what she is learning from my behavior. Sometimes, I too think some things would be easier if I stretched the truth a bit. But when I look at my DDs, I know that I don't want to send them the message that lying is acceptable behavior.

[poohnpigletCA]

My DH is turning 40 this year and he requested a trip to Disney World. His actual birthday is in September (too hot for us). We are going at the beginning of October when the kids have a week off of school. We will still be celebrating his Birthday as this is the reason for the trip even though it will be several weeks after his Birthday.

However, we will not be celebrating my girls Birthdays as they are in March.

[JTDisney]

Good luck with the responses on this.

[LWatson]

When i was on the phone w/ Disney Dining the other day I asked them if it would be okay to add a birthday celebration to our Chef Mickeys reservation because we had originally scheduled the trip to celebrate my son's birthday, but had to move it up a month due to the military. The CM's response was "yes, because this is the Year of Celebrations and we know not everyone can make it at just the right time. We are just here to celebrate what you are celebrating." I said thank you and told her that we were celebrating a lot because my husband is deployed, but the birthday cake at dinner would be nice. She asked me if I wanted to celebrate our anniversary one meal too since he was gone for that. I told her no thanks, but she did say it was okay if I wanted to add it on. So if you want to just ask.

[Leajess99]

I actually know a couple of families who celebrate their children's birthdays in months other than when they were actually born. The parent asks the child when they want their birthday celebration and they get to choose when. Not everyone has a birthday that is very easy to celebrate due to holidays and whatnot. These children know they are only getting one Birthday celebration and for the parties the moms normally let the other parents know as well. Just something to think about. Oh yeah and one of those kids has a birthday on December 26th so very hard to celebrate then and this gave him a chance to have a birthday celebration.

With that said, I am planning on a surprise celebration when we are at Disney. My sister's birthday is in November but my kids wanted to celebrate it early and surprise her. We are going in October and my kids know their aunt's birthday is not until November but we can't go in November and my sister lives in Michigan so we won';t get to celebrate otherwise.

With that said I do not feel I am doing anything wrong by celebrating my sister's birthday early but I also plan on ordering her a small cake and whatnot to surprise her. If you are celebrating just to get freebies than maybe you are sending the wrong message.

[Scurvy]

Yes, you can tell them that. It's entirely possible that they will realize that you are lying, but I can't imagine they would ask for proof. Your daughter will probably also realize you are lying, or at least realize that it isn't really her birthday - and she might even say something about it to someone who gives her one of the little perks. But there's no other reason you can't do that, if you really want to and think that the little perks are worth the possible embarassment and that they will outweigh any possible negative effect that lying in front of your daughter might cause.

Personally, I think there's a big difference between celebrating a birthday slightly early or slightly late in order to celebrate at WDW and claiming you are celebrating a March birthday in December when you really aren't. (I am assuming you aren't really going to skip the celebration in March even though you already did it in December - it sounds like you are only trying to get the perks in Dec. without actually celebrating her birthday then.) But ultimately we all have to decide what we feel comfortable with and act accordingly.

[CBB]

Thank you for all of your replies. You guys have talked me out of it. I didn't even consider what my DD would think knowing that we are not really celebrating her birthday at that time. I just wanted her to feel that we are celebrating something for her although come to think of it, a disney trip is a big celebration already. She is starting Kindergarten this year. Can we say that we are celebrating her "new achievement"?

[Scurvy]

Originally Posted by CBB

Thank you for all of your replies. You guys have talked me out of it. I didn't even consider what my DD would think knowing that we are not really celebrating her birthday at that time. I just wanted her to feel that we are celebrating something for her although come to think of it, a disney trip is a big celebration already. She is starting Kindergarten this year. Can we say that we are celebrating her "new achievement"?

By December she'll be around halfway through kindergarten, if she's like the students around here. I think being halfway through your first year of "real" school - and learning all the things she will have learned by then - is a cute thing to celebrate, especially if they are as insistent about the whole celebration thing as they were when I was there last. (They asked what we were celebrating so often that it was ridiculous. I started saying things like "Tuesday" because we weren't actually celebrating anything but being at WDW!)

[hmdavid]

If your daughter is anything like mine, she will have just as much fun celebrating your DH's bday as she would her own. I am sure Daddy will share the cupcake and let her help blow out the candle... which will be a great photo op for you!

[SLK1]

Instead of worrying about teaching your daughter to lie, have the best of both worlds - tell them (and her) you're celebrating her, for example, "five and a half" birthday or, "six and three quarters" birthday, or whatever so that she knows it's a celebration for and of her, gets the perks, but it's not at all a lie.

[cglaura]

How about just being honest with it...like We can't be here in March so we are celebrating dd's birthday early! Pretty hard to fit on a button I know, but I have found, you can usually get the same perks being honest and you and your whole family will be happier in the end knowing you were honest.

Of course celebrating an achievement is perfectly fine too. We are celebrating dd getting her GED (she is homeschooled) a 8 months ahead of schedule. So we will be celebrating in January even though she received it in October. I know wdw might not have the whole celebrate thing going on then, but they asked on the phone, so I gave them the info!