Birthday celebration advice??

[Bridget816]

We will be celebrating my daughters 5th birthday. We plan on getting the birthday pin. Does anyone recommend a certain restaurant over the others for a birthday?

 

[Maisey13]

A princess meal is always fun! We booked 1900 Park Fare the day before my daughter's birthday and Akershus the day after her birthday. We are going to *try* to have lunch or a walk up dinner at Be Our Guest on her birthday, but we also have a back up dinner scheduled if that plan doesn't work out. If you look for the "official cake thread" in dining there is lots of great info on having a mini-cake cake made and delivered to your restaurant of choice. Make sure your travel agent notes in your reservations that it is your daughter's birthday for special perks!

 

[memakwed]

When my son was 5 we did the following. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, and dinner at Crystal Palace. This gave the option of a whole array of characters that day. For his 8th bday I let him plan where to eat. We arrived to WDW a few days late due to the hurricane at the time so he missed breakfast but he chose CHH for lunch and the castle for dinner. He wanted to see the inside.
Now for my bday I did Ohana for breakfast and 1900 park fare for dinner.

I don't know how many times your child has been to disney or their favorite characters but I liked the idea of chef mickeys and Crystal palace when he was 5 becuase it was his first trip and it gave him a chance to see the characters without waiting in a line and it was a nice touch he got a card from each place that the characters signed. The classic character seemed best for us at this age.

If she is all about prinbcesses then the castle(worth doing once) is nice but I enjoyed 1900 parkfare because it had prince charming cinderella the step sister and the step mother.

I have friends that always take their daughter to Akerhaus to see all the princesses at a better price than the castle. They enjoyed the interaction. Hope these options helped a bit.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We've done bday trips for both of our girls. Mind you, we sort of celebrated at every meal, but for DD6...we were there on her actual 5th birthday and while we did something like 7 or 8 character meals that trip...on her bday we started the day at Chef Mickey's with a big cake and ended the day with Akershus. For my younger one...we had her cake meal at Cali Grill timed with Holiday Wishes, but we still wound up doing 5-6 character meals that trip to add to the bday celebration. A bit overboard...maybe, but we had fun.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

We will be celebrating my daughters 5th birthday. We plan on getting the birthday pin. Does anyone recommend a certain restaurant over the others for a birthday?

For birthdays, anniversies, honeymoons, and other celebrations
no eatery is that much better than any other. Luck of the draw . . .

1) It is a matter of the CM's personal initiative.
. . . depends upon how much they like you as a guest
. . . depends if they feel like doing anything special today
. . . depends upon the phase of the moon
2) CM's can do a lot, or they can do nothing at all - they have immense control.
. . . they are under no obligation to give goodies
. . . they are under no obligation to even acknowledge your special day
. . . but, they can go way overboard and give lots of gifts to a guest
3) The CM's have a lot of leeway of things to do or not do for you if they wish
4) Some of the things a CM can do for free are
. . . table with Mickey confetti
. . . best table location
. . . special personalized menu
. . . character-autographed birthday cards
. . . balloons
. . . wine or champagne or Shirley Temples
. . . appetizers or desserts
. . . cakes
. . . cupcake with candle (almost always available for the asking)
. . . placemats autographed by characters
. . . free appy or free dessert
. . . ride an attraction with a character
5) Other items CM's can give for free
. . . room full of balloons and/or flowers
. . . fruit basket or wine basket in hotel room
. . . individual fastpasses or booklets of several fastpasses
. . . food and snack items (candy, popcorn, sundries)
. . . room uogrades
. . . attraction rides with characters
6) If you want something special (cakes, etc) buy them instead of hoping for them.
7) Caveat: If there are multiple celebrations for people during a trip
. . . do not do separate celebration locations or tables
. . . one person may get an enthusiastic CM, and get lots of goodies
. . . one person may get a lazy CM and get nothing

NOTE: Hundreds or even thousands of folks are celebrating everyday
at WDW. If they gave an item to all of them it would be too much time
and too much money.

 

[jwfla422]

RS is so right though. One year we went to CMs for dd's bday @ breakfast and they did the confetti with the happy birthday singing with Pluto and Mickey at the table, a cake with a candle, signed placemat, it was fun...a few birthdays later she wanted to go back because it was so memorable and our server dropped off a cupcake, lit the candle and left, dh and I sang happy birthday, no characters, not even the server, no confetti, no placemat...I was surprised she even brought the cupcake, to say the least an utter disappointment and letdown... So don't expect too much and maybe you'll get more;-) wherever it may be.

One year at B&C they gave me a balloon and did the lights and announcement for my birthday (like they do when a party orders the "kitchen sink") & the whole restaurant sang happy birthday to me, I certainly wasn't expecting that lol! You just never know;-)

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I agree with rusty & jwfla. If you want something special, you should order it. Otherwise, you are at the CM's mercy. We've had some make a big deal out of a special occasions, including birthdays, & had others not even acknowledge it at all. All were documented on the ADR. They do seem to be a little more consistent & at least bring a cupcake to kids. Though, that's not guaranteed. It would be much worse for a kid to be disappointed than an adult. For DH & my birthday, it doesn't really matter if they acknowledge it or not. For our DS, we order a cake to make sure it's acknowledged.

 

[Bridget816]

Thanks everyone. We are planning on doing CP for breakfast and CRT for dinner. And BBB. Shoukd be enough for a 5 year old, right?

Do you guys mention the birthday on any other day of the trip? I was thinking of telling them at Chef Mickeys the night before her birthday as well....assuming she would always like another birthday cupcake.

 

[Mommyof3inVA]

We celebrated my daughters 5th birthday last May with dinner at 1900 Park Fare and breakfast at Chef Mickey's also We made sure to get a birthday button and my daughter was wearing her BBB sash that said birthday princess (She had the makeover that afternoon before dinner). She received extra special attention from the characters, cast members and random people all day long! The button really helps!!

She received a birthday cupcake at all of the ADR's all week long I made sure to make note of the celebration and then I also reminded the hostess that we were celebrating her birthday.

Such a fun day for her and a great place to celebrate a birthday!

 

[jwfla422]

We celebrated my daughters 5th birthday last May with dinner at 1900 Park Fare and breakfast at Chef Mickey's also We made sure to get a birthday button and my daughter was wearing her BBB sash that said birthday princess (She had the makeover that afternoon before dinner). She received extra special attention from the characters, cast members and random people all day long! The button really helps!!

She received a birthday cupcake at all of the ADR's all week long I made sure to make note of the celebration and then I also reminded the hostess that we were celebrating her birthday.

Such a fun day for her and a great place to celebrate a birthday!

My dd was wearing a Birthday Button when we went to CMs -didn't matter -like I said it was a very disappointing experience.

 

[jenjersnap]

For birthdays, anniversies, honeymoons, and other celebrations
no eatery is that much better than any other. Luck of the draw . . .

1) It is a matter of the CM's personal initiative.
. . . depends upon how much they like you as a guest.

How do you make yourself a more likable guest? Slip 'em some cash upfront?

I am just kidding (though I guess it is a legitimate option). Kinda sad, though, that you may be at the mercy of a CM's pre-conceived notions, prejudices, mood and the phase of the moon (lol). My birthday will be during our next trip and I, of course, expect absolutely nothing...especially with this info because I and indeed my entire family are very shy and introverted, the opposite of likable to a CM. Oh well, I am at Disney with my loved ones.

OP, for a 5-year-old DD, I would definitely choose CRT or Akershus with 1900PF a distant third option. Edited to add: your plan sounds great.

 

[Disneybrit2]

Definitely Chef Mickeys. We were just there in January for my daughters birthday. Fabulous. I also made her a tshirt that said "Its my birthday and I'm celebrating it at Disney World. She got a lot of attention, especially from the characters..

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

If you're staying on property and celebrating, when you check into your resort go to the concierge desk, they can pull up all of your dining reservations and add the birthday celebration to every single one.

I just got back from my 7 day trip and my birthday was during my trip.

I received different things from CM's sometimes a special birthday dessert, cards signed by characters sometimes they sang happy birthday, cupcakes with a candle ( at every meal) it all depends like a previous poster said on your CM at restaurants.

Have her wear her birthday button and she'll receive bday wishes or special acknowledgment by characters and maybe some special surprises as well.

 

[hunteraub]

We will be celebrating my DD 10th birthday at WDW in April. Where can I get a birthday button for her?

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

If you're staying on property at a Disney Resort you can get a birthday button when you check in, just ask the CM that checks you in & they will make one. You can also get them in all the parks at Guest relations. In Magic Kingdom if you go to guest relstions in town square they have all the buttons available there right outside on a cart & a cast member member will personalize it for you.