Birthday party preceding WDW trip-need ideas

[frannn]

Hi! I've just decided to have a Disney themed 1st birthday party a week before DD's "first B'day" trip. I was thinking of doing a Cinderella, Princess, Mickey or Pooh theme (or all of the above). Where can I get inexpensive decorations with these characters, and other related items, like mickey head shaped pasta, etc? I haven't planned anything yet, so I'm open to ideas! Her birthday party will most likely be 9/28. Thanks!

 

[laurie31]

I always buy my party supplies at Party City. http://www.partycity.com/ They had things on sale recently so I just stocked up for my upcoming October parties Maybe they are still having the sale.

You may also find inexpensive favors and decorations at Oriental Trading. I think I would choose one theme and go with that. There are so many Disney characters. Save some for her other birthdays I've done Pooh, 101 Dalmations, and the princesses in general. This year the girls have chosen Ariel and Cinderella. If there's a character your daughter favors, use that. If not, pick one yourself You can have the cake as elaborate or simple as you want. Be sure to have a small cake for your daughter to destroy...um...eat Very cute photos will result!

I have no idea where to get Mickey pasta...but you could serve the Mickey "oreo-type" cookies they have now, and there is also Pooh, Mickey and Lion King ice cream available. It's very yummy
There are Pooh and Princess snacks of some type too. WalMart has them. How much food you do depends on your guest list and the time of the party. Your number one consideration should be to have the party at the time of day when your daughter is at her best. No fun trying to open presents at nap time! Plus if you hae lots of guests, little ones can get quickly overstimulated, especially if everyone wants to hold her. I dressed my daughter in a special dress for the first part of her party, then changed her into play clothes for the cake eating. You coud get a cute Disney outfit for her to wear, or she could wear a princess costume. (Depends on how easy it is to launder, if you want her to get cake on it)

We bought blank invitations from Hallmark that had a castle (not THE castle but close) on the side, then printed from our computer the verse:

Come on over and join in the fun
Our little princess is turing one
(123 Our address) is the place to be
On (party date) at (party time)

They turned out very cute, and would go great with a Disney princess theme. Or I'm sure you could find something to go with whatever theme you pick. When my older daugher had a princess party, the supplies had all the princesses. Now they have individual princesses available as well. I just got all the Cinderella stuff for my younger dd (we are having a party with her friends when we get back. She was most disappointed to learn she couldn't invite them all to Cindy's breakfast!) Anyway, the Cinderella stuff is very cute, as is the Ariel stuff, the Belle stuff...you get the idea It's hard to choose.

I also got a giant Mylar balloon shaped like a 1 for her chair, and they have mylar balloons with all different Disney characters. If you do latex balloons be sure to keep them out of reach. They are a serious choking hazzard. Also, don't forget streamers, crepe paper, etc, and coordinating wrapping paper if you like.

Oh I almost forgot - we served something called "kiddie party mix" Goldfish, cheerios, and pretzels mixed together. No nuts. When she's older you can add plain M&M's. It's great for toddlers and it's so easy. You can also add a cereal like Golden grahms for a sweeter flavor.

Okay, sorry this is long, but I love parties Whatever you decide, have fun, and enjoy the party. Don't make whatever you're serving so complicated that you are busy heating and serving and don't have time to enjoy your daughter's reactions to everything. Have plenty of film (or digital media) on hand and charge that camcorder battery! (and don't do like I did and forget the matches!!)

Laurie

 

[onecoolmama]

We are doing a post WDW party for my DS2 turning 3 in October. WE are doing the Mickey and Minnie theme and all I did was shope until I found good prices on everything. I just bought the lollipops from Disney Store as the last of the goodie bag stuffers.

I did find everything really cheap on line and at the target here, they were selling the Winnie the Pooh plates, cups, napkins, for $1.99. This was last week, so I am not sure if it is still going on. Ebay sometimes has great deals on party supplies. I would look for sales and then go with that theme..but that is a mom of two talking. When I had my firat childs b-day no expense was spared and I didn't look for the deals, just Elmo (which was his favorite character!

 

[ceecee]

I argee save some of those themes. Pooh one year, princesses one year, dalmatians one year. My DD 6th birthday was Dalmatians (She's a huge fan). I cut out felt spots and taped them everywhere!!!!!!!! All the way to our catheral ceiling! We wore matching dalmatian costumes and made the kids dog ears and did face painting (to look like a dog) All the games were Dog related and the cupcakes had candy dog bones! Our pony we rented for pony rides was even spotted! (one of her friend's mom came as Cruella) It has been my favorite party so far!

 

[dcfromva]

frannn,
They used to sell the Mickey Pasta at the Disney Store. Do you have a Disney Store nearby? (If you had your hear set on it and you can't get it at the Disney Store, you could order it from WDW... )


-DC

 

[toystoryduo]

Frann~

I posted this on the Family board, but wasn't sure if you had seen it.........

We had a WDW themed party for my DD's 1st birthday in July. Here are some ideas for you:

Invitations: We created an invitation on the computer with DD's picture and party information, printed it out, and added character stickers to make it Disneyish. (Disneyish: is that a word? )

Decorations: We decorated with WDW park maps, postcards, streamers e.t.c. (Plus, my dad is an artist and he created a Buzz Lightyear poster and an Eeyore poster for pin the tail on the donkey. )

Food: I love your idea of using Mickey pasta! What you could do is make enough regular spaghetti to feed everyone. Then make a bag (or box) or two of Mickey pasta. Combine them together and while people are eating, they can look for the "Hidden Mickeys" in the pasta! (Maybe you can even have a WDW themed prize for the person who finds the most Hidden Mickeys in their pasta!)

Thank you cards: For our thank you cards, we sent a WDW postcard. That helped us save on postage and we kept with the theme! (By the way, I didn't think of this idea while we were in WDW so, I had to buy a lot of 20 WDW postcards off of eBay for $4.00)

Favors: For favors, you can make chocolate suckers from Mickey molds, put them in a clear, plastic bag, tie them with a red ribbon, and put a thank you poem on them from your DD. (You can use Avery labels to type out the poem and stick them on the bag.)

If you plan on favors for any children that might be coming, you can put Mickey juice pouches, Mickey fruit snacks, Mickey or Pooh cookies e.t.c. in bags. You can then set aside any leftover juice pouches, fruit snacks, or cookies for your DD as snacks when you go to WDW!

That is all I can think of for now. When we had our DD's 1st birthday party in July, we had 20 children and 50 adults attend. So, a lot of our WDW themeing came in on the games and prizes. If you would like ideas on those, please let me know and I will share that with you as well. If you have any questions, feel free to post here or PM....

Hope you have a wonderful party and a wonderful trip to WDW!

 

[frannn]

These are such wonderful thoughts & ideas, especially about going to Party City. I went today and they had a ton of Disney themed party goods. I couldn't pick just one, so I got one each of Belle, 3 princess, Cinderella, Mickey, Pooh, Tinkerbell plates and cake plates(1.5/pkg of 8), two Princess birthday banners, Princess streamers, a Mermaid birthday cardboard yard sign (3.), Princess Balloon weights, and 3 rolls of Princess wrapping paper. All this cost 41.50. I will go back closer to the party to get the Disney Mylar balloons (2.50 each). I will take a blank tablecloth and possibly glue pictures of different characters, or get a generic one. I will also use plan plastic cups and silverware. When DD1 can tell me what character she would like her party themed after (in the future), I will obey!

 

[laurie31]

Hey frannn, that sounds great! I'm glad you had fun at Party City - I always do

Now, how will you have the cake decorated? Actually for both my girls' firsts, I made a three-tiered cake, like a mini-wedding cake It looked really pretty and I gave her the tiny top layer to eat while I served the rest to the guests. I'm sure whatever you do will be so cute!

I'll be looking for your cute birthday princess at Disney in a month or so (wow, it's getting close!!!)

Laurie

 

[Danemom]

http://disney.go.com/magicartist/index_main.html looks like a great place to create invitations or fun party activity sheets.