Birthday plans

[mtmona]

My DS, age 11, will be celebrating his birthday when we are at Disney Thanksgiving week. Any suggestions on how to make it special? We are staying at SSR. Thanks!

 

[starbox]

If you tell TS restaurants ahead of time, they will give him a cupcake with Mickey sprinkles, and each park gives a special button if you stop by Guest Services.

Since there are probably thousands of people celebrating birthdays/weddings or anniversaries every day at WDW - it's really up to you to make it special. DS always has a birthday that falls on the first day of school (or shortly thereafter) so we got in the tradition of always celebrating his big day a little early with a trip to Disney. Things we've done to make it special for him include:

One year we spent an entire day doing VMK quests just for him.

Let him go to Disney Quest just with dad in the afternoon.

Ate at his favorite restaurant (Sci Fi).

On his 10th birthday we made a really big deal out of getting him a Leave a Legacy tile at EPCOT.

Presented him with a deluxe starter set of trading pins just for the day - so he could trade to his heart's content.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You can purchase a birthday cake at many of the restaurants if you are eating there. We got a good one (very tasty, not that expensive, maybe only$10) at LTT for lunch once. They decorated the table with pixie dust and little streamers.

We also got the very expensive one at GF (shaped like Mickey's head) and it tasted horrid (very dry, not good texture, not worth the money).

Like starbox said, each of the parks have a birthday button that you can pick up for free at Guest Service locations inside the parks - Town Hall at MK, GS at Epcot, GS at AK and GS at Disney Studios. We also got one from Security at the International Gateway at Epcot once.

 

[knothead180]

My DD, now 23yo, had her 16th birthday celebration at the Coral Reef in Epcot. When I made advanced dining reservations (back then I think they were called Priority Seating reservations) I told them we were celebrating a special birthday, but I did not make any other specific requests. They seated us at a table right next to the aquarium wall, a special dessert was provided, and the CMs generally made her feel like a princess. She was all grins!

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

My dd celebrated her 12th birthday at WDW this spring. It was very unpredictable as to where CM's would notice her birthday button and where they wouldn't. I think a number of people have taken to wearing them on days other than their birthday. (ie had their birthday the previous week etc)However, when noticed, they made her feel very special. One CM actually walked past and then turned back and asked if it really was her birthday today !
She had written a letter to Mickey which she gave when we checked in to the resort. When we returned from dinner the day of her birthday the table in the room was decorated with balloons and had quite a few trinkets there for her. The best was a photo of Mickey actually holding her letter! She had made it like a scrapbook page. Nothing is guaranteed but do let everyone know when it is his birthday.
We let her plan the day. She actually started a thread on the dis boards asking what would be good activities for a girls birthday at WDW and she picked from the responses.
Since it is unpredictable, expect only basic things like well wishes from cast members and a cupcake at dinner. Anything more would be a bonus and then, as Disney tends to do, you will likely be pleasantly surprised.

 

[byoung]

Get his birthday pins at guest relations in each park and also DTD.