Birthdays at Disney

[monymony3471]

Has your child ever celebrated his/her birthday while at WDW? If so, what did the CM's, resorts, restaurants, etc do that made it special?

The booking CM told me to go to town hall in Magic Kingdom and get the birthday button right when we enter the park.

Thanks!

 

[ShannonN]

We stayed at All Star Sports last week and celebrated DS 7th birthday. At the resort they brought a balloon to our room when we first arrived then later DS received more balloons and this time there was an autographed picture Mickey attached to it. We did dinner at Crystal Palace & Chef Mickey's. Each place brought out a cupcake with a candle, also CP gave a birthday card with all the characters autographs, and at CM they gave an autographed place mat. AT CP and CM they sang Happy Birthday but at CM, Mickey actually came over and stood with DS as he blew out the candle. My DS will never forget that!! At Donalds' Breakfastosarus they were great, the characters really made it special and they gave him a button that said It's my birthday. We also did dinner at LeCellier's they made him a special dessert with a candle too. Each place was wonderful. Hope this helps. Sorry it's so long.

 

[wekhogan]

Definitely get a pin and there are a few different ones. The Epcot one is really nice with all the different flags. And tell every cast member you see. We celebrated my daughter's 7th bday this year and she had a wonderful day. We began with breakfast at Crystal Palace and she got special attention from the characters and a signed card. We collected pins from all the parks - make sure you get one at Guest Services - and every cast member that sees it will wish her a happy bday. She got to stay on a couple of rides and go again. There was a card, balloons in the room and a towel elephant, as well as a message on the voicemail from Mickey (we had left early in the morning.) DD did Alice's bday tea party at the GF, then finally Cinderella's dinner at GF, where a cast member gave her one of her pins.
Upshot is that it's rare to get special attention in Disney given the number of people - take this opportunity to let your DD shine!

 

[monymony3471]

Were these pins like the trading ones? Or are they a button with a message on it? Just confused. Also wanting to know if I should get one of those lanyards before we go down there.

If just one time he's made to feel special, outside of us of course, I will be grateful. I don't want him expecting anything either, so I won't make this known to him. I think waking up on your birthday and being in Disney is huge enough.

 

[jennifer293]

We will be celebrating DD's 6th b-day there in July and she is ESTATIC!!! I really hope it is a MAGICAL experience for her as well!!!

 

[wekhogan]

Buttons are regular buttons with a safety pin back. The MK ones measure about 3" across and say "It's my Birthday". The Epcot ones are rectangular, about 3x2" and say the same thing, but with a border of flags.

He will absolutely be made to feel special - make sure you take him to Guest Services to get his pin (he doesn't HAVE to be there, but they make a big deal of it.

I made a point to get pins from every park - some are duplicates - you can also get them at Downtown Disney. Since we didn't hit all 4 in one day, for two parks I asked the day before and just said we were celebrating a bday.

On the way from Epcot to MK on the monorail, a passenger noticed DD's pin and had the entire monorail car sing her Happy Birthday - really, fun things happen when you wear the pins.
Lastly, we rode in the front car of the monorail with the driver - sometimes you have to wait for the next car, but just ask the attendant when you get there. It's really a blast and a great birthday memory.

 

[taximomfor4]

Perhaps we are not lucky. Or perhaps the internet raises expectations. We have done an anniversary and 2 birthdays at WDW. We did the special pins in the parks. Only on the third time, dd's 3rd birthday, did anything interesting happen. When we got to our room at WL, there was a balloon bouquet and signed Mickey card there. Dd was over the moon!! Other than that, she got a cupcake with a candle in it at WCC. That's it. Which was fine, we got her gifts and bought her a cake ourselves. There are sooooo many birthday celebrations going on at WDW all the time (many people celebrate every day for their whole stay) that it's special for the birthday child but not necessarily for the CMs. BTW, the EPCOT birthday button is our favorite. It has flags all over it.

Beth

 

[Dipsydoodl]

We celebrated DS 4th birthday at Disney in November and he thinks it was very magical! We had to make sure CMs knew it was his birthday so they could help make it magical.

When we checked in at AKL, they asked who his favorite characters were. On the morning of his birthday, someone delivered a birthday card with a picture of Winnie the Pooh and Friends, which they all signed. We got a "It's My Birthday" pin from the hotel and the parks we went to. He got to pick a pin from a CM without having to trade one of his. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace, where they brought him a cupcake and sprinkled confetti all over him. He got a phone call from someone (I think Goofy) telling him happy birthday. We had dinner at Boma and he got a special cupcake (sugared up boy!) and signed card from all of the staff. He even thought the Jingle Parade at AKL was special for his birthday!

We are going for his 5th birthday again this year and staying at the GF. We'll see if we can make it magical once again!

 

[Stephres]

It really depends on you. The first time we celebrated our daughter's birthday we went all out, telling the front desk and booking the Princess lunch for her in Norway. Goofy called our room in the morning and sang Happy Birthday to her. We got her the Epcot birthday pin and she wore it all day. While we were at the park, they left a signed card from all the characters and balloons in out room. At the princess lunch, our waitress gave her a birthday card signed by all the princesses. We went to Beaches and Cream for ice cream (at the Beach Club Villas) and they dimmed the lights and the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday to her and brought her a Mickey Mouse Sunday. It was a lot of fun and she got a lot of attention from the cast members who noticed her button.

This birthday we went to another family whose little girl's birthday was the week after the trip. I asked Guest Services if they could send up two birthday cards and they did the birthday cards and balloons for both girls. We took the girls to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and they made each girl feel special, so I didn't even mention the birthday.
We didn't get her the pin or tell the cast members at the park, because I didn't want the other girl to feel left out. We did go back to Beaches and Cream for those Mickey Mouse sundaes and that was the highlight of her birthday.

So it's really up to you how much of a big deal you make of it. But have fun!