"Celebrating" at Disneyland

[DharmaLou]

When you go to the parks to celebrate an occasion (bday, anniversary, etc) how far away from the actual event would you think is ok to actually get a button stating that you are?

We're going less than a month after DD's 5th birthday, but it's within a few days of being a month. We're not going to specifically celebrate her bday, but we'll be in SoCal as she's a flower girl in a wedding and we're bringing grandma with us too. Just didn't know if you think it's ok or not to get a button for that occasion, or to just stick with a "we're celebrating" button.

 

[CourtFool]

I do not think anyone is going to 'card' you. I think you will be fine.

 

[alaskajoe]

I'm interested in opinions on this one too. We arrive tomorrow (5/29/13), and are about 2.5 weeks out from our 12 year wedding anniversary, and about 3 weeks out from daughter's 9 year old birthday.

 

[RavenRequiem]

I'd say DO IT! We were about a month from our Anniversary last year and will be about 2 weeks from it this year but we'll still celebrate and get the buttons. Just because it's not right on the date doesn't mean you can't do something special. Have fun and enjoy.

 

[whoever]

My wife and my 10 year wedding anniversary is Friday, but we celebrated at DL on the 19th. My daughter's Bday was on the 18th, and we celebrated at DL on the 19-22nd. Its fine IMHO, so long as YOU are celebrating the occasion. However far in advance or afterward YOU feel comfortable with celbrating is the key. I think within the month is roughly what I consider applicable to me and mine. We would celbrate the oldest's early Nov birthday in late October in year's past at DL.

 

[Rubygoose]

When we went in Sept. one of the CM's in a shop brought out a basket of buttons and told my kids to "go ahead a choose whichever you like" and they both chose "Happy Anniversary" buttons because they have Mickey and Minnie on them. No one seemed concerned at all that a 2 year old boy and 5 year old girl were celebrating an anniversary.

I think if you want to celebrate her birthday with Grandparents at Disneyland, then get her a birthday button. But if you think that might be too confusing for you daughter, than "We're Celebrating" is fine. I know my daughter would get annoyed by CM's wishing her a Happy Birthday almost a month after her birthday.

 

[mommamonster]

We are taking a trip to celebrate both my sons birthdays (a month apart) by travelling right in between them, even though it will 2 weeks after my youngest and 2 weeks before my oldest's birthdays. I fully plan on having them wear birthday buttons even though it is not the actual day or week of their birthdays! I don't think anyone will give you a hard time about it should you choose to have her wear a birthday button because it's only your family who should dictate when and how to celebrate her bday, but if you think it would be awkward for her to be wished Happy Birthday a whole bunch then by all means get the I'm Celebrating button!

This thread has me thinking I am going to get myself an "I'm Celebrating" button to wear when my boys wear their birthday buttons, why not right?

 

[wiigirl]

I do not think anyone is going to 'card' you. I think you will be fine.

 

[Heymy]

We gave up birthday parties for the girls this year and are going to DL right in between their birthdays. I have no problem getting them a birthday button even though one will have had it a month earlier and one will have it a month later. This is their trip. I'm going so far as to let each one of them have "their" day in the parks. They will dictate what we do and eat and that's when they will wear their button. Enjoy!!

 

[Girimama33]

DD's birthday is in the middle of June, but we are going to to Southern CA the week of 4th of July to celebrate her birthday with my family. We are going to DLR on the 1st and 2nd and I was planning on getting her a birthday button while we are there.

 

[kerplop]

If you're celebrating it, get a button! It doesn't matter when the actual date is. Even if you're celebrating something that happened months before - you're still celebrating it!

 

[PoohsFan1]

We gave up birthday parties for the girls this year and are going to DL right in between their birthdays. I have no problem getting them a birthday button even though one will have had it a month earlier and one will have it a month later. This is their trip. I'm going so far as to let each one of them have "their" day in the parks. They will dictate what we do and eat and that's when they will wear their button. Enjoy!!

We are doing exactly the same thing with our 2 girls. One DD just celebrated her birthday on 5/11 and my other DD will be celebrating her birthday on 7/16 and we will be in DL starting on 6/5. We decided to forgo the birthday parties and just celebrate both of them together at DLR. We too will be dedicating a day out for each girl by letting them pick the character meal that they want to go to and also to which park they want to celebrate their day in (this will also be the day that they will wear their button). Each of our girls decided to do a different park on their day so for one girl we are doing the Fantasmic Dessert package and the other we are doing the WOC dining package. And since this is our first trip to DLR, we should be getting "First Visit" buttons that our entire family will be wearing throughout the trip.

 

[Disney Dudette]

If she wants a birthday button, she should get one!! My mom and I went a few years back in May to celebrate her 50th birthday, my birthday which is 2 weeks after hers and my dental hygiene school graduation that summer. We were there to celebrate all of them so we each got a birthday button and one day I got a celebration button for graduating. No one even asks if it is "really" your birthday! It's Disneyland! I say just being there is a celebration worth a button!

 

[SMD]

There are 2 types of celebrating guests. There are the ones who want the buttons so that they can get lots of attention and possible freebies from CMs, and the ones who planned their trip to celebrate their occasion but couldn't make it to the park exactly on the day. The first type is pretty obnoxious to the other guests, and sets a bad precedent for their kids that they need special attention and freebies to enjoy Disney and they'll probably start to expect giant birthday events every year.

My sister and I had birthdays close together. This year, we went on my birthday because it was a day we could both go. We both got birthday buttons, I wore mine for most of the day (I didn't get it until we'd gone on a few rides, the button wasn't a priority), she wore hers at lunch, because we were celebrating both, and then we took pictures in front of the castle wearing them. Then she took hers off and I wore mine solo for the rest of the day.

So that being said, no Disney doesn't card you to see if it's actually your birthday, but like I said, it's all about the precedent you want to set. I'd probably tell the kids that this meal is for your birthday and then you get to choose our next few rides, but I wouldn't make the whole trip about a birthday that was a month ago.

 

[SMD]

No one even asks if it is "really" your birthday!

I've been asked.

 

[Disney Dudette]

I've been asked.

Oh, ok well maybe sometimes people do ask. Neither of us were asked. If you're there to celebrate your birthday, to me, I dont think it matters if its not the exact day. Enjoy your trip DharmaLou!!

 

[sonnyjane]

When we went in Sept. one of the CM's in a shop brought out a basket of buttons and told my kids to "go ahead a choose whichever you like" and they both chose "Happy Anniversary" buttons because they have Mickey and Minnie on them. No one seemed concerned at all that a 2 year old boy and 5 year old girl were celebrating an anniversary.

Ha! That made my day.

I have nothing against this. I agree with the poster that said there are two types of people that would do this. There might be, for example, the rowdy teen that wants it to draw attention and make a joke of it, but then there's just about everyone else who just doesn't happen to be there on their exact birthday. Since you don't really get anything for it being your birthday, other than attention and maybe maybe MAYBE something special at a restaurant, then there really is no harm.

If there were heavy discounts of freebies given out throughout the park, then I might have a different stance, but it's really no harm no foul in this case!

 

[DharmaLou]

Perhaps since it seems like some are of two minds about it we'll just get a "we're celebrating" pin for each of us. We don't want any special treatment, just a fun day for DD with perhaps a little special attention here and there - though at 5, and as a concrete thinker as most 5 year olds are, she might get confused with the happy birthday wishes. If we stick with "we're celebrating", we can celebrate her bday, our anniversary (in August) and her 1st trip with her grandma/my mom's 1st trip with my DD.