Character meals on child's birthday?

[Brian Minter]

My son is turning 5 during our trip in Jan 2020, we rented points through a wonderful DVC member. Is a birthday pin something that can be requested by the DVC owner prior to our arrival, or can it be requested upon arrival?

I think I will only have him wear it on his actual birthday, mayyyyybe at the 2 dining credit character meal we are booking.

 

[robinb]

Hi everyone,
We will be celebrating my son's 4th birthday on our next trip. I would love to hear your experiences with celebrating a birthday at a character meal. What meal did you attend and was anything special done by the wait staff and/or the characters in honor of the birthday? Thanks for any info you can provide that would help me select which meal to choose. Fur characters are preferred to face characters.

The characters will do something when they see the button, but don't expect anything from the restaurant. Being at WDW for your birthday used to be great, but it isn't really special anymore since lots and lots of people now "celebrate" their birthday at WDW. After all, it's always at most 183 days since your last birthday or till your next one! Disney encourages this. They want you to have a reason to allow Mickey's 4 fingers into your wallet and how best than to convince you that you deserve to spend extra because you had a birthday (sometime)! And don't just stop at ONE DAY! No ... celebrate the WHOLE WEEK! After all, you deserve it ... now show me the money (tm).

Go in with ZERO expectations. Buy a cake yourself and have it served at the meal. Anything that anyone else does is pixie dust.

PLEASE NOTE: My dissatisfaction with extended and birthday celebrations outside of 30 days either way only refers to adults and teens. Children may celebrate anytime and for as long as they wish .

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Enjoy the Pixie Dust you get! Wear the button, everyone is celebrating something, for some reason, at Disney! We have gone for a birthday week... and plan to do so in the future.

Cupcakes at restaurants are common but not guaranteed. Signatures/birthday cards are also common but not guaranteed. Having LOTS of people wish you a Happy Birthday will happen, even by other guests.
FP+, extra gifts/souvenirs, being on-stage/chosen for something, etc., those are MUCH more uncommon!!!

 

[Megan138]

We celebrated my daughter and niece's birthday at Chef Mickey's last year and I ordered a cake through catering to be brought out for dessert. All the characters came over to sing happy birthday and each birthday girl got a signed birthday card. It was really special.

 

[CynBeth]

My son is turning 5 during our trip in Jan 2020, we rented points through a wonderful DVC member. Is a birthday pin something that can be requested by the DVC owner prior to our arrival, or can it be requested upon arrival?

I think I will only have him wear it on his actual birthday, mayyyyybe at the 2 dining credit character meal we are booking.

We did not request a pin ahead of time my DH decided to wear one and got it at the front desk of BC right before our breakfast at Cape May. I believe any front desk and a lot of places in the parks the CMs have them as well.

 

[Nancyg56]

Like others said, have her wear the pin on her birthday. Don't expect anything but be grateful when it does! (And it usually does!) Mine only wear a birthday pin on their actual birthday. The person above who had her daughter wear it all week is one of the reasons pixie dust like this is becoming rare, people take advantage. It's a birthday, not a birth week!

Oh please. Any pixie dust for celebrations has always been random, which is why it is called pixie dust. You celebrate your way, and let others celebrate their way, and let DIsney CM's decide how they want to celebrate with guests.

There are no rules - official or unofficial. Celebrate whatever way you want to!

Exactly!

I don't have a problem with someone celebrating a birthday for a day while at WDW, even if it's not the exact day (but pretty close). I do think it is excessive for someone to wear a birthday pin for a week, knowing that some pixie dust will likely come their way. Now some may disagree, but if everyone did this in the hope of getting a free dessert, eventually Disney or the restaurants themselves would stop that practice due to the cost. That would be unfortunate for those actually in the park on their birthday.

For years we have been celebrating something in WDW, from the lucky ones of us whose birthday is during the trip to anniversaries and on the last trip, a belated honeymoon. There have been cupcakes, smiles, and best wishes offered, and not one CM quizzed the button people about the "date" before offering a happy birthday, or congratulations. The "free" dessert was usually a cupcake, and to be honest, every time we were given that freebie, we were on the dining plan and the dessert we would have ordered was much more than the little cupcalke on a decorated plate. The CM's are free to offer pixie dust at their discretion. Not once did a CM go overboard in the "free" thing, nor woudl we have ever expected it. WE also have made sure to congratulate others wearing their pins, and have never wondered if they stretched their celebration out.

Personally, I am way more annoyed by the adults who celebrate birthday months here at home. Yes, en entire month dedicated to celebrating their birth, and by the end of the month the rest of us need more than a cupcake to keep our (meaning my) opinions to themselves (myself)

 

[TiggerTrigger]

It's very hit or miss. We've celebrated multiple birthdays at WDW with our kids and the only standout was Chef Mickey's (7am ADR ) for my older one's 5th bday. We went to Akershus that night and while they gave her a nice treat, the character aspect didn't feel any different than normal. Not bad...but not a birthday wow either.

That being said, for the Chef Mickey's 5th bday experience, we had a custom cake delivered to the meal, so that played into this as well. There were others around us with the standard cupcake and they didn't get the same kind of attention. Our server was really the hero in this as she had all of the other waitstaff members as well as the chef, gushing over my daughter. I didn't ask for anything special...just kind of a wait and see if magic happens. Our server informed us that she couldn't guarantee it would happen perfectly, but that she was going to try and get a character to come and visit us come cake time. Minnie came over and surprised my daughter just as the candles were lit and we were starting to sing Happy Birthday.

 

[MrsDuck]

We always do a fur meal on birthdays. Typically, we receive a song from the waiters and a special dessert.

 

[TwinkleKS]

We planned on celebratingh my DDs 4th birthday at WDW. That was the reason for the trip. So we had reservations at CRT on their bday and paid for bday cakes for both of them. It was great ... It's been six years and I don't have pics on this computer ... sorry. But, if you are willing to pay there are all sorts of things you can do to celebrate and make it special.

 

[KateMW]

We wear our birthday buttons for the whole week {yes we are THE downfall of civilization like a previous poster suggested} and it made every meal and character greeting for him so special. On his actual birthday, we did Chef Mickey's and T-Rex...yes somehow we managed to put the two worst meals of the whole trip on his actual special day. Lord help me. Anyway, they were honestly the least exciting special times of the week long trip.

 

[KateMW]

And yes I had buttons made that said It's my 5th Birthday and two for my husband and I that said Celebrating his 5th birthday. They had Woody and Buzz on them and that earned him a ton of attention from Woody/Jessie and Buzz and he loved it! Got them from Etsy, totally worth the money.

He got a special dessert every single meal, including breakfast sometimes. He loved that but very rarely ate it all.

 

[KateMW]

My son is turning 5 during our trip in Jan 2020, we rented points through a wonderful DVC member. Is a birthday pin something that can be requested by the DVC owner prior to our arrival, or can it be requested upon arrival?

I think I will only have him wear it on his actual birthday, mayyyyybe at the 2 dining credit character meal we are booking.

You can get them at check in, at guest services and you can also order cheapish custom ones on Etsy before your trip. We did my son's favorite characters and they loved seeing "themselves" on his button. Super fun interaction with Woody and Jessie as a result. And wear it for the whole week for sure! My son LOVED when other guests wished him a happy birthday, he did it to other people in return and it always makes somebody smile. That free cupcake they give you was .35 cents. It isn't ruining the "pixie dust" for anybody else. I promise. A birthday trip to Disney is pretty damn magical, take full advantage of the magic!

 

[Micharlotte]

You can get them at check in, at guest services and you can also order cheapish custom ones on Etsy before your trip. We did my son's favorite characters and they loved seeing "themselves" on his button. Super fun interaction with Woody and Jessie as a result. And where it for the whole week. My son LOVED when other guests wished him a happy birthday, he did it to other people in return and it always makes somebody smile. That free cupcake they give you was .35 cents. It isn't ruining the "pixie dust" for anybody else. I promise. A birthday trip to Disney is pretty damn magical, take full advantage of the magic!

The random birthday wishes are the most fun! I don’t need a cheap cupcake from a buffet where there are already cheap cupcakes. It’s the thought that counts and it makes them feel special. Childhood is so short so live it up! My favourite memory is our first trip, first thing was head to magic kingdom and watch the parade. Anna and Elsa float went by and Anna waves and wished my daughter a happy birthday! This was in the hay day of frozen too! I almost cried she was so happy, but it was 2 days before her actual birthday! The horror!

 

[dachsie]

I would recommend Akershus. I went there for breakfast during my b-day trip. I got a card signed by all the princesses and a cupcake after we ate. Totally unexpected but fun. Would probably be right up a little girl's alley. And they have them parade thru the restaurant with the princesses. I think your 4 yr old would love it!

 

[DISNEY1975]

My son LOVED when other guests wished him a happy birthday, he did it to other people in return and it always makes somebody smile.

Awwwww. If I got a happy birthday from a 5 year old, my heart would melt! Nice that he spread some pixie dust himself! Too cute!

 

[BOST99]

Our last trip was my DD's bday. She only wore the pin on her bday and we did the early magic thing at MK and she wore the pin. Lots of people saying happy birthday but can't remember any extra pixie dust. We did pirate's league and she did get a special shout-out there.

Later in the trip we went to Tusker House character breakfast and her bday must have been marked on our reservation because we got extra character attention, signed card, confetti on the table and a cupcake.