DD's turning 5 at Disney

[critty]

DD will have her 5th birthday while we are at Disney. What should I do to make this special? Do they have birthday cakes at the restaurants or will they sing happy birthday- anything like that? We have the dining plan. I upgraded up one level from free- it reads MYW PKG+SPECIAL DINE on my reservation. Which restaurant should we go to on that day? I'm thinking Cinderella. thanks!! -critty

 

[janloz]

My DD turned 5 at WDW in 2006. If you have the extra money, we did Gift of a lifetime for her (website by the same name) and they arranged a scavenger hunt around MK after our breakfast at the Castle. We arranged to have a white chocolate Cinderella slipper delivered to her at breakfast. Here is a pic of her with it.

If you go to http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2118274 there are pics of many of the cakes available and all the info for ordering it.

We also ordered prior to leaving lovely gift baskets for the kids that were delivered to the hotel. they were from Memories by Betsy and were customized for them.

http://www.memoriesbybetsy.com/Memories_by_Betsy/Welcome.html

You can also do Bibbitty Bobbitty Boutique and they have special sash for birthday girls.

Be sure to let everyone know that it is her birthday and get her a birthday pin. Put it on all the ADRs and some of the restaurants will bring her a special pics or dessert. Call the hotel and let them know that it is her bday and we were able to get a free bunch of balloons and signed photo from her favorite character.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[buzznina]

Last year for our DD birthday we went to Chef Mickeys and they have already made birthday cakes (I think they had two types), then Mickey and Minnie came by to wish her a happy birthday (silently of course) and helped her blow out the candle. Our DD just loves when Mickey wiggles his nose BTW, I was surprised that the cake tasted very good, for coming out of a box.

 

[Jdougherty]

I vote for the castle! They will announce her special day and make a big deal about it. If you have a second ADR for dinner order the cake for than. like the pp put it on all ADRs/reservations and make sure to get her a button. CM's will make a big deal of her trough out the day.

 

[critty]

excellent suggestions!!!

newbie question... what is a ADR?

 

[CLR4321]

excellent suggestions!!!

newbie question... what is a ADR?

Don't worry...I wondered too! It took time to get used to the Dis acronyms. ADR is Advance Dining Reservation. I agree with the PP who mentioned having a party at Chef Mickey's. If she is a Pooh fan, you can take her to Crystal Palace.

 

[critty]

OK, here is my plan so far... am I doing this right? We don't have hopper passes, so I need to pick a restaurant in the park I will be visiting that day, right? My girls are both into the princesses mostly, but they do like Mickey as well. (Ages almost 3 and 5) I plan for 2 days at Epcot, 1 Magic Kingdom, 1 Animal Kingdom, 1 whatever.

Dec 5 (Sat) - Arrive in the evening- no Disney, no dining- just go to the room

Dec 6 (Sun)- Epcot: Norway’s Akershus restaurant

Dec. 7 (Mon) Sophie’s 5th birthday! - Magic Kingdom: Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner (2 credits)

Dec 8- Animal Kingdom: Anandapur Yak and Yeti Restaurant Menu

Dec 9- Epcot: dinner at Coral Reef Restaurant

Dec 10- check out of Disney hotel, check in to other hotel/ no dinner since I used up 2 on the Cinderella dinner- visit whichever disney park we want to go back to.

I also wanted to go to The Crystal Palace- I put that on the back-up list if I don't get all the reservations that I wanted.

Dec 11- Go to Sea World

Dec 12- Sea World and drive home

 

[critty]

OK, here is my plan so far... am I doing this right? We don't have hopper passes, so I need to pick a restaurant in the park I will be visiting that day, right? My girls are both into the princesses mostly, but they do like Mickey as well. (Ages almost 3 and 5) I plan for 2 days at Epcot, 1 Magic Kingdom, 1 Animal Kingdom, 1 whatever.

Dec 5 (Sat) - Arrive in the evening- no Disney, no dining- just go to the room

Dec 6 (Sun)- Epcot: Norway’s Akershus restaurant

Dec. 7 (Mon) Sophie’s 5th birthday! - Magic Kingdom: Crystal Palace for breakfast with chocolate slipper, then Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner (2 credits)

Dec 8- Animal Kingdom: Anandapur Yak and Yeti Restaurant Menu

Dec 9- Epcot: dinner at Coral Reef Restaurant

Dec 10- check out of Disney hotel, check in to other hotel/ no dinner since I used up 2 on the Cinderella dinner- visit whichever disney park we want to go back to.

I also wanted to go to The Crystal Palace- I put that on the back-up list if I don't get all the reservations that I wanted.

Dec 11- Go to Sea World

Dec 12- Sea World and drive home

 

[skw444]

One thing...if your dd wants to see Princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table, I wouldn't go for dinner. Only Cinderella is at dinner. We took my dd for her 6th birthday to CRT for lunch and all the princesses came around and signed a card for her. We also did BBB right before lunch and she got the birthday sash.

 

[happymommy]

You said you upgraded from free dining. Is this an upgrade from the Counter Service dining plan (staying at a value resort) or the regular dining plan?

We personally love the park hopping, and always do add it. It's a personal choice, but we think it's worth it.

Which hotels are you staying at?

Also, with such young kids, Sea World added sounds like a lot to me. Unless you got the free military tickets, but that is just my opinion.

If it's this year, also register for the birthday promotion. We did that in March for my DD's birthday. Sign up online, then bring a copy of her birth certificate. Since you already have tickets (they will make you prove that) she can get a Disney gift card valued at a one day ticket! They also offer some stuff like a fast pass, but really the gift card is the best deal. My daughter had so much fun shopping for cute stuffed animals with that thing!

Have a great trip!

PS: Do you have your dining reservations? I don't know your dates, but that is important! Coral Reef can be hard to get into, and I have heard CRT is very hard. We loved the new Tusker House at DAK, haven't tried the new Yak and Yeti, but DS doesn't like Chinese food. Also, if you decide to do a park the first night, it's not much to add a day to your tickets if you've already got 5 day tickets.

 

[critty]

good tips! We def. want to see all the princesses- Cinderella uses 2 credits and fewer princesses? boo!

We are staying at the Pop Century. I'm not sure exactly which dining plan I have. It is the one that the disney site "recommends" 1 snack, 1 counter service, 1 sit down.

adding the 6th day does seem like a good idea. We will be driving down (12 hours) so we will have to figure out what time we want to drive. maybe drive at night and I can let DH rest when we arrive and take the girls out to the park. We arrive Dec 5th, so if I did my math correctly I need to make my reservations tomorrow- that is why the slight panic in hurry to plan

We are going to Sea World because we already have passes for Busch Gardens, so this would be free.

 

[critty]

Does Disney care which day you celebrate the birthday? We couldn't get lunch at Cindy's on her birthday, so can we celebrate her birthday on a different day? I know need to bring her birth cert to get the gift card. Also does she need to spend the GC on her birthday? I feel like I read some rules about it, but now I'm not sure.


I got my reservations...

Dec 6 1900 Park
Dec 7 birthday! breakfast at Crystal Palace and dinner at Crystal Palace- but I wouldn't mind switching this for Chef Mickey
Dec 8 Akershus
Dec 9 Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table.



thanks for all the wonderful advice and tips!
-critty

 

[buzznina]

Does Disney care which day you celebrate the birthday? We couldn't get lunch at Cindy's on her birthday, so can we celebrate her birthday on a different day? I know need to bring her birth cert to get the gift card. Also does she need to spend the GC on her birthday? I feel like I read some rules about it, but now I'm not sure.
-critty

Only for the gift card/free admission. Last year we went to celebrate our DD's 4th Bday but we could only go the month after it. The CM's still made a big deal about it when we checked in and gave her the birthday button and told her to wear everyday she was at disney. They also asked her who was her favorite princess and one day during the week there was a birthday card signed by Cinderella, she was on WDW knows that people cannot always take a trip right at your birthday. What we did was celebrated our DD birthday on the day her real birthday fell on and we even held back a couple of presents for that day. She loved it.