For those that have done/are doing birthday trips for their kids...

[SageFemme]

Did you plan it to where their birthday was the first day, the last day, or in the middle of the trip? We want to make it a tradition of going to MK the first day, and we would like DD's birthday (she will turn 7 when we go) to be when we go to MK, so I guess there's our answer. How did it work out for you?

 

[sonnesolsun]

My DS4 turned 4 on our last day of our trip and we spent it at MK. We did the WISHES dessert buffet and it was awesome!!! We had so much fun, but I must admit we were there a week and "celebrated" both his and DD6's b-days all week (as it was her b-day trip as well)!!!

 

[minnie2]

This trip DD will turn 10 in the middle of the trip. We let her pick where she wants to go for breakfast and what park we do on her bday,

Actually we let both kids pick 2 places they wanted to eat this trip...

 

[HerdOHuds]

It worked out that my kids will turn 5 the first day of our trip this year. I would have liked it to work out a little differently, but with where their birthday fell being very close to a holiday that we wanted to be home for, there was really no choice. We may get to arrive early and visit a park for an evening the night before, but will be in Magic Kingdom the day of.

I am struggling with how much more to spend in addition to the trip. Just being in WDW is really extra special, but we usually throw a pretty big birthday bash, with 4 and all. I don't see a plethora of gifts being opened or a big fancy cake. But smaller special moments and some balloons.

Not meaning to hijack, but what celebrations will you be planning for the actual day or extended days? Will you throw a small party at home as well?

 

[Erica09M]

We're planning our trip for my daughter's 5th birthday. We're going to arrive the day before her birthday, and just hang out at the resort and go to DTD. Then our first full day there we're going to celebrate her birthday, do BBB, a princess meal, and MK. I want her to have a full day to celebrate her birthday at WDW, not just half a day when we arrive.

Oh, and her birthday party at home will be the weekend before we leave (1 week before her birthday). Our trip to WDW is a surprise for her!

 

[Macduffy]

DS is turning 4 on our trip. I planned it so that his b'day was in the middle of the trip and on our 2nd day at MK. I thought this way he was settled in. We are doing his b'day supper at Chef Mickey's and I"m ordering a Mickey Head Cake to be delivered to the restaurant.
I think he will get the Gift Certificate rather then the special FP (and we already bought the park tickets so free admission is out). So he can buy whatever he likes with that!

 

[WantToGoNow]

My dd will actually have her 6th birthday 2 days after we return. We will be celebrating her birthday at Chef Mickey's on our last full day and we will be buying her a special "birthday gift card" to give her to spend on whatever she wants. She will not have a separate birthday party at home - but I'm thinking of picking up enough lollipops for her to take to her class on her actual birthday. My cousin's birthday is the day we arrive - we will be having her birthday dinner at 'Ohana or Whispering Canyon (haven't decided yet, but she wants something fun) and she will get the Fun Card to spend.

 

[cltk78]

DS1 will turn 5 in the middle of our trip. So far, we're planning to eat breakfast at 'Ohana and then go to Animal Kingdom on his birthday, but that may change. I'm waiting for December hours and EMHs to be released.

ETA: He'll be getting the Fun Card to spend as he wishes.

 

[4forMe]

My twins turned 7 on our trip last year. Their birthday was on a Monday, and we let them choose the park they wanted to be at - they chose Epcot!

We also had a Wishes cruise scheduled for that evening so they also got to see the MK fireworks. It was the best of both worlds.

This was our first time celebrating a birthday at WDW. It was a lot of fun. I had Mickey birthday shirts made for them that said "Birthday Boy" plus they also wore their birthday pins and got tons of attention from the CMs.

 

[SageFemme]

I am struggling with how much more to spend in addition to the trip. Just being in WDW is really extra special, but we usually throw a pretty big birthday bash, with 4 and all. I don't see a plethora of gifts being opened or a big fancy cake. But smaller special moments and some balloons.

Not meaning to hijack, but what celebrations will you be planning for the actual day or extended days? Will you throw a small party at home as well?

When my DD turned 5 she didn't even touch her cake so I'm thinking I might just give her a cupcake or something. I'm pretty sure we won't be throwing her a party at home as well because her birthday is in Dec. and we have to turn right around and do Christmas! However, I'm wondering how we'll handle her wanting to invite friends to her "birthday party" and her telling us where she wants to go, etc. when we are planning on this being a surprise trip. I don't want her to think she's going one place then tell her we're going to Disney just for her to be disappointed (I've seen stories like this!). I can see her now...me: "Surprise! We're going to Disney World!" her: "But who will take care of the dog?"

 

[kldmom2000]

We're waking our girls up extra-extra early on older DD's 9th birthday to surprise them with a trip to Disney!!! They "think" we're going to New Hampshire, but surprise, surprise!!!!! I've never been one to keep a surprise so I'm amazing myself that I've contained it this long!!! We should land in Orlando by 9:05am and I'm hoping we're in a park by 11 to make the most of her day! Dinner @ Chef Mickey's that night... her favorite restaurant

When we went for my younger DD's 4th birthday a few years back, her birthday landed on our first FULL day there

 

[iheartdisney]

We took DS for his 5th birthday in jan. His birthday was the first day of our trip, and we let him pick what to do. Which was HS, and Toy Story ride first thing. He got to pick the rides all day, and I let him pick for dinner, beforehand, if he wanted Chef Mickeys or TRex. he picked TRex...which was awesome for him!
Special things that we did besides just the trip...
*The fun card was his, to spend on whatever he wanted...all Star Wars potatoheads
*I make everyone matching tie dye shirts, with Iron-ons, and got someone on the disign board to make him a special Toy Story shirt proclaiming "its my birthday"
* Usually, build-a-bear is our birthday tradition- we take the kids on birthdays (so we always end up with 3 new build a bears...each...between dec and feb!) So this time, after t-rex we went to build-a-dino, which was very special for him. And the greatest thing was, between gift cards I already have, and our stuff-for-stuff certificates, we only had to pay for the clothes.

 

[JKSWonder]

We went to WDW for my DD's 8th birthday this past March. I planned it so that we flew in the day before her birthday, so that our first full day there was her birthday.

We made the day all about her. She had an appt. at the BBB in the a.m. (Crown package). We then played in MK all day long. We had an early dinner reservation at the Castle. I ordred the celebration cake when we checked in and had them add a Cinderella candle that I brought from home.

I don't think I would have planned for her birthday to be on our last day...she typically gets kind of upset on our last day because she knows that we are leaving. But I think the first full day there or one of the days in the middle are just fine.