Fun cheap or free things to do for adult birthday

[Donathius]

We're going for 3 days the first week in November for my son and my wife's birthdays. My son turns 5 the week before we get to DL and my wife's birthday is the day we leave to drive home. I'm wondering if anyone has good suggestions for things we could do in the parks or DTD for her B-day (I will be making my wife and son wear birthday buttons all three days lol). I've already got Blue Bayou lunch reservations for the last day we're in the parks, and my parents are coming as well so they can wrangle our two kids for a while so doing non-kid friendly things is easy.

 

[nikkislaght]

if you can be the first in line for the Dole whip.. I got an extra special button on the day I was first in line..
ask to sit with the engineer on the train,, last I heard you can sit with them, but you need to go the whole trip..
both of you take a photo with Mickey and bring a sign , saying Happy Birthday .. wives name.... love from Mickey and ask if he can hold it
or do a ride with a photo and hold sign with happy birthday on it..

go have a glass of wine or beer at CA. if you drink. and watch the Neon come alive at Carsland .

if at all you get the chance to shop outside of the parks,, on the corner of Katella and Harbor is a strip mall .. coming from Disney, its on the left. A shop in the strip is a souvenir store , they sell Disney stuff, a lot cheaper than the park.. they do a couples Disney Shirt, and I believe you can get two Tees for $15. or something like that..
we shop there all the time.

Hope you all have a wonderful trip

 

[MommyJKM]

Are you staying on-site? The hotels do a bunch of fun birthday stuff for free...

 

[millie0312]

Are you staying on-site? The hotels do a bunch of fun birthday stuff for free...

Can you share what they do? We have a birthday on our upcoming trip at GCH

 

[mgd]

It depends on the CM you get when you check in, but I've seen them give balloons and an autographed photo from mickey and characters. Not sure what else they do for free.

 

[julesann]

It depends on the CM you get when you check in, but I've seen them give balloons and an autographed photo from mickey and characters. Not sure what else they do for free.

Ohhhh fun. I check into the GCH on my birthday next Saturday . Do I just smile and say hey I'm turning 57 today

 

[MommyJKM]

Can you share what they do? We have a birthday on our upcoming trip at GCH

For free you can call the day before and ask for "magic" and they will have your favorite character autograph a b&w pic and have a Happy Bday pin waiting for you at check-in. We've had a different character leave an autographed note and photo either under the door in the morning or at turn down service every day of our stay at GCH (when Mommy asked nicely at check-in )

My favorite though is the "secret" Mickey rice krispies, cookies and chocolate covered strawberries from room service. For about $3-$5 a piece (and the room service charge), they will bring a tray of goodies to the room while you're gone and leave a note and Happy Bday pin. We like to add on the chilled milk or champagne as well. It is just a lovely treat for the birthday person to walk in to. Just call the GCH room service 3 days ahead of time and they will work it out.

It depends on the CM you get when you check in, but I've seen them give balloons and an autographed photo from mickey and characters. Not sure what else they do for free.

They don't do balloons. California is in a helium shortage and they don't do any balloons at the DLR properties for the past 2 years.

 

[Angrose]

Have a drink at Trader Sam's tiki bar at the DLH. The inside bar is super small, but it's fun and there are some "surprises" when you order certain drinks. If it's too crowded inside, grab a seat on the terrace and listen to the live music. There is also an area down below with a large fireplace and sofas. It's such a relaxing, chilled out vibe there surrounded by palm trees and tiki torches, and a great escape from the parks.

 

[mgd]

They don't do balloons. California is in a helium shortage and they don't do any balloons at the DLR properties for the past 2 years.

I am positive they did it 1 year ago at the PPH, at check in. Haven't seen it on more recent trips though, so maybe the helium shortage restrictions started this year? I had no idea there was such a thing.

 

[MommyJKM]

I am positive they did it 1 year ago at the PPH, at check in. Haven't seen it on more recent trips though, so maybe the helium shortage restrictions started this year? I had no idea there was such a thing.

I'm not trying to argue but we ordered from http://www.disneyfloralandgifts.com/home.html in May of 2013 and they wouldn't offer balloons.

http://www.decodedscience.org/helium-shortage-situation-update-one-year-later/42314

 

[mgd]

I'm not trying to argue but we ordered from http://www.disneyfloralandgifts.com/home.html in May of 2013 and they wouldn't offer balloons.

http://www.decodedscience.org/helium-shortage-situation-update-one-year-later/42314

I love arguing (not that this is an argument though), but I was referring to the free balloons the CM gives from behind the counter when we checked in to the paradise pier hotel. Perhaps the official packages for sale stopped including balloons, but they definitely had helium behind the counter in 2014.

 

[missycakes99]

Thanks for these great suggestions! We head there next week and are celebrating my husband's birthday. I'm going to have a cake delivered from Beverly's Best in Fullerton (Disney's cake are notoriously dry and not all that great) and was thinking of doing room service for him the morning of, but I hadn't heard of having treats delivered.

I did just call the DLR Hotel and the CM told me I would have to speak to the special travel planning (Adventures by Disney) folks to arrange for stuff in the room. Sounds like I just need to call room service when we arrive (2 days before) and ask them to arrange for a fee?

Any other tips to make birthday fun & magical? We're doing dinner at Carthay Circle that evening.

 

[MommyJKM]

I did just call the DLR Hotel and the CM told me I would have to speak to the special travel planning (Adventures by Disney) folks to arrange for stuff in the room. Sounds like I just need to call room service when we arrive (2 days before) and ask them to arrange for a fee?

Any other tips to make birthday fun & magical? We're doing dinner at Carthay Circle that evening.

OMG no you don't. Just call DLH directly and ask for room service and they do the Mickey rice krispies/cookies and chocolate covered strawberries there. It's probably going to charge you a separate fee to do it by ABD. That's the whole point of the "secret", the price is reasonable and they just charge their room service fee.

If we are going with someone whose never been to Carthay we like to do the free morning tour - I think it's at 11am - then request one of the private dining rooms when the tour is over. It may be a busy time and they cannot always accommodate but it's worth a try. And then when you go to dinner that night you know all these fun things about the restaurant!~

Also don't skip the duck wings at CC - my favorite