Ok. Kids Birthdays. What do you think?

[Bee]

Ok, I have a question about celebrating my kids birthdays at WDW. This is our first ever real family vacation. We are going Oct 22 to Oct 27. The trip actually takes place right in the middle of my 2DD birthdays. One turned 9 on 10-1 and the other turns 11 on 11-29. We didnt really celebrate birthdays this year because this is the trip for birthdays and Christmas. This is the "BIG" vacation of their lives.. I dont want to get flamed but, would it be alright if I get the birthday buttons for my girls.. To tell you the truth this is also my husbands and my 15th anniversary year also.

I want your opinions.. I am leaning towards not getting the buttons because neither are actually having a b-day on the vacation.. but, I really want to make their vacation special and again we arent really celebrating any other way.

Be nice.. as most Dis'ers are and give me your opinion.. please, please, dont flame me.. TIA

Bee

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I don't see anything wrong with getting the birthday pins! I would even plan a breakfast at CM's and tell them you are celebrating your girls bday's. Have a great time

 

[goofy4tink]

I, personally, wouldn't get the birthday pins. I am going to be in WDW on the day my dd turns 13 and will get her a pin. But the other girl we are traveling with turns 13 the day after we get home and her mother has already told me that she will not get a birthday pin for her dd since it isn't actually her special day. But, I have no problem with booking a character meal in order to co-celebrate the two birthdays. You could even order a special cake.
I know this is a fine line I'm drawing but I think that the birthday pins should be used by those who actually are celebrating that day. Wear it for the day and then put it away...not for the whole week. It just feels funny to have the characters and CMs wishing a child a "Happy Birthday Susie. How old are you today?" when the child had her day already or won't for another few weeks.
I realize that I am in the minority regarding this, but just wanted to give you my view.

 

[lillygator]

You'll get quite a few different responses here so be prepared...but go for it!

Every year we go over for DD's birthday which is Halloween...this year the actual day is a Monday and we are checking out the 30th....but we are celebrating the entire time we are there....

 

[Minerva]

We'll actually be in 2 parks on Dd's birtday, MGM in the mornign and MK for MVMCP that night. I told her she can get pins at both parks and if she wants to she can get one the first day we're at Epcot and the day we're at AK too. She rarely gets to actually celebrate her birthday on her birthday because it falls so close to Thanksgiving, sometimes *on it, every year we put it off until the weekend to make it a little more special. I don't look at getting a birthday button in the parks on a day that isn't actually their birthday any differently.

 

[vicceja]

Hi!

In 2003 and 2005 we went during our Middle DS's birthday . We will be traveling back to Disney in December and I am planning to celebrate my Oldest and my Youngest b-day, their birthday's are in January & February. I don't think there is any harm in getting both a birthday button. Have fun!

 

[FayeW]

We are doing almost exactly the same thing, except that my son's birthday is the our last day of vacation, and my daughter's birthdays is two weeks after we get back. Since he gets to celebrate his actual birthday at WDW, and this trip is expressly for their birthdays, she will get to pick a day to celebrate hers, birthday badge and all. We had originally planned on being there between their birthdays, like you are. Due to a scheduling conflict we had to adjust our travel dates, and I don't think it is fair that she wouldn't be able to celebrate her birthday, while her little brother does!

 

[Bee]

I just called my TA and advised her to let the places that we will be eating know we are celebrating birthdays. I have not decided what to do about the birthday pins yet.. My older DD who will be 11 on 11-29 always misses out on a b-day party also because of her birtday being so close to Thanksgiving.. we are always trying to fit in celebrations for the Holiday around her birthday so she gets overlooked.

Anyway, thanks for all the input and thanks for no flames.. I appreciate it!!

Bee

 

[TAKitty]

In my family all of our birthdays are during the summer so we are going to pick one day on our trip this summer and celebrate all of our birthdays. I plan to make shirts for us to all wear with the date of our actual birthday listed. A day to celebrate is just that. What is next, people not being allowed to celebrate until the exact time that they were born?

 

[Blueeyes101817]

my friend and i just got back on monday night...the trip was right between our 20th and 21st birthday--we had our own pins that said birthday trip....the CMs gave us the regular bday buttons as well...we had a great time

 

[Lora]

Since you asked for opinions...

I don't think kids should wear birthday buttons on any day except their birthday. The button says "Today is my birthday." In my opinion, it's a lie to put that button on when it's not your birthday. I'm not perfect, but I do try to teach my kids to be honest.

Now, if someone's birthday is on Monday and you get there on Tuesday or you can't schedule CRT or whatever you want on the actual day, I see no problem in telling the CM that you're celebrating the birthday on that day. We do that at home when birthdays land on a weekday and we're planning a party on a Saturday. 20+ days seems a bit of a stretch to me.

Again...this is my opinion and my conviction. If it's not yours, I wouldn't force mine on you.

 

[Priorityonecb]

I would do it. I would have each child pick a day of the trip to be thier "birthday celebration" day. Just as sometimes we have to schedule parties the weekend before or after their actual special days! On that day, I would get the child a button and allow her to "in charge" of the day. I'd let her choose the places to eat, the park she wanted to see etc....on her birthday celebration day. Just as you would do if you were having a party for her at home...she would get to choose the venue, cake theme, food, etc. I hope they both have a wonderful trip!

 

[goofy4tink]

See...told you I would be in the minority

 

[nuzmom]

I have to join the minority. I would not get the birthday buttons if my child wasn't actually having a birthday during the vacation.

What's the purpose of the birthday buttons? Is it to make the trip "extra special"? Isn't a trip to WDW special enough? Especially if it's a once in a lifetime trip? Do the CMs give children with Birthday buttons extra attention? That's fine IF it's their birthday, but I don't understand why a child should get extra attention if they've had a birthday within a month of today. IMHO, that's stretching it. I agree that if the birthday is on a travel day and you're not celebrating otherwise, it would be fine to pick the next day for a special meal.

Just a comment - while we watched the MGM parade during our last vacation, the child we were seated by had on a birthday button. MANY characters in the parade either "mouthed" Happy Birthday to her or came over and pointed to the button and gave her a thumbs up. I would feel very strange if that was my child and her birthday was 3 weeks from now.

Here's another option - get your child a guest of honor personalized name tag and have them wear it. It's very cool when CMs call you child by name and you don't have to deal with the non-birthday issue. We bought ours in the back of the Christmas store in DTD, but you can order it online or purchase it at another location (I think in MK). You can do a search to learn more.

Anyway - this is just my opinion and I don't want flamed either.

 

[Bee]

Well, I have decided.. we will celebrate our birthday occasions at the restaurants... and I will have something made up that says we are celebrating our birthdays to wear at the parks... not something that says Today is my birthday... my kids are honest kids and we are honest adults.. so we will not wear the pins... okay.. and thank you for all opinions.. I realize things sometimes turn into heated debates on these boards.. so, I appreciate the fact we have all been very nice to one another.

 

[kangaroodle]

I have no problem with getting the button even if it's not your "real" birthday. Not everyone can arrange to be there on that particular day. Heck! Disney celebrates things for 15 months including Walt's Birthday!!! No one told them they were "lying" for celebrating on days that weren't actually his birthday! My daughter just turned 9 on October 3rd. We are leaving tomorrow for WDW and will celebrate her birthday one day while we are there. They do not ask for "proof" at Guest Services. I don't think it's a lie to have your kids celebrate on a different day. You can always have a "Very Merry Unbirthday" like in Alice in Wonderland! Go for it! Don't let the "Polly Perfects" of the world tell you can't or shouldn't do it! Life has way too many rules! Go and celebrate at the Happiest Place in the World! Enjoy and have fun!

 

[taximomfor4]

I felt funny celebrating far (more than a couple of weeks) away from their actual birthdays. Even though my 3 girls ALL have summer birthdays, we only celebrated the youngest. Her birthday was during the trip. The other kids, we just explained and they understood. In hindsight, I sort of wish I had scheduled a birthday meal for each of them. But since last time we went, for a birthday, and nobody did ANYTHING (no confetti, birthday dessert, or card) at the restaurants (2 of them), we wanted to maximize that if ANYONE got the birthday treatment, it would be the ACTUAL birthday girl. And good thing, too. We notified 5 restaurants about her birthday. ONE of them celebrated it. (Third Birthday).

Oh, and about those birthday pins. We got one from the 2 parks we hopped to on Lia's birthday. EPCOT, I believe, does NOT say that the birthday is TODAY.

Beth

 

[VSL]

Disney celebrates things for 15 months including Walt's Birthday!!! No one told them they were "lying" for celebrating on days that weren't actually his birthday!

With all due respect, the celebration of Walt's birthday in Walt's park is a bit different than us 'norms'.

If you want to get a pin, get it. Personally, I feel uncomfortable with the idea of getting a child to wear a button that says 'today is my birthday' when it's not that day. However, I'm all for making special buttons/shirts that say 'celebrating my birthday!' or whatever

I've heard (although I have no idea of the amount of truth to this!) that less fuss is being made of badge-wearers because maybe it's being abused, but how they would know I have no idea!

 

[Rowlf]

The reason why nothing special happens for people who are wearing the "Today is my birthday" pins is because SO many people "celebrate" birthdays there. I saw a TON of those pins when I was in the parks a few weeks ago.

So, if you want birthdays to be special, celebrate them ON the day. As the Incredibles said, if EVERYONE is special, no one is.

 

[ms.ojo]

Here's what happened to us... We went a few yrs ago to celebrate ds's 4th bday. We toured the park for 2 days then Friday, we chose to celebrate his bday as we were going to MNSSHP that night and the next day (his actual bday) we weren't planning on touring the parks. So Friday we head to MK and City Hall for the bday button. We have a great time touring for his day...and had PS at Crystal Palace for lunch where he marched in the bday parade. Naps and back for the party...it was the best bday ever!

Well the next day we were at Downtown Disney and I had him wear the button as it was his actual bday. Lots of nice CMs wished him happy birthday and we had a great day.

Sunday, no button, we head to AK. A CM overhears ds telling us this is just the best bday ever! She wants to give him a button and we explain his bday was yesterday. She says that's fine...today he's celebrating it at AK!!! Gave him a button and a free pin for trading. More attention in the park that day. Sunday night we head to Epcot. Not right away, but sometime during the evening a CM spots the AK birthday button. She says OH, he must have an Epcot button! We explain again it's not his actual bday. She smiles and says well he has to have an Epcot bday button.

We went home on Monday morning, thorouhly birthday'd! This trip we're going in December...we will be leaving 2 days before dd's 3rd birthday. I will be choosing 1 day near the end of our trip to mark as her birthday! She will get the pin at MK and have a great Bday....just like her brother. We'll be going to MVMCP that night too!!

So....after a long post.....A trip around a birthday....or that has been saved for to be the birthday or Christmas or whatever trip....deserves special attention!!! Even if it's not on "the day". Good grief...it's only ok if you couldn't book CRT on "the" day. Enjoy!