Plaza Inn B-day party.....what did you think?

[ldagenhart]

Ack - me again!!

We're taking our 2-year-old boy to Disneyland for his 3rd birthday in October.

Has anyone done the Plaza Inn Birthday Party with Pat-E-Cake? If so - what were your thoughts? Love it? Worth the money / time? Did the kid like it?

And you don't have to book a "party" right? It can just be us (mom and dad) and birthday boy?

If not so great - would a birthday bucket at a restaurant be a better alternative?

Any other fun birthday secrets?

Thanks so very much in advance!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We did this party & really felt we should have spent our money elsewhere. You spend almost the same as you would to pay for a child's character meal where you will get great interaction with multiple characters.

Mickey & Minnie make an appearance towards the end of the party, lead a congo line & then do Photopass pictures but NO autographs.

The host Pat E. Cake wanders thru the tables but didn't come anywhere close to ours....the kids were a bit disappointed in that.

The cake was dry & the frosting is brightly dyed & my 3 yr old left with a red eyebrow.

We have since celebrated birthdays at a character meal. You can order the birthday buckets or even a cake thru Disney Dining. They can put balloons at your table & they even have little goodie bags (all for an extra charge). If you do this at a character meal, they'll find one or two characters to come over & help sing Happy Birthday.

Make sure you get a birthday button & where it!!! Lots of birthday wishes from CM's & other visitors.

Ask to ride in the front of the monorail with the pilot, ask to ride up in the wheelhouse of the Mark Twain riverboat, make sure you let the restaurants know you're celebrating a birthday.

 

[mabdallah]

This is good info to know becuase we are planning on going to disneyland for my daughtrs 3rd birthday too. I am planning way in advance so i have plenty of time to think about how i want to spend her magical day. We are planning on July of 2012. I wanted to do the minnie and friends breakfast but i am glad i looked at this post because i was debating the pat e cake birthday celebration.

I have a question though what is a birthday bucket?
Does anyone have a picture of one?

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

i thought it was ok but for the money i agree do a character meal instead

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We did the birthday party for my 40th birthday. It was actually kind of fun, but I don't think I'd do it again. Pat E. Cake did a little act and led some silly birthday songs. We each got a little cake to decorate and eat, along with a cup of fruit punch. I didn't join in the conga line, but I did get my picture taken with Mickey and Minnie.

At the time (several years ago!), the cost was $10 each. I had booked it for Dec. 30, my actual birthday. The day before, I went by the podium just to confirm our reservation for the next day. The hostess said they weren't having any parties the next day because they'd be preparing for New Year's celebrations (story of my life with that birthdate!). She said the person who made our reservation must have made a mistake in accepting it. She said she could book us for that day and told us to come back at our party time. When we went back to check in, I pulled out my credit card and was told it was already paid for! Turns out they comped us for the mix up with the reservation. So, I had my birthday party the day before my birthday, but it was free! Still, I was kind of glad we didn't pay $40 for the four of us.

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

I was looking into this for my mom's 50th and Brothers birthday's. I think after reading this I will look into the Birthday bucket at a character meal, does the bucket and party favors/gift bag celebration have to be at a character meal? I know we will be doing Blue Bayou on my mom's actual birthday.

 

[OregonMickeyLover]

We have celebrated our daughters birthday with a character dinner and a birthday bucket. She loved the birthday bucket, and you can order them for the full service restaurants in both parks. They were around 20 dollars and it had a birthday pin, stickers, a cute little cake, and a small toy. You choose either a boy or girl bucket. I think it is a nice option and a way to acknowlege a birthday without having to do a party or for that matter a character meal. I believe you have to arrange it through Disney dining when you make you reservations. Hope this helps, and if you do a google search you can see pictures!

Traci

 

[ldagenhart]

Thanks SO very much for the info on the Pat-E-Cake b-day party!

I think we'll do a character dining for breakfast and then a late lunch with a birthday bucket..........

 

[DizNee Luver]

I believe you can order the birthday buckets, cakes, gift bags at any of the sit down Disney restaurants. Just call & speak with Disney Dining & they can help set things up for you. Just remember to remind the people at the restaurant that you've ordered it.....sometimes when it's busy.....they miss the notes on the ressie!!