Somewhat Selfish Question

[bytheblood]

We are visiting for my b-day. My husband has asked me, because I am the Disney guru, what can be done for my b-day as an adult...you know...to kind of stand out, get special treatment, etc..... He would like for me to have a truly magical Disney b-day vacation because we probably will not visit Disney again for quite sometime. The next trip, in years to come, will be a Hawaiin cruise. Boy, we'll be saving for that one for a while.

My answer - I dunno! I don't want to plan my own birthday party/visit. This will be a week to celebrate my b-day. He did tell them when he booked the resort that it is my b-day, but I am not certain that they made note of that. I did not ask when I verified the reservation because it seemed somewhat arrogant, rude, snotty, selfish, conceited, you name it.....

 

[skiwee1]

If your husband truly wanted your birthday to be magical then he can start by coughing up the money to do so. There are plenty of florists that deliver to WDW, my favorite is the WDW Florists, that will be happy to bring you all kinds of birthday pixie dust for a price. He can have them send flowers and a nice gift basket. Perhaps a call to dining would get you a delicous dessert like the chocolate slipper or tuxedo strawberries delivered at special dinner. I don't blame you for not wanting to plan your own "surprises" and frankly I wouldn't. What fun is that? If he can't come up with things to wow you then I'd just forget about it. Personally I don't tell anyone at Disney that it's my birthday. The last thing I want is attention from strangers but that is me.

 

[safetymom]

First off, I wouldn't go expecting anything when you go for your birthday. Sometimes things happen but to expect it is setting yourself up for disappointment.

You can get a birthday button at Guest relations at all the parks. You may get Birthday greetings, a magical moment on a ride or in the park, a phone call from Goofy, etc.

Many many people are celebrating special events at WDW. You can mention it when you make reservations but be prepared that they might not do anything.

The best way to have something happen is to plan and pay for it yourself.

I always thought that being in WDW for my birthday was already magical and very special.

 

[safetymom]

dup

 

[bytheblood]

I agree that being at the World is a very magical way to celebrate my b-day. He has already made it special for me by asking me what I wanted and when I said jokingly, "To go to WDW" he said "Okay, can we go in 2005 (instead of this year) when you have the vacation time?" That wowed me. I would never plan my own b-day, but he did ask me what all I wanted to do, so I guess in a way he is planning my b-day with my input. My sweet husband would do anything for me, but he is not the best at coming up with ideas. He needs hints.

 

[bytheblood]

Originally posted by skiwee1
If your husband truly wanted your birthday to be magical then he can start by coughing up the money to do so. There are plenty of florists that deliver to WDW, my favorite is the WDW Florists, that will be happy to bring you all kinds of birthday pixie dust for a price. He can have them send flowers and a nice gift basket. Perhaps a call to dining would get you a delicous dessert like the chocolate slipper or tuxedo strawberries delivered at special dinner. I don't blame you for not wanting to plan your own "surprises" and frankly I wouldn't. What fun is that? If he can't come up with things to wow you then I'd just forget about it. Personally I don't tell anyone at Disney that it's my birthday. The last thing I want is attention from strangers but that is me.

Gee, that almost seemed rude and like you were biting me.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

It was my birthday during my AKL conciege stay and it was mentioned on the reservation, but there was nothing out of the ordinary that occured during my stay. I don't know for sure, but I don't think there is anything done for birthdays as a rule besides the button you can get from guest relations.

As for things you can plan, I think there are special occasion cruises around seven seas lagoon and/ or the illuminations lake area. I'm sure if you made reservations at the Brown Derby w/ the Fantasmic show and mentioned your birthday on the reservation the server would wish you happy birthday at the very least--and that would be a fun evening! For both my son and my birthday at WDW, we've had the afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian and they sing and give you a spectacularly tall cupcake that is great fun! My mother had her birthday at Cinderella's Royal table and they sang and gave her free dessert (can't remember what it was....sorry).

A dinner and a lake or bay cruise with a firework show would be pretty magical birthday in my book!
Have fun planning.

 

[bytheblood]

Originally posted by Ladyhawke10
As for things you can plan, I think there are special occasion cruises around seven seas lagoon and/ or the illuminations lake area. I'm sure if you made reservations at the Brown Derby w/ the Fantasmic show and mentioned your birthday on the reservation the server would wish you happy birthday at the very least--and that would be a fun evening! For both my son and my birthday at WDW, we've had the afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian and they sing and give you a spectacularly tall cupcake that is great fun! My mother had her birthday at Cinderella's Royal table and they sang and gave her free dessert (can't remember what it was....sorry).

A dinner and a lake or bay cruise with a firework show would be pretty magical birthday in my book!

Thank you for the suggestions - I will copy and paste these into an email and send to my husband. He will come up with something from this and then my suggestions about CRT and CM character dining as well as Concourse Steakhouse.

 

[Gabrielle]

By all means, encourage your husband to tell the resort/restaurants, etc. that it's your birthday. Most WDW folks will enjoy wishing you a happy birthday and perhaps doing a little something special.

The performers at the Hoop-de-doo show at Fort Wilderness like to make a fuss over the Birthday folks.

I took my kids to the California Grill for their birthday dinner. I had a surprise cake delivered to the table and we enjoyed it while watching the Fireworks go off over the Castle. That's a nice way to celebrate a birthday.

Have a wonderful time at WDW on your birthday!!

 

[MrsJ Henry]

Why don't you give him the idea to come on the boards here so we all can give him some suggestions so that you can be surprised!!!!!

 

[mic_key_mouse]

I second the suggestion to encourage your DH to offhandedly mention it is your birthday- but it sounds like he is already doing so. I never mentioned mine when I was there and would have preferred it stayed that way... I still had a lot of fun suprises because my significant other (at the time) made a point of mentioning it at various times.

We go to celebrate something or other most every time and I expect no special treatment. If something nice happens it is a bonus. We are going for my sons bday in 9 days, and the CM asked about it so I told her. How she knew I have no clue- maybe it is one of the questions they routinely ask. I had no intention of volunteering the information. We will get him a button at guest services and if the CMs feel like doing something nice that is great- if not that's OK too.

As for the flower/ gift basket ideas, I personally think they are a waste of money- but I'm a guy. It is money better spent on an expensive, memorable dinner at one of the better restaurants at WDW. That is a memory that will last- the flowers just die and are forgotten. Maybe a little too practical for some of you romantics out there, but that is really how I feel Please don't beat me up too bad for that opinion, ladies He is already taking you to WDW, which is just a little more expensive than a dozen roses

Blessings,
mic_key_mouse

 

[Dizz42]

LOL! My DH felt the same way and I'm glad he did. When we were at Disney for my 50th, we were eating at Liberty Tree and he handed me the most beautiful card. In it he said about the same thing you just said and he had attached a "Gift Certificate" for one fine piece of Disney jewelry of my choice. Since it was the first day of our vacation, he said I had all week to go into any and all shops to find whatever I wanted. He felt it would really mean alot to me whenever I wore it. Well, it was just the two of us and I started to cry. Meantime, Chip & Dale saw and came over to the table. Needless to say, we had lots of "conversation", they went away and came back with handfulls of Pixie Dust (little colored foil Mickey heads), ALL of the other characters, and the waiters and waitresses carrying a cake. Everybody sang Happy Birthday to me and then they presented me with a card they had all signed...no joke...Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofey, Chip & Dale. I have a fabulous solid gold Mickey ring I wear all the time and my personally signed Birthday card. But more important than anything, I've got this wonderful memory of Chip & Dale motioned for me to open my hands and them filling them with Pixie Dust and while they danced around there was my DH sitting there grinning from ear-to-ear. It was magic!

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by bytheblood
Gee, that almost seemed rude and like you were biting me.

How was my answer rude? I gave you hints to give your husband to do something nice for your birthday. Do you consider it rude that I mentioned payment for such items? Everybody goes to WDW and hoping for something magical. When they don't get it they come back here whining and complaining how nothing was done for them even though they mentioned the special occasion on the reservation, they wore a button, they told every CM within 50 feet, and so on. Well, everyone seems to celebrate birthdays at WDW even if their special day was 4 months prior or one week after their trip! LOL! Everyone is looking for pixie dust and Disney just can't give everyone everything. So I suggested if your dear wonderful DH really wanted to make sure your birthday was magical then to go ahead and pay for it. That way you get what you want and he feels good for having provided it. That isn't rude. It's reality.

 

[Minky]

I dunno, I think it might be coming across just a TAD rude, BUT it is sound advice

I totally understand wanting to have a special time for your b-day especially since you wont be going again for a long time...SO if I were you definetely see about getting a birthday pin and or a guest of honor pin, have heard a lot of really cool stories involved with these. Also if you have the guts, buy and wear the BIG birthday cake hat!! This tells the CM's that you are here to have fun and immerse yourself in magic. When they see that they are DEFINETLY Going to get more involved. There are places that make a bigger deal about bdays like another poster mentioned, you might want to check that out. Your Hubby can also make certain requests to the hotel desk about having certain things brought there (signed photos, bday cake, balloons you said he needs hints LOL) With a little bit of planning and the pins and hat and a sprinkle of pixie dust, I promise you will have the best birthday ever!

 

[mic_key_mouse]

I see a red flag here, folks...Hopefully my post will help to keep this can of worms from being opened any more than it is. Read my post all the way through, please- as my intent here is that maybe we can drop this before more comments are made and peoples' feelings get hurt.

I found the response to be a bit harsh- but it was in response to what may have seemed to some to be a fairly self-serving post. The reality of WDW is that if you 'expect' something- be prepared to pay for it. She gave sound advice- we should let it go at that and not turn this into an argument It is VERY difficult to know what the intent of the poster was on a message board, and we should always try to give people the benefit of the doubt

You can see from this post that I formed opinions about both the original post and the response, but that may not have been the intent of either person. To blow this out of proportion is unnecessary, as we are all here to have fun planning a magical vacation Hopefully we can just let this pass regardless of intent and continue to give advice to the best of our ability. I hope this helped and didn't upset anyone, as my intent here was to show that we all form opinions about the posts we read but our opinions may not be valid. Reagrdless of what opinions we may form, it should not prevent a pleasant, 'neutral', helpful response- as I believe my original post above was If I have a problem or concern about a post, I PM the person to resolve it. A conflict is always better resolved privately between the two parties involved

Blessings,
mic_key_mouse

 

[safetymom]

Please try to be helpful to posters when questions are asked. Not everyone knows the "rules" or exactly what they can and can't ask for. No need for attitude or questioning the reasoning of the OP.

Thank you.

 

[DisneyMim]

OK I am going to jump in here with my 2 cents. I don't think the poster was trying to be rude. I am a LONG time WDW visitor (since the 1970 so yes I am OLD! LOL!!) We have gone every year for my son's b-day (he is almost 16), for our 25th Anniversary, etc. etc. etc. We have NEVER had anything special done for us. In fact before I read these boards I never knew so many people received "pixie dust". And this I believe is the problem. We have always mentioned events to CMS and some did say Happy Birthday, etc., but that is all. I think so many people read these boards now and think that getting special treatment is the norm, when in reality it is not. I always tell people who ask me (I get asked questions a lot since everyone I know thinks I am related to Mickey Mouse, I've been soooo many times!! LOL!!) that if you really really want something, plan ahead. We have ordered beautiful cakes from Disney. We have also ordered wonderful cakes from Goodings at Crossroads. I have brought from home and/or bought in the parks presents for my kids and have arranged them in the rooms brfore they could see. I have brought decorations from home for holidays, etc for our room to make it more special for the kids. There is a lot you can do. You can order wonderful stuff, plan special dinners, the lists are endless today. I also would encourage anyone to yes go ahead and tell all the CMS you meet, but just don't expect anything. If it happens it will truly be magical, but if not, always have a back-up plan.

Just my little ole 2 cents!! Or maybe 1 cent these days!!

 

[treehugger]

Um, to get back on topic here. I never note on our reservations birthdays, anniversaries etc. A special and memorable birthday need not cost you much at all. What resort are you staying at? My fondest birthday memory was one year when we stayed at the Poly, DH purchased a bottle of my favorite wine and we went to the Beach and watched the fireworks from MK. I just remember thinking it doesn't get better than this and when he gave me a sterling Mickey ring (set him back a whole $20) it might as well have been a 3 ct diamond. I cried like a baby! I guess what I'm saying is the magic is where you both find it. Have a wonderful time and a super birthday!

 

[mmeb144]

Your DH could buy window clings to put on the mirrors, windows, etc. Basically, decorate the room when you are out. The WDW florist is good, too. Definitely collect the birthday pins from the parks. You can always loan/give them to friends when you get home for their birthdays.

Just don't go expecting magical treatment for your birthday, you may be disappointed.

Marie

 

[westjones]

If it were me, I would ask to go to afternoon tea at the GF and order the white chocolate glass slipper. It has to be ordered ahead of time, it isn't on the menu, but many have arranged this as a special treat. I first saw it on a Travel Channel show about Disneyland Paris.

I would LOVE to get this sometime, but so far, haven't found the right occassion. Here is a thread (rather long) about the slipper:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=447625

If you go to about the 4th message there is a link to a picture. It is SO beautiful!

DJ