Taking kids to WDW in stead of throwing birthday parties

[bettybeth]

We're doing the same thing!! After 2 straight summers of not going to Disney I had to come up with a way to convince my husband we could afford it. These days it is very easy to spend 400 on a party (or should I say very hard not to) and with 3 kids that's 1200 toward our Disney vacation. Then we all found something else to give up - music camp, golf weekend, sport camp, etc. And we did it!

 

[6mouskateers]

In Sept we were at WDW for DD's 8th b-day, had dinner with Pooh and Friends at Crystal Palace--they all signed a special b-day card for her and she had a wonderful time. We are planning to be there again this Sept for her BD and are looking into the Pirate Cruise. SHe would love it and it would be great fun instead of a stuffy old party here at home.

 

[dixipixi]

Everyone of us (DH, myself, and 3 kids) has a birthday within a 6 week period from mid April to the 1st of June.

We always celebrate each birthday with a barbeque, seafood boil, or something like that with cake and ice cream. Family members are invited and the bday boy/girl gets to invite 1 friend.

We then take off as soon as school's out (anywhere from May 25th-31st) for vacation. Each one of us has our own day during the trip when we pick where to go and what to eat.

Our kids have always liked that idea better than elaborate parties at home. On each persons "special day" we order a special dessert for them and sing happy birthday. They also get a little gift.

That's just our way of doing it. We would all rather have a nice trip than a 3 hour party and lots of junky gifts.

We're actually considering taking a trip this year for Christmas instead of giving gifts (our youngest is 13...so they're much more willing to do this than they would have been a few years ago).

 

[KimberlyC]

We decided to do both this year, except the b-day party at home will be smaller and more subdued. Here's why... Kids' parties are ridiculously expensive. Last year I spent over $2000 on DS's b-day but it was his 1st so I justify it in my own head. DH thought I was completely nutters. He ended up being right (don't tell him ) because so many things went wrong (including $8000 worth of property damage caused by the horrible tent rental company) so I swore never again. So instead of a big party this year we are going to WDW, just for a 4 day weekend the weekend before his actual b-day. I'm dedicating one day to his b-day and we have ADR's and I'll order a cake for him. He probably won't remember any of it but I'll be happy just knowing he's happy at the time. Of course the grandparents would be hurt if they weren't able to celebrate his b-day so we are also having a small party at Jeepers on his b-day weekend. It will still cost me a few hundred bucks even though there will only be him and 5 cousins (adults are free except for the pizza and pop to feed them) but comparatively speaking that's not too bad.

If it wasn't for the grandparents wanting to celebrate, I would consider skipping the party at home. WDW is much better than Jeepers. I say just pick a day for each child to celebrate, let them pick the park of their choice, get the b-day button for each child on their day, order a cake and have a meal at their favorite restaurant.

 

[Sandi12404]

I'm hoping to do this in a couple years. My DD's birthdays are on Jan 20 and Jan 25. My house is small so we always have to have their parties somewhere else and in January it's hard to find a cheap party (it's not like we can go to the park). So I was thinking for Christmas 2007 we would somehow announce their birthday trip for the following month and stress there will be no "friend party". I already checked the calendar and we will be able to schedule a trip so they will both be there on their actual birthdays. It works out great. I want to go to WDW and I can justify the spending money because we won't be paying for a party. My DH just rolls his eyes and asks if we can get through this trip first. We leave in 134 days

 

[ENSOCK]

I am doing it this year. My DS birthdays are June 13 & June 28th. We will be there from the 9th - 16th. When I called to make my ADR's the nice lady I spoke with put every TS meal as a birthday meal for my DSs. She also told me to make sure to get the birthday buttons each day for both. I did not tell the boys yet because I don't want them to expect anything and not recieve anything. My DH had a fit when I asked what to get for a present for each DS. His words "You are spending $XXXX on WDW and you want to spend more on toys that they will not play with?" Men just do not understand!

 

[KimberlyC]

Men just do not understand!

Isn't that the truth.

I have found a way to make it a bit better though. It has worked for me at least. I give him something he wants along with our WDW vacation that is really more for the kids and me. Ok, that sounds dirty so I'll be more specific. DH loves baseball, is obsessed really. So we are flying into Tampa and he'll see a game the first night and we'll head to WDW the next morning. It makes him happy and a happy husband is too distracted/excited to have opinions about anything else. No opinions=nothing to understand. Now my BIL is obsessed with golf, has never been to WDW and has no desire to go. When Dsis' newborn is old enough she's gonna have to book some T times, or whatever they call it, to get him to go and keep him quiet.

I'm about to get flamed by all the husbands on this thread, aren't I?

 

[princesspiglet]

Delete-double post

 

[princesspiglet]

We are doing this for our DD's 4th birthday this November. Her birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year, so we are arriving Nov 21 through Dec 1. On her actual "birthday" we are going to HDDR and then a carriage ride around Ft. Wilderness. We are going to "celebrate" her birthday on Saturday when both sets of grandparents come down (they both have timeshares that start on Sat). She and I have already planned the whole day! I am going to order a basket from Peggy to be delivered to our room the night before and make sure she receives it first thing in the morning. Then we are going to the princess breakfast at Akershus. We will then head over to DTD where she can shop for one big present (from her grandparents) at World of Disney. We will probably play in Legoland for awhile then have a healthy ice cream lunch at Ghiradelli! From there she will head to Bibbidy Boo Salon to become a princess for the night! (getting the whole package with dress, hair, makeup). Then we are all heading to 1900 PF for dinner with Cinderella. I plan on ordering her a very special birthday cake along with the Cinderella slipper from the GF bakery. After dinner we will explore GF and probably head out to the beach to walk ELP and catch Wishes! The night sounds perfect, I just hope it goes off without a hitch!

Regarding birthdays at home, we spent over $500 last year for a gymnastics party (along with presents) and she ended up returning most of the gifts. She specifically asked for a "no friends" party this year. I think she was a little overwhelmed last year with the 20 guests. I think she will be fine this year with just family.

 

[garada3]

We did away with the kid parties this year too.

I gave the kids the choice of having a party with friends over or $100 to spend any way they wanted at WDW. All three chose the $$$.

On the actual bdays each kid had 1 buddy over for pizza and a sleepover.

It worked out great. I hope I am not the only one to admit this, but I really hate the whole kids birthday party thing.

My birthday is the next one in the family, wonder if they will give me a choice of a party or WDW

 

[bethbuchall]

By the way, we were at one of the All Stars a few years ago on MY birthday. When we returned from the theme park, there were balloons and a birthday card signed by Mickey. I swore all evening that my husband did it and he swore he didn't. Finally I believed him and we found out the hotel did it. They had my birthdate in their system and just took care of it. It was a really nice surprise!!!

That's really neat! We were at the CR a couple of years ago for ds's birthday and then my birthday two days later. I would have flipped if there were balloons and a card in the room!

Beth

 

[tinaluis]

I really like the idea of setting aside 1 day for each child to celebrate their b-day. We are going to WDW in August sandwiched in between all three of my girls' b-days (7/27, 8/7 and 9/11). I'm going to set aside a day for each, get a b-day button and let the people at our TS know we're celebrating a b-day. Then we'll let the b-day girl pick out a "special" thing to do like going on a carriage ride at POR, water park, to the arcade, etc. We'll have a small family cake and ice cream party at home on the actual day and then plan a special day at WDW. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[cynderella]

I gave him the choice of a party of taking 1 friend with him to DW and his immediate answer was DW! We had the cake thing at GM's house on his birthday which was a few weeks ago. We are going at the end of this month and I think I will choose a day to celebrate his birthday while we're there.

We have done this every year with my DS15 since he was about 3 years old and it has worked out perfectly. For his 5th birthday, he did choose to have a party. Boy, was that a lesson! He totally did not have as much fun as he did taking his best buddy with him wherever he chose, and has never even remotely considered a party again. He chose Disneyland several years, Six Flags once, water parks a couple of times, etc. and always had a blast. This is especially sensible for most boys, as they are generally less interested in parties than girls.

However, my little party girl, DD6, has always chosen the party thing so far. This year, though, we decided for both of them (their b-days are 10 days apart) that we will make a trip to WDW the first week of Aug. DD's birthday is on the third day of our trip, so we will do CRT breakfast, WTP, and Sci-Fi for dinner...make a big day out of it. She is NOT going to miss having a party (though she's already talking about what she wants to do at next year's party, lol) and I guess we're probably going to end up spending more than a party would have cost, but hey, WDW is a big trip for us. DS doesn't have his b-day until a few days after we get home, but I am going to get him a b-day button on our last full day so he can feel special, too. (He probably won't wear it, but we'll try!)

 

[cynderella]

I hope I am not the only one to admit this, but I really hate the whole kids birthday party thing.

Absolutely DESPISE it. It's exhausting, expensive, and completely unentertaining for ME. Also, it rarely turns out to be as gratifying as the kid hopes. I would just as soon never have another b-day party as long as I live, and for that matter, I don't really enjoy going to other kids' birthday parties either. Give me a memorable experience with family or friends any old day.

 

[2 Happy Kids]

We are celebrating my DS 4th birthday at WDW the week after Memorial Day. My DH thought that we should also have a kid/relative party before we leave, but I said no way. We will be getting ready to leave, plus he doesn't need any more toys! I am going to take cupcakes to preschool, which he will enjoy and then that will be his party with his friends.

We did get him a couple of small things, but his present is an 8 day WDW trip staying at CR. I made reservations at the Crystal Palace for dinner on his birthday and we will be getting a cake for him. I plan on getting him a birthday button that day, so that it will be his extra special day. I also had the CM note it in our reservations, just in case the CR did something special for birthdays, however I'm not expecting anything.

We haven't told the kids yet that we are going. I think that we are going to tell them tomorrow so that they will have a week to digest the fact that we are going to WDW. I ordered t-shirts off of Disney.com with the Disney friends on them and DS shirt says, "I celebrated my 4th birthday at WDW and then the dates" and my DD shirt says, "I celebrated my brother's 4th birthday at WDW". My DD (7) has a sleepover tonight, so I am going to put the shirt on DS in the morning before she gets home. I'm curious to see how long it will take DD to get it...if at all.

 

[LBKMAMA]

I don't know if you were planning a down day (no park),but your son might love the jester cruise out of POR or the Pirate cruise out of a couple of places on site CBR and GF for sure. My son would love that...we just won't have the time this year! That's awfully special! Maybe you and your daughter could do the tea party at GF at the same time?
Have fun....

 

[Bugsmom73]

It is my plan to have each of my children spend one of their birthdays at Disney. I am thinking thier 9th birthday but we shall see.

 

[kjs1976]

What about your own b-day? Can a "big kid" spend some extra $ to spend her 30th at WDW before having kiddos??????? (Guess I'm looking for justification )

 

[ksoehrlein]

It is my plan to have each of my children spend one of their birthdays at Disney. I am thinking thier 9th birthday but we shall see.

I did this for DD's 5th birthday, and I'm counting the days until DS turns 5 so I can do it for him. For DD, it was a Mommy-and-me trip while DH stayed home with DS. We had a blast! She and I both have lots of great memories of the trip and it was fun to do all the "girly" stuff DH and DS wouldn't have been interested in. I'm already thinking a Pirate Cruise in April 2008 as one of DS's birthday treats!

 

[pezheadmeg]

I celebrated my Sweet 16 at Disney! Trust me, it was much better than having the party. The birthday was much more memorable and probably a lot less stressful for everyone.