What to do about 3rd birthday?

[Cibahwewah]

Here's the dilemma (albeit a nice one)...
My little princess is 2. We booked our vacation for Jan 17-24 listing the kids' ages as 2 and 5. Her birthday is Jan 23, our last day of touring the parks, and our last night at the hotel (PC). They didn't charge us for hotel, admission, or DDP since she is 2. I registered her birthday on Disney's site for the What Will You Celebrate? promotion to get free admission on her birthday. You print out a page with a barcode and you are supposed to show that at will-call along with a notorized copy of the birth certificate for free admission for the birthday girl.
I figured we wouldn't need the free admission, since we had 6 day park hopper tickets, I just printed it "just in case."
Now I've read that if you forgo the free admission, you can get a birthday fast pass or a merchandise credit for the value of the ticket.
We have 9:15am reservations at CRT for a birthday breakfast. I plan on her wearing her Cinderella costume and birthday button that day...etc
I don't think we want the fast pass, b/c we'd planned a low-key day of meeting characters, watching the parade, etc, and will have ridden the rides earlier in the week. I'm tempted by the merchandise credit.
Should I forget about the birthday deal entirely and not risk getting tied up at the ticket window and being late for CRT? Or should I stand in line just to get free admission that we probably didn't need anyway (I heard they don't do age verification at the turnstiles), or do I take my chances and possibly get her the gift card? What would you do?

 

[scottish mum]

I would take the gift card. In disneys eyes she is 2 as they accept her age on the 1st day of your stay. She won't need a park ticket as she will be classed as 2 so get the card and then she can choose her own gift

 

[Tisha_PA]

I have a similar situation - our 2 year old twin boys are turning 3 during our trip. I asked our TA about this and she called Disney to see how it would work. We were told that the boys aren't eligible for the other gifts since they don't have paid admission to the park. If you find out otherwise, let us know

 

[Cibahwewah]

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. She may just get a button. Oh well.

 

[Cibahwewah]

I went to disneyparks.com and clicked on FAQ for the birthday deal. The offer IS only valid for guests over 3 years old, so no birthday perks for the princess. Oh well.

 

[Lady V]

It is only for paying guests and since she is already free I don't think she is elegible for anything. sorry!!!