my husband and i are taking our three chilren to DL in at the end of feb. our kids will be 1yr, 9yrs and 11yrs. we will be celebrating our baby girl having her one year old birthday there. **our first day at disney will be her actual birthday. my questions are: -do i pick up her birthday sticker/button first? -should we do a breakfast or a dinner for our meal to celebrate her? (we have no experience with any of the resturants except for goofy's kitchen which we did once, years ago) -which resturant would most appropriate for our family and age of our kids? -is the birthday bucket worth it and which one is good? -any other tips for me? **basically, what would be your itinerary for the day? (we will have four days there but would like to make our first day/her birthday, a really great day)
You can pick up her birthday button at City hall. I would do it right when you get there, that way she'll get birthday wishes all day long. For a birthday meal, it depends on what you are looking for. My personal fav is breakfast with Minnie and Friends at the plaza. Its in the park, so you arent wasting time getting to and from one of the other locations. The character interaction is great! For her age I would skip the birthday bucket. I've heard the cake isnt very good and I dont think the toys would be great for her age. Other tips: Dont stress over making her have a good time, she's still a baby. She probably wont like the characters, but the rest of you can still enjoy them! Get to the park early, before opening. It makes a huge difference in what you can get done in a day. Plan to park hop during the day. Use baby/child swap for the big rides.
Just bring all the stuff your baby needs and backpack/water bottle is a good combination... or you can buy those lasso straps from the carts with water. and make sure you bring lots and lots and lots of cash to buy food with... since outdoor carts dont take atms.
Also, she can wear her button for extra days if she (you) wants. We were at WDW for my DD 7th and we were leaving on her actual day. We got her her buttons a few days before for her to wear. She got alot of birthday wishes (not to mention free desserts!) Don't forget to stop by Mission Tortilla Factory at DCA. She'll get a dozen tortillas as a brithday gift! Have a great trip. Feb. should be a nice time to visit.
If you're staying at an onsite hotel, you can get a birthday button at check-in. (Saves you having to stand in line at City Hall.) If you are thinking a character meal for DD's birthday celebration, what about Minnie & Friends? It often has Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore, which my DS2 would have loved! I think it's also a quieter meal, whereas Goofy's Kitchen and Lilo & Stitch breakfast (the two we did) have a bit of entertainment and physical activity involved if the kids want to participate. I can't remember which mealtimes (breakfast/lunch/dinner) are available for Minnie & Friends, but I believe it's breakfast. Babies that young are often not yet afraid of people in costume, so she may have a wonderful time, in addition to the older kids. If you know she is afraid of costumed characters, then I would suggest the princess meal (held at Ariel's in DCA) because the princesses are all 'face' characters and less likely to intimidate little ones.
Make sure if you are staying on-site to let the hotel know and they will probably leave a signed autograph in the room from one of the characters for you. Also for like thirty five dollars they will bring a full size cake decorated for her birthday. I would do that over the plaza only because my cousin did that for their son and felt like it wasn't anything special. We got the cake for our son on his second birthday last year and disney did a great job. Have fun.
