Is a Birthday still special at Disney?

[I_heart_Tigger]

I have been to WDW on my birthday and the attention and surprises I recieved were so much fun! There was something in my room for arrival, I had cupcakes and singing at dinner, CM's and Characters always made a big fuss over me and being an attention hog I loved every minute of it!!!

My sister and I are taking my neice for her 8th birthday in August and I was wondering, now that Disney is focusing on Birthdays and other celebrations, will she still get special attention in the park?

We didn't plan the trip because of the celebration on now and I would hate to think that it's just one more kid with a birthday in the park this year and that she would have had a better experience if we did this last year or next.

Anyone who has celebrated a birthday at Disney recently care to comment?

 

[kstella]

I celebrated my birthday there in Feb and had a ball! I had my pin and got lots of birthday greetings. I got a crown at dinner and a cupcake. The new block party celebration was a lot of fun.

 

[durangojim]

I have been to WDW on my birthday and the attention and surprises I recieved were so much fun! There was something in my room for arrival, I had cupcakes and singing at dinner, CM's and Characters always made a big fuss over me and being an attention hog I loved every minute of it!!!

My sister and I are taking my neice for her 8th birthday in August and I was wondering, now that Disney is focusing on Birthdays and other celebrations, will she still get special attention in the park?

We didn't plan the trip because of the celebration on now and I would hate to think that it's just one more kid with a birthday in the park this year and that she would have had a better experience if we did this last year or next.

Anyone who has celebrated a birthday at Disney recently care to comment?

Last Sept. before all the Celebrate Every Day stuff was going on, we celebrated my wife's birthday. All week she got free deserts, pop, and other special things or acts of kindness. At Le Cellier she was given a wonderful personalized desert and we didn't even ask, she just had her pin on. We ate a Chef Mickey's and they gave her a Happy Birthday place mat which was pretty cool.

This May, we celebrated my birthday, I received a $75 gift card. That was it (I'm not trying to sound upset because that card bought my kids some nice souvenirs). I thoroughly believe that because of the official options for celebrating your birthday and Disney has to offset the costs somehow. So when we dined at Le Cellier, there was nothing free. When we ate at Chef Mickeys, there was no placemat, and I didn't receive anything else at the parks. My wife told me she had requested twice whiile we were staying at the WL that they put a card and baloons in our room as they have done every other time we've stayed at a Disney resort, but they never did. I did get a lot of "Happy Birthday Jim" said by many cast members which was nice.

Overall the $75 is nice, but it would be nice if they would have kept up with some of the "surprises"

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

We celebrated my birthday there in January. I was sung to at Whispering Canyon, got a free cookie at Sunshine Seasons and a cupcake at Crystal Palace and various happy birthdays from CMs and other guests. Two birthday balloons and an autographed picture of Minnie were delivered to our room at CBR.

But my favorite birthday moment was watching Spectromagic - during the parade, Mary Poppins said 'happy birthday' to me.

 

[MissM]

Last Sept. before all the Celebrate Every Day stuff was going on, we celebrated my wife's birthday. All week she got free deserts, pop, and other special things or acts of kindness. At Le Cellier she was given a wonderful personalized desert and we didn't even ask, she just had her pin on. We ate a Chef Mickey's and they gave her a Happy Birthday place mat which was pretty cool.

This May, we celebrated my birthday, I received a $75 gift card. That was it (I'm not trying to sound upset because that card bought my kids some nice souvenirs). I thoroughly believe that because of the official options for celebrating your birthday and Disney has to offset the costs somehow. So when we dined at Le Cellier, there was nothing free. When we ate at Chef Mickeys, there was no placemat, and I didn't receive anything else at the parks. My wife told me she had requested twice whiile we were staying at the WL that they put a card and baloons in our room as they have done every other time we've stayed at a Disney resort, but they never did. I did get a lot of "Happy Birthday Jim" said by many cast members which was nice.

Overall the $75 is nice, but it would be nice if they would have kept up with some of the "surprises"

This was basically our experience with Love's birthday in February and mine in May as well. Last year, we both wound up with free ice cream, free sodas, CM's getting crowds to sing "Happy Birthday" to you, character signed birthday cards, special desserts at dinner, etc. A lot of fun, random, unexpected surprises. (And we just go for the day!)

This year, Love did get a cupcake at dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern but neither of us had any special, random surprises. They didn't even put the birthday confetti down on the table like they used to do.

It does seem that since everyone is so aware of making a point to go on their birthday, get their button, get their free admission or gift card, that the parks are FULL to the brim of people celebrating their birthday now. Used to be maybe 20% max of people would have birthday buttons on. Now it seems more like 80% of people are wearing a button (birthday, anniversary, etc.) I think unfortunately,the much larger numbers means the CM's just aren't as able to personalize random surprises for you anymore like they used to.

Disney on your birthday is still awesome - and $75 was definitely fun to receive - but there is a level of the randomness that's definitely missing this year versus previous years.

 

[dave1105]

Great thread! I have been wondering the same thing myself. Sounds like the experiences definately vary.

The DW and I were there last November to celebrate her Birthday and got her a button at check in. My birthday was a few days before we arrived and didn't want to take away from hers since that was the premise of the trip.

I made sure I noted that we were celebrating DW's Birthday when I made the ADR's. She did get the Birthday placement at Chef Mickey's along with a Cupcake complete with candle. Also got a cupcake with candle at Grand Floridian. She also got the balloons and card from Minnie Mouse in the room upon our return on her Birthday.

But when we traded in our park tickets for annual passes at Animal Kingdom the CM noticed my birthday had just passed and gave me a button to wear much to my DW's delight!

It was kinda cool walking thru the parks and having the CM's wishing us a Happy Birthday!

 

[durangojim]

Great thread! I have been wondering the same thing myself. Sounds like the experiences definately vary.

The DW and I were there last November to celebrate her Birthday and got her a button at check in. My birthday was a few days before we arrived and didn't want to take away from hers since that was the premise of the trip.

I made sure I noted that we were celebrating DW's Birthday when I made the ADR's. She did get the Birthday placement at Chef Mickey's along with a Cupcake complete with candle. Also got a cupcake with candle at Grand Floridian. She also got the balloons and card from Minnie Mouse in the room upon our return on her Birthday.

But when we traded in our park tickets for annual passes at Animal Kingdom the CM noticed my birthday had just passed and gave me a button to wear much to my DW's delight!

It was kinda cool walking thru the parks and having the CM's wishing us a Happy Birthday!

Yep, those were the cards that one of us always received on our birthday, but not this year. We did receive some kind of certificate with a photopass when we checked in stating it was my birthday, but the cards were always way cooler.

 

[DDuckFan130]

I've celebrated at least 3 birthdays while at WDW, including this year. Sometimes I'm lucky with the "freebies," and sometimes I'm not. Mostly, I'm not actually (my sister has gotten a free Dole Whip :lol: ) Last year, I got a balloon and a card with Minnie on the front.

We were at the P&P party for my birthday, and on video you hear Aladdin and a Lost Boy wishing me a happy birthday during the parade :lol:

This year, I was at DHS for my birthday and got the gift card that I used the next day at Epcot. I got birthday greetings from CM's. The nicest thing I think I got was at our breakfast at Boma:

The hostess and waitresses were also very nice. They gave me a "standard" celebrate card, but wished me a happy birthday in their native languages and specified what part of Africa they were from.



You can't go in expecting freebies, but it's nice when you get them. My sister just got this at the 50s Prime Time:

 

[peterpangirl_22]

i've never been to disney for my birthday before but this year i will celebrating my 18th birthday in august and i had a question. has anyone here celebrated their birthday at hollywood studios? i will be going to this park on my birthday and i'll be having lunch at the brown derby. And one other thing i'm also using this trip to celebrate my graduation, can i get a button to celebrate this too?

And everything you are saying about your birthdays at disney is making me even more excited for my trip

 

[DDuckFan130]

i've never been to disney for my birthday before but this year i will celebrating my 18th birthday in august and i had a question. has anyone here celebrated their birthday at hollywood studios? i will be going to this park on my birthday and i'll be having lunch at the brown derby. And one other thing i'm also using this trip to celebrate my graduation, can i get a button to celebrate this too?

And everything you are saying about your birthdays at disney is making me even more excited for my trip

You can get an "I'm celebrating" button and put the reason under with a sharpie. I put "end of school year" on mine because I'm a teacher, and well yeah... :lookaroun

 

[marni1971]

They`d better be special. Both Michelle and myself will be in WDW for ours this year.

Just being in Orlando will make both days special. Plus we have several ADRs lined up. And a MVMCP on mine

 

[Bug715]

I've always thought it depended on the CMs you encounter how much you get. No matter what you get a lot of CMs wishing you Happy Birthday but other than that it varies.

In June 2007 we celebrated my Mom's birthday and I made sure to mention many times when I called to make ADRs & Magical Express changes that she would be celebrating her birthday. They ate at Chef Mickey's on her birthday & my aunt called ahead and talked to them when they got there about getting Mom a birthday cake but she just got the cupcake. I was a bit disapointed because I saw CMs taking balloons & cards to other rooms near ours but somehow she never got one.

I celebrated my 21st birthday there last July. I wore my button all 3 days and had a blast. On my birthday I got a free Margarita & had to get on stage at Jellyrolls to play a game with another girl who was turning 22. The next day I got a free cookie at DHS. The last day there I got a free marshmellow with sprinkles in the Confectionary (it was funny because my friend & I had both worked there just 7 months before and the CM was one of the few we didn't still know) & 2 PAC CMs had everyone on Main Street waiting for the parade sing me Happy Birthday (which was special since I'd worked there). I didn't get something free at every meal or cards and a balloon in my room but it was the best birthday ever. That made my very low key birthday this year really lame. I can't wait to celebrate my birthday in Disney again.

 

[Ghall]

My 4 year old son and myself celebrated our birthdays on the same day in Disneyworld two weeks ago. On check-in we both got birthday buttons which my son insisted on wearing straight away which was 3 days before his birthday. He got birthday cards, cupcakes and the CM's sang Happy Birthday in the Rose and Crown, Ohana's, Tusker House, Mama Melrose, and Garden Grill. The Garden grill even gave his some extra gummy worms to take home. On our actual birthday I got a gift card for $75 and my son got a gift card for $63. We ate breakfast in the Cape May Cafe. We got 2 birthday cards and 2 cupcakes and Minnie Mouse helped us blow out the candles and everyone sang Happy Birthday. All day people wished us Happy Birthday. That night we ate in the California Grill. Our table was covered in Mickey confetti and we got two large slices of Chocolate cake. When we returned to our room there were two cards on our beds, one from Mickey Mouse for my son with a signed photo to him and a discount card for the photopass and I got a signed photo of Minnie Mouse with the photo pass discount card. Our birthdays were really special in Disneyworld.

This is our bithday cake from the California Grill which we got one each.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

My 4 year old son and myself celebrated our birthdays on the same day in Disneyworld two weeks ago. On check-in we both got birthday buttons which my son insisted on wearing straight away which was 3 days before his birthday. He got birthday cards, cupcakes and the CM's sang Happy Birthday in the Rose and Crown, Ohana's, Tusker House, Mama Melrose, and Garden Grill. The Garden grill even gave his some extra gummy worms to take home. On our actual birthday I got a gift card for $75 and my son got a gift card for $63. We ate breakfast in the Cape May Cafe. We got 2 birthday cards and 2 cupcakes and Minnie Mouse helped us blow out the candles and everyone sang Happy Birthday. All day people wished us Happy Birthday. That night we ate in the California Grill. Our table was covered in Mickey confetti and we got two large slices of Chocolate cake. When we returned to our room there were two cards on our beds, one from Mickey Mouse for my son with a signed photo to him and a discount card for the photopass and I got a signed photo of Minnie Mouse with the photo pass discount card. Our birthdays were really special in Disneyworld.

This is our bithday cake from the California Grill which we got one each.

That's great to hear...having celebrated a birthday there myself i know how exciting it is and I just want to make sure my neice has the best birthday ever! Of course, how could she NOT...she'll be in Disney World for a whole week.

My sister and I have a couple surprises up our sleeves, she doesn't know about the dinner in the castle (a dream of hers...literally) or about the Polynesian Luau (she's a big fan of the dancing and music in Lilo and Stitch) and I made sure when making our room ressie's and ADR's to mention it's her birthday.

No matter what happens I know we'll have a great time and it's nice to hear that Disney isn't so swamped with birthdays that they let the occasion pass by without regarding it in some way.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Last year it took about 2 days until the goodies started coming..
At Pecos Bills I got a cookie
Aloha Isle - Dole Whip Float
Liberty Inn - Fudge Cake Brownie
Sci-Fi dine in - Mickey-fetti sundae

Other things I got was a piece of tye-dye cheese cake from Pop and a Balloon Bouquet with Mickey's autograph
And during MNSSHP I came home with 2 full bags worth since I wore my button during the event..Big hand fulls of candy were put in my bags.

 

[countrygrl4]

Does anyone know the number to call about notifying Disney about birthday days adn first visits. I am going in midaugust with 2 friends and we are celebrating my first visit ever and I'm 21! and then me and my friends 21st bdays.

 

[Ghall]

Does anyone know the number to call about notifying Disney about birthday days adn first visits. I am going in midaugust with 2 friends and we are celebrating my first visit ever and I'm 21! and then me and my friends 21st bdays.

When I made our dinning reservations for the day of our birthdays, they asked if we were celebrating anything special and I told them that we had 2 birthdays which they noted in our reservation. Also when I booked the hotel reservation they also put it into the booking. When you check-in advise them again that you are celebrating a birthday and they will give you a birthday button to wear. When the CM's see you wearing the button they will know that it's your birthday. My 4 year old son wore his for about 4 days and got cards and cupcakes everywhere eventhou it was only noted in our dinning reservations for the actual day of our birthdays

 

[Ghall]

That's great to hear...having celebrated a birthday there myself i know how exciting it is and I just want to make sure my neice has the best birthday ever! Of course, how could she NOT...she'll be in Disney World for a whole week.

My sister and I have a couple surprises up our sleeves, she doesn't know about the dinner in the castle (a dream of hers...literally) or about the Polynesian Luau (she's a big fan of the dancing and music in Lilo and Stitch) and I made sure when making our room ressie's and ADR's to mention it's her birthday.

No matter what happens I know we'll have a great time and it's nice to hear that Disney isn't so swamped with birthdays that they let the occasion pass by without regarding it in some way.

Hope your neice has a great day, my son loved his especially when Minnie Mouse came to help him blow out his candles. He loved all his birthday cupcakes and cards. In Ohana's he got a cupcake and everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. You will have a great time.

 

[Scar Junior]

I have been to WDW on my birthday and the attention and surprises I recieved were so much fun! There was something in my room for arrival, I had cupcakes and singing at dinner, CM's and Characters always made a big fuss over me and being an attention hog I loved every minute of it!!!

My sister and I are taking my neice for her 8th birthday in August and I was wondering, now that Disney is focusing on Birthdays and other celebrations, will she still get special attention in the park?

We didn't plan the trip because of the celebration on now and I would hate to think that it's just one more kid with a birthday in the park this year and that she would have had a better experience if we did this last year or next.

Anyone who has celebrated a birthday at Disney recently care to comment?

I am lucky enough to be on both sides of the ball...

I have been lucky enough to celebrate several birthdays at WDW. One of my favorites includes watching the parade and fireworks at Tony's (actually happened twice)... while another one was when I got a phone call that asked me to help to pick out the color of prom flowers (not caring the 20 minute conversation seemed to take forever) while I was laying in a hammock at Coronado Springs. Note... I never wore a birthday button as I wasn't in to having CMs notice me only for the button...

On the otherhand... when I worked frontline at Animal Kingdom I loved spotting people with a birthday button. I always spotted and called attention to people with birthday/wedding paraphrenalia.

 

[dixiegirl]

Last Sept. before all the Celebrate Every Day stuff was going on, we celebrated my wife's birthday. All week she got free deserts, pop, and other special things or acts of kindness. At Le Cellier she was given a wonderful personalized desert and we didn't even ask, she just had her pin on. We ate a Chef Mickey's and they gave her a Happy Birthday place mat which was pretty cool.

This May, we celebrated my birthday, I received a $75 gift card. That was it (I'm not trying to sound upset because that card bought my kids some nice souvenirs). I thoroughly believe that because of the official options for celebrating your birthday and Disney has to offset the costs somehow. So when we dined at Le Cellier, there was nothing free. When we ate at Chef Mickeys, there was no placemat, and I didn't receive anything else at the parks. My wife told me she had requested twice whiile we were staying at the WL that they put a card and baloons in our room as they have done every other time we've stayed at a Disney resort, but they never did. I did get a lot of "Happy Birthday Jim" said by many cast members which was nice.

Overall the $75 is nice, but it would be nice if they would have kept up with some of the "surprises"

Oh please tell me anyone that they are still giving the placemats at Chef Mickeys and that this was a fluke???
We have done Chef Mickeys for my oldest daughters bday for the past 8 yrs and always got a placemat...Last year they changed to a green placemat, still cute.
But this year we'll be celebrating both our girls bdays there and alll my 5 year old keeps saying is"when she goes to chef mickeys for her bday she'll be getting her own placemat"...... Anyone know???