Will we get any freebies for the following 'celebrations' on our trip?

H

HerefortheFood

Member
Just thought I would ask - I am hopeful but I am not expecting anything from either the hotel or parks (other than the birthday celebration pin that you can pick up)

- Partner's birthday which is during our trip.
- My first time at WDW in over 20 years.
- Celebrating 5 years of marriage (but not married at WDW)
 
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NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
Does free parking at the resorts now count? 😉 I think the best you can hope for is maybe a free cupcake at dinner if someone mentions it’s your partner’s birthday (we’ve sometimes been pixie dusted with this but I definitely wouldn’t count on it). Definitely have your partner wear the birthday pin. But as for celebration freebies…this isn’t like it was when they did the Hear of a Million Dreams where guests where randomly chosen for giveaways. That was the best!
 
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JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Never expect anything and IF it happens it will plus your trip. In all the vacations we’ve taken where we had added special occasions on our trip notifications ( bdays, anniversaries, graduations, celebrations, cancer free etc.) we only had one anniversary, the 25th, that got us some notice. Everyone thinks they are special enough to get noticed, but you are just one couple among thousands expecting to be noticed. It all depends on the CM that you get who feels you are worthy at that time to get something and they are feeling extra nice to do it.
 
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Gillyanne

Gillyanne

Well-Known Member
NelleBelle said:
think the best you can hope for is maybe a free cupcake at dinner if someone mentions it’s your partner’s birthday (we’ve sometimes been pixie dusted with this but I definitely wouldn’t count on it). Definitely have your partner wear the birthday pin.
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Weather_Lady said:
I got a button for my birthday and a CM who noticed it at ABC Commissary gave me a free cupcake. Despite multiple celebrations of various kinds, that's about all the recognition anyone in my family has gotten (but it still felt amazing)! ;)
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I've also been pixie dusted with a dessert when picking up a QS meal. I don't remember if I had a button on, but for my birthday trip, I usually wear a birthday ear hat. After we ordered, we were heading up to sit down to eat, and a CM was following us (I thought b/c they were cleaning up) but as we sat down they gave us a cannoli. This was my trip last year, we'll see what this trip in a few weeks brings ;)

Years ago my friend's SIL's birthday happened while we were there, and I think the TS restaurant gave her a dessert too.

On another note, sometimes the recognition isn't just freebies, but lots of "happy birthdays" from CMs, or in my case last year, like a good portion of the characters during the cavalcade :) getting little mouthings of "OH HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" while there were coming down the street was kind of magical.
 
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Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Gillyanne said:
I've also been pixie dusted with a dessert when picking up a QS meal. I don't remember if I had a button on, but for my birthday trip, I usually wear a birthday ear hat. After we ordered, we were heading up to sit down to eat, and a CM was following us (I thought b/c they were cleaning up) but as we sat down they gave us a cannoli. This was my trip last year, we'll see what this trip in a few weeks brings ;)

Years ago my friend's SIL's birthday happened while we were there, and I think the TS restaurant gave her a dessert too.

On another note, sometimes the recognition isn't just freebies, but lots of "happy birthdays" from CMs, or in my case last year, like a good portion of the characters during the cavalcade :) getting little mouthings of "OH HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" while there were coming down the street was kind of magical.
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Oh, yes - I forgot about the verbal greetings from CMs! On occasions where we scanned our MBs for Fastpass entry, in particular, something must have popped up on the screen if it was our birthday, because I remember birthday celebrants in our party being told "Happy Birthday" at some attraction entrances, even if they weren't wearing anything that made it obvious. :) That was fun.
 
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MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Birthday freebies went away when people were attempting to get them when it wasn't their birthday.

And expected much more than a cupcake.

People ruined it.

Also, terribly unfair to any child born in mid-September when it's impossible to get out of school... they would never have a Disney birthday until they became a Disney adult.

And Disney adults who think they deserve freebies because it's their birthday... well... that's what friends and family are for.
 
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donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
First off, congrats on all the celebrations…!!! :)
Not sure what they might do these days, as we haven’t been to WDW in a while, although we did celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary (3 days hence) on a Disney Magic cruise last month. Got all the usual wishes of congrats from CMs, some free desserts, etc., which is always nice…!!! :)
However, we had quite the time when we took our oldest DD to WDW in ‘07 for her Sweet 16 birthday.
We stayed in a family suite at ASMusic. After we checked in and got settled, I made a visit to the concierge desk. We were going to be in MK on her birthday in a few days, but, were going to come back to the resort for an afternoon break.
I asked if they could please have a little something waiting (a card, a few balloons, maybe) when we returned, and to let me know how much I owed them. Ashley (the concierge) said not to worry about that right now.
The morning of her birthday, after the train station welcome show, we were waiting at the front of the right tunnel for the Park to open, with a coupla’ hundred or so other Guests. An elderly CM noticed it was her Sweet 16 and had the whole crowd sing happy birthday to her…it was awesome…!!!!!!! :joyfull:
Lots of congrats to her as we made our way around the Park, as well…!!! :)
As mentioned, we returned to the resort that day for an afternoon break. When we walked in the room, I couldn’t believe what I saw for our daughter…
Half a dozen red roses, a card from Cinderella, some balloons, a Minnie Mouse plush, a Minnie t-shirt, a few keychains, and there may be something I’m forgetting (hey, I’ve slept since then ;)).
When I went down later to arrange payment, Ashley told me it was all “on the house”…are you kidding me…?!?!?! After a little of the usual “I can’t let you do that”, Ashley said something like “Hey, a girl only turns 16 once!”
And, with that, I thanked her profusely before heading back to our room.
Before we left to go home, I made sure to leave a good word regarding Ashley to her manager…!!! :)

Also, on her 21st birthday at MK in ‘12, we rode the trolley from Town Square to the hub with The Dapper Dans, and they sang happy birthday to her…just before she was proposed to in front of Cinderella Castle…darn good memories…!!!!! :happy:

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H

HerefortheFood

Member
Original Poster
MisterPenguin said:
Birthday freebies went away when people were attempting to get them when it wasn't their birthday.

And expected much more than a cupcake.

People ruined it.

Also, terribly unfair to any child born in mid-September when it's impossible to get out of school... they would never have a Disney birthday until they became a Disney adult.

And Disney adults who think they deserve freebies because it's their birthday... well... that's what friends and family are for.
Click to expand...

My wife only suggested that they might do a little PixieDust.
 
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Minthorne

Minthorne

Well-Known Member
I was there for my 50th birthday in early March 2020 and when I checked in at the Polynesian they gave me a gift basket that DVC left me with several gifts. DVC swag, some Disney games, a hat. It was really nice. But that was DVC not Disney. Other than that I got one cupcake that had tasteless sprinkles on at at one sit down.
 
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The Mom

The Mom

Moderator
Premium Member
People posting about all of pixie dust they received while celebrating a special event at WDW is part of the problem. Readers didn't react with a "How wonderful for you!" but rather with "How come I didn't get that kind of treatment!!!" and began expecting or requesting it. And complaining if they didn't get the same treatment.

So what was once a totally spontaneous gift that varied from place to place (probably due to budget - I suspect each resort had an allotment to spend, so the number of guests celebrating would determine what each guest received) was eliminated, or became standard throughout the resorts and parks.
 
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