The goal of this blog series is to factually prove or disprove rumors, myths and misconceptions in the Disney-verse. Tonight we are going to delve into the wonderful world of several busted Disney Birthday related myths.
Disney Birthdays
There are several birthday myths that I want to try and tackle tonight. All are busted as previously mentioned, but they are still fun and interesting to learn about.
Free Park Admission
The first myth that likes to pop up on occasion is that “Guests get into Disney free on their birthday.” I love this myth because, at one time it was actually true. After two years of the “Year of a Million Dream” theme at the Disney parks, in 2009 a new theme was introduced called “What Will You Celebrate?” The concept was simple, “In 2009, Disney Parks will help guests commemorate special moments in their lives in a what that the whole family remembers together! Everyone who visits a Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort theme park on their birthday in 2009 can get in free, as Disney Parks embraces a newly identified family travel trend called “celebration vacations. In this new national trend, American families are hitting the road to mark life’s special occasions – birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, reunions and more – with a “celebration vacation.” Guests could fill out a form, present ID and receive 1 free day of park admission to Walt Disney World or Disneyland theme parks on their birthday in 2009 as part of this special promotion. They thing is when the promotion ended, so did the offer. Somewhere along the line though as people started researching Disney and Birthday “perks” they either missed that this was a special promotion that has been over for several years, or as people wrote about the promotion they left out key facts still leading people to this day to believe they can get into a Disney Park for free on their brithday.
When You Can Celebrate
Many People seem to think you can only celebrate your birthday ON your birthday at Disney. This my friends is a falsehood. Disney doesn’t stand and check ID’s before handing out birthday celebration buttons. They also understand you can’t always (if ever) plan to be at a Disney Park on your birthday. So it is ok to celebrate your birthday at Disney up to six months late or six months in advance of your actual birthday!
Birthday Entitlements
Disney is the place to celebrate anything that you want to celebrate. The parks even go as far as giving guests buttons that let them declare to the world what they are celebrating. They even like to make magic when possible. The thing is there seems to be some confusion as to what should and shouldn’t occur when someone has on a birthday button. I won’t mince words here. Nothing ruffles my feathers more than when I see people complaining in Disney groups that they didn’t get THEIR cupcake or THEIR magic. While Disney does offer to give a free celebration button to anyone who asks for it, there are no other guarantees or promises. Any wishes of congratulation, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary etc. are a part of the magic, just like cupcakes or any other piece of Disney finery that a CM may bestow upon you on your special day. While you can always let the host or hostess at table service locations know someone in your party has a birthday celebration occurring there are times when that information doesn’t get relayed to the wait staff or that you may not end up with a very busy waiter or waitress that just isn’t able to do something big for your special day. As we have pointed out in several “RAK Thursday” articles, magic is made, not earned or entitled. So remember enjoy your special day in the parks, but always be appreciative, not expectant, of any magic that may come your way, while remembering to spread magic at the same time! If you want to guarantee that a birthday or other event it recognized on your trips, why not order a celebration cake to be delivered to your table at your reserved meal of choice through Disney’s Custom Cake team. “Just give us 72 hours advance notice so we can make your customized creation. Available at most table-service restaurants. To order any custom bakery cake, call the Walt Disney World Resort at (407) 827-2253. ”
Sometimes when researching for Mythbusters I come across neat Disney related facts, but because they can’t really be used to prove or disprove myths they tend to just sit in the memory banks un-shared. Tonight I wanted to share some of these neat facts with you.
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There is never a trash can more than 30 steps from where you are in Disney parks. Meaning you should never have a reason to throw trash on the ground in a Disney park.
- When the Parking Lot at Walt Disney World was named for the Dwarfs, Doc was left out to avoid confusion with the nearby ferry docks.
- Ever wonder why Disney SMELLS so stinking good? They have things called Smellitizers throughout the parks (and attractions) that spray scents that help tell the areas story.
- Mary Poppins fans will love knowing that in Frontierland, you can see a wooden leg labeled “Smith.”
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In Liberty Square you can see lanterns in the second-story windows. They pay tribute to the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride.” “One if by land, and two if by sea.”
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There are only three official Presidential Seals. One in the Oval Office, one in the hall containing the Liberty Bell, and one in the “Hall of Presidents.” Congress had to approve Disney’s being installed.
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Those three pipes on the “Dinosaur” ride in Animal Kingdom with chemical formulas on them are actually the chemical formulas for ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.
- There are several “fake” phones through out the parks that the public can access. When you pick them up you can hear conversations from space, switch boards etc. (Hint: Look around Main Street and Tomorrowland)
- Animal Kingdom opened on Earth Day, on purpose.
- Several hotels offer free walking tours. The BoardWalk Ballyhoo Guided Tour at Boardwalk is one of them.
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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