This weekend I saw a rather long thread in a Facebook group about how “Disney didn’t give me my ____ for my Birthday so it was ruined.” The thread in general was very disheartening and made me realize many people don’t remember Magic, be it birthday, or every day Magic is made and should never be expected or demanded. So tonight I wanted to re-share several birthday myths with you in hopes of curbing events like the ones I witnessed this weekend. All are busted as previously mentioned, but they are still fun and interesting to learn about. I also wanted to take a moment and ask you to help MAKE magic for others while in the parks and at home!
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 birthday.
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. ”
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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