OK so I promised DD (turning 9) that if she wanted to skip a birthday party we could take a trip to DL and stay in the DL hotel (we usually stay at one of the Harbor hotels and she's always wanted to go to the DL hotel). I was pricing the trip and it would almost cost the same as a trip to Hawaii. Anyway, DD, seeing the price, said "That's ok, we don't have to stay at the DL hotel." We came up with the solution that we will stay at one of our regular hotels and stay the last night (her birthday) at the DL hotel. Since we can't do what I had originally promised, I would like to make the trip extra special. Any ideas? I'd especially like to know about special things we should do on resort property since we never stay there. Thanks for your help!

Here (http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm050412lp) is an article about birthdays at the resort that may give you some ideas. We always feel special when we stay at the DL hotel--I'm sure she is going to have a memorable birthday.

Here (http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm050412lp) is an article about birthdays at the resort that may give you some ideas. We always feel special when we stay at the DL hotel--I'm sure she is going to have a memorable birthday.

Thank you. That article is very helpful. Is there anything specific to the DL hotel that is special on birthdays? We have never stayed there so we don't know anything about any special things there.

The front desk CM should give your daughter a birthday button (much better than the sticker... it'll last forever!), a few balloons, and an autographed photo of her favorite characters tucked into a manilla envelope with Happy Birthday wishes... maybe there's a Birthday certificate of some sort in there too, I can't remember.

You can order a gift from vacation planning that they'll put in the room for you as a surprise for your daughter. They have a lot of "gift baskets" to choose from, or you can suggest something specific from them.

Maybe do a tour or get her seats at the Fantasmic! dessert buffet as a special treat... maybe she'd like a Libby Lu makeover or a Build-A-Bear from DTD. The princess character meal at Ariel's is fantastic (wish they'd have a better menu though)... the character interaction is really good, they've got it organized very well. There are almost always characters in the DLH lobby too, just let them know it's her Birthday and I'm sure they'll make it special for her while you're busy checking in at the front desk.

You can also call guest relations there is a number you can call and I'm sorry I use to have it but, can't seem to find it right now. They have birthday gift baskets. You can also get a birthday cake, streamers, and balloons delivered to your room. Also Goofy's Kitchen does birthday parties.

The front desk CM should give your daughter a birthday button (much better than the sticker... it'll last forever!), a few balloons, and an autographed photo of her favorite characters tucked into a manilla envelope with Happy Birthday wishes... maybe there's a Birthday certificate of some sort in there too, I can't remember.

You can order a gift from vacation planning that they'll put in the room for you as a surprise for your daughter. They have a lot of "gift baskets" to choose from, or you can suggest something specific from them.

Maybe do a tour or get her seats at the Fantasmic! dessert buffet as a special treat... maybe she'd like a Libby Lu makeover or a Build-A-Bear from DTD. The princess character meal at Ariel's is fantastic (wish they'd have a better menu though)... the character interaction is really good, they've got it organized very well. There are almost always characters in the DLH lobby too, just let them know it's her Birthday and I'm sure they'll make it special for her while you're busy checking in at the front desk.

This is exactly the kind of advice I was looking for that I do not know about. Thanks you so much Wendi! I really appreciate it.

I made reservations at DL hotel through Expedia. Can you still use DL vacation planning? Does anyone know? We have not done the new character meal at Ariel's. Last time we went it was Mickey and friends which was great, but we had a disasterous princess breakfast at the Plaza Inn. I'm assuming the princess meal works better at Ariel's because of the structure.

I was thinking about doing BAB. She's never done one and has always wanted to. I didn't even think about Fantasmic, not sure it's in our budget, but I'd love to do that!

Thanks again Wendi!!

You can also call guest relations there is a number you can call and I'm sorry I use to have it but, can't seem to find it right now. They have birthday gift baskets. You can also get a birthday cake, streamers, and balloons delivered to your room. Also Goofy's Kitchen does birthday parties.

Thanks Susan. I think I may have the Guest Relations number in the millions of phone numbers I wrote down. I'm going to check into those baskets.

Wendi- looks like our visits will overlap! DD's birthday in 1/31. We'll be in DL from 1/28 to 2/1! Thanks for all your good advice!

If it fits into your budget, the Discover the Magic tour is awesome! It's designed for kids 5-9, and is so much fun. We really lucked out when we took it -- it was just my daughter, myself and our tour guide. It was definitely our best day at Disneyland ever.

It's a quest of sorts in which you go all over Disneyland trying to solve something (don't want to give anything away). I don't know if it's evolved since we did it, but we marched up Main Street banging tambourines and singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme song (yes, just the three of us); dressed up as pirates, comandeered a raft to Tom Sawyer's Island and took over the fort, danced with Tom & Huck, yodeled for Jessie, who came running across Frontierland, took lessons in how to properly wave as princesses -- and much more. It's worth every penny, in my opinion!

I made reservations at DL hotel through Expedia. Can you still use DL vacation planning?

I'm sure they would be happy to help you with whatever you require. I booked through AAA and I called ahead to make sure that we would have adjoining rooms or at least rooms on the same floor/same tower and they were happy to make note of that (and I did end up with adjoining rooms).

The birthday button is great, it was my Mom's 50th and I think it is a great souvenir for her. I also saw one little girl at DCA that had a lanyard with three or four birthday buttons. It looked like her birthday present each year was a trip to Disneyland! And it is so awesome when the cast members wish the birthday girl (or boy) Happy Birthday! My mom was impressed when we went on rides multiple times that the cast member remembered her and said "Happy Birthday...again." It makes them feel special! :)

The Princess dining at Ariel's Grotto is great. The food is so-so, but who's there for the food? :D Your daughter would love it (just make sure to make your priority dining reservations 60 days in advance). Goofy's Breakfast at the DLH is great also.

One other thing that I would recommend it that you make your daughter a special birthday t-shirt. I made my Mom a shirt at Zazzle.com. They are licensed to use Disney characters, so you can use your daughters favorite Disney character. The one I made for my mom had a giant 50 on the back and on the front it had her name, a picture of Mickey and it said Magical Memories. We made her wear that with her pin (and Gold Mickey ears). She loved it!

Enjoy your trip! Can't wait to hear the trip report! :)

If it fits into your budget, the Discover the Magic tour is awesome! It's designed for kids 5-9, and is so much fun. We really lucked out when we took it -- it was just my daughter, myself and our tour guide. It was definitely our best day at Disneyland ever.

It's a quest of sorts in which you go all over Disneyland trying to solve something (don't want to give anything away). I don't know if it's evolved since we did it, but we marched up Main Street banging tambourines and singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme song (yes, just the three of us); dressed up as pirates, comandeered a raft to Tom Sawyer's Island and took over the fort, danced with Tom & Huck, yodeled for Jessie, who came running across Frontierland, took lessons in how to properly wave as princesses -- and much more. It's worth every penny, in my opinion!

I was looking at this, thinking it looked really fun. I'm not sure if we'll try it this trip though. DH is coming with us on this trip (since it's DD's birthday) and he's not really a DL fan. I think this tour might push him over the edge. Either we'll do it this time without him or wait until another trip when he doesn't come with us. Thanks so much for telling me about it. I was wondering about it. It's good to know it's as fun as it sounds!

I'm sure they would be happy to help you with whatever you require. I booked through AAA and I called ahead to make sure that we would have adjoining rooms or at least rooms on the same floor/same tower and they were happy to make note of that (and I did end up with adjoining rooms).

The birthday button is great, it was my Mom's 50th and I think it is a great souvenir for her. I also saw one little girl at DCA that had a lanyard with three or four birthday buttons. It looked like her birthday present each year was a trip to Disneyland! And it is so awesome when the cast members wish the birthday girl (or boy) Happy Birthday! My mom was impressed when we went on rides multiple times that the cast member remembered her and said "Happy Birthday...again." It makes them feel special! :)

The Princess dining at Ariel's Grotto is great. The food is so-so, but who's there for the food? :D Your daughter would love it (just make sure to make your priority dining reservations 60 days in advance). Goofy's Breakfast at the DLH is great also.

One other thing that I would recommend it that you make your daughter a special birthday t-shirt. I made my Mom a shirt at Zazzle.com. They are licensed to use Disney characters, so you can use your daughters favorite Disney character. The one I made for my mom had a giant 50 on the back and on the front it had her name, a picture of Mickey and it said Magical Memories. We made her wear that with her pin (and Gold Mickey ears). She loved it!

Enjoy your trip! Can't wait to hear the trip report! :)

Thanks, I think I will call them and see if there's anything they do. We may do both Ariel's grotto andGoofy's kitchen during the trip (DH loves the breakfast at Goofy's. It's good to hear the princess meal is nice since our prior experience with a princess meal (Plaza Inn) was so bad. I 'm likely to try it now. I assume the food and menu are similar to what they always were at Ariel's.

The shirt is a great idea too. I'll look into that.

I would like to thank everyone for all of the great suggestions!

Have a fabulous time... maybe I'll see you there, we're staying at the DLH too (can't beat AP Nights!!!) Ariel's Grotto has the exact same menu... I wish they'd at least add a few new options to it or have a "special" once in a while. The food isn't bad, in fact, the Cobb Salad is very good, but I'd like a better selection someday.

Have a fabulous time... maybe I'll see you there, we're staying at the DLH too (can't beat AP Nights!!!) Ariel's Grotto has the exact same menu... I wish they'd at least add a few new options to it or have a "special" once in a while. The food isn't bad, in fact, the Cobb Salad is very good, but I'd like a better selection someday.

Wendi, we'll be at DLH on January 31st, DD's actual birthday. We'll be leaving the next day. If you see a crazy family making a huge deal about a nine year old's birthday, that may be us! We let our AP's expire in July, but plan to renew them on this trip- wish I had them now, we may have been able to afford a couple more nights at the DLH. I've usually been able to find something at Ariel's grotto which was decent- it's not fine dining, but it's better than a lot of the food you can get in the park. And DD has a lot of choices there! We aren't there enough to get tired of it- once every six months to a year or so.