Ron is an Annual Passholder to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA. His birthday was Friday the 2nd and he decided to spend it at Disneyland and take advantage of the special offer that’s part of the new “What Will You Celebrate?” promotion.
I’ve asked Ron to provide us with some details of how the day went. Considering it was the second day of the promotion, it sounds like everything went swell.
Got in late from a great day at Disneyland so this is the first chance I’ve had to send you an update from our birthday experience. Either good or bad, there isn’t a whole lot to tell about the birthday promotion but I’ll do my best to provide as much detail as possible.
The lines to the ticket booths seemed unending. In fact, the queues wound completely around each of them making them islands in a sea of people. I never actually did find an end! We decided that the line to the guest services window was our best bet. Hoping to speed our processing, we presented at the window with the printed birthday certificate, California ID, and Annual Passes in hand. The CM we encountered seemed well trained on how to handle the promotion and processed our transaction very swiftly without making us feel hurried in spite of the unbelievable line behind us.
She treated us to our first “Happy birthday” wish of the day and began the process straight away by providing us with a laminated sheet detailing the 3 options available to annual passholders. Basically, a nicely presented version of the same information available from the website. We chose the birthday fun card over the Fastpass ticket+ or return ticket that’s valid for any day in the next year. While I failed to ask for details about the Fastpass option (since it just didn’t appeal to me), I asked what might have happened if the park had reached capacity before we arrived. I was told CM’s have been instructed to offer the return ticket in such cases; the other offers are only valid for use on the guests birthday.
From the back of the Birthday Fun Card:
“Use of this card is acceptance of it’s terms and conditions. Except as required by applicable law, lost, stolen or damaged cards will not be replaced. No portion of card balances will be redeemed for cash. Neither Disneyland Resort nor the issuer of this card, Disney Gift Card Services, Inc., will be responsible for any unauthorized use of card. This card may not be used towards the purchase of any Disney Gift Cards, Disney Dollars, food or beverage items, alcohol, cigarettes, Resort folio charges, spa services or products, or personal services.
You may use this card for certain purchases including select merchandise, Disney PhotoPass on-site services, and tour experiences at participating locations owned and operated by the owners of the Disneyland Resort. Check with individual locations for program participation before redemption.
This card is non-transferrable, only for the Celebrant who received this card can use the card – Celebrant ID and birthday validation may be required at time of redemption. For participating locations and additional terms and conditions for this card, visit DisneyParks.com/BirthdayFunCard.”
We purchased merchandise from the Disneyana store on mainstreet.
Basically, we understood that the card was only valid for the day, couldn’t be used to buy food or drinks, or gift cards/Disney Dollars. We did note that it says “select merchandise” but had no indication that there were any items we wouldn’t be allowed to buy in any of the parks retail stores we visited.
In the park, queue times were long but crowds weren’t as bad as the lines outside might have led us to believe. We saw lots of “Happy Birthday” pins; many more than we’re used to seeing. We didn’t get a pin at guest services and didn’t want to wait at city hall so we went about our day without it until a CM noticed we were lacking when we used the fun card to make a purchase. She was able to quickly produce a box of pins and correct the situation for us. Once pinned, it seemed every CM we encountered wanted to say happy birthday. While this wasn’t too surprising, the number of guests that also offered birthday wishes was. Perhaps the sheer number of birthday pins and greetings from CM’s flying around inspired guests to do the same. In any case, it was a pleasant surprise and made the magic seem less “Disney manufactured” and lots of fun.
Overall, we had a great day and can’t wait to take the kids on their birthdays. Kudos to Disney for offering choices and including the gift card option.
Thanks Ron for the information. I’m sure others will find it very useful.
I can tell you from my experience wearing a Birthday pin last year that an absurd number of regular (non-CMs) will go out of their way to wish you a happy birthday even when there aren’t a slew of other Birthday Pin wearing people around..
Mind you, I was walking around with a friend who was wearing a “1st Visit” pin and an “I believe in Harvey Dent” T-shirt… So there may have been mitigating factors then as well.
I’ve had the same experience of both CMs and guests wishing me a Happy Birthday when I have a birthday pin from City Hall. I’ve gone on my birthday the past three years, so this year will be no different, but we’re also planning to go on my husband’s birthday, and to take a friend on her birthday, as we have annual passes, and she hasn’t been to DL in quite some time.
I also wish other folks HB when I see they have a pin. I think it just adds to the fun of the day. Even when I see them over in Downtown Disney when I’m there for collectible pins, I’ll call out Happy Birthday as I pass pins heading the other way. Will see how many birthday folks I see in the morning at DTD, as it’s Gift With Purchase pin Sunday.
Quick follow-up, in that I spent about an hour or so at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, but didn’t notice any birthday pin folks. Must have all been over in the parks.
Do you know that if you’re an AP and choose the Birthday Return Ticket option can it be transferrable? I would think so since you won’t be able to use it while you stay an AP through the year, unless they don’t think you’ll renew the second year and you can use the ticket then.
went for my mom’s birthday on the 1st. Fun card wasn’t usable in DCA yet. Kept asking for an authorization code but no one knew what the code was so could only purchase from Disneyland. Didn’t try DTD. But couldn’t use in crystal shops in DL because not Disney owned.
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