Hey there, Luke!
Welcome to planDisney and thank you for bringing us your
Walt Disney World Resort planning question. I'm thrilled to hear that you'll be visiting The Most Magical Place on Earth in just a few days and I'd be happy to help you create a magical memory for a member of your travel party!
Luke, I love surprising my loved ones with extra pixie dust when we visit the Walt Disney World Resort, so I've been faced with this exact dilemma. While
My Disney Experience is a fantastic planning resource for groups traveling together, it doesn't really allow for surprises! If the plan you'd like to keep secret is a special
dining reservation, I recommend updating your party in the
My Disney Experience mobile app to exclude the birthday individual. (They will still be able to dine, as, generally, the only name on the reservation that matters is the primary Guest's!) If it's a
Disney Resort hotel reservation that you're trying to keep a surprise, you might consider skipping linking the reservation to your My Disney Experience account until you arrive at the property for check-in.
If you've already linked the itinerary plan and it's visible in the "My Plans"/"Future Plans" section of My Disney Experience, you may have to remove the birthday individual from your
Family & Friends List temporarily to maintain an element of surprise. This is the workaround I used recently when I surprised my mom with a stay at
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa for her birthday! My mom is a planner, just like me, so she was confused when several of her plans disappeared from My Disney Experience. (I had to fib and tell her that maybe the system was down...) But this solution worked for us and she was very excited with the outcome! After the surprise reveal, we simply and quickly re-connected via our Family & Friends Lists.
Luke, I hope this information helps you to plan for a magical moment for the birthday buddy in your group! I'm wishing you plentiful pixie dust and a super special surprise reveal. If you have any additional planning questions, please feel free to stop back by
planDisney again anytime. We're all ears!
See ya real soon,
Lauren