Celebrating A Birthday At Gillian's Wonderland Pier?

10 GREAT BIRTHDAY IDEAS

Going to be at Gillian's Wonderland Pier for someone's birthday? Celebrate throughout the day with these fun ways to keep the birthday fun going!

These ideas are sponsored by the Great Dollywood Adventure Challenge - Watch the video below for details!

Surprise the birthday boy/girl with special 'guests.' Do not tell them about your plans to invite one or more of their friends to join you/him/her at Gillian's Wonderland Pier. Make it seem like a family trip. Arrange to meet his/her friend(s) AT Gillian's Wonderland Pier. It will feel like an added gift to see their friend(s) there when he/she wasn't expecting it!

Plan a fun scavenger hunt throughout the day at Gillian's Wonderland Pier. There are all different types of scavenger hunts to go on, each with a different format. Although for some parties having different teams compete with each other can be a lot of fun, for someone's birthday when there is one person to honor, it's typically best to have everyone on the same team - everyone gets to help the birthday boy/girl be successful…when one person wins, they all win! These can be a lot of fun to create, but can take some extra work to make creative (sometimes you'll need more than just a list to excite some teens, for example.) Consider our GREAT ADVENTURE CHALLENGE AT Gillian's Wonderland Pier - a package for them to open once there filled with all kinds of puzzles and things to do! CLICK HERE to learn more!

Head of times, write down on small pieces of paper different topics for memories to share about the birthday boy/girl while standing in line or throughout the day. For example, you may choose that every 30 minutes a different person (NOT the birthday boy/girl) will draw a piece of paper out of a hat - perhaps the first one says "FUNNY." That person will then share a funny story about the birthday boy to share with everyone. This is a great way to encourage the birthday boy/girl throughout the day!

If you'd like to give them a gift for them to open AT Gillian's Wonderland Pier, consider putting it in a locker first and then wrapping up the key to the locker in a little gift bag. This way you won't have to carry around the gift all day and it's always fun and mysterious to get a 'secret key' as a gift! This also works especially well if you're planning a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt inside Gillian's Wonderland Pier.

This is a great game to play for a larger group (4+). Ahead of time, prepare a list of fun tasks to do at Gillian's Wonderland Pier at write the out separately on small pieces of paper - at least enough for each person going. It's best to have someone else (who is NOT going with you to Gillian's Wonderland Pier) write them out - someone you can trust. Throughout the day, the birthday boy/girl periodically pulls one task out and reads it out loud. He/she then CHOOSES who in the group must complete the task right then. The rules are that EVERY person completes one task. The birthday boy/girl cannot look ahead at the different pieces of paper to see which ones he/she wants to assign or do for himself/herself. This can also be a great thing to do in the different lines you might wait in.

Wrap a single gift many times, preferably with different colors/types of wrapping paper and containers (though not necessary.) Give the birthday boy/girl the gift at the beginning of the day and tell them that they can unwrap ONE layer in each line that they wait in. Don't tell them how many layers there are - let them wonder if each layer will be their last! If you don't plan on going on many rides/attractions, you can also have them unwrap one layer every hour.

Bring a bunch of small cake candles with you to Gillian's Wonderland Pier and stick them in EVERY bit of food that the birthday boy/girl eats for the day - to blow out the candles each time. It will get to be a lot of fun as they blow out the candles on their birthday hot dog, birthday churro and birthday soda!

Pick different events that happened in the birthday boy/girl's life - events that happened somewhat close to each other. For example, different sets might include: (first tooth, crawled, sat up) or (learned ABC's, ride a bike, poured his/her own milk). This will work for adult events as well including (first girlfriend, first job, broke leg.) Everyone else there will have to guess the ORDER that the events happened. Award points as you go and determine a winner at the end of the day. This is a great activity to play while there are lulls in the fun (I.e. while standing in lines)

Make a game out of their actual age number - see how many times you can find that number throughout the day at Gillian's Wonderland Pier. For example, if the birthday boy/girl is turning 21, everyone must look for the number '21' throughout Gillian's Wonderland Pier. Award one point to the FIRST person who finds a new one throughout the day and add up the points at the completion. You might find numbers on height requirement signs, menus, ticket pricing signs, phone numbers, etc.

Gather a bunch of trivia to create questions about the actual year the birthday boy/girl was born. This could be about everything from movies, music, political leaders/current events and even the price of gas! Ask a few questions each time there is a lull in the fun (I.e. waiting in line, etc.) and keep track of who gets the most correct answers throughout the day. Give a prize at the end for the winner. The prize could be something special that they get to do WITH the birthday boy/girl!