Celebrating my daughter's birthday at Jollibee

I distinctly remember telling my husband that my child's first birthday won't happen in Jollibee because she would be too young to remember it. Well, what do you know, I ate those words.

Maybe I was just a bit too excited, but about a month before my daughter's first birthday, I was looking into holding her birthday in a fast food restaurant, complete with banners, balloons, cake, giveaways, and a mascot appearance.

Taking into consideration the location (we live in Pasig), we inquired at Jollibee Greenmeadows and McDonald's El Pueblo. Side by side, Jollibee seemed to offer more bang for our buck. So we opted to go with the big orange bee.

Jollibee Greenmeadows had 2 party rooms: the Hetty Room that can occupy up to 60 guests and the Jollibee Room which accommodates up to 100 guests. We picked the Jollibee Room because someone else has reserved the other room for the time and date we wanted. We also picked the Yum Food Package (good for 70 guests) that had the burger, spaghetti, fries, sundae, and softdrinks. We also included the loot bags and medium cake in the package. Jollibee's appearance was a sure-ball upon reservation of a Kids Party Package.

And so that Sunday, we went to Jollibee Greenmeadows for the party. It was scheduled at 1PM, and we arrived 30 minutes earlier. Unfortunately, the venue wasn't prepared yet because there was a reservation previous to ours. I think they started late. But it was a good thing the crew acted fast, and so by 1:15, we were welcoming guests in.

By 1:30, our host, Kuya Ton, came in and started the program. Prior to that, we talked and I told him to hold less games for the adults and more for the kids -- primarily because it was a children's party. He agreed.

The only game for the big ones (meaning kumares and kumpares) was a draw-yourself-without-looking-at-it kinda game. It was fun and not corny at all, unlike the ones that I've seen before. The other games were purely for kids (longest line, etc.) and a parent-kid game (bring things in pairs).

This is the medium-sized cake that came with the package. If you remember the birthday cakes of the 80s, the icing's pretty similar to that -- egg-white based.

After the games, 30 minutes was spent for the meals. After which came the most awaited appearance of that day. Yeah, that big orange bee!

On the photo above, you can see the host, Kuya Ton, fixing up Jollibee. As soon as the mascot came in, all the kids stopped what they were doing and came running towards the bee. Heck, even my daughter was enamored by Jollibee.

Did I say enamored? Look at her reaction! :)

Anyway, he performed 2 dance routines, after which came the candle blowing and the opening of gifts. The giving away of the loot bags followed. Everything went on the dot: all in 2 hours. We didn't have to pay extra for overtime.

And I didn't have to worry much about preparing for my daughter's birthday: cooking, wrapping lootbags, buying balloons, renting chairs and tables, and cleaning up after. Everything was done for me by Jollibee. And I just had to pay around Php12.5K for the hassle-free party.

I've had my share of cheesy restaurant birthday parties, but I actually enjoyed my daughter's party at Jollibee Greenmeadows. I guess one of the things that added to our positive review was that the host was also really engaging and lively (we overheard the host on the other room doing her spiel -- she sounded more subdued compared to our host), and Jollibee was a real wacko. Hahaha! I guess it's because the guests are pretty much game in everything.

If you're considering holding your kid's birthday at Jollibee, I'd actually recommend this branch. Fun, affordable, and most importantly hassle-free.