The one free thing everyone should do when visiting Disneyland for a special occasion

If you're heading to a Disney park for any type of celebration - birthday, anniversary, honeymoon - the first stop you make should be City Hall to pick up a free button. Many parkgoers don't know that visitors celebrating a special occasion can get free buttons to wear all day - and it makes the day way more magical.

Disney parks are already designed to give visitors an elevated entertainment experience, but cast members (park staff) will go out of their way to do extra special things for anyone wearing a celebration button.

When my now-husband and I were planning our honeymoon, we immediately knew we wanted to stop by Disneyland for a day. Not only were we itching to wear those cute bride and groom Mickey ears, but I knew we could get special honeymoon buttons.

Throughout the day, cast members would congratulate us and sometimes even give us preferential treatment. We got our own log on Splash Mountain, and skipped about 20 people in line for Pirates of the Caribbean when the staff there let us through a separate door and right into the back row of a boat.

Other parkgoers tend to pay attention to the buttons as well - we had plenty of strangers congratulating us in line, even before we donned our bride and groom hats.

The buttons can be picked up at varying locations depending on the parks. At Disneyland, folks have to go to City Hall - right on the left side of Main Street when you enter the park.

There are usually buttons for just about every occasion - birthday, engagement, first time visiting the park, anniversary, family reunion. In case they run out of your specific one, Disney has a "I'm celebrating _____" button so you can fill in the blank.

My mom came to Disneyland for her birthday a few years ago, and her button earned even more perks than my honeymoon one. The Main Street barbershop quartet stopped to sing her a special (and hilarious) birthday song, and a restaurant we stopped in for dinner brought out free birthday donuts complete with a candle.

So - next time you're planning a special trip to a Disney park, make sure your first stop is City Hall (or another park's equivalent) to pick up a celebration button. You won't regret it.