You might remember me having posted about the fish extender before. If not, this post and this one detail how the Disney cruise fish extender gift exchange works, as well as offer pictorials of the gifts we’ve given in the past. Because they are two of my most popular posts to date, I decided to put together a comprehensive list of five great gift ideas for fish extender participants.
Coming up with this list was no easy task; the best fish extender gifts have a steep checklist of criteria to meet. For starters, they should be fairly inexpensive. They also need to be portable. They should be relatively small and lightweight. Lastly, I’ve found that most participants want to give something unique that will be appreciated. Now, I’ve been on the receiving end of these gift exchanges a time or two, and I can tell you from experience that the most appreciated gifts can fit in one of three categories: compact, consumable, or valuable. I know, I know. You’ve done your research and you’ve read online that “any gift is appreciated, blah blah blah”. But c’mon. You know as well as I do that nobody wants to lug home a suitcase full of Oriental Trading Company junk. Which is why I’m coming to your rescue and suggesting gifts that are practically guaranteed not to end up in the stateroom trash bin. So without further ado, here are five fun fish extender gifts.
1. Disney Gift Card – This fits into both the valuable and consumable categories and I can assuredly tell you that even a $5 gift card would make a great gift. More so if you add a bit of pixie dust in the way of presentation. Something like this is sure to make any Disneyphile smile.
2. First Aid Kit – Ouchies happen, even on vacation. A small kit containing some essentials is definitely a valuable asset in any stateroom. Components could include: tubes of Chapstick, ginger chews
3. Movie Snack Pack – Most families will make some time to visit the Buena Vista Theater to see a first-run movie during the cruise. While movie snacks are available for purchase, they would also make a great {consumable} fish extender gift. Simply stuff brown paper lunch sacks with traditional movie favorites like Red Vines, Junior Mints, Whoppers, Sour Patch Kids, M&M’s and Skittles. Slap a cute logo like this one on the front and call it done!
4. Kiss Goodnight – You could also take a downright Disney approach to your gift by giving a “Kiss Goodnight”. Any Disneyphile would be able to tell you that the kiss goodnight occurs at park closing in the Magic Kingdom. It’s when the castle acts as a canvas to a beautiful light display all whilst When You Wish Upon A Star plays in the background. For the fish extender take on the kiss goodnight, you could purchase a Disney night light
5. Disney Trading Pins – These are super popular with many Disneyphiles, my family included. There are plenty of online resources for buying them in bulk for a fraction of what you’d pay individually should you purchase them at Disney. As a fish extender gift, you could fasten four pins to an inexpensive lanyard or even a shoestring.
6. Pixie Dust – For another downright Disney gift, you could create small vials of pixie dust. These are especially appreciated by preschool and early elementary children who are fans of the Disney Junior show, Jake and the Neverland Pirates. They’re easy to make, too! Just fill small vials
Hopefully these ideas will give you some inspiration as you prepare for your next (or first!) Disney cruise. Enjoy!
It makes me happy how obsessed (and I mean that in a good way ) you are with all things Disney!
Did you notice there are 6 gifts here? Thanks for the bonus! :) I love the movie snacks idea. You’re right – all the Oriental Trading junk just gets left in our stateroom or thrown away at home when the kids aren’t looking! We’re doing autograph books for our cruise in June. We lightened several photos of the ships and Castaway Cay in Photoshop and printed them during a Snapfish sale (also printed out personalized covers), then attached them with binder clips and included a Sharpie. We used these last time and they were a hit!
I totally missed that. I’m such a dork. I have to edit now or it will drive me crazy. Also, I’m glad I’m not the only one who leaves the Oriental Trading stuff behind. And I *love* your autograph book idea. I might have to borrow that one in the near future.
Awesome ideas….our first Disney cruise is yet to be planned as we are waiting for Will to be a little older, but will definitely keep all these ideas in mind! So clever.
I have handed out card games for the kids in our exchange. It was a fun thing for the family to do together. I’ve been on the Wonder and the Fantasy and the FE groups where both 30 families.
Are there any instructions for the first one? My family and I really like that but we don’t want to waste time and money trying to figure out how to do it. If there is any please let me know!
Thanks,
Josh L
I just used cardstock to make that one, Josh. I simply freehand cut a tag shape out of black cardstock, using the gift card itself as a size guide. Next, I cut a second piece of black cardstock shorter than the first piece and glued it around the outside edges to form a pocket. I then cut a third piece of cardstock (red) and glued it to the black pocket. The white round shapes are just plain old printer paper. To finish it off, I punched a hole and tied a yellow ribbon through it.
Darcie,
Thank you very much for the idea and the instructions. I will love to use this idea on my magical Disney Cruise in June (YAY)! I love your website and all of your ideas. This one was my favorite, but hopefully i’ll be able to go on another cruise and use the other creative ideas you came up with.
You were a great help Darcie, Thanks!
Josh
How did you make the gift card holder and the movie marque sign?
Hi Pamela~
If you read the comments on this post, you’ll see the instructions for completing the gift card holder. The movie marquee sign was done in Photoshop.
Now I feel kinda bad – I thought I had a cute idea….bought a bunch of paper mache treasure boxes from Oriental Trading (I know they are junky alone) and have been spending the last month painting them, decorating them and mod podging them for the kids: “For keeping your gadgets and gizmos…whozits and whatzits, special memories and thingamabobs from your Disney Dream adventure” – I think after reading this I am going to make pixie dust pouches to put inside to spruce it up…
I wouldn’t be too worried about your gift hun! I think they were talking about people who just order something throw it in the extenders and leave it at that. You are putting time, energy, and love into the adorable sounding treasure chests!
Oh my, I think those little treasure boxes sound ADORABLE!! I think the little “junk” they are talking about are like the small trinket toys and stuff that are so easy to break…you know, the ones that look like they could be gum ball or piñata stuffers?
Do you put something in every member’s FE every day?