Our Disney cruise - adding some magical extras

On our first Disney cruise we were puzzled by the decorated hanging pockets hanging outside staterooms. On our second Disney cruise we joined a Facebook group and learned about Fish Extenders - a way of exchanging gifts with your fellow cruisers. You sign up to participate and swap presents with ten or so other cabins, and the gifts are delivered to a receptacle which you hang outside your stateroom door. The gifts can be large or small, something to use on the cruise or a souvenir to take home, and are generally Disney themed. On our third Disney cruise I came very close to signing up, but chickened out in the end after I joined a Fish Extender Facebook group and was overwhelmed by the generous gifts that people were preparing.

I still wanted to join in somehow though, and a few days before the cruise I spotted a sign up list for a Pixie Dust exchange. It was a list of people that were interested in giving and receiving Pixie Dust, with no obligation. This appealed to me a lot more because I knew that I could make up lots of little gifts, but with only two days to prepare I was a little pressed for time, and I decided to do my best to gift everyone on the list but with something small.

I settled on a pack of chocolate buttons, a coloured pen and a glow stick. Unfortunately, even though I was very careful the glow sticks were a fail as most of them snapped before we even got on the ship - whoops! Next time I would pack them separately in a sturdy box and assemble just before handing them out! I tied them up with some ribbon and a free printable Pixie Dust gift tag that I found.

I also spent a good few hours making some little magnets which were much more successful. I used a picture taken on a previous cruise at a port we would be visiting again and added a cruise line graphic, the date, and the Danish and Norwegian flags. Each magnet measured about 6cm across. I cut them out, laminated them, cut them out again, and glue a small piece of magnet to the back. I ended up with over 60, and we had fun on the ship walking the corridors and selecting our favourite doors to add them to as a little surprise for the inhabitants. I hope that they were pleased to find them!

When I got back I was thrilled to find that I had been lucky enough to win a Disney collage design offered by one of the other members of the Pixie Dust exchange! This gorgeous collage is by Saffron Rose Designs and I just had to mention it because we were so pleased with it, it's a lovely way to display our favourite photos.

We are hoping that we will be able to go on another Disney cruise next year, and this time I'm planning to step it up a level and join in with the full Fish Extender exchange, as well as making more magnets to hand out and probably some Pixie Dust too. It's just a case of fitting it all into the suitcases! I've found a blank door hanger to customise, and while I'm not quite sure where to start, there is plenty of inspiration online. I'm thinking about decorating each pocket with our favourite character, although I'm not sure which to choose for mine!

If you want to know more about the extra magic that a Disney cruise offers you might enjoy my guest post for Cruising with Kids - Top Tips for Cruising with Disney and Life Onboard a Disney Cruise.