The ultimate disney cruise fish extender gift guide

 

The Ultimate Disney Cruise

Fish Extender Gift Guide

When you are giving a fish extender gift there are three main things to consider:

1) How big and heavy is it? Most people travel to the cruise by plane so anything you give them needs to be able to go home in their suitcase. However, if it is something awesome, people will find a way to get it home! And remember, you need to find a way to get it there! I’ve heard of people shipping boxes ahead of time to the cruise ship.

2) Presentation. Even the simplest gift will be enjoyed if it is wrapped up nicely and has a cute tag, especially if you can tie in a funny quote or picture to go with the gift. For example, getting a bar of Star Wars themed soap is cute. But my husband came up with the line “Lather it up, fuzzball!” to go with it and now it is sure to make the recipient smile. A bottle of Purell is handy (see what I did there?) but a bottle of hand sanitizer that has a Disney sticker/ decal on it is a lot more fun to receive. And don’t forget to write whom it is from on the note.

3) Ask yourself, is this something I would like to receive? If you wouldn’t want it, chances are that other people wouldn’t either. However, don’t overly stress about it. It’s just a present and if they don’t want it they can regift it.

With that being said, one of the most important things to consider is what is allowed on the ship. Nothing is worse than spending hours customizing some candles just to realize that they are forbidden. Check out the forbidden list on the Disney Cruise website.

(Click here to go to the Disney prohibited items list)

How much you want to spend is completely up to you but if you go into this thinking, “I spent $20 per person, they better spend that much on me!” you will be sorely disappointed.

Some people are crafty and some people would rather buy stuff, either way is totally acceptable. For those people who are more crafty you can also look at things on this list and let them trigger your own imagination. For example, you might see a cute luggage tag and rather then spend $5 a pop on them you could decide that you could make something similar on your own.

There are some inexpensive websites that I have found some clever gifts on. Check out:

orientaltrading.com (also good for some DIY gifts)

wish.com (they have some really interesting pirate stuff as well as Disney and Star Wars)

zulily.com

etsy.com

amazon.com

aliexpress.com

Try different searches. I have used “Disney”, “Disney gifts” “Disney fish extender gifts”, “Star Wars”, “Star Wars gifts,” “Beach”, “Pirate”, “Pirate toys,” etc.

Side note: Wish.com and Zulily.com shipping take forever, sometimes more than a month, so only order from them if you have lots of time.

Check out the Dollar Store and you could be surprised at what you find. There are Disney themed cups and bowls there. Or non-Disney themed things that you could add a sticker/decal to. They have coloring/activity books, dolls, toys, bubbles, balls, Play Doh, and wash clothes as well as some pirate themed things.

Also be sure to check out Walmart, Target, Marshalls, Kohl’s, Tuesday Morning, Walgreens, CVS and your local grocery store as they sometimes have awesome clearance deals.

Hallmark also has an adorable Star Wars collection. Check out party stores like Party City which often have themed party favors which make inexpensive gifts.

Your gift does not have to be Disney themed but a lot of them are. They can also be Star Wars, Marvel, Muppet, pirate, beach themed (if you are on a beach cruise) or not themed at all.

Another idea is to give something from your hometown/area:

1. postcard/ stationary/ pad of paper/ notebook

2. regional candy/ food (must be sealed)

3. pin or magnet

4. deck of cards

5. a recipe for a local dish

Another thing to consider is do you want to give them a gift they can enjoy on the cruise or is it more for when they get home? Try to think of what would be useful to you on the cruise, and if you have been on one before, what did you wish you had brought?

Once you join a fish extender group on Facebook you will learn more about the people in your group (age, gender, where they are from, their favorite character.) However, in addition to doing the fish extender presents some people like to give a little “pixie dust” which is where you leave presents in other people’s fish extenders (or give them to them in person) who aren’t in your group. Especially if you get some small inexpensive token in bulk it could be fun to give to lots of people. I like the idea of giving a little pixie dust present to people whose door decorations or fish extender decorations I really liked with a note telling them that is why I gave them the gift. People put a lot of love and energy into their décor and it is nice for them to know it is appreciated. You can even give out a blue ribbon or award certificate for your favorite. It is a good idea to at least put a note saying “You’ve been pixie dusted from cabin XXXX” just to let them know that it hasn’t been given to them by mistake.

Okay, without further ado, here are my ideas:

(Disclaimer, I am going on a Star Wars themed cruise so I have a lot of Star Wars themed gifts in here.)

Here is a link to my Pinterest board for those of you who prefer to look at pictures or to have links that take you to actual items rather than just general ideas.

(Click here to go to my pinterest board)

1. Candy. I would avoid candy that has peanut butter in it because there are so many allergies out there. Life Savers Gummies are a cute one, cuz it’s a life saver, get it? You’re on a boat. It’s a life saver. Nevermind. A cute card to give with the candy would be a picture of Hei Hei from Moana and the words “Boat Snack.” You can also consider giving candy from Goofy’s Candy Co because it is delicious and you can pick it up down in Orlando before you get on your cruise so you don’t have to worry about it taking up tons of room in your luggage on the plane. Pixy sticks are cute because you can tie it in with Tinkerbell and the whole pixie dust thing but parents are going to hate you for giving their child straight sugar like that.

2. Flashlight (can be a mini cheap one or a big nice one)

3. Cut out black silhouettes of Disney or Star Wars characters on a stick to use with the flashlight as shadow puppets .

4. Make your own booklet of “how to do cool shadow puppets with your hands” and include with the flashlight.

It can be dark in the rooms so a light of some sort can be a good idea:

5. A cute lantern with silhouettes of Disney characters on the sides (check out etsy)

6. One of those round touch lights (available at dollar store) and decorate it as a character using sharpies

7. Nightlight, you can get a basic one and then put a decal of Tinkerbell or someone on it

8. An LED light with a character like BB8 or the Millennium Falcon on it (check out amazon or wish). It changes color too. It doesn’t have a regular plug though, it plugs into a USB port so you might want to give some batteries with it.

9. One of those round balls/orbs that is decorated like the moon and glows as a nightlight (you can do a card about Obi Wan Kenobi saying “That’s no moon! … Oh wait, yes it is!”)

Games can be a lot of fun:

10. Make your own version of Yahtzee and call it “Yacht Sea” which is where the name came from originally anyways. You can look up and include some information about the origin of the game with it. Decorate your own cups and give them five dice (you can splurge and get the cute dice with Mickey Mouse heads on them or just go with regular dice.) You can order extra Yahtzee score cards online and include them with the cup and dice.

11. Give dice and make a booklet with instructions to play different dice games

12. LCR (left, center, right) is a game that comes with little place markers and three special dice and instructions in a little handy travel tube. Very fun and takes up very little room.

13. Tenzi dice game

14. Shut the Box, a game originally played by sailors when they were stuck out at sea for long periods. (FYI it comes in multiple sizes)

15. There are lots of Disney and Star Wars versions of classic games like Life, Monopoly (worst game ever!), Sorry, Family Feud, Catch Phrase, Operation, etc. However this is one that would take up a lot of room in someone’s luggage so might not be the best option, plus it might take up a lot of space in the stateroom if they were to play it on the cruise. That being said, I would love to receive any of these, besides Monopoly of course! ;)

16. A deck of cards (themed or not)

17. Uno (these come in Disney themed packages too)

18. Disney Eye Found It (I think there is a full size and a travel size but I could be wrong)

19. Bop It (they have BB8 and R2D2 versions!)

20. A jigsaw puzzle. Again, I love puzzles but this might be a space issue.

Paper games take up a lot less space:

21. Disney or Star Wars themed Mad Libs

22. Would You Rather? There is a Disney version that you can download for free on Pinterest.

23. You can make and print your own word games like a Disney word search or you have to unscramble characters’ names. There are some free word search puzzle generators online if you look.

24. Make a list of funny Disney, Star Wars or pirate jokes

25. Research and write up the history of Castaway Cay for them to read

26. Write up a list of fun facts about the places you are going to pull into port at and place them in their fish extender the night before you arrive at each place

Books can also be great-and don’t forget a fun bookmark!

27. For young children there are board books or Golden books

28. For nostalgic adults there is  “Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Disney Golden Book.”

29. “Lego Star Wars: These Aren’t The Droids You Are Looking For” (says it is for 4-8 years old)

30. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi Chewie and The Porgs”

31. “BB-8 On The Run”

32. “Star Wars Where’s The Wookie” (a Where’s Waldo type book)

32. There are several Star Wars and Disney cookbooks available which you can pair with a kitchen gadget (like a Darth Vader shaped spatula) or a cookie cutter.

Speaking of cookbooks, if you know the recipients are into cooking:

33. Themed oven mitts (from here on out instead of saying Disney or Star Wars themed, I will just write “themed” because I think you get the idea) and a cute recipe card with one of your favorite recipes on it

34. Themed salt and pepper shakers

35. A coffee or tea cup, and maybe a few tea bags. Twinnings has a special Beauty and the Beast themed mint tea.

36. Themed kitchen towels, there is a cute one with Remi on it that says “Everyone can cook.”

37. A themed apron. I always love the idea of an apron though I don’t know anyone who actually uses one.

38. Themed rolling pin

39. Collapsible Disney themed measuring cups- which are great because they don’t take up a ton of room and while on the trip they can be used as a beach toy or bath toy.

40. Cookie cutters and a cute recipe card with one of your favorite recipes on it

41. Disney measuring spoons

42. Ziploc makes Disney and Star Wars themed bags and storage containers which might be a better idea to give your gifts in. Cellophane can look pretty but will immediately be thrown out whereas a Ziploc bag could be reused.

43. Themed plastic molds which can be used for making ice cubes, candy, chocolate, soap, bath bombs and crayons. You can include instructions for making bath bombs or candy along with it.

Beauty and bathroom themed gifts:

44. Make your own bath bombs (be sure to say what is in them in case the person has allergies.) Also, I am always a tiny bit wary of adding food coloring to the bombs because you don’t want to accidentally dye the person’s tub.

45. You can also buy bath bombs. There are Disney bombs that have a toy figurine hidden inside.

46. Individual beauty face masks. There are Disney themed ones.

47. If you gave any hair products you could make a tag having to do with Maui and “The hair, the bod.”

48. Themed barrettes, hair ponytail holders, and headbands

49. There are Disney and Star Wars themed nail polishes. You could also give regular nail polish and themed nail decals.

50. Themed wash clothes- the Dollar Store often has Disney magic clothes.

51. Themed tooth brush, tooth brush holders, tooth paste

52. Star Wars themed q-tip tins

53. Star Wars themed cologne and perfume (yes, this actually exists!)

54. Themed Kleenex

55. Cover Girl has a Star Wars themed line of lipsticks

56. Lip Smackers has Disney and Star Wars themed sticks and ball type lip balms

57. There is a special Disney cruise themed suction mounted tooth brush holder on Etsy

58. Themed toothbrush travel case (can buy un-themed and just add your own sticker/decal)

59. Chill Pal or other “cooling towel”

60. Slippers

61. Room spray/ Bathroom spray/ Poo-pouri

62. The bathroom on my last cruise did not smell horrible but it also didn’t smell great, there are Disney and Star Wars themed air car fresheners. There are probably plenty of places for people to hang them in the bathroom but you could also give them a hook on a suction cup for them to hang them up.

63. Pedicure kit – there are Mickey shaped pedicure bars on Etsy and Disney and Star Wars themed nail files on Amazon

64. You can make your own kits for people with little toiletries (aloe, nail clippers, Tums, lint rollers, Tylenol, Shout wipes/ Tide pen, etc.) or you can go onto Etsy and purchase them premade as well as mini sewing kits

65. Band-aids are always useful and there are Disney and Star Wars themed ones

66. You could give a shoe horn and some band aids and do some sort of Cinderella/ Ugly Step Sisters Glass Slipper kit

67. Cableinthebay has a clear plastic zippered bag available on Amazon that is TSA approved for holding your toiletries on a plane (a nice step up from the Ziplocs I usually use.)

Stationary type gifts:
68. Themed note cards- you can also buy cheap blank cards and a rubber stamp and make your own themed cards

69. Post cards, you can make your own post cards or greeting cards on a site like Vistaprint.com, especially if you have been on a Disney cruise before and have some great photos you want to use

70. If you wanted to do a whole stationary theme there are also Disney and Star Wars postage stamps though they are not currently available at the post office so you need to go on someplace like ebay or amazon to get them

71. There are cute boxed sets of Disney postcards on Amazon (which you can give whole or divide amongst several rooms.)

72. Themed rubber stamps and an ink pad

73. Cute notebook or journal

74. Cute pad of paper or post-it notes with a themed pen or pencil

75. Orientaltrading.com has pencils that you can personalize with the name of your ship and sail date and you can give with a pencil sharpener, either a themed one or a blank one that you add a sticker to.

76. Cute themed eraser

77. Smencils themed scented pencils

78. Themed pen

79. Orientaltrading.com has inexpensive colored clipboards which would go nicely if you also gave some coloring or activity pages, that way they could fill them in while on a beach chair, etc.

80. If you have a plastic mold you can make your own crayons in different shapes.

Some useful things to have in the cabin for the cruise:

81. A mini Sharpie marker is always handy and great for throwing in a purse

82. Dry erase board, can get at the Dollar Store and decorate or they sell them on Etsy specifically for Disney cruises.

83. Orientaltrading.com has mini dry erase markers that you could throw a sticker on

84. Themed (or un-themed) clothespins are handy for hanging up wet swimsuits on the line in the bathtub.

85. Over the door shoe organizers have been banned by Disney but you can still give a travel organizer on a hanger to help them keep their room tidy.

86. Magnetic hooks are great to have and you can make a cute note about “Captain Hook” to go with them.

87. Key cards (to put in the slot to keep the lights on so that they don’t have to use their key to the world card)

88. On Etsy they sell cards that tell you what is located on each level of the ship.

89. A mini glasses repair kit

90. A mini set of tools (Mouse-ka-tools)

91. Chip clips

92. Wine bottle opener or beer bottle opener (there is a great Pirate bottle opener on Amazon and some cute Mickey/key shaped ones on Etsy)

93. Bags (so many different options!) and you can customize them yourself.

94. Cups (again just do a search on Etsy or pinterest because there are tons of different ones to choose from)

95. Sunglasses

96. Sunglasses case

97. Themed Magnets to decorate their door

98. Bath or beach toys

99. Laundry detergent pods/ dryer sheet kit

If your cruise is having a pirate night (and most do) give them pirate stuff:

100. Eye patches (a cute idea would be to give a Mike Wazowski (from Monsters Inc.) stuffed animal or just a picture of him and have the eye patch cover up his eye)

101. Temporary tattoos

102. Fake mustaches

103. Pirate themed toys

You can give the pirate themed gifts in a mini treasure box, or give a blank treasure box (find them at a place like Orientaltrading.com) with puffy jewel stickers to decorate it themselves.

There are literally thousands of Disney themed toys out there so just do a search for them or look at some on my Pinterest page. And instead of just searching “Disney” you can always look for specific characters.

104. Guitar picks. Uncommon Goods sells a guitar pick punch so you can make your own.

105. Hats, winter scarves, Princess Leia earmuffs, mittens. A cute card to go with it is a picture of Elsa from Frozen and then write “The cold never bothered me anyways… just kidding, I hate winter!” Just make sure the recipient doesn’t live someplace warm where they would never get any use out of them!

106. A themed lighter weight nice scarf for women.

107. Jewelry- rings, necklaces, bracelets

108. Themed socks

109. Luggage tags

110. Phone case

111. Pillow case

112. Umbrella

113. Piggy bank

114. Themed flash drive

115. Calendar

116. Picture frame (there are many DIY options out there)

117. Tray or catch-all

118. Coasters or trivets

119. Lanyards

120. A figurine of the ship you are sailing on (I swear I saw them in the gift shop on board, but you can also order them ahead of time via the “In-Room Gifts and Shopping” link under “My Disney Cruise” on the Disney cruise website)

121. Themed Russian nesting/stacking dolls

122. Keychains

123. Music box or jewelry box

124. Lego mini figurine or any Legos really. You can have custom Lego figures made by people like by “Thewayofthegeek” on Etsy.

125. Sleeping mask/ eye pillow and some ear plugs and make a “Sleeping Beauty Kit.” There are cute cartoons out there of Sleeping Beauty being woken up and saying “Just give me ten more minutes!”

126. Ornaments

127. Wax seal (for letters) and some wax

128. Millenium Falcon windshield sunshade

129. Bumper stickers (“My other car is the monorail.”)

130. Themed art work. Some of my favorite shops on Etsy are DreamMachinePrints, VintageArtDecors, Star2Go and BookArt4U but there are hundreds of shops out there so just look around.

131. Stickers

132. A wall decal to put on their wall when they get home

133. Window cling stickers

134. Crayons and coloring books (you can also find Disney themed coloring pages on Pinterest that you can print out)

135. Crayola has a ton of themed coloring and activity pads, some that come with their own markers in a cute little kit. They also have special “Color Wonder” kits that have markers that will ONLY color on the special coloring books that come with it- these are great for toddlers because then you don’t have to worry about them accidentally coloring on the walls, furniture or themselves.

136. There is a site online where you can turn your photos into coloring pages.

137. Themed suspenders, tie, bow tie, belt buckle, cufflinks, money clip

138. Themed pins. Pin trading is a big deal to a lot of Disney cruisers. You can go online to places like amazon or ebay and buy a “lot of Disney pins” where they send you like fifty different Disney pins which you can then divvy up and give to people.

139. Huey the color changing chameleon lamp (great gift for people who loved Tangled.)

140. Camera lens kit for cell phone

141. There is a soft serve ice cream place on board the ship so a bowl and some toppings for making your own sundae is a popular item to give

142. You can also give fun spoons that change color when they contact something cold to give with the sundae kit (but be sure to warn the recipient to not put it in the dishwasher as that stops them from working.)

143. While it is true that food and room service are free on the cruise, it is nice to have some snacks in the room or to take with you if you go on an excursion. There are many Disney and Star Wars themed fruit snacks, chips, etc available on Amazon. Or give a random snack but use a cute card with it to tie it in with the Disney theme. If it is a cheese flavored snack you can have a mouse character like Cinderella’s mice saying something about it. If it is some sort of apple snack tie it in with Snow White. If it is a honey snack tie it in to Winnie the Pooh. You get the idea.

144. Play Doh is a fun toy for little kids (and there are some cool Star Wars Play Doh sets.) I have found real Play Doh at the Dollar Store. Note: real Play Doh has a much better consistency and is more fun to play with than generic. You can give some cookie cutters with the Play Doh for them to play with on board which can also be used as actual cookie cutters when they get home.

145. If you are cruising around a holiday you can tie that in to your gift. Give Christmas cards, Christmas ornaments, Halloween candy, Easter eggs, valentines, etc. And if you plan far in advance you can always hit up the sales after those holidays to get things on clearance. Candy won’t last a whole extra year but empty Easter eggs, etc. will.

146. On my last cruise I couldn’t find door decorations that I wanted so I made my own magnets. I admit I went a bit overboard (Get it? Overboard! I don’t think you guys appreciate these puns as much as I do!) but it is really easy to make your own door magnets. I found pictures I liked online, printed them out, laminated them (with the laminator I already had) and then bought some sheets of magnets that I cut up with scissors and stuck to the back. They worked great for decorating the door but they were only strong enough to keep the actual laminated picture up and couldn’t keep anything else up, not even a single piece of paper.

147. Magnetic poetry kit. Or make your own themed kit using Disney or Star Wars words. Pew! Pew! Pew!

148. If you have a child it can be fun to get them involved by having them draw pictures or make an acronym out of the recipient’s name. Kids will come up with some interesting words for the acronyms which will probably end up being pretty amusing.

149. Make a pixie dust kit for a child. Instead of just giving out your extra pixie dust gifts yourself give a couple to a child with a note telling them to pass them out to people (for costumes they like, if they see someone do something nice for someone else, if someone looks sad, if they like their door decorations, etc.)

150. Frisbee/ flying disc. Most themed flying discs are flimsy and don’t work very well so consider buying a sturdier one and putting a sticker/ decal on it. There are also light up discs or Melissa and Doug has a soft flying disc that is great for smaller children.

151. SAFEGO portable safe (basically is like a bike chain with a locking pouch on it) that is great for holding your stuff at the beach

152. Anti-nausea motion sickness bracelets. You can get regular ones on Amazon or more attractive ones that look like actual beaded bracelets on Etsy.

153. A drink caddy/ multi-drink holder for when you want to bring drinks from the free drink station down to your room.


I hope you found this list helpful! Remember- be creative, have fun and don't stress out about it! It's a vacation after all! :)