Disney Dream October 17th 2016

[Precious8505]

thank you - I found the post and replied - This is all new to me

Hello Stacy!!! I will add you to the FE list now. I am going to invite you to the convo. Thanks again!

 

[Renee Bellagamba]

Are you looking for Character Dining? The Crystal Palace is one of my faves. You meet Winnie the Pooh and friends.

thank you for the info!

 

[Stacey Krull]

My family would also love to join in the FE! I just stumbled upon this and never knew anything like it existed! So fun

 

[RobynPrincess]

My family would also love to join in the FE! I just stumbled upon this and never knew anything like it existed! So fun

You have to post on the forum a few more times till you can be added as you need 10 posts to be able to pm

 

[Stacey Krull]

I know a few other posted about the profile picture... has anyone figured out how to add one? When I click on the blank box on my account home page it says that I don't have permission to do it?

 

[Stacey Krull]

Any dining recommendations for Magic Kingdom?

Be Our Guest for breakfast was our favorite!

 

[Stacey Krull]

I have 4 children, 9 yr old boy, 9 yr old girl, 3 yr old girl and 2 yr old girl.

I have a son who will be 6 then and a very outgoing daughter who will be 4- she will love to find other kiddos to play with!!!

 

[Stacey Krull]

I know a few other posted about the profile picture... has anyone figured out how to add one? When I click on the blank box on my account home page it says that I don't have permission to do it?

Ok... nevermind needed more posts but now all the files are too large. oh well!

 

[Nisha Anderson]

I'm new to this and am not sure how all of this works. My family would love to participate in the Fish Extenders! It looks like I have to post 10 things on here to be able to be invited to the personal message???

 

[Nisha Anderson]

I have a son who will be 6 then and a very outgoing daughter who will be 4- she will love to find other kiddos to play with!!!

I have a 5 year old girls and 3 year old girl! They will love meeting new friends even though they are shy at first.

 

[Nisha Anderson]

Ok I will do that, too many rules

Here's where I saw the thing about 10 posts! There are a lot of rules to keep track of...

 

[Nisha Anderson]

Can I participate in the FE?

good to know

Good to know is right!

 

[Nisha Anderson]

Does anyone else have girls that will be going? My daughter will be 7 when we go

Yes. Mine will be 5 and 3.

 

[Nisha Anderson]

No, it can be handled directly here on this thread. Or you can start a private conversation open only to those who you invite. You can hold a conversation with up to 19 others (20 total).

One note, to do the private conversation, each participant must have a minimum of 10 posts (messages) here on DISboards. Until the 10 post level has been met, the conversation feature isn't available.

That is good to know! Lots of things to learn.

 

[Nisha Anderson]

Thank you for all this info!! I printed this and highlighted it!!! LOL I don't mind be the coordinator of this if it means that we can all enjoy it! I think this is too good to miss out on!

Thank you for being willing to take this on! I'm excited. It will be so fun!

 

[Nisha Anderson]

Actually, all you do is maintain the list (with whatever information you/the group feels is necessary to have on the list). That information may be as minimal as DISname & number of occupants in the room. Other info that could be used includes: full names, ages, genders of everyone; allergies; favorite colors/characters. Whatever is necessary to prepare gifts.

Any other decisions (number of gifts, delivery dates, group size) can also be made at this time. Usually there are two thoughts as to group size. Some FE groups stop accepting participants when there are 10-15 rooms. Other groups just keep adding rooms until the cut off date (really big groups). Others start a new list every 10-15 rooms, so there are multiple lists, and each room can decide whether to be included in all lists, only one list, or whatever number works for them.

Generally a cut off date is set (by you/the group). This is usually around 30-45 days out from the cruise. About 2 weeks ahead of that date, you should post the list and tell everyone "PLEASE CONFIRM PARTICIPATION AND INFO ON LIST IS CORRECT by XX DATE OR YOU WILL BE DROPPED" with a date sometime shortly before the cut off date. And be firm - if someone doesn't confirm, it's on them, and they will be dropped. Then, after the cut off date, post the final list.

I don't recall if I posted this info or not, but, even if I did, I'll repeat:

Outside your room onboard is a message holder, in most cases it's shaped like a fish:View attachment 157840

The fish is there for Disney to place important communications to you such as excursion tickets and notes from the Cruise staff. It is like a mailbox for your room. A Fish Extender (FE) it is something that you hang off the fish. By hanging the Fish Extender off of the fish, the Cast Members can still use it for its original purpose.THIS IS NOT A ONE ON ONE EXCHANGE, YOU ARE PART OF A GROUP. All the people in the exchange buy or make little items and place them in each other's fish extenders. It is great fun to come back and check the items you have received.

Once a cruise meet thread is up and running, someone in the group will (should?) step up and say "I'll maintain the Fish Extender exchange list". That person is the center point for all those who want to participate in the exchange. The list can be as simple as DISnames/room number/number of guests or as involved as full names/room number/ages of guests/like & dislikes/allergies/favorite characters/whatever is deemed necessary to know assemble the gifts.

Then each room on the FE list (note this will not be everyone on the Cruise Meet thread for your specific cruise), makes a Fish Extender holder. This is basically an organizer-type hanging bag with separate pockets for each person in the room:View attachment 157841

The most common Fish Extenders are ones that have a pocket for each person in that stateroom. Some are very fancy, some are very plain. Some are store bought, some are homemade. Search "Disney fish extender" and you will get options that range in price. You should make sure your Fish Extender is between 8" & 12"" wide. Otherwise it starts to get in the way of your stateroom door. It should not exceed 5 feet; otherwise it will hit the floor. If you are creating your own it is suggested you make the pockets a little deeper than normal too. It will keep items from falling out and keep curious hands from reaching in (average depth is 5-6 inches)but 8-11 is a better way to go if you are making it yourself

They also make up gifts (either individual gifts or room gifts - whatever is decided by your group) to be delivered during the cruise).

One note about the gifts, some groups set up specific delivery dates, and specify "each person gets a gift" or "only one gift per room" or (even) maximum/minimum price ranges for gifts. Other groups just say "whatever", so people can choose what/how many gifts to give. Some give individual gifts, others only one gift per room, while others might do one for the adults and separate gifts for kids. Or only gift the kids.

WHO CAN JOIN?
Anyone and everyone! Even if your stateroom is 2 adults, you can join and have just as much fun! The only rule I would say is to HAVE FUN!! It's not about the gift it's about the thoughtfulness behind it.


HOW MANY CABINS WILL BE IN MY FE GROUP and WHO PARTICIPATES???
DO I HAVE TO BUY FOR EVERYONE? DO I NEED TO GIVE PER CABIN?
Sort of…You have to do something for EVERY CABIN PARTICIPATING, You choose whether its adult gifts or kids gifts or cabin gifts or a combination.YOU CAN NOT LEAVE A CABIN OUT IF THEY HAVE SIGNED UP. At the very least, 1 cabin gift, per cabin. Some do a cabin gift, and then do a few items for the kids. Some do individual for each member of the cabin. Some people are crafty and make gifts, and some are store bought. Some gifts are to be used on board and some are to be used at home.


How many rooms you give to depends on your cruise meet group. They range in average from 10-15 sometimes even 25 and up. Most do the smaller groups with the option to join more than one. It makes it more manageable.

This is typically a whole cabin event. You usually may not just sign up the kids. There are some cruise meet groups that have Adult Only groups. But not Kids only. Some groups say “every room gets/gives gifts” (even if two rooms are really just one family). Others say that rooms that are a nuclear family can give together. While other groups say: If you are signing up more than one cabin to participate, you should not combine them. It’s not fair for people to make items for 2 cabins and receive from 1 of them. They should be counted as 2 separate cabins. It’s up to each Fish Extender group/organizer to decide on the “rules”.

WHEN LEAVING A GIFT, DO WE IDENTIFY WHO IT IS FROM?
Some people do put some kind of to/from tag on their items. Most want to know who it came from. Some do it because they don't want people to think they got shorted a gift or assumed theft of an item. Others go with the original intent and deliver anonymous gifts.

DO WE PUT GIFTS IN EVERY DAY OF THE CRUISE? WILL I HAVE TO WALK ALL OVER THE SHIP TO DELIVER?
That's up to you. Most deliver ONCE. Most do one gift, some do multiple gifts.You don’t want to spend your whole cruise delivering gifts. It can be time consuming. Most deliver over the whole length of the cruise. One morning you do all the cabins on decks 4-6 that are Forward. Another time you do all the mid cabins on decks 1-4. And so on. It’s suggested you break up your list by location: Forward, Mid and Aft before leaving home. Large zip locks are good for this. Start from your highest deck and work your way to your lowest.

*If you are on a longer cruise, consider delivering later in the week. Most deliver in the beginning and then there is nothing towards the end (and the kids like to find stuff in the holder).You don’t have to deliver all on the first day, especially on the longer cruises. On the reverse – don’t deliver the last night, as people will be packing up and putting their bags out for pick up.


Don’t deliver in the middle of the night, when no one is around, or when people are off the ship when sticky fingers are more likely.

I’M IN A CONCIERGE SUITE, HAVE A GTY RESERVATION OR SOMEONE IN MY FE GROUP IS. WOULD THERE BE A PROBLEM BEING PART OF THE FE?
No, there are fish message holders outside all rooms on board. Once a GTY reservation has a room assigned, it can be reported to the group.

MY GIFTS ARE TO BIG TO FIT IN THE POCKET, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT?
1. You can lean it against the door
2. You can hang on door knob
3. You can leave it at guest services, marked for each stateroom and then notify each stateroom to go pick up.
4. You could try to ask the stateroom host out in the hallway to place it inside the cabin.
5. You can just hang it on the "fish.

DO PEOPLE CARRY ALL THEIR GIFTS IN THEIR SUITCASES?
Most do, however, you can ship your items down. They must arrive by the day before you sail and contain no food items (they will get snagged by the dogs and get held up). Make sure your package is addressed exactly how your name is in your reservation and it will be in your stateroom when you get there (even before your luggage!). You can also send to your hotel if you are staying at one before you sail. KEEP IN MIND... you can not ship home from the ships.

I HAVE TO DROP OUT.. HOW DO I DO THAT.
It’s very important that if you have to drop out for any reason you notify the person running your FE. (They can be found on the cruise page you signed up on)

It’s important so that others who are participating don’t count you in, when you won’t be there. Everyone’s time is valuable. It’s courteous to let someone know.People put a lot of time and effort into FE gifts, and are expecting something in return. It’s not fair to the group if you bow out without letting anyone know

ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW?

• It has been pointed out that some Travel Agents are giving wrong info. They are saying you can hang a FE holder outside your door and expect gifts.
• Cast members are not walking around like Tinkerbelle handing out gifts.
• You cannot just show up on a cruise with gifts to randomly pass out (well you could but that would be “pixie dusting” not participating in a FE).
• You have to find your Cruise Meet group and join a FE group to know how many people are participating, how large your group will be and all other info.
• This is a voluntary program and is not sanctioned by Disney.

This is a great post! Thank you! It answers a lot of my questions.

 

[Nisha Anderson]

Any pre-planning tips experienced cruises can share? I've been on a Disney cruise twice before- once as a teenager and once about 10 years ago. A lot has changed and it will be different with kids of my own! Thanks in advance for any tips you can share!

 

[Nisha Anderson]

Also, would anyone have suggestions for what would be best to do at the ports with a 5 and 3 year old? Is it better to stay on board and enjoy the quiet ship, do excursions, or just wonder around?

 

[Precious8505]

I'm new to this and am not sure how all of this works. My family would love to participate in the Fish Extenders! It looks like I have to post 10 things on here to be able to be invited to the personal message???

Hi! Looks like your at your 10 messages! I will invite you to our conversation!

 

[Holli L]

Hi all! My crew just booked on the Dream for 10/17!! We are brand new to Disney Cruise and to DIS. Loving the idea of the FE! Looks like I need to post 10 times to participate? Does that mean in this thread or if I post in other threads? I'd love and happily accept any advice. So so excited about our cruise! There are 5 of us- DH and I will celebrate our 5 year anniversary, and we will have our 13, 11, and 3 year old daughters with us !