If you’ve ever traveled on a Disney Cruise, you might be familiar with Fish Extenders (FE’s). When I was first invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, and found out it was both on land and on sea onboard the Disney Wonder, there became a lot of chatter about Fish Extenders. I had NO CLUE what one was — honestly, I thought it was something you attached to a fishing pole, LOL. Boy was I wrong! Want the perfect tutorial for an EASY DIY Disney Cruise Fish Extender? Read on!!
WHAT IS A FISH EXTENDER?
A Fish Extender can be anything. From elaborate hand-sewn FE’s on Etsy, to a simple reusable tote bag. Its purpose is to hang from the Fish that is located outside your stateroom on your Disney Cruise. The Fish Extender acts as a mailbox of sorts to hold gifts from guests in your FE group. Guests onboard sign-up for Fish Extender Groups. Groups usually consist of 10 staterooms. If you have a Disney Cruise booked in the future, click here to sign-up for a Fish Extender Group.
WHAT GOES INTO A FISH EXTENDER?
That’s really up to you! Do you enjoy making handmade gifts or would you prefer to purchase? The possibilities are endless. Some choose to give gifts to each individual in the stateroom, while others will give one stateroom gift for all to enjoy! On our cruise some of the gifts we received were photo frames, magnets, candy, coloring books and crayons, etc.
I enjoy DIY projects, so I decided to make our own Fish Extender! It was really simple, and I’m happy with how it came out. Want to make your own too? Here’s how:
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DIY Disney Cruise Fish Extender
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Hanging Wall Organizer — I loved this one, and you can’t beat the price!!
Fabric — I used a different piece of fabric for each family member based off our favorite characters.
Fabric Glue — I found this to work better than a glue gun when adhering the fabric to the bins.
Ribbon — I chose coordinating colors that matched our fabric choices, as well as a thicker ribbon to hang the Fish Extender.
Wooden Circles — Either circles or ovals. I chose ovals for ours because of the length of our names.
DIRECTIONS:
–Cut fabric to size of bins.
–Use fabric glue to adhere fabric to each bin.
–Trim each bin with coordinating ribbon.
–Paint the wooden circles with 2-3 coats of white acrylic paint. Allow to dry.
–Use alphabet stickers to spell out family members names.
–Adhere wooden circles to each bin with hot glue.
–Tie your thicker ribbon to the top of your Fish Extender.
That’s it! You’re done!!
We really enjoyed participating in our Fish Extender. While it was a ton of work for me, my kids loved it — and that’s what it’s all about, right?
Lincoln and Avery loved arriving at our stateroom and having special surprises inside our Fish Extender! They also really enjoyed distributing our gifts to the other members in our group!
I feel like it teaches kids something too. While they are receiving fun surprises, they’re also sharing their own gifts with others. Teaching my boys kindness is so important to me.
Have you participated in a Disney Cruise Fish Extender? Please pin this image below for later!!
Hoping to take our first Disney cruise very soon and love this idea!
Hi – I just ordered the organizer from Amazon – but then it occurred to me – how do i get that to Orlando? How did you get it there??
Hi Keri!
I was easily able to fold the completed Fish Extender right back into the original packaging afterwards! There are cardboard inserts, but just remove those (you don’t need them anyways). Enjoy your cruise!!
Kami,
Is the organizer thin enough to place pins through to make a pin trading board?
This is a fantastic idea, gonna do it for our trip. Thanks for the great idea!!!
Kami,
Is the organizer thin enough to place pins through to make a pin trading board? This is something I’m hoping to do in addition to the traditional mail.
Yes! I think it would definitely work!!
Do you give gifts everyday of the cruise or just one day. I have about 5 people in my list so far. An adult only page. Thank you for any advise.
You can do whichever you like. In the past I’ve just done gifts on one day. I think it might get hectic doing them everyday! Happy sailing!!