The Fish Extender
What is a Fish Extender? Where did it come from? What does it mean to me? What if I am terrified of fishes? All these questions and more answered in this episode of SOAP.
Background
A fish extender is a secret Santa of sorts. The idea is that a group of DISers exchange gifts during a cruise. The first Fish Extender Exchange is said to have been started during a Panama Canal repositioning cruise. It is called a Fish Extender because outside of every stateroom there is a fish mounted on the wall. It was put there by
DCL as a way to deliver notes without entering your room. Now DISers use it to hang their Fish Extenders. The actual extender is like increasing the size of your mailbox, if you will.
The idea behind fish extenders is:
Share some magic with your fellow DISers.Also known as, its better to give that to receive.
Tell Me More
Fish Extenders have all sorts of looks to them, depending on the cruisers tastes, size of family, specific event, and character.
Important Details
Requirements for your Fish Extender are:
you are able to hang it from the Fish in the hallway (size requirements and zip ties later)
it has a pocket or pouch to hold the gifts you will receive
Thats it. Breathe. Relax.
Where Do I Get a Fish Extender?
Some folks make their own Fish Extenders.
Some buy Fish Extenders from places like e-bay.
Others find creative things to use as Fish Extenders.
Here are some instructions for sewing your own 'traditional' Fish Extender:
Sew it yourself Fish Extender.
Here are some instructions for people that don't/can't sew so well:
No-sew Fish Extender
Specifications
The wall that the fish extender is hung on is roughly 8 wide. If you make your extender much wider, it will stick out into the hallway and/or hit your stateroom door.
The fish to hang your extender from is about 53 off the floor. When deciding upon a length for your extender, be sure you keep in mind that you will hang it from the fish, which will add overall length to your extender.
Whats With This Zip Tie Business
A zip tie (or cable tie) is a handy piece of equipment to secure your fish extender. We dont want any fish extender nappings. Lets face it, even on a
Disney Cruise; there are people out there that have deviousness running in their veins. The zip tie helps to deter this. This is an explanation from a fellow DISer:
If you look at the ribbon on any fish extender (that is what you place over the fish) that is how the "extender" hangs on the fish. It is very easy to just remove the extender by just un-hooking it from the fish. So, you take your zip tie and cinch it around both of the ribbons that are hanging from the fish on both sides... and you cinch the zip tie so that the two ribbons squeeze around the fish making it impossible to remove the extender.
The zip-tie goes around the ribbon or string that attaches to the fish... and you place it just under the fish... it actually scoots itself up to the fish as you tighten it... the trick is to leave it NOT so tight so that you can get your scissors or nail clippers thru it when you are ready to take it down.
Think about it like a Club except instead of securing your cars steering wheel, it holds the strap your fish extender hangs from securely to the fish.
The Magic of Fish Extender Gifts
So what do people put in the Fish Extenders? How often do you deliver gifts? What about kids?
People give all sorts of stuff. Here are some pics of Fish Extender bootie.
Gifts can be regional in theme.
Gifts can be Disney related.
Gifts can be event specific.
Gifts can represent you.
Gifts can be almost anything.
Delivering your gifts can be a daunting task. The other people that signed up for the Fish Extender exchange will be all over the ship. Walking the ship isnt too very tough. Walking the ship, carrying your gifts, trying to find specific stateroomsthats a different story.
Gifts are delivered throughout the day and night, totally dependent upon your schedule. It did seem that there were a lot of deliveries on the first full day aboard the ship.
Some instances a gift is given to each individual. Sometimes it is given to the entire the cabin. Quite often children get special gifts just for them. If your cabin has a roommate situation, where you both are participating in the Fish Extender Exchange, but do not reside together in real life, please state that when you sign up. Each person would then be listed and each person would receive gifts of their own.
Some important things to remember about gifts:
Some people have food allergies. (i.e. cinnamon, peanuts, coconut, etc.). If you do, please mention that when you sign up for the Fish Extender list.
Be aware of how much space will be needed to transport your gifts to the ship (and then home again). I ended up shipping a box (15x15x15) full of FE Stuff home.
Groups
Does the thought of purchasing, assembling, transporting and delivering a massive amount of Fish Extender gifts worry or frighten you? Joining a group may be just the solution to your concerns.
A Fish Extender Group is a group of DISers that pool their resources (money, time, creativity) toward a fish extender gift.
Groups do not
need any formal association. They can be random DISers that want to join a group. They can be people from a certain state or country. They can be from a demographic (Redheads, Firemen, Teachers, etc.)
One person should act as a group leader, collecting and distributing input from the rest of the group. It is a good idea to e-mail everyone in the group about the groups gift.
Once a groups gift is decided upon, the total cost (dont forget shipping) is divided between the members of the group.
Onboard, it would be easiest to divide up the total number of staterooms participating in the fish extender exchange between members of the group. For example, if there were 180 staterooms participating, and 12 members in your group, each person would deliver 15 gifts.
Miscelaneous
Signing up for the Fish Extender on your cruise should be relatively easy. Whomever is going to head up the task should be able to keep track of the changes throughout the thread and keep record of them, updating the list as necessary.
From time to time, peoples cabin number changes. If this happens to you, please post a note on the thread so the list can be updated. One of the first few posts of the thread should contain the list of participants, their cabin number, number of adults, number (and age) of children, allergies, and special notes.
If for some reason you cabin number changes close to the sail date, or you upgrade your cabin at the port, that information needs to be shared with the rest of the Fish Extender group. The easiest way to do this is to have an update list posted. Someone who signed up for the Fish Extender Exchange should volunteer to do this.
Now here are a few tips:
1) If you can ship your gifts ahead of time, do it - saves so much room in your luggage.
Make sure you allow enough time for your package to arrive prior to the start of the cruise. You don't want to get to the ship and discover that your package did not make it to meet you.
2) Be sure you have room in your luggage for the goodies you will receive. I thought I would have so much room in my suitcase since I had given away the goodies I brought; however, I had just as much to take home!
3) If you are talented and can make your gifts - they are so appreciated. All gifts are awesome, and homemade ones are like icing on the cake! ((or the meringue on the pie!!)
4) Deliver your gifts a floor at a time - maybe one floor a day.
5) Plan your delivery - either map them or organize by number.
6) Trip personalized gifts are awesome - some of the coolest gifts were items that were personalized with our cruise dates or motto (pens, notepads, etc)
7) Fasten your Fish Extender to the fish with a zip tie - there was a report of a near Fish Extender napping on our cruise thread - I think personalizing the Fish Extender helps, too.
8) Make delivering the gifts a family affair. At one point I could hear a cute family whispering outside my door as they had the kids put the goodies in the Fish Extender.
Remember, when you do a Fish Extender you will be the envy of many on the ship! I was stopped a couple of times asking how we got one of those and how could they participate! Of course, those folks have now been informed of the Disboards!
(I can say that it's not very expensive though)
Lori and I could have our own sub-group of a sub-group by being redheads named Lori! 
I'm part of the DLR group, but I think being part of the redhead group would be a lot of fun, too.
- IMHO there still will be lots of people joining and lots of groups forming 
