2/15/2013 - 8 Night Western Cruise, Galveston, TX

[KPetty725]

Betsy - I'm so jealous!!!
We are in full planning mode!!Last night or rather this morning, I started designing door magnets. I have so many it is hard to decide which ones to print!.

Ok, I need tips on magnets. This will be our first year decorating our door. What kinds of things do y'all put up? Do magnet strips work (the kind you peel and stick) or do I need to buy full magnet sheets?

 

[the great cornholeo]

I buy magnetic business cards from staples. Cheaper. and cut them up to put on the back of my laminated designs.

 

[CalgaryFam]

Hello

This will be our first cruise and we will be cruising with our 2 daughters 5 & 7.

Friends of ours have done a couple Disney Cruises and talked about the magnet exchange. Is there a magnet exchange set up for this cruise and how do we go about getting signed up?

thanks, more questions to come.

 

[KPetty725]

Hello

This will be our first cruise and we will be cruising with our 2 daughters 5 & 7.

Friends of ours have done a couple Disney Cruises and talked about the magnet exchange. Is there a magnet exchange set up for this cruise and how do we go about getting signed up?

thanks, more questions to come.

Welcome calgaryFam! My oldest daughter is 6 and there are a few other girls the same ages as ur girls! I'm sure they'll have fun together! there's some general info on the first page of this thread to help you.

As for the exchange, you're probably referring to what we call a "fish extender exchange" (FE or FEE for short). There is a little "fish" outside the door of your cabin and people hang "fish extenders" so other disers can leave little gifts. Then your family leaves gifts for the others in your group. Search Etsy for fish extenders and you will see what they look like. We have four groups going, but the first three are full. If you'd like to join the fourth group, contact Beth (FloridaFun) and she can send you the link for the Google spreadsheet.

As for the magnets, the cabin doors are magnetic and people decorate their doors with pics, Disney characters, etc. I've never done it before so I'm hoping some of those who have will post some ideas!

 

[Gina]

Katie ~ I use the magnet strips and they work just fine. Much cheaper than the full magnet sheets! I do use the magnet sheets only if I'm printing something 8 1/2 X 11, like a birthday sign. The smaller stuff like Mickey heads and whatever, I just use the magnet strips. They have always worked just fine, inside the stateroom for birthday decorations and outside on the door!

Was looking at Touring Plans yesterday... Can I just say again how RIDICULOUS the concept of President's Week is??? Thanks to some parts of the country getting that entire week off, the predicted Crowd Level # is now at 10. I had never even heard of President's DAY being a holiday of any sort until we started going to WDW. Good grief, a 10... we're used to 3's, 4's, maybe 5's. I hope they have the FP+ going by then -- and I hope if they do, we'll be allowed to participate! Since we're considered "on-site" guests as far as EMH goes, I'm hoping that will apply to FP+ as well.

Can't believe we're only 37 days away now... I am SO ready!!! Like way ready, lol. It has been a trying week! DS gave me quite a scare Friday morning... Long story short, my big strapping teen who never gets so much as a cold, literally, went down with viral pharyngitis. It hit him so hard and fast, he passed out twice on me in the kitchen. All nearly-6ft of him just crumbled, and I couldn't hold him up. His eyes were open but I was yelling his name and he was completely unresponsive. I know most of you are parents as well, and can understand when I say I've never been so scared in my whole life!!

The doc at the ER was pretty unconcerned... said his body had probably been fighting it symptom-less for a few days and him passing out was likely due to the sudden fever and gradual dehydration. I told DS I'm giving him a few more days to feel totally better, then I am kicking his BUTT for scaring me like that, lol.

Anyways, yeah, I am ready for this vacation!!!! Deck 4 loungers, here I come!!

 

[fatfish]

DS gave me quite a scare Friday morning... Long story short, my big strapping teen who never gets so much as a cold, literally, went down with viral pharyngitis. It hit him so hard and fast, he passed out twice on me in the kitchen. All nearly-6ft of him just crumbled, and I couldn't hold him up. His eyes were open but I was yelling his name and he was completely unresponsive. I know most of you are parents as well, and can understand when I say I've never been so scared in my whole life!!

The doc at the ER was pretty unconcerned... said his body had probably been fighting it symptom-less for a few days and him passing out was likely due to the sudden fever and gradual dehydration. I told DS I'm giving him a few more days to feel totally better, then I am kicking his BUTT for scaring me like that, lol.

Anyways, yeah, I am ready for this vacation!!!! Deck 4 loungers, here I come!!

Gina, How is Tyler Dean now? Is he okay? Are you okay? That had to be so scary for both of you!

 

[fatfish]

Just bought my Rainforest Room day pass! Woo hoo! That was the last thing on my list - now I'm ready to go. Maybe I'll make some new magnets....

 

[KPetty725]

Katie ~ I use the magnet strips and they work just fine. Much cheaper than the full magnet sheets! I do use the magnet sheets only if I'm printing something 8 1/2 X 11, like a birthday sign. The smaller stuff like Mickey heads and whatever, I just use the magnet strips. They have always worked just fine, inside the stateroom for birthday decorations and outside on the door!

Was looking at Touring Plans yesterday... Can I just say again how RIDICULOUS the concept of President's Week is??? Thanks to some parts of the country getting that entire week off, the predicted Crowd Level # is now at 10. I had never even heard of President's DAY being a holiday of any sort until we started going to WDW. Good grief, a 10... we're used to 3's, 4's, maybe 5's. I hope they have the FP+ going by then -- and I hope if they do, we'll be allowed to participate! Since we're considered "on-site" guests as far as EMH goes, I'm hoping that will apply to FP+ as well.

Can't believe we're only 37 days away now... I am SO ready!!! Like way ready, lol. It has been a trying week! DS gave me quite a scare Friday morning... Long story short, my big strapping teen who never gets so much as a cold, literally, went down with viral pharyngitis. It hit him so hard and fast, he passed out twice on me in the kitchen. All nearly-6ft of him just crumbled, and I couldn't hold him up. His eyes were open but I was yelling his name and he was completely unresponsive. I know most of you are parents as well, and can understand when I say I've never been so scared in my whole life!!

The doc at the ER was pretty unconcerned... said his body had probably been fighting it symptom-less for a few days and him passing out was likely due to the sudden fever and gradual dehydration. I told DS I'm giving him a few more days to feel totally better, then I am kicking his BUTT for scaring me like that, lol.

Anyways, yeah, I am ready for this vacation!!!! Deck 4 loungers, here I come!!

OMG! How scary!!! Hope he is doing better now!! Poor boy and poor Mama!

 

[KPetty725]

Just bought my Rainforest Room day pass! Woo hoo! That was the last thing on my list - now I'm ready to go. Maybe I'll make some new magnets....

Say what?? You can buy that in advance?? How did I not know this? Where can I find that??

 

[Gina]

Gina, How is Tyler Dean now? Is he okay? Are you okay? That had to be so scary for both of you!

Not for him -- he doesn't remember a dang thing except for waking up on the floor after the 2nd incident, surrounded by all the pots & pans he took down with him. But he is much better now -- thanks for asking! His fever finally left the building yesterday afternoon, and he went back to school & work today. Me, honestly, I have to keep actively distracting my mind, or I keep reliving it in my head. I think it's a Mom thing. Wine helps.

Just bought my Rainforest Room day pass! Woo hoo! That was the last thing on my list - now I'm ready to go. Maybe I'll make some new magnets....

I almost did that... but on principal it really bugged me that they charge you an extra $1 to order it ahead of time. I've heard mixed reviews on whether or not they are letting you buy a daypass on the spot, and they always have let me before, so I guess I'm just going to wait and hope that's still true. Any time the word "Disney" is involved, they tend to not ever have an issue with making it easier to part from your money, so I'm cautiously optimistic.


Hey everyone, I almost forgot -- Does anyone maybe want to do some pin trading at the 2pm DIS Meet??

 

[Tass]

Was looking at Touring Plans yesterday... Can I just say again how RIDICULOUS the concept of President's Week is??? Thanks to some parts of the country getting that entire week off, the predicted Crowd Level # is now at 10. I had never even heard of President's DAY being a holiday of any sort until we started going to WDW. Good grief, a 10... we're used to 3's, 4's, maybe 5's. I hope they have the FP+ going by then -- and I hope if they do, we'll be allowed to participate! Since we're considered "on-site" guests as far as EMH goes, I'm hoping that will apply to FP+ as well.

Can't believe we're only 37 days away now... I am SO ready!!! Like way ready, lol. It has been a trying week! DS gave me quite a scare Friday morning... Long story short, my big strapping teen who never gets so much as a cold, literally, went down with viral pharyngitis. It hit him so hard and fast, he passed out twice on me in the kitchen. All nearly-6ft of him just crumbled, and I couldn't hold him up. His eyes were open but I was yelling his name and he was completely unresponsive. I know most of you are parents as well, and can understand when I say I've never been so scared in my whole life!!

The doc at the ER was pretty unconcerned... said his body had probably been fighting it symptom-less for a few days and him passing out was likely due to the sudden fever and gradual dehydration. I told DS I'm giving him a few more days to feel totally better, then I am kicking his BUTT for scaring me like that, lol.

Anyways, yeah, I am ready for this vacation!!!! Deck 4 loungers, here I come!!

Wow - that would be scary! Hope he's feeling better soon . . . you too!

As for Presidents' Day - we don't have spring break around here, so the 2 days we are off for Presidents' Day is our next best option. That's why we're cruising that week. I'm expecting large crowds at WDW and have tried to get my family to adjust their expectations for that day. We're planning to hit the must-do's and anything else will be a pleasant surprise.

 

[Tass]

Hello

This will be our first cruise and we will be cruising with our 2 daughters 5 & 7.

Friends of ours have done a couple Disney Cruises and talked about the magnet exchange. Is there a magnet exchange set up for this cruise and how do we go about getting signed up?

thanks, more questions to come.

Welcome aboard! I've never done the FEE or the door decorating, so I will let the other more experienced cruisers help you with that. Just wanted to say "hi".

 

[FSU88]

My refrigerator is subbing for a cabin door until cruise time. Here are the magnets I made. I have 3 sets of 'ears' to put on our round door number during the cruise. I printed these on full magnetic sheets.
These were pulled from this thread
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2172891

I then looked through this massive thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2897587&highlight=door+magnets
Tons of ideas, and the OP, milliepie, has links in her signature taking you to her file site, where I got most of the images

I dropped the image into a Word document and added in word art to customize. I filled in full 8-1/2 x 11 magnetic sheets then cut out from there after printing. I should have tagged all the designs with the cabin# to dissuade any passer bys from helping themselves. I will probably write something on the back of the ears in silver sharpie.

I bought 2 packs of 5 magnetic sheets, and that was plenty for me. I ended up wasting one as it jammed in my printer and generally mucked the whole sheet up. The ink appears to be smudge free and they came out better than I thought.

The smaller name tags are on magnetic business cards, and I made one for each person in my FEE group as one of their gifts.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

[KPetty725]

My refrigerator is subbing for a cabin door until cruise time. Here are the magnets I made. I have 3 sets of 'ears' to put on our round door number during the cruise. I printed these on full magnetic sheets.
These were pulled from this thread
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2172891

I then looked through this massive thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2897587&highlight=door+magnets
Tons of ideas, and the OP, milliepie, has links in her signature taking you to her file site, where I got most of the images

I dropped the image into a Word document and added in word art to customize. I filled in full 8-1/2 x 11 magnetic sheets then cut out from there after printing. I should have tagged all the designs with the cabin# to dissuade any passer bys from helping themselves. I will probably write something on the back of the ears in silver sharpie.

I bought 2 packs of 5 magnetic sheets, and that was plenty for me. I ended up wasting one as it jammed in my printer and generally mucked the whole sheet up. The ink appears to be smudge free and they came out better than I thought.

The smaller name tags are on magnetic business cards, and I made one for each person in my FEE group as one of their gifts.

Cheers,
Jeff

Jeff - you are amazing! I was just thinking of asking if anyone had door pics. Fridge pics work just as we'll! LOL!

Your comment of people "helping themselves" reminded me of another question I had. I've read in some of the FEE posts that people sometimes use zip ties on their FE to keep them from "walking away". Do any of you do that? Trying to decide if its worth it to bring zip ties AND scissors to cut it off at the end of the cruise!

 

[Gina]

Your comment of people "helping themselves" reminded me of another question I had. I've read in some of the FEE posts that people sometimes use zip ties on their FE to keep them from "walking away". Do any of you do that? Trying to decide if its worth it to bring zip ties AND scissors to cut it off at the end of the cruise!

That's a good question, I've never thought about that. But honestly, I think some lowlife who would take anything in the first place would be far more interested in the gifts *in* the FE than the FE itself. I don't think I'm going to worry about it.

Can't wait to get home and see the pics you guys are posting!! I need more door ideas!

 

[SnipsNSnails]

I'm glad Tyler Dean is doing better! That must have been scary.

I haven't thought about door magnets yet. Not sure what we will do yet.

 

[Gina]

I'm glad Tyler Dean is doing better! That must have been scary.

Thanks, all of you, for the kind concern! I have new respect for my mother who had to deal with my premature brother going into febrile seizures whenever he was a baby and would run a high fever.

So, do all of you have your formal duds all ready? Tyler Dean and I look forward to dressing up -- never get to in "real life". And the portraits are so wonderful!

Ladies, I would love to see some of your dresses, if you have previous formal night pics and plan on wearing the same thing (like me!)

 

[elmo2200]

I second Gina about laminating small graphics and using stick on magnets and doing large graphics on magnetic sheets. I have never had anyone take my magnets or FE. We do empty the FE often so it wont be so tempting to passers by. Jeff- I love the Galveston magnet! I haven't run across that one. I use my paint program that came on the computer to "paint" over the existing words then I save the clean copy. I pull that up in Publisher and add text with the word art feature. For me the easiest way to get rid of the words is to copy some of the background color and paste it over the words. HTH
I am altering a "new-to-me" formal dress. It was probably a bridesmaid dress but it doesn't matter to me. I love it and it was VERY cheap!!! I will see about posting a pic later.
I just realized my door pics are on my old hard drive. I will see about getting those too. Here is one I just made. I need to remember how to post pics smaller....

 

[elmo2200]

Yea! I figured it out!! Here is one I just uploaded into photobucket and edited it all there.

 

[FloridaFun]

Gina- that had to be beyond frightening for you as a parent! Glad to hear that it sounds like you are both recovering.

Welcome CalgaryFam! Let me know if you would like to be in the 4th group FEE. If you would like some additional ideas of things that would make good FE gifts, I do have a Pinterest Board where I have pinned FE ideas. http://pinterest.com/off2wdw/fe-disney-gifts/

Jeff – Your magnets are looking great. That is the one thing that I have not even got started yet, but you have me inspired now! My refrigerator went out last summer when I was gone and my DH managed to buy a new one that is not magnetic on the front. I had never heard of such a thing, but as a consequence, I have no place to organize my magnets when I do get them done.

Elmo2200 – Just love the framed one as a magnet! I totally need to get busy.