Here's the link to my party photos:
http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q222/notsolittlemermaid/My DCL House Party/?albumview=slideshow
So the party was small (10 or so), but it was fun!
Jackie drove up to attend and help (little did she know it would be the other way around!) Thanks again, Jackie!
I was about an hour behind schedule because I got the call from House Party that morning that I'd won the sweepstakes!!! So of course I had to call some people and post it before I could even get out of my jammies!
[I'm supposed to get a call from DCL this week to give me more details. All I know now is I won a 4 night cruise for 4 people (all in the same cat. 9 cabin), with air and tips included. Don't know if there are restrictions as far as dates, etc. Jackie suggested going around the holidays to see the decorations, which would be cool. Also, since I've never really been to WDW, I'd like to do that as well.
It's hard to pick 3 people. I think picking 1 would be easier. I have several ideas but haven't made up my mind yet.]
But back to the party...
My niece brought her two little ones, age 5 and almost 3. Poor kids, it was pretty boring for them, as I didn't have games or anything. But their dad took them down to the park in my development, so that was fun.
I made the famous DISboard meatballs (grape jelly and chili sauce), except I made them with cocktail sauce--oh well, everyone loved them, and couldn't believe what they were made with!
I also served Mickey-shaped pizzas I got at WalMart, macaroni salad made w/Pirates of the Caribbean pasta, chocolate dipped strawberries, a fruit juice+Pina Colada mix+sparking water punch, and Mickey pretzels and crackers from DL.
I had a blue cloth on the party table with a clear plastic cloth over it. So under the plastic I (or rather Jackie) arranged some of my cruise photos. I also bought a Mickey punch at the craft store and had red & blue Mickey heads scattered around the photos. I hung some fish net in one window and had other photos displayed there. I put up the posters. I had a towel folding station with towels, photos and some directions. People had fun with that.
My DVD didn't work, but I was able to copy it and reburn it so it worked for the party. I made copies of the DVD for the parents of kids who came. I also copied the music CD and made one for everyone. In my treat bags I put the CD, gold chocolate coins, a bag of Mickey pretzels, a few sheets of the stickers (torn out of the cruise info books), a little bottle of bubbles from Dollar Tree that I'd glued a DCL logo on, a bar of soap or lotion from the
Disneyland hotel, and the big cruise info guide w/DVD. I left the Family Fun mags out for people to take if they wanted one. I gave one pirate hat to Jackie (I already have one). The other pirate stuff I was going to give out to whoever wanted it, but I forgot. I think I'll give it to whoever I invite to go on the 4 day cruise with me. I didn't use the Peter Pan stuff at all. I meant to give it to my niece for her kids but I forgot. Same w/the coloring sheets. I didn't find out until the day of the party that the iron-on was in w/the coloring sheets. I just thought I didn't get one! So I didn't have time to do anything with that.
Final verdict: House Party was great. I'd do another one any time. A great excuse to have people over and talk about something I love!!
DCL--so strange how they handled this! As many others have said, getting a poorly packed box with a mish-mash of stuff that mostly had nothing to do w/DCL and a DVD that didn't work properly--NOT what we would expect from Disney! Hopefully they'll do better next time.
All in all, it was a lot of fun! Next Sunday, Super Bowl party (leftover meatballs will be served)! And, hey--I won the sweepstakes! I have nothing to complain about!!