Disney Cruise Theme Birthday Pary!

[Ariel&Flounder'sMom]

Hello!

I have lurked for months, and learned tons of great info from all you folks for our trip on the Wonder 3/13. It was an absolute blast!! My girls - DD 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 dressed up as Ariel and Flounder for Halloween, hence the name.

Anyway, we want to do a Disney Cruise theme birthday party for my DD's 5th birthday. We talked so much about it, we thought this would be a fun way to let her friends/family experience a flavor of the trip.

You are all so creative - so I thought I'd open this up for ideas: decorations? invitations? games? food?

It will be co-ed and most kids will be between 6 and 3.

I video taped my girls doing the Do-Si-Do with Snow White, so I thought we could teach everyone that. But other than that, I'm wondering if anything pops into your mind?

No idea is silly...

Thanks!!!

 

[TJGorman]

Great Idea! To start off, I am a bit obsessive, but here would be a possible idea. I would send out invitations that look like your cruise documents. When the children are arriving, I would have a "Welcome to the Disney Cruise Party" sign over the front door. If you have a digital camera, I would take a picture of each child near the sign. When the children enter the 'party' area, I would have a CD playing cruise songs.There is a thread on these boards that lists what songs you could put on the CD. You could also use the same CD for musical chairs. As for a craft, have them make a seashell photo frame. As for decorations, I would use a carribbean theme. You could use a couple of ideas for a cake, obviously since you have fans of Ariel and Flounder, you could use those characters. BJ's will transfer photo's on to cakes, so maybe you could print a picture of the Wonder and have it transferred on to a cake. With the kids, I would put together a bag with bubbles, the frame with the digital picture you took at the beginning of the party, and candy necklaces. Sorry, it is so long, but like I said I am a bit obsessive. I hope this inspires you. If you brought back your navigators, I would also search them for ideas.

 

[Ariel&Flounder'sMom]

I love your idea about the digital photos - that would be fun for each child to go home with. I also like the candy necklaces - easy to do, and what kid doesn't like them?

Can you think of any other games? I was trying to figure out if there were any pirate games, so the boys would have fun with that. Is there any fun things done in the 5-7 age range that we missed?

I also like your cake idea - we got a great picture of the boat from Castaway Cay - but I wonder (no pun intended) if I could make a cake that actually looks like the boat! Okay... maybe too much...

 

[Woobie]

You could dress like a cruise director, complete with nametag. I'm sure you could find a Disney one if you search (I've seen the customized cast member ones). There are lots of things you can do w/snack type foods - goldfish, gummy sharks in a bowl of blue jello, etc. Have a scavenger hunt. Each kid gets a piece of a treasue map. They must work together w/all the pieces to find the treasure chest, which can be filled with candy, take home goodie bags, etc. Do the limbo. Call your house Castaway Cay. The eating area can be Cookie's BBQ. Have hair braiding for the girls. Make flubber w/boys (& girls) if you don't think it's too messy/hectic. Center the party theme around the Golden Mickeys. Have each kid come dressed up. Have adult friends "interview" the kids as the enter the house on the red carpet you've created. Take photos of this that each kid can take home. Have a hidden Mickey scavenger hunt, or just see who can find the most Mickey's you've hidden in the house/party site. On the invite, tell kids to bring any pins they may want to trade & offer pin trading on the __ deck. Offer different flavored smoothies. That's it for now, gotta tend to a sick kid. If I think of more, I'll post.

Woobie

 

[Hanover]

For boys and pirate themes....
You may want to try birthdaypartyideas.com. I used a lot of information found on it for my now nearly 8 year old's 5th birthday party that was Pirate Themed. We have a large pirate ship playset/swingset and our son really wanted a party themed around this ship. For games we played "pin the patch on the pirate." I laminated a pirate's face found at a local party store with clear contact paper and had each child put their name on a (homeade) black patch and when it was their turn, they tried to stick it on one of the Pirate's eyes. For the older kids, I tied a bandana around their head to cover their eyes and spun them around too. We also played a form of "hot potato" using a stuffed parrot that came with my son's pirate costume. I found a great pirate cd on-line to use during this game. We also played a game of freeze dancing with the same cd. When the song was turned off, whoever kept dancing was "out." When the kids were out, I gave them goodies such as bubbles, bouncy balls and other treats to stuff in their goody bags. No one felt bad about getting out of any of the games. The kids also got their own telescopes, fake mustaches drawn on,tempoarary pirate tatoos, gold mardi-gras style beads, dollar store eyepatches and paper hats and I made them swords out of balloons. I found great deals on- line and after halloween on these items. We also played 2 outdoor games. One was using our hard plastic baby pool filled with fake baby sharks and a large piece of wood so they could "walk the plank." They all got a shark when done. The kids also played a game sort of like tag using their sharks. We started off with one shark who was "it", and each time another child was tagged, they too became a shark. This went on until every one was a shark. These last two games I got off the birthday party idea website. For crafts, they painted little wooden treasure chests black and glued beads and sequins on top. I wrote their names on them with a gold paint pen. I later put chocolate coins in them and hid them in our back yard for them to find their treasures.We also had a treasure chest pinata. I always put the kid's goody bags in the pinata that way they can find their own and not fight over who got more. The party was a huge hit for my son and all our guests. They ranged from ages 2 to 6. Our other son will be 5 next year and he wants a pirate party just like his brother had when he turned 5. Have fun!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Family fun .com has tons of great party ideas that you can adapt to your theme. I always prefered games that involved everyone and some sort of simple coloring activity to keep everyone occupied until all the guests arrived. One thing that I did for every party was similar to hot potato. I had a bunch of boxes, and I wrapped a small trinket for each child, something that would go in a goody bag. Then I put them in a box, wrapped it, and kept putting them in boxes. Then the box was passed around until the music stopped, and the child holding it would unwrap a layer. This went on until the last box, then each child got a trinket to unwrap. This was very popular with all three of my boys.

If you decided to do a pinata, I would suggest you fill it with one pez package for each child and let them know that they get one prize when it is opened. That always works much better than tons of candy where not all the children get an equal share. I always let my kids help make the pinatas, and then painted them to go with the theme.

 

[mmouse37]

A year or two ago a Dis'er posted her pics of a DCL cruise ship cake that she made....it was not from a pattern, she just created it and it was awesome!!!

Maybe you can ask some future cruisers to pick you up some of those cute complimentary DCL luggage tags.....you could find a use for them....maybe attached them to the child's goody bag with their name on them or maybe even use them as invitations....they are paper and there are many styles with many different character faces on them. If I was cruising soon I would be glad to pick some up (they have a ton of them for the taking the last night onboard) but I am not going until August.

 

[Ariel&Flounder'sMom]

Thanks for the great ideas...

One quick question: what's the recipe for flubber? My DD did do that in the lab one day, and when I mentioned it to her, she thought that would be a blast.

Does anyone know how to make it?

I was also thinking about the braiding idea - my DD is so proud of hers right now, and since all her friends have seen her in them, it would be fun for them to go home with one - can't imagine I could do anything elaborate.

The pirate ideas were great too - thanks!

I'm constantly amazed at the creativity that people have for birthday parties!

Now, I'm going to search for that picture of the cake....

 

[Woobie]

I did a google search for flubber+recipe, & got this. I'm sure there are plenty more & that you can add food coloring. Good luck.

Woobie

FLUBBER
Borate solution:
2/3 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon powdered Borax
3 drops food coloring
Mix together in a 1 cup measuring cup using a wooden spoon
Glue Solution:
3/4 cup warm water
1 cup white school glue
Mix together in a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon
Pour the borate solution into the bowl with glue solution. Use your hands to gently lift and turn the mixture until only one tablespoon of liquid is left. Flubber will be sticky for a moment or two. After the excess liquid has dripped off, Flubber is ready. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. When you are through, discard in a waste can. DO NOT try to wash it down the sink. If it dries on carpet or clothing, cover it with a cloth soaked in vinegar to de-gel it, then wash the area with detergent and water.

 

[txaggie94gigem]

Another easy idea in case you are not as creative as some others or if you are like me and do not have the time....take a picture from your disney vacation (ship, CC, characters with boat in background, etc) to almost any cake place onc walmart and grocery stores and have them make a photo cake from your picture. They are not very expensive and completely edible! I might be a way to personalize your cake!

also check out oriental trading company for lots of party stuff with island and party themes....

it might also be fun to make a "key to the world" card for each child which they have to show before each activity...then you can place a small sticker on each card for each activity completed!