Favorite Gifts received as FE

[tinkerbellmom1]

Participating in the FE exchange is a bunch of fun (Some of us have been on a DISmeets thread for over a year...they are no longer strangers) ...My family has done it twice now and we are preparing for our third time. I have boys...no need to spend a lot of money. As PP have said...movie candy...beach ball...nerf type ball...pirate stuff...magnets...bookmarks...highlighters for Navigators...lanyards... IMHO...the FE exchange is all about fun...it just adds another dimension to cruising.


Biggest piece of advice...plan your delivery route ahead of time...have your items ready to go once you board. I have even put names, cabin numbers, etc...on items. Very easy to deliver. I also put my user name on everything...just so folks know who it is from. I also like to have a "Thank You" note typed up ahead of time to deliver to all participating cabins.


Some of my most favorite items that we have receive have already been stated...so no need to re-write...


Crystal

We've cruised 3 times with Disney and our last cruise was the first time we participated in the FE fun! I loved it!

It was Halloween 2009 and it was our eldest son's senior trip. I made FE gifts (goody bags) for every person in every cabin that had signed up for our FE exchange based on age-adults, teens, little kiddos (boys and girls). I had an entire suitcase filled with FE gifts! The one mistake I made was forgetting that suitcases get thrown around and things get thrown on top. All of the glow sticks were activated when I opened the FE suitcase! I ended up taking the glow sticks out of each bag. Live and learn.

I am the mom of 2 teenage boys and I packed a goody bag for each of my boys for a daily treat. Gum, candy bars, gummy critters, etc. They loved it!
I basically packed the teens bags with Halloween candy bars and then a big pack of gum.

The adult goodies were mini Hershey bars/nuggets wrapped with our cruise logo sticker with a 'Have a great cruise' message and my Dis name. May do it again this October when we do it all over again for our youngest son's senior trip!

The little kid goody bags had pirate girl or boy tatoos, mini play doh tubs, tootsie pops, eye patches and some other treats.

The person that organized our FE group had everyone listed by deck # which I found really convenient for delivery! We limited the group to 50 rooms (I had 4 times + that in gift bags), I delivered to 2 floors per day.

We received some great die cut paper ornaments that were personalized for each of us that I kept and use as Christmas Tree ornaments as well as the music CD and lots of candy type treats-all of which are my favorites.

Many people invest a lot of money, some handmake everything. It's an individual thing and that is one of the great things about sharing this will your fellow Dis'ers. You can individualize it, make it about where you are from, where you are going or anything in between. I appreciated all of the gifts and can't wait to do it again!

 

[MomsOf2boys]

re: Journals

I also think that many people who are on the Dis are more likely to keep a record of some things even if only to answer questions on the boards. I say, if you think you would like getting it, give it!

 

[tiggerb]

Thanks for the advice and tips in re: journals. These would be used to write and to put pics into... that's why I questioned the size. I may just go ahead w/ what I have in mind. I know some will like, some won't use, but maybe they could then "pay it forward" and spread some pixies to others. This is one of my many ideas and would be per family, not per person. Too much procrastination as is...

 

[tinkattude6]

When we did the FE group last time it was huge so we had to deliver on three of the 7 days. We could of got it all done in one but we had 37 in our group so we divided it into three and only delivered that many a night either after dinner or the show. It was fun because we would all go knock and walk away. usually the kids would come out and be so excited!
We made CD's ,magnets and gave post cards from places where we live also candy ,glow sticks and glow bracelets ,stickers and plastic safety fastener things to lock the FE to the fish. We all had so much fun and met so many wonderful Disneyers we now call friends.
If anyone has other ideas please feel free to share them. Crystal in PA~

 

[ranidayz]

My teen boy and tween boy LOVED getting bags with their names on them filled with candy snacks specifically for the shows....made better because they knew WE weren't paying extra to get any for them. They actually rationed them for the whole cruise!

I love the home made fridge magnets since I put them on the fridge at home and it reminds me of our cruises.

Also very pleased to have any of the following items ;

- hair repair sachets (especially since the sea/ pool plays havoc with mine !)
- travel size packs of tissues /wipes
- any travel related products in general.

Not so keen on the plastic stuff either now the kids are over 8 years.

......I'd rather have a very few small better quality items (not necessarily expensive) than a heap of junk to bring home !!!

Also I think there should be a rule to exclude all teenage boys, from all FE programmes because;
1. there is nothing under $50 that you could possibly buy them, that they would actually like !
2. they are not the least bit bothered about, or grateful for, any FE gifts !

..well, that is my experience anyway !

 

[tdizzle]

This is a wonderful idea. Go ahead and get them!!

 

[tiggerb]

Started making my "proto type"/sample of my main gift/family for June 2012. Prepped most of it for a 20 count... procrastination is usually key. I just want to pretend I am ahead of myself for a change.

So far, the vision in my head is turning out alright in reality. A little bigger than original thought, but will work out for the better.

 

[Jump4Joy8390]

I loved the maple flavored candy from Canada

I was so thrilled to read this because I'm pretty sure that was from us! We were on the Wonder with you in Feb 2010! I'll be sure to throw some candy in for our FE group on the Dream in March!

We really liked the personalized magnets and hometown souvenirs, and the useful items like hand sanitizers and pirate stuff!

 

[Lexa]

We have received Custom Cruise CD's!!



Love them

I was thinking about doing CD...but then...I'm a little scared that someone who would get it would get me in legal trouble over the piracy???

 

[croppincolburn]

Got back a week ago. Here are some of my favorites. Someone made pirate booty (string of beads with a clip) to clip to your pirate scarf or hat. It had a cute explanation with it. Some other things we liked were custom made magnets, bookmarks, and post-its with date and picture of ship on it. Someone custom embroidered an insulated bag. So cute. I got tinker Bell body glitter. There were other great things too.

 

[OlivesMom]

Got back a week ago. Here are some of my favorites. Someone made pirate booty (string of beads with a clip) to clip to your pirate scarf or hat. It had a cute explanation with it.

This sounds awesome! I'll start searching for an example and see if my DD can help make something like this. Thanks for sharing

 

[allison k]

I just wanted to say thanks. I was starting to get a little stressed out about how much I should give/bring and the list of ideas started to get long. Thanks to many people's honesty about what they liked, I've pared it back down to one handmade and hopefully useful item for the stateroom and then some consumable things for the kids and dads. There are a couple of little ones in my group, so they'll get something other than gum and candy.

I might add one more thing, but it'll depend on the time I have, but I won't stress out thinking I HAVE to bring it.

 

[Lauralooneyfordisney]

I would love to see a pic of the pirate booty beads, that sounds awesome. I would also like to know where they got the tinker bell body glitter? Those would go great together. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas.

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

To modify something I could hear my mother say "unless you (teenage boys) paid for your cruise, we're doing door decorations"...You so should do something with them and princesses !! Ha!

As far as gifts for boys..yes, this is TOUGH....Candy for the movies...gum.....or I've heard several people say they got lip balm and the boys used that....

Adult gifts are hard....I altered some notebooks last time...and put in PIRATE things like Tattoos and eyepatches...although normally adults might not use those...since there's Pirate Night, they get used!

Leaving in March for another one..have all new ideas for the FE gifts...so I'll post those after the cruise! This time I have different gifts for 2 year olds, 4 yr-12yr girls, 4 yr-10 yr boys, 13 yr-18 yr girls, 19 yr+ women and 19 yr+ men...got lucky...we didn't have any teen age boys to buy for, so I am not in as much of a dilema!

Ashley

Can't wait to see the FE gifts for your cruise next month. Have fun!

Got back a week ago. Here are some of my favorites. Someone made pirate booty (string of beads with a clip) to clip to your pirate scarf or hat. It had a cute explanation with it. Some other things we liked were custom made magnets, bookmarks, and post-its with date and picture of ship on it. Someone custom embroidered an insulated bag. So cute. I got tinker Bell body glitter. There were other great things too.

I like the "pirate booty" idea too. Would love to see a picture.

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

I loved the maple flavored candy from Canada The band-aid also came in handy

MMMMmmmmmm!

Is anyone from Canada on our next cruise (10/13/11 Dream)???

How 'bout the one after (4/21/12)?!?!??!

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

So, those with teenage boys: Any advice??? They are my biggest challenge.

My boys will be 20 & 16 on our October cruise and they love strange things (actually my whole family does ).

As an example, some of their favorite stocking stuffers have been angry pickles (one inch plastic pickles with angry faces), a plastic alien and ninja, both less than one inch tall, and a "pwned" pennant.

Pretty much anything video-game related works... also anything edible.

 

[moomy-san]

I loved all of our FE gifts... but some were more useful than others. I was so happy to receive lip balm! My lips were so dry and I carried it with me everywhere. We also used our highlighters, pens and sharpie's right away. The kids loved the handmade jewelery and crocheted hats. Next time we do FE's i think I'll do movie snacks for every family because I personally wasn't really into the Preludes snacks!

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

Of course you should!! This will be my family's first cruise and I've got a couple of three things for our door (okay so it seems to be growing but we'll stick with "a couple"). My DD (20) is rolling her eyes and my DS (11) doesn't understand it at all but I'm doing it and it'll be epic.

She's probably rolling her eyes cuz you said "epic"

I know mine do... so I say it over & over & over!!!

 

[JSClemsonFan]

My favorite was a scrapbook that was completely decorated except to add in a few pictures of our family. As a scrapbooker, I know they spent a lot of time on those. It was a family gift and I love it. .

I've seen photos of some of these that have been done and they're amazing. What a treat someone gave!!

 

[Canadian Girl 77]

What is an FE and how do you sign up for one?