Hanging FE's Without Joining a Group, What do you think?

[neg58]

Personally, I think you should hang your FE, if you want to. Just be prepared with your own gifts to put in it. Yes, randomly, gifts may appear from misdirected givers, but, I think, it's really on them to make sure which/whose room(s) they are making their deliveries to.

As I said, when I have extras, I have just popped them into random FEs I pass in the hallways, not necessarily the ones on my list. That's after I've made all my deliveries to "my" FE group.

Yes, it's 'on me' to know where to deliver, but mistakes are made, people change rooms, the hallways get confusing.

Nancy

 

[jetskigrl]

Personally, I think you should hang your FE, if you want to. Just be prepared with your own gifts to put in it. Yes, randomly, gifts may appear from misdirected givers, but, I think, it's really on them to make sure which/whose room(s) they are making their deliveries to.

As I said, when I have extras, I have just popped them into random FEs I pass in the hallways, not necessarily the ones on my list. That's after I've made all my deliveries to "my" FE group.

This, exactly!!

I saw a few FEs on a previous cruise that didn't belong to our group. I thought maybe they belonged to a group from another message board or something.

I keep a spreadsheet of all the cabins in my group and just deliver to those. But on our last cruise, I had some extra gifts and there was a family down the hall that wasn't part of our group. We passed them in the hall a few times (and said Hi, etc) so on the last night, I dropped some extra items off for them.

It is kind of sad to think of someone putting an FE out just in hopes of people giving them gifts (with no intention of returning the favor). So I'm just careful who I deliver to.

If people want to hang FEs to receive DCL mail or deliver things to their own kids, they should absolutely do it. They still make cute decorations, even when nothing is in them

 

[jetskigrl]

Yes, I think you are if it has pockets for gifts.

If you want to join a FE group, do it. If you want to decorate your door, including something hanging from the Fish, do it. If you hang a traditional FE and people see it, some will be confused and may leave gifts intended for others in your pockets.

There are reasons why people can't join a FE, including that they are too late. If so, they could get the list and give to the others with the indication that you don't expect anything but leftovers are welcome. Some people make very specific gifts so can't include last minute additions, but others have more generic gifts and are happy to add late joiners to their delivery route. Do that, but then commit to give things too.

Nancy

But the DIS is not the only message board that forms FE groups. This is by far the most populated groups that I have seen, but not the only ones.

How would someone in the DIS group know if a non-participating cabin is from another message board group, or someone that is just trying to get gifts?

 

[FergusBC]

Personally, I think you should hang your FE, if you want to. Just be prepared with your own gifts to put in it. Yes, randomly, gifts may appear from misdirected givers, but, I think, it's really on them to make sure which/whose room(s) they are making their deliveries to.

As I said, when I have extras, I have just popped them into random FEs I pass in the hallways, not necessarily the ones on my list. That's after I've made all my deliveries to "my" FE group.

I agree. There's no law (yet!) against hanging them up. It's up to the person giving out the gifts to be sure of who to hand them out to. I saw a couple hanging up that weren't on the 'list' last cruise. I just assumed they were another another group or maybe families doing their own exchange. I dropped an extra gift in because I had extras and hey, Disney doesn't have a complete monopoly on pixie dust

 

[mmouse37]

I never participate in the FE activities but I know the premise it is based on....give and receive...so when I hear of a TA telling a client to just "hang one out and it will get filled with goodies" just makes me cringe.

Does the TA not actually know how the process works??? I would never put one out and just expect people to fill it up without reciprocating. That is just tacky.

I see nothing wrong with hanging one out if not part of a group if you plan to fill it yourself with stuff for your family (and if in the process you get some misdirected ones)...but to hang one specifically expecting others to fill it is just wrong.

MJ

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I never participate in the FE activities but I know the premise it is based on....give and receive...so when I hear of a TA telling a client to just "hang one out and it will get filled with goodies" just makes me cringe.

Does the TA not actually know how the process works??? I would never put one out and just expect people to fill it up without reciprocating. That is just tacky.

I see nothing wrong with hanging one out if not part of a group if you plan to fill it yourself with stuff for your family...but to hang one and expect others to fill it just wrong.

MJ

 

[iloverags2]

Actually- I appreciate all the comments and various thoughts. I am not planning to participate in a FE group --- IF we still can sail.

Husband is still fighting side effects from 2 stem cell transplants in one year- due to a tough case of non-hodkins lymphoma. We already have had to reschedule our May cruise to late September. Hubby isn't in (pardon the pun) "ship-shape" yet to sail- due to ongoing side effects from chemo and post transplant drugs. ( "ticker" below needs to be changed... oops....)

HOWEVER- IF we get to sail in September- I was planning to bring along a fish extender for my grandson- and do the "gifts from Mickey" idea also- as stated by the previous posts (PrincessShmoo and Woodmnky).

So--- pre-cruise apology in order? I just don't have the time/energy/desire to create FE gifts for a cruise we may not even be able to take. But I have a very smart grandson who would certainly notice other FE's full of goodies, and would wonder why Mickey didn't bring him anything.

Maybe I could attach a little sign to it- stating that we are not participating in any group- only a family group? (We are 3 cabins). I have no intention of getting goodies from lovely people trying to make certain all people in their group receive FE items...

Creating and hanging a FE for grandson was always my plan- but didn't consider it would confuse others in a group. I guess I thought-- if our cabins weren't on their list they would automatically walk past us...

Thoughts? And if you could be gentle- I would appreciate it so much... having a rough week here...

First, so sorry to hear your husband is having a rough go with his medical problems. Best wishes for a speedy and healthy recovery for him.

As far as putting out your own FE, that is perfectly fine! It's your cruise...you handle it as you please. If you want to put some kind of note up letting others know you are not part of an organized group, but doing a family version that is up to you. (I will be honest...if I saw that, I would probably still sprinkle a little pixie dust with any extras I have!)

Keeping my fingers crossed your September sailing goes off without a hitch, and you all enjoy your cruise!

 

[mdurette]

our last cruise had 60 cabins - we split into groups of 15 to keep it manageable.

I would have never thought of putting something in a FE that was not on our list - I would assume it belonged to another list.

One of our FE gifts we gave out last week was a Mickey Red Sox schedule magnet. I did have extra and if I saw red sox magnets on peoples doors - I would add one of ours to it!

 

[lbgraves]

I think that anyone who wants to hang up a FE has the right to do so. There are family groups, smaller message board groups, FB groups, other large message board groups other than the DIS who do FEs. However, there is a difference between this and hanging one up just because you want to get free gifts from others with no intention of reciprocating. That -- and a TA who would tell their client to do so -- is beyond tacky IMO. On the 2008 EBPC there were over 150 staterooms in our FE group. There were MANY more FEs out from a couple other large message boards who also organize FE groups. I always tell people in our FE group to stick to the list we have to make sure they deliver to those who signed up because of this.

 

[collectoraholic]

I never participate in the FE activities but I know the premise it is based on....give and receive...so when I hear of a TA telling a client to just "hang one out and it will get filled with goodies" just makes me cringe.

Does the TA not actually know how the process works??? I would never put one out and just expect people to fill it up without reciprocating. That is just tacky.

I see nothing wrong with hanging one out if not part of a group if you plan to fill it yourself with stuff for your family (and if in the process you get some misdirected ones)...but to hang one specifically expecting others to fill it is just wrong.

MJ

Good post, MJ. I agree.

 

[tink too]

On our first cruise, we did a postcard exchange. This was mostly for the children on that sailing so they could collect cards from different countries. This was suggested by a teacher and our DD was delighted each time we had new mail!

Our second cruise, we didn't do the FE, but took part in a candy exchange instead. However my DD did receive a few small gifts in her "pocket". As they were always left for our DD and not us, I assumed it was someone who was involved in our exchange who just wanted to share some extra pixie dust.

On our last cruise, we did the FE, but only participated in one group (the FE was split due to a large amount of Disers being onboard). I tagged everything and followed my list, but we saw loads of other FE's out. Some of the folks in the other group still left gifts for us, so I'm glad I brought the full list and extra gifts (and luckily had enough!).

One of our fellow cruisers told me that she was in the Dis group and two other FE exchanges run through other websites.

 

[lbgraves]

For those who want to do their own gifting for their kids, before the FE there were Tink gifts. I heard about that here on the DIS also. I talked to our room host and arranged for him to put them out with the towel animals each night. I hung them in a tote bag on the hook outside the bathroom before we left for dinner. The first night the kids each got PJ pals. Other nights they got stuffed characters, coloring sets, pins, sunglasses, and other Disney themed items I had bought beforehand from disneystore.com on sale. It was a great way to to get the kids [3 & 5 on our first cruise] back to the stateroom at night to go to bed because they wanted to see what Tink had left for them. I wouldn't leave things like this out in an FE due to occasional theft.

 

[k3chantal]

There are other decorations you can do as a "hello" to others. Hmm. Hearing this, I might bring ribbon for my FE group to pick up at the central room to tie on to signal that they are part of our group.

Love this idea! This would clue people like me in that I was delivering to the 'right' person. I have no issue with giving to those who are not in my FE group if I have extras but since I personalize the gift by either name or age of person, I want to make sure the listed people get them first.

And yes, OP, I think it is fine that you hang your own, but perhaps a 'disclaimer' would be necessary. I wish your DH the very best and hope your week becomes easier.

 

[maps81]

Love this idea! This would clue people like me in that I was delivering to the 'right' person. I have no issue with giving to those who are not in my FE group if I have extras but since I personalize the gift by either name or age of person, I want to make sure the listed people get them first.

And yes, OP, I think it is fine that you hang your own, but perhaps a 'disclaimer' would be necessary. I wish your DH the very best and hope your week becomes easier.

Thanks! But I wasn't the OP- I just tagged on because this thread opened my eyes as to how my grandson's FE might be misinterpreted. Thanks again for kind thoughts!

 

[maps81]

First, so sorry to hear your husband is having a rough go with his medical problems. Best wishes for a speedy and healthy recovery for him.

As far as putting out your own FE, that is perfectly fine! It's your cruise...you handle it as you please. If you want to put some kind of note up letting others know you are not part of an organized group, but doing a family version that is up to you. (I will be honest...if I saw that, I would probably still sprinkle a little pixie dust with any extras I have!)

Keeping my fingers crossed your September sailing goes off without a hitch, and you all enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for the sweet reply! Made my day!

 

[lbgraves]

Regarding the comment about tying a ribbon on an FE to indicate it is with a certain group, it is going to be difficult to get these to everyone in your FE group. Not everyone attends the M&G the first day.

 

[mickeyfan1]

I hung my Mickey FE out on my 4 night cruise in January, not to get gifts, but to ID my room. Someone STOLE it. I guess they needed a pink 4 pocket Mickey FE more than I did. We did not get any random gifts, but I brought stuff and dropped it into some I thought were cute. It is supposed to be fun. But I will never hang one again.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

I only give to staterooms on the list and understand there are reasons people have their own exchange going.

I like the idea of giving your own kids gifts. Sometimes the group exchange is not doable for some people.

Looking back, a little funny...On our very first cruise I noticed the cute "pocket holders" outside the doors. I thought they were for holding mail and other things delivered to your room. I had one made off ebay for our cruise which was a couple years later. Hung it outside the door, and yes some of our mail ended up there. One day we received gifts from the ---- family. We thought, wow, they are so nice! It was not until after the 2'nd cruise that I found disboards and realized what it was. I'm sure this is rare, but can happen!

Having been active over on the WDW section of the boards for 6 years but never here until recently, I picked up on FEs here and there and knew the basics of what it was. I truly thought it worked just like you said here... Not that anyone would *expect* to receive without giving, but that you just made up some goodies and traversed the ship in search of FEs and popped them in - like a scavenger hunt. Silly now that I think about it, but who knew?

 

[SapphireMind]

If we put some ribbon on a string by the coordinating doorway, people could come by and pick it up on the first day

 

[tinkerone]

was this a real post or was it a troll? it kind of sounds funny to me but I haven't read it yet. just curious cause it sounds very very odd.