My FE experience on the Disney Dream

[psimon]

I wanted to support your thought process. So glad so many join in doing this and I do love seeing people's FE, but I too will not participate in doing this again. People do wonderful things but it was just too much for me. Trying to find the rooms, packing the items, not wanting to take the time in doing it once I was on the ship. It was too much work for me!! AND THAT's OK. it is not for us, but others enjoy. We can still be DIS Board fans and love Disney Cruises. And even if we don't do FE we can be a part of the meet board. This is an amazing place where people support and share all their great information for the cruise week I am on.

Thanks for the support !

I know everyone does their own thing and that's fine. I just figure I have such a limited amount of time aboard the Dream, I want to explore it and enjoy it (and share and watch my family enjoy it too!)

I support all those that find it makes their cruise.... I just don't think it is for us.

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[Kwalters]

This sounds like so much work, time and money.... am I missing something?

To have all that to carry and worry about..... isn't it better to use that time and effort to enjoy the cruise considering the trip didn't cost $50?

Please, don't take this as a flame... but rather an expression of confusion and just lack of understanding.

Considering there is SO MUCH to do on board the Dream, why is there a need to find things to do and spend extra $ on?

I can't believe that whatever would show up in your FE from other people would be anything but trinkets in comparison to what could be acquired from the ship.

Why is there the desire to do this aboard a ship, yet you never see this at any Disney resort? What makes the ships so different?

Like I said, this really isn't a flame.... it's that just I don't get it. Seems like a considerable amount of time, money and schleping.

Thoughts gratefully appreciated...

---Paul in Southern NJ

We did the FE with a great group on the Magic in 2009. We had a lot of fun pre cruise planning and making our gifts and also desgning our FE. The first day of our cruise, we all met each other and took a really nice group picture!! Passing out all of our gifts was a neat way to see parts of the ship we may not otherwise have seen. Our gifts that we got included CD's, markers, jewelry, a keychain from Disney Paris and chocolate from Belgium! It was very exciting to come back to our room everyday and find goodies and learn more about the new friends we had made!
So yes, it was pretty time consuming but I personally feel it was money and time very spent.
Consider joining in, you just may have a great time too!

 

[Goofy's_Gal]

I found the deck plan on line prior to my cruise, and organized it. You can see the deck plans here:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise-line/dream-ship.htm

They do have the map on the ship as well.

The first time I did a FE we waited until we got on board to organize the stuff (mostly because it was coming from two different households), and it took over an hour to do that. I'd rather spend the time doing it at home before I leave than when I get on the ship.

Thanks for the link.

Alas, my FE's are already in Florida and I'm still in California - don't get there until a day before cruise. Will try and remember to get them organized before. My dd (3) still takes naps, so I will definitely be having some downtime in the room each day anyway if I don't

 

[virginiafam]

We did the FE with a great group on the Magic in 2009. We had a lot of fun pre cruise planning and making our gifts and also desgning our FE. The first day of our cruise, we all met each other and took a really nice group picture!! Passing out all of our gifts was a neat way to see parts of the ship we may not otherwise have seen. Our gifts that we got included CD's, markers, jewelry, a keychain from Disney Paris and chocolate from Belgium! It was very exciting to come back to our room everyday and find goodies and learn more about the new friends we had made!
So yes, it was pretty time consuming but I personally feel it was money and time very spent.
Consider joining in, you just may have a great time too!

We are doing our first Disney Cruise and found out about FE--we're going to give the FE exchange a try. Since we are traveling by air, I would have to figure out something small, compact and easy to pack..or else DH will not be happy. Any other links to ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Great idea on dividing up by sections of the ship!

 

[lisagirl88]

On our first cruise(3 night) we participated in the FE and felt so rushed that we didn't even get to deliver all of our gifts. It was our first cruise so I don't know if that had something to do with it, but we probably wouldn't participate again on a three night cruise. In a few weeks we sail on the Dream for a 5 nighter and are doing the FE again. We have less cabins this time and our FE organizer sent out deck plans marking everyone's rooms so that it will seem so much easier to deliver everything. We'll see.......

The major reason why we participate is that our 4 kids LOVE to come back to the room and find surprises(and frankly so do I )!!!

 

[AmandaRG]

I wanted to support your thought process. So glad so many join in doing this and I do love seeing people's FE, but I too will not participate in doing this again. People do wonderful things but it was just too much for me. Trying to find the rooms, packing the items, not wanting to take the time in doing it once I was on the ship. It was too much work for me!! AND THAT's OK. it is not for us, but others enjoy. We can still be DIS Board fans and love Disney Cruises. And even if we don't do FE we can be a part of the meet board. This is an amazing place where people support and share all their great information for the cruise week I am on.

Thanks for the support !

I know everyone does their own thing and that's fine. I just figure I have such a limited amount of time aboard the Dream, I want to explore it and enjoy it (and share and watch my family enjoy it too!)

I support all those that find it makes their cruise.... I just don't think it is for us.

---Paul in Southern NJ

On our first cruise(3 night) we participated in the FE and felt so rushed that we didn't even get to deliver all of our gifts. It was our first cruise so I don't know if that had something to do with it, but we probably wouldn't participate again on a three night cruise. In a few weeks we sail on the Dream for a 5 nighter and are doing the FE again. We have less cabins this time and our FE organizer sent out deck plans marking everyone's rooms so that it will seem so much easier to deliver everything. We'll see.......

The major reason why we participate is that our 4 kids LOVE to come back to the room and find surprises(and frankly so do I )!!!

That is one of the great things about so many options! You can do what works for you and you don't have to do what doesn't!

We love the FE. Our girls' faces when they see their goodies is so much fun. That said, doing it on shorter cruises doesn't work for us. We will take our FE and hang it, but fill it with goodies we bring for the girls on the Dream. We didn't feel like we lost time on our 7-night cruise like the 4-night one. Again, that's just our family.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Plus it drive people around us crazy because they have no idea why we get so many gifts each day!!!

Same thing happened to me here. When I was delivering mine, one guy said "so if I put a bag out, I'll get gifts?"

When I delivered my second gift, I actually saw a bag, like from Vons!
It wasn't on my list, but I had extras and put one in it!

The extra gifts with candy we gave to the kids counselor. They loved it!

 

[chateau]

We are doing our first Disney Cruise and found out about FE--we're going to give the FE exchange a try. Since we are traveling by air, I would have to figure out something small, compact and easy to pack..or else DH will not be happy. Any other links to ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Great idea on dividing up by sections of the ship!

Inflatible gifts work best.... kids get to play with small balls or toys in the pools, they're super light, and they're relatively inexpensive. Window clings are good too, also light and easy to pack. Well hey, so are stickers.... what am I talking about, nearly everything we ever received was well thought out for travel purposes!!!

 

[KBT35]

This sounds like so much work, time and money.... am I missing something?

To have all that to carry and worry about..... isn't it better to use that time and effort to enjoy the cruise considering the trip didn't cost $50?

Please, don't take this as a flame... but rather an expression of confusion and just lack of understanding.

Considering there is SO MUCH to do on board the Dream, why is there a need to find things to do and spend extra $ on?

I can't believe that whatever would show up in your FE from other people would be anything but trinkets in comparison to what could be acquired from the ship.

Why is there the desire to do this aboard a ship, yet you never see this at any Disney resort? What makes the ships so different?

Like I said, this really isn't a flame.... it's that just I don't get it. Seems like a considerable amount of time, money and schleping.

Thoughts gratefully appreciated...

---Paul in Southern NJ

I'm with you here...I contemplated doing this for a long while but then once the cost of the cruise and the excursions I wanted to do with my son added up I just couldn't see adding anymore $$ in for (sorry) essentially goodie bag junk (I said SORRY so please don't kill me). See for me I'm a crazy mad woman when it comes to planning things and even mores when it comes to gifting people. I take serious pride in making sure anything I get for someone no matter how big or small has to be personal and perfect for that person (so yes when I did goodie bag for my son's parties, I no longer do them, each gift was unique to that person and their likes or passions) doing a FE on VACAY would just add another layer to my craziness! LOL! Plus this cruise is a total surprise to my DS, this would be one more thing to buy, hide & pack. I just hope my DS doesn't feel left out....nevermind that he'd just have to get over it! This cruise is gift enough!

 

[miry]

This sounds like so much work, time and money.... am I missing something?

To have all that to carry and worry about..... isn't it better to use that time and effort to enjoy the cruise considering the trip didn't cost $50?

Please, don't take this as a flame... but rather an expression of confusion and just lack of understanding.

Considering there is SO MUCH to do on board the Dream, why is there a need to find things to do and spend extra $ on?

I can't believe that whatever would show up in your FE from other people would be anything but trinkets in comparison to what could be acquired from the ship.

Why is there the desire to do this aboard a ship, yet you never see this at any Disney resort? What makes the ships so different?

Like I said, this really isn't a flame.... it's that just I don't get it. Seems like a considerable amount of time, money and schleping.

Thoughts gratefully appreciated...

---Paul in Southern NJ

Hi Paul, for me personally, I really enjoy the planning part of the trip. Pretty much all of the gifts that I give are handmade. I actually find it relaxing to work on craft projects and the FE gifts give me a fun reason to craft. I do end up taking a suitcase full of gifts and end up bringing a suitcase full of gifts back. I didn't find it difficult or burdensome at all. In fact my son and I were able to explore parts of the ship that we probably would never have seen at all. The costs for us were less than $1 per person, in most cases it was about $.30 in materials per person and I created paperbag scrapbooks - 1 per room, necklaces for all the women, key chains for the men, a gift per chil and a small bag of local candies per room. Plus, it really is fun to find gifts when we get back to our room. There's just something special about it. I know that some people talk about having bags of trinkets and plastic stuff from oreintal trading, but we really didn't get those types of things. We got lots of movie sized candies which were very handy for the movies, handcrafted gifts, edible and souvenier type items from people's hometown, and some nice photo holders and magnets that I would have liked to purchase but would have talked myself out of. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience for me and I would do it again in heartbeat.

 

[psimon]

Hi Paul, for me personally, I really enjoy the planning part of the trip. Pretty much all of the gifts that I give are handmade. I actually find it relaxing to work on craft projects and the FE gifts give me a fun reason to craft. I do end up taking a suitcase full of gifts and end up bringing a suitcase full of gifts back. I didn't find it difficult or burdensome at all. In fact my son and I were able to explore parts of the ship that we probably would never have seen at all. The costs for us were less than $1 per person, in most cases it was about $.30 in materials per person and I created paperbag scrapbooks - 1 per room, necklaces for all the women, key chains for the men, a gift per chil and a small bag of local candies per room. Plus, it really is fun to find gifts when we get back to our room. There's just something special about it. I know that some people talk about having bags of trinkets and plastic stuff from oreintal trading, but we really didn't get those types of things. We got lots of movie sized candies which were very handy for the movies, handcrafted gifts, edible and souvenier type items from people's hometown, and some nice photo holders and magnets that I would have liked to purchase but would have talked myself out of. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience for me and I would do it again in heartbeat.

Thanks for your thoughts....

I just know that as a family of 5, I have more than enough to carry in the way of luggage. If I was flying, an extra bag would certainly be out of the question. Even driving, having more to carry along would not be an option. Space is at a premium in the car.

I just find it fascinating that people go to such great lengths related to this. The time invested preparing, the time invested distributing, the effort involved getting everything there..... mind boggling!

As to seeing parts of the ship you wouldn't normally see..... they are hallways with room doors.... just seems to me a hallway is a hallway is a hallway.... just with different cabin numbers on different decks. Not sure I fully understand the rational there.

Again, please don't take these comments as flames. It certainly is not my intent.

---Paul

 

[chasingthedream]

This sounds like so much work, time and money.... am I missing something?

Why is there the desire to do this aboard a ship, yet you never see this at any Disney resort? What makes the ships so different?

Like I said, this really isn't a flame.... it's that just I don't get it. Seems like a considerable amount of time, money and schleping.

Thoughts gratefully appreciated...

---Paul in Southern NJ

We took our first Disney cruise last May for my son's 5th birthday. Even though there were 5 of us in the cabin, I got a FE with two pockets. One for me and one for him. We were traveling with my MIL, FIL, and DH who would have had no interest in making things to give away or to receive any gifts for strangers, so I can completely see where you are coming from. I enjoyed making the things I did to hand out. I can honestly say that I was not crazy about packing and hauling everything from Seattle to Port Canaveral, but what can you do? Anyway, when all was said and done it was WELL worth it. My son was genuinely excited every time we came to the door. It made his birthday cruise so much more special. I won't hesitate to do it again.