Best (or most useful) Fish Extender gift you've received?

gpjacobs

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Searching for Fish Extender gift ideas is overwhelming! Would anyone be willing to share a gift that really impressed them or made them smile – regardless of cost? Not looking to break the bank here. My goal is to gift something the recipient will actually use and enjoy. Bonus points if you have kid-specific ideas. Thanks!
 
The kids got Ziplock bags with a set of Legos to build a cruise ship (with basic instructions). It was something like 20 pieces of Lego and kept the kids entertained as they built all sorts of crazy things. They still have the ships in their rooms many years later.

It was something like THIS.

We also got personalized bag tags that we still have on our luggage. Just a laminated card with a Mickey image on one side and a graphic with our names on the other.
 
The kids got Ziplock bags with a set of Legos to build a cruise ship (with basic instructions). It was something like 20 pieces of Lego and kept the kids entertained as they built all sorts of crazy things. They still have the ships in their rooms many years later.

It was something like THIS.

We also got personalized bag tags that we still have on our luggage. Just a laminated card with a Mickey image on one side and a graphic with our names on the other.
So fun - thank you!
 
The kids got Ziplock bags with a set of Legos to build a cruise ship (with basic instructions). It was something like 20 pieces of Lego and kept the kids entertained as they built all sorts of crazy things. They still have the ships in their rooms many years later.

It was something like THIS.

We also got personalized bag tags that we still have on our luggage. Just a laminated card with a Mickey image on one side and a graphic with our names on the other.
We got a Lego ship set on our cruise last summer. It was awesome! I have started giving them for FEs myself.
 
A miniature flashlight with a Mickey head sticker on it. Has gone on many cruises with me since. One time someone made individual ornaments for us with images from our listed favorite characters.

My wife has made all kinds of things - Disney trivia cards on a metal hook, luggage tags (two types now), towels where she sews on a Disney strip of fabric (also received once which gave her the idea), personalized t-shirts (when we did the exchange with just friends), etc.

We're likely to pass on doing FE on our Jan 2023 cruise. Our prior cruise was Dec 2022 and we went crazy, giving stuff almost every day since it was around Christmas time. I splurged and got everyone the Jim Shore Mickey Mouse sailor. Each person got a personalized luggage tag and hand towel from my wife; made with her sewing machine using Disney fabric. I did the flashlight thing that I enjoyed mentioned above. Each person got a cruise themed bookmark and some Disney themed magnets. The kids we also gave Disney toys, candy, activities, those expandable rags with Disney characters.

One of our assigned cabins ended up doing nothing, another gave some stickers, and the other items were non memorable. We taught the girls it's better to give than receive and they had a blast daily giving items out, but given the effort my wife put into individually sewing items (easily 20-30 hours of work), sort of soured me. We're more likely to bring items and Pixie Dust them then sign up this go around.
 
A miniature flashlight with a Mickey head sticker on it. Has gone on many cruises with me since. One time someone made individual ornaments for us with images from our listed favorite characters.

My wife has made all kinds of things - Disney trivia cards on a metal hook, luggage tags (two types now), towels where she sews on a Disney strip of fabric (also received once which gave her the idea), personalized t-shirts (when we did the exchange with just friends), etc.

We're likely to pass on doing FE on our Jan 2023 cruise. Our prior cruise was Dec 2022 and we went crazy, giving stuff almost every day since it was around Christmas time. I splurged and got everyone the Jim Shore Mickey Mouse sailor. Each person got a personalized luggage tag and hand towel from my wife; made with her sewing machine using Disney fabric. I did the flashlight thing that I enjoyed mentioned above. Each person got a cruise themed bookmark and some Disney themed magnets. The kids we also gave Disney toys, candy, activities, those expandable rags with Disney characters.

One of our assigned cabins ended up doing nothing, another gave some stickers, and the other items were non memorable. We taught the girls it's better to give than receive and they had a blast daily giving items out, but given the effort my wife put into individually sewing items (easily 20-30 hours of work), sort of soured me. We're more likely to bring items and Pixie Dust them then sign up this go around.
Thank you for all the ideas! Really helpful!

I've seen this sentiment in other groups, forums, etc., which is why we signed up only for the kids-only exchange for our first group. Then I plan on pixie dusting some other families. pixiedust:
 
The most useful FE gift I use every cruise on the Dream and Fantasy is the light card with a magnet attached to the back I got in a Fish Exchange a few years ago. The least useful has been the cups and mugs. Almost everyone give those out now so you get more then one each cruise from the groups. I pick a favorite to use on the ship if I didn’t already bring my own and leave the others behind.

IMG_2263.jpeg
 
One of our assigned cabins ended up doing nothing, another gave some stickers, and the other items were non memorable. We taught the girls it's better to give than receive and they had a blast daily giving items out, but given the effort my wife put into individually sewing items (easily 20-30 hours of work), sort of soured me. We're more likely to bring items and Pixie Dust them then sign up this go around.
This is exactly why we don’t do FE anymore. We Pixie Dust now as well.

Some things we have gotten that we found really cool or useful were:

1. A handmade laundry bag made out of two large pillow cases, Disney fabric, and a drawstring. Easily folds up to store in a suitcase. Still use this when we go out of town.

2. Cups with our favorite characters or ship we were sailing on to be used on the ship. We are a cup family, I still get a refillable mug with every WDW trip we take.

3. Candy or magnets from the region the person/family were from.
 
We have never participated in FE. We like to pixie dust other people. Our kids love being pixie dusted.
Our last cruise I met a mom while doing laundry and she was given a magnet with her Last name on it to stick on the washer or dryer. I thought was a genius idea!
Searching for Fish Extender gift ideas is overwhelming! Would anyone be willing to share a gift that really impressed them or made them smile – regardless of cost? Not looking to break the bank here. My goal is to gift something the recipient will actually use and enjoy. Bonus points if you have kid-specific ideas. Thanks!
 
We don’t participate in FEs any longer, but the one that is memorable to me that I still use today is a set of really nice decoupage stone coasters. I’m thinking that the person who gave them must’ve been local, otherwise it would’ve been really heavy to carry them for everyone in the FE group.
 
I've given that lego set as a FE gift and hoped it would be well-received. After reading this thread, I'm going to guess it probably was. This year one of the gifts I plan on giving is that light card mentioned earlier. The set I'm looking at also comes with another card that lists where things are on the ship, which I thought might be handy?

My favorite gift is one I probably shouldn't give: it was a tiny bottle you can fill with sand from Castaway. While I love it and it's a nice reminder of being there, if everyone were to take a small amount of sand from Castaway, eventually there would be no beach. Sooo, not sure if that's a good FE gift. :confused3

The other gift that I love is more of an adult-gift (not "adult" but grownup). It's this jar opener tool that breaks the seal on glass jars to make opening them easier.
 

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