What's a Fish Extender?

If you've ever gone on the Disney Cruise Line forums of the DISboards, you may have seen people discussing fish extenders (FEs).  But what is a fish extender exactly?  To understand this, you have to know what the fish are.  You see, on Disney cruise ships, there is a mail holder outside of each door in the shape of a fish, starfish, or seahorse.  Somehow the Disney community came up with a thing called fish extenders, which is essentially fabric with pockets on it that you hang from your fish mail holder.

The fish extender I made for our upcoming cruise. It doesn't have the dowel or string on top yet.

You can either make a fish extender (either sew it, or, if you're not a sewer, there are no-sew directions on the DIS that I used) or buy one off eBay or Etsy.  Of course first you need to find a FE exchange.  Most are found on the DIS, but I know the BOGP forums is having one for their cruise (though signups are over, since their cruise is so soon!), and there are others on other message boards.  Since I'm participating in one through the DIS, I know their system best.  On there, simply find your cruise's thread and sign up.  Someone in the group will have to organize the exchange, and on our cruise, there are so many participants that we're split into two groups of over 25 families each!

Next you buy your gifts.  Some people do one gift for each cabin, others for each person in the cabins.  Some people hand make special gifts, some buy things from places like Oriental Trading or their local dollar store, some buy things that are specific to where they live, and others give candy.  Of course, these are just a few of the options for FE exchanges... the possibilities are as limitless as your budget and your imagination. 

Once you're on the cruise, you will be equipped with a list of everyone in your group's staterooms, provided to you by whomever is organizing your exchange.  In some cases, everyone's staterooms are listed on a specific page of a message board thread.  In others, someone puts together a spreadsheet with everyone's room.  Now the gift giving begins!  Hang your fish extender on your fish, and you'll be surprised with new gifts every time you return to your room!  And you also get to give other people gifts!  It's a lot of fun, and it can really make a Disney Cruise extra special.  So if you've ever wondered what fish extenders are, now you know!

What do you think of the fish extender idea?  Have you ever participated in a fish extender exchange?  What did you give, and what did you get?  Let me know in a comment, on Twitter (@amandaenchanted), or on Facebook!