Earlier this year, when I went on a Disney Cruise during the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I made a Finding Dory fish extender! Just last week, I went on my second Disney Cruise with my daughter, and my mom’s first Disney Cruise! To add extra pixie dust to our trip, I wanted us to participate in a fish extender gift exchange! If you’re unfamiliar with what a fish extender is, it’s a door hanger you hang from the fish outside your stateroom door, with a compartment for each guest. You then find your cruise’s sailing date Facebook group to sign up for a fish extender gift exchange.
Prior to sailing, you’ll find the people in your exchange’s age, favorite character, and their stateroom number so you can drop off some small gifts into their fish extender! For the fish extender this time, I used a Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse nautical print fabric that I found at Jo-Ann’s.

Materials Needed for Your Fish Extender DIY
- 1 yard of fabric
- Fabric scissors
- Door hanger – I bought this one off of Amazon
- Felt
- Fabric marker
- Glue gun (I like the cool glue guns you can find at craft stores since they don’t burn you)

Fish Extender DIY Instructions
- Cut a piece of fabric for each pouch of your fish extender, cutting it the same dimensions of each pouch but about an inch added to each side.
- Fold over the extra sides (as a shortcut to hem the fabric), and use your glue gun to glue onto your door hanger.
- Once all your fabric is glued, cut a piece of felt for each person in your cabin (slightly smaller than each pouch).
- Write with your fabric marker each person’s name, then glue onto the corresponding pouches.
And there you have it! A super simple Disney Cruise fish extender DIY! For Disney Cruise fish extender gift ideas, click here.

