Recent FE opinion

[kcdisneymom]

any opinions of FEs in the last two years?

 

[Carrie in AZ]

What exactly are you wanting to know?

 

[Snowwhyt]

any opinions of FEs in the last two years?

Well I’m disappointed that it has almost completely left DISboards and transferred to social media. On my second cruise that was my only choice and nobody has come back here. There’s a few cruises here that have repeat DCL business that have been able to keep up their FE business here.

From 2010 till now I don’t see that much of a difference. Although the differences I have noticed is a little more FE options. Ornaments, recipe exchange, scrapbook page exchange, adult, kids.

I think it’s difficult to get kid FEs set up. And by that I mean, not every age girl is going to like the bows in the hair or the pirate tattoos. It’s too hard to find one gift that will please three-year-old like it will the 13-year-old. My daughter is happier now being in an adult FE than ever in the kids FB group. It’s kinda like getting underwear or socks for Christmas, yeah you need it, but you kinda had higher hopes.

For a couple years I had spiked my daughters FEs with things I’ve brought from home so she didn’t think everything would be for gradeschool kids.

Not that anyone picked anything out of laziness or carelessness. Sometimes it’s just hard to remember what is seven-year-old boy likes to do and what a 10-year-old boy likes to do. I got confused on what to get boys since I only had a daughter.

 

[Trera]

For a couple years I had spiked my daughters FEs with things I’ve brought from home so she didn’t think everything would be for gradeschool kids..

Well, about the 3rd or 4th time we did the FE with a group we found the same thing.............that we had a 3 year old and the gifts were for random ages. That is when we decided to not participate with a FE group we signed up for on social media. Instead, we either bring our DD some goodies for her to get throughout the cruise in her FE that we put in there and she is none the wiser. This way every gift or treat is something that we know she will enjoy.

If we are traveling with family and freinds, then we just bring stuff for our small group. I think we end up spending about the same and the gifts are more personally suited for the kids.

Our DD is about to turn 6 now and when we are on the cruise she is always saying..........I need to go check my pocket to see of there is anything in there!

 

[CamColt]

I enjoyed doing it when it was a fun little thing to do among friends. We "met" people on our Cruise Meet Thread, talked pretty much daily for over a year, became friends then decided to have some fun with it. Now I see as being almost a military operation with all sorts of rules, people getting stressed, drama...when really all these people seem to want is "stuff". Personally, I don't enjoy what I've seen it become (I haven't done it in a while) but I know it's the highlight for a lot of cruisers.

 

[Lisa F]

I enjoyed doing it when it was a fun little thing to do among friends. We "met" people on our Cruise Meet Thread, talked pretty much daily for over a year, became friends then decided to have some fun with it. Now I see as being almost a military operation with all sorts of rules, people getting stressed, drama...when really all these people seem to want is "stuff". Personally, I don't enjoy what I've seen it become (I haven't done it in a while) but I know it's the highlight for a lot of cruisers.

I totally agree with this. Before my 2018 Dream cruise, 2005 was my last cruise and what I had in my head about what it would be like based on my last cruise experience 13 years prior with meeting up and becoming friendly with DISboards people was not what it turned out to be.

It was completely anonymous, it ended up being expensive and stressful to find things that did not feel lame and to find time to deliver it all. It was not what I had imagined it would be like, but my son really enjoyed finding little surprises in his FE. someone in another thread suggested I just bring the FE and leave little surprises for him myself and that sounds like best of both worlds to me.

I think the only way I'd do it is if I hit it off with a group of people and we formed a real relationship beforehand. On our December 2016 trip to WDW we met a GREAT group of people on the DISboards and we all still keep in pretty close contact... a situation like that I would do it in a heartbeat but not with strangers.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

any opinions of FEs in the last two years?

We won’t do them anymore. When we first did it in 2013, it was a fun thing to do because all the gifts were just little things, stickers, mini first aid kids, highlighters, etc. Now it has become a huge ordeal that people are trying to have the best gifts, and you have to bring an extra suitcase just to get it all home. It’s grown into something I just don’t want to be a part of anymore.

 

[Luv2Diz]

We’ve done it 3 times, with our latest being our April 2018 cruise. No more for us. The crafting, finding luggage space, and delivering on the ship aren’t enjoyable anymore. We’ve had organizers suggest how much we should spend per cabin. On one cruise, the organizers went so far as to assign people a delivery day, including busy port days. We are on vacation - we don’t need someone else’s “rules” to follow.

 

[dcassetta]

any opinions of FEs in the last two years?

I enjoy making magnets, music CDs and other small items to give as FE gifts. I used to get similar kinds of things and enjoyed them very much. On my last cruise, I received a gift that I expect cost at least $25 based on similar items I have seen on Etsy. I would never spend that kind of money on one gift and was a little embarrassed to receive something so costly, when I had not spent anywhere near that amount. It seems that this is a trend and I will probably choose to not to participate in the future.

 

[diznymom]

I enjoy the FE exchanges. I am so glad that the groups are being split into groups of 10-12 cabins. The first couple of times we sailed it was everyone. I am sad to see most of them being on Social Media only. I am also sad to see that the expectations of gifts is so high now.

We are doing a Hawaii cruise next and there is a group on the Dis and a group on social media.

 

[ironz]

Wow-- I think so much has to do with who's organizing the FE. Our upcoming cruise has over 600 people in our 'other social media' group-- not sure how many people are doing FE, but it's at least 10 or 12 groups of about 10 cabins. And not once in over a year of that page, has anyone raised issues about having to spend "xxx amount" or said what days to deliver, other than to not wait until the last night so people can pack.
I agree that some go a little much, when they start talking about needed extra luggage for all this stuff. We have a few groups that are a "tiny" exchange, so the gifts must fit in your hand, so as to not take up lots of luggage space. (I suspect there will be keychains, magnets, pins, things along those lines.) And that's what we're doing.
I'll admit... I don't have kids and am used to doing exchanges with adults only, but this one has a few kids in it. Hopefully, we'll find a few small things that are age-appropriate, but it's all for fun (at least in our cruise group!).

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We didn't do it on our first cruise because I never found a group for the cruise. We now have our second planned and there is a group, and I just don't know that I want to pull the trigger on it. I feel like the kids would like it, but I don't like crafting, and I don't like little trinket-y things. I'm constantly throwing away/giving away/recycling the little toys my kids accumulate. IDK that I want to spend $100+ so that we can get more stuff I'll have to bring back home and then will probably want to get rid of. Plus having to find/buy/make an FE holder. It just seems like a lot of work and expense.

 

[Lisa F]

We didn't do it on our first cruise because I never found a group for the cruise. We now have our second planned and there is a group, and I just don't know that I want to pull the trigger on it. I feel like the kids would like it, but I don't like crafting, and I don't like little trinket-y things. I'm constantly throwing away/giving away/recycling the little toys my kids accumulate. IDK that I want to spend $100+ so that we can get more stuff I'll have to bring back home and then will probably want to get rid of. Plus having to find/buy/make an FE holder. It just seems like a lot of work and expense.

that is kind of where I ended up by not really thinking it through.

I have moved since my last cruise and 90% of what we got in the FE exchange did not make the cut to come with us. It ended up being a much bigger expense than I figured on when I signed up for it as well.

We have the thing now and I will probably take it along and leave little surprises for my kiddo in it because he enjoyed that aspect... it will be a lot less work and money for me and just as enjoyable for him!

 

[Jkpark]

I've decided no more FE for me. I would possibly join an ornament or magnet exchange, because I do like the interaction. I just ended up feeling bad. We would receive gifts that were unappreciated by my kids (or honestly sometimes me and my husband), and I knew a lot of time went into some of them. I do what others have mentioned, bring things for my family or others I'm traveling with. I'll sometimes bring little things and pixie dust it in random FE I come across - the giving is always more fun. I also started doing a pin trading board which my girls seem to like coming back to and its much easier to prepare and pack.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

For the most part, I think that FE has gone to other social media platforms because they are much less restrictive about sharing of information from other sources, and social media platforms have become so prevalent in our everyday lives.

 

[bcwife76]

I did it for our first three cruises,but I don't do it any more. I found it actually stressed me out a LOT, I usually went overboard and tried to do too much. I will join other exchanges - candy or ornaments - but I don't think I'll do FE's again.

 

[AquaDame]

We stopped doing them because it was just a lot of stuff to try to fit in the luggage... we trashed more than I care to admit before coming home so it was a waste of people's time and effort. Now we bring some stuff for kids and pixie dust around the ship. More fun for us that way.

 

[tidefan]

For the most part, I think that FE has gone to other social media platforms because they are much less restrictive about sharing of information from other sources, and social media platforms have become so prevalent in our everyday lives.

However, not everyone (self included) is on some social media channels, so I do enjoy the FEs here, although, it seems like the only ones here anymore that get real traction are the DVC member cruises...

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Our last one was limited to 10 cabins (well, 11 including us) so that you would get from 10 cabins and give to 10 cabins. We got 4 sets of cups! It was very bulky to pack to take home and really only 1 set of cups are ones that we'll end up using.

I'm not sure we'd do it again if we sail on DCL. It's fun to focus on before the cruise but I found the delivering and opening of the FE stuff (and packing) more time consuming and distracting than it was worth.

 

[darnheather]

Wow-- I think so much has to do with who's organizing the FE. Our upcoming cruise has over 600 people in our 'other social media' group-- not sure how many people are doing FE, but it's at least 10 or 12 groups of about 10 cabins. And not once in over a year of that page, has anyone raised issues about having to spend "xxx amount" or said what days to deliver, other than to not wait until the last night so people can pack.
I agree that some go a little much, when they start talking about needed extra luggage for all this stuff. We have a few groups that are a "tiny" exchange, so the gifts must fit in your hand, so as to not take up lots of luggage space. (I suspect there will be keychains, magnets, pins, things along those lines.) And that's what we're doing.
I'll admit... I don't have kids and am used to doing exchanges with adults only, but this one has a few kids in it. Hopefully, we'll find a few small things that are age-appropriate, but it's all for fun (at least in our cruise group!).

Is this for the upcoming Panama Canal because it sounds like my trip? I'm in two FE groups, two candy groups and there are groups for exchanging fabric, ornaments, magnets, and recipes. I think organizing all that is bulky here on the DIS. Obviously no one has to do FEs but I find them fun and so do my kids.