How to make the perfect decorations for a Disney Cruise birthday party (including 15 free, cheap and easy DIY ideas!)
Inspiration struck for a Disney Magic at Sea birthday celebration
We are back with another totally unique DIY party idea for you – Disney cruise birthday party decorations! This is an idea that came about because we are going on the Disney Magic at Sea UK cruise at the same time as my tween son’s birthday.
I find that sometimes the best kind of party inspiration happens when you can’t find your party decorations on a store shelf. When this happens, it’s time to get creative and watch the magic unfold.
Here is how you can create your very own Disney cruise birthday party – perfect for any age! This would also make a fun Disney sailing away party at home or a Disney reveal party when you tell your family about their cruise.
At the end of this post, I have a free Disney cruise birthday party printable checklist – a party planning organiser you’re going to love.
How to create a Disney Cruise party when decorations don’t exist
A Mickey Mouse cruise party isn’t something you can find in a shop (at least right now!). So, if your party theme doesn’t have readily available decorations, you will need to put it together yourself.
To do this, I just think about three key questions:
1. What are the main elements of this theme? In other words, if I had to break it down to just 3 things, what would that look like?
In this case, I want to do a Disney cruise birthday party. So, it would be great to have a cruise ship, our friend Mickey Mouse and a happy birthday banner feature somewhere in the decorations.
2. What colours remind me of this theme?
For a Magic at Sea UK staycation celebration, I think of nautical colours. So, I picked navy blue, red and gold because those colours remind me of captain and sailor uniforms.
You can have a lot of fun with this process. Brainstorm about elements and colours until you are happy with the combination. Then later, we will translate that idea into Disney cruise birthday party decorations we can make, find or buy.
3. Where is this party happening?
The next step is translating our ideas into an actual party space.
To make our DIY Disney Cruise reveal party or birthday party decorations really pop, I want to have them in different parts of the room. Some of the kid’s party decorations will need to hang from the ceiling, some on the wall, perhaps some on the window, and some on the table.
Great job so far! Now, you can put all those ideas together: the main images, our Disney cruise party theme’s colours and the space we’re using.
DIY time – how to make Disney cruise birthday party hanging decorations
Starting with the images, and remembering that for this theme, we want Mickey Mouse and cruise ships, I did a search for Disney cruise printables. Luckily, I found these perfect clip art files on the Disney Cruise Blog.
I then printed all my favourite images (especially ‘The Best Cruise Ever’ image!) onto white card stock. Make sure you have plenty of printer ink first, as you want the images to be vibrant. You could also laminate the pictures at this point. But for our purposes, I am quite happy with just using the card.
The next step is to cut out the shapes. I cut 5 pieces of string to the lengths that I wanted the decorations to hang. Then I taped the shapes onto the string. Lastly, I tied a loop to the top end so I could hang it up.
Colour me magic – here’s what you can find on Amazon and eBay for a nautical tween party
With images taken care of, the next part is to pick the colours. Remember to stick to 3 key colours so that your family Disney cruise party looks coordinated.
I want the decorations to give that nautical feel, so I searched for red, white and blue hanging decorations. I love these paper fans from Amazon because they are made of paper (environmentally-friendly). And you can fold them and use them again and again (pocket-friendly).
I checked eBay as well, where I found fantastic bunting to give us that being-at-sea feeling. It is only plastic, but with anchors and stripes, it’s perfect for the party and very cheap. I can reuse it for another party down the line, too.
Then I looked on eBay for any Mickey-related party elements. And that’s where I found the perfect Mickey-shaped red paper confetti.
Bet you never thought you could buy Disney cruise birthday party decorations from the supermarket?
The next place I like to shop for potential party DIY decorations is at the grocery store. I usually find fab kid’s birthday party staples at Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Morrisons.
In this case, I found beautiful gold plates and cups from Morrison and red napkins from Sainsbury’s. Also, at Morrisons, they had Hallmark wrapping paper in navy stripey patterns, which looked great for wrapping up presents, too.
My special party design tip is to throw in a random piece of decoration that the kids can play with. And what’s a Disney Cruise party without its captain? I found a fabulous captain hat and sailor hat for the birthday boy and his brother to wear at their party.
Don’t forget that with a bit of imagination, FREE decorations are closer than you think
Finally – make sure to shop your house! I have a kid’s party decoration box brimming with eclectic party themes from all the birthdays gone by. In my box, I found an old Disney party decoration (like this Mickey Mouse honeycomb) and a birthday button. Plus, a string of palm tree lights from a summer party. A sparkly blue-lettered banner from a previous birthday was in there, too.
And, in the kids’ rooms, I found a Stitch doll, which makes a fun Disney cruise party centrepiece (especially as my tween son is looking forward to meeting Stitch on the Disney ship!).
The best find, though, was an Ikea tablecloth we used at Christmas. It is white with red stripes and perfect for this Magic at Sea theme.
Definitely have a look around your house and see what items you might be able to incorporate into your party theme. You might just save yourself a lot of money.
Give this Disney cruise birthday party a personal touch
Last but not least, make your birthday boy or girl feel like this is a party to celebrate them. Having one personalised item with their name and/or age always goes down a treat.
For my son who’s turning 11, I found a gold glittery cruise ship cake topper from eBay. It came printed with his name, too. Custom cake toppers are an inexpensive and easy way to make a shop-bought cake look super special.
And that’s all you need for a unique Disney cruise reveal party or birthday party. Have fun making a magical party for your family.
If you need some help getting organised, read on for my FREE printable Disney cruise birthday party planner.
Free Printable Disney Cruise Birthday Party Checklist
Here is a checklist of everything I used for this Disney cruise birthday party. Plus, a printable version is available for you in our subscriber area.
And it’s free to subscribe – just pop your email here below to sign up and for instant access to your printable!
- Printable Disney cruise door decorations
- Tablecloth (mine is from Christmas, but you can get a white tablecloth at Ikea)
- Nautical bunting
- Red, white and blue paper fans
- Mickey Mouse confetti
- Blue and white wrapping paper
- Gold party plates
- Gold party cups
- Red napkins
- Mickey Mouse honeycomb decoration
- Happy birthday banner (mine is old, but this Mickey Mouse banner would work well too)
- Birthday badge
- Captain hat
- Sailor hat
- Cake topper (I had one custom made with a cruise ship design)
- Stitch toy
Materials needed:
- Card stock
- String (I used jute twine so it looked like rope)
- Tape
- Laminator and sheets, if desired
- Pushpins for hanging on the ceiling
If you enjoyed this Disney cruise birthday party idea, you might also like to read about how we booked the Disney Magic at Sea. Or if you want party ideas, check out this amazing outdoor DIY Minecraft party.
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