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Why some Disney fans include decorations in their vacation packing list
Amanda Puckey vividly remembers her first Disney cruise.
“We're walking down the hall, and I see all these families with all these magnets, and I very literally looked at my husband and I said, ‘We were not prepared,’” she recalled of her 2019 trip.
Fellow passengers were pulling out all sorts of decorations for their cabin doors.
“A lady heard me, and she goes, ‘Yeah, this really helps you find your room, especially when you have kids,’ ” Puckey said.
Turns out, her extended family would have no problem spotting their neighboring staterooms on that first sailing.
“We were the only three naked doors,” she said. “It is that common.”
Less common, but still popular, is decorating walkway-facing windows at some Walt Disney World Resort hotels.
“It allows guests to kind of personalize or individualize their resort room, build that excitement for the kids, put their favorite characters up on the windows,” said Bruce Beil, owner of 407&Beyond Vacation Co., a travel agency specializing in Disney vacations. “It just adds that extra bit of magic.”
Decorating windows and doors can be a lot of fun for Disney fans, but there are some dos and don’ts first-timers should know.
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Where guests decorate
“A lot of those window decorations will take place at All Star (resorts) or Pop Century, Art of Animation, where there's lots of families, but it's not exclusive to value resorts,” Beil said.
“Having DIY window decor is actually kind of part of the fun,” he added. “It's an outlet for people to showcase their creativity, but it's also a great way to get ready for your vacation.”
Typically, guests decorate the interior side of resort room windows and the exterior of cruise cabin doors with things they bring from home.
What (not) to do
“Definitely check on the rules of the cruise line, the cruise ship or the resort,” Beil urged.
Not all cruise lines allow passengers to decorate cabin doors. Disney Cruise Line allows magnets, but some ships’ concierge-level staterooms have wooden doors. No adhesives or over-the-door hangers are allowed.
Travelers can find all sorts of customizable magnets on Etsy and Amazon, or get creative with magnetic hooks.
“Some people full-blown hang, for Christmas, like the garland. You just never know what you're going to see,” said Puckey, who fell in love with Disney cruises and wound up becoming a travel planner specializing in them with Academy Travel. She and her husband, Jeff, also created the Facebook group Disney Cruise Line Tips, Tricks and Planning for EVERYONE.
Whether on land or sea, the key is avoiding anything that could damage property.
According to a planDisney panelist post from January:
“Guests can decorate windows so long as items are used that will not damage the windows or be difficult for Housekeeping Services to remove once the Guests have checked out. Some items that would work well could be vinyl window clings, banners, or even a strand or two of lights that can be held by using mini suction cups. I’ve also seen some cute signs and plush characters sitting on the window sills.”
Other popular window decorations include cardboard cutouts, streamers and balloons.
But there’s one thing Beil discourages: “Any images of the people inside, particularly if it's children, that's something that I would say, think twice.”
How to decorate
Nikki Wynne has been decorating her resort room windows since 2018 and started the Facebook group Most Magical Windows on Earth to share ideas with others.
“I wanted something original, and so I hand-draw all of our artwork that goes on our windows, basically me and my daughter,” she said. “Even if I didn't hand draw it, we would find decorations together that matched that went with our theme.”
They switch up window themes each trip.
“We've done like birthday themes for her. We've done birthday themes for me,” she said. “When Tiana's Bayou Adventure opened, I did a Tiana and a couple of her friends on the window. I've done stuff for (EPCOT International) Festival the Arts, Christmas.”
Like celebration buttons worn in the parks, many guests like to mark milestones and holidays with their decorations.
“It can be as simple or as complex as you want,” Wynne said. “I just love doing it and sharing the joy of the magic.”
Not all guests appreciate DIY decor, but on resort days, she loves walking around and seeing how others have decorated.
Puckey’s family started decorating their cabin doors after their first sailing.
“Now we are the family that packs them and puts them on the door immediately,” she said with a laugh.
Over the years, they’ve added more and more magnets.
“Put as many different themes as you want. I know a lot of us with younger kids; the kids want 10 different characters. Go for it. Those are all their favorites at that specific age, and you're going to be thankful that you did it,” she said.
Between sailings, her family keeps the magnets on their refrigerator and looks back on the memories. “Go all out, but also don't break the bank. You are going to love your door with as much as you do or as little as you do.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to decorate windows, doors on Disney vacations
