We had a great time and would consider doing one again. All of our pictures are posted at DCHP. I wish we took more but there was a lot to do in a short amout of time. As guests arrived, DH took their picture in our dining room which was transformed into a cruise ship. Our living room was decorated like
Castaway Cay complete with grass hut.
The children (and parents) watched the DVD. Then one of our neighbors who runs an art studio came over and held a Learn to Draw Mickey class for all of the children while the adults watched the other DVD. I was surprised at how good a lot of the drawings came out.
After the dawing class, we had a raffle and every child (11 of them) won! We had made bags filled with candy, a pirate ducky, small bar of Mickey soap, grow a pirate, and a beach safe. The children loved them. For the adults, I purchased a bunch of stuff such spa kits, candle sets and Disney Christmas ornaments (thank you Sandy) along with the photo album from Disney. Everyone seemed happy with their prizes. We asked the children who wanted to have a Disney poster or Peter Pan masks and then had them guess the number we were thinking. For the grand prize, the plush Mickey, we put gold coins in a bag and only one of them had a number on it. We let everyone take a coin until someone picked correctly.
There was plenty to eat and a lot left over too. We set up a Beach Blanket Buffet with peeled shrimp, coconut shrimp Caribbean jerk chicken, hot dogs, pasta salad, the chili/grape meatballs (they were a big hit), deli platter, cheese, crackers and pepperoni. Dessert was limited to a
DCL sheet cake, brownies and cookies. I was planning on making sand and dirt cups but didn't have enough time.
The only thing that would've made this even better was if we won a cruise! Ah well! There is always an opportunity for one of our guests to win and I am glad that someone from here won one of the cruises. That's great news!
Well, DH is already in bed. We are exhausted but glad all of the dishes are washed and put away. Now all that is left to do in the morning is dismantle the cruise ship, tiki hut and Castaway Cay.
Btw, the good news for DCL is that several people who attended our party have decided to book a cruise. I'm going to bed. Good night to all and I hope your DCHP was a wonderful and magical event!
Annmarie