Why are Disney Cruise Door Magnets a Thing?

So you’ve heard about this phenomenon of people decorating their stateroom doors on a Disney cruise, but what are Disney cruise door magnets all about, anyway? Here’s why so many people are personalizing their doors on a Disney cruise.

Help Finding Your Door

The halls on a Disney Cruise are long. Like, really long. Elevators on the ship are located Forward, Aft and Midship, meaning you could descend to your stateroom floor halfway or even on the other side of the ship.

So if you can make your door stand out after a long day of playing on the ship, it’s probably not a bad idea, especially for sleepy kids and grandparents. Customized decorations are even better, as it makes it easy for the kids to find Grandma & Grandpa’s stateroom, and they love pointing out their own names on the door!

Celebrating a Special Day

Got an anniversary, new baby or graduation? How about a birthday?

Imagine the surprise of your family member when they come back to the room and you’ve switched out the door decorations to with Mickey in a party hat or a dancing Minnie mermaid to celebrate their special day.

Cruise door magnets are a great way to mark a celebration, even if it’s just changing your classic Mickey to a Pirate Mickey to celebrate pirate night on the cruise. It’s a way to get into the spirit.

Where to Find Disney Cruise Door Magnets

But where do you get these cool magnets? Usually on Etsy. Disney will sometimes have them in the shop on a cruise ship, but those come at a premium price. Here are your options:

Pre-made cruise door magnets:

These are usually laminated and ready to go, either printed on magnetic paper or with magnet tape stuck to the back.

Pros:

• Already created, ready to go.

• Laminated, so they’ll last more than one cruise.

Cons:

• More expensive, usually $18 and up for non-personalized designs.

• Customs Take a Long Time: If you want your names on them, these can take a long time to customize and ship.

• Not a good option if your cruise is coming up in a week or so, as you probably won’t have time to get them in the mail (or pay for extra shipping).

Printable Disney Cruise Door Magnets

You don’t have to be crafty to print out your own Disney cruise door designs at home. These usually print on regular 8.5”x11” printer paper, and adding sticky magnet tape is a snap.

Pros:

• Inexpensive: Download-and-print cruise door designs can be as little as $1.00

• Fast: You can print as soon as you order, so great if you’re already packing for your cruise.

• Easy to make: They don’t really need laminated or require magnetic paper, so they’re actually very easy to just print and add magnets.

• Quick personalizations: In addition to being able to print designs instantly, your designer can add names and send you files as fast as the same day (depending on the shop).

Cons:

• If you don’t have a home printer, you may not be able to go this route. Staples and Office Depot will typically not print copyrighted (Disney) designs. This can be dodged by taking your files to the local library (where it’s probably cheaper to print anyhow).

Why are They Magnets?

Disney doesn’t allow tape (anymore) on the doors, due to the damage it was causing and workload on the part of the ship’s mousekeepers. Magnets are the way to go to keep your decorations up. If you’re on the concierge level, however, you’ll need stronger magnets to work through the coatings on the doors.