Throwing a Disney Moana Party on a Budget

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Birthday parties are supposed to be enjoyable and magical. They shouldn’t be stressful! Throwing a themed party shouldn’t cost you a ton of money or even take up a lot of your time. There is ways to stay in budget, not be stressed and still throw an awesome party. Relax it’s party time!

Disney’s Moana is a favorite movie for so many, including my daughter. Moana is a great story with great songs, and it’s set in Hawaii. Who wouldn’t love that?

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HOW TO THROW A DISNEY MOANA PARTY ON A BUDGET

The Invitations

Invitations are the perfect opportunity to get people excited for the party. Whether you choose to mail physical copies of invites or send an online invite there are many great options.

These Moana party invitations are very easy and cute, 20 custom cards and envelopes for $25 & free shipping.

We opted for a small party with just the immediate family, so we just sent out an online invite. If you’re looking to just send them online, here’s a free beach themed invite. However you send out the invite, try and do so two weeks before.

The Outfit

In my opinion the outfit completes the party. What child doesn’t love to dress up? There are quite a few Moana costumes on the market and honestly choose the one that works for your child, keep in mind to stay in budget.

My daughter is wearing this one it came with a head flower and Moana’s necklace for only $17.99, it was good quality and arrived within a day and comes in 18 months to girls 12.

The Cake

I love making cakes, are they perfect? No. And I’m totally okay with that. It’s just so fun to imagine what you’re going to create and just go with it.

Making your own cake and/or cupcakes also helps you stay in budget. Whether you’re starting from scratch or a box cake it’s a lot cheaper than purchasing a cake.

Not to mention you’ll get brownie points from your child, because no matter how it turns out they’ll love it. Start out with easy designs until you feel a little more comfortable.

For the Moana cake I choose to do an ombre design with sugar flowers and just place Moana toy figures that we already owned. I was very pleased with how it turned out and it was so much easier then I imagined.

Start out with dying the whole bowl of frosting, frost the top and a 1/3 down the side, add some more dye into the frosting then frost another 1/3 down the side, finish off with adding more dye and frost the bottom. Grab a icing spatula and smooth it out a little but don’t go overboard.

The Decorations

My biggest budget tip when you’re planning a party would be about decorations. Before heading to the store to purchase any decorations, go online to your local Buy Nothing FB group and ask your community members if anyone has anything you’re looking for.

Hawaiian and beach is a very popular party theme and there for about 90% of the decorations was free or we already owned like all the Moana products.

Another tip, incorporate what you already own, it saves money and the environment. I found those “coral” aka rock candy on a paper straw at Walmart for fairly cheap but they also have just plain rock candy on a stick. We also decorated the art easel we already owned(another Buy Nothing find).

If you’re not having any luck with your local buy nothing group, check out the Dollar Store and/or Walmart they usually have a great selection of beach themed items Spring-Summer for very cheap.

The Food

For food I wanted it to be “easy” and follow the theme of a picnic. Pulled Pork Sandwiches were cooked in the crockpot with Hawaiian sweet rolls, which tasted amazing!

The other sandwich was Curry Chicken Sandwiches which were prepared the day before and then just made up before the party. Either sandwiches could easily be taken to a park for the party.

Then we just had some typical sides – fruit, vegetables, chips, ect. Drinks were water and a punch made with Sprite, KoolAid and orange juice.

Remember I said parties shouldn’t be stressful! Of course we had cake & ice cream and I made some homemade “sand cookies” aka peanut butter cookies.

Location & Time

Throwing a party at home is always the cheapest route unless you absolutely cannot swing that. The park is a great second option if you choose to reserve the picnic shelter it’s typically very reasonably priced.

If you’re from my area, I’ve got a great list of birthday party locations you can check out – Pierce County Birthday Party Locations. Always keep in mind your child’s schedule when choosing a time, you don’t want to party with a cranky kid!

The Favors

To make things fun for the kids I bought party hats, received party leis from my Buy Nothing group and just filled up little bags of candy for favors.

A cute idea for favors is; save the little plastic “toys” and opt to fill beach buckets with candy. Here’s 12 mini buckets with shovels for $16 and fill with candy, the kids will LOVE them!

 

Remember a party is supposed to be enjoyable and magical! Relax and party on!! If you’re looking for another kids birthday party theme on a budget, check out our Alice in Wonderland Party on a Budget.

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