Keeping little kids busy in line

[Jake&IzzyLand]

WDW is much different than KI, you are smart to plan and be ready. We take a backpack and bring along fruit snacks and lollipops, both are things we don't give them often. A few small toys to keep their hands busy if needed also help. Talking about your day and looking for hidden Mickeys and other special touches is fun too. Hopefully you won't have too many lines. Try to get there before opening and then ride all you can until lunch. After lunch and through the afternoon is super busy, hot and crowded. Try to schedule your fast passes for this time, or a sit down lunch. Depending on length of stay, you may even want to take a break by swimming at your resort. But this takes a lot of time with the buses and what not so you may want to skip it if you don't have a ton of park days. It is a lot to take in and navigate. If you don't plan to come back 99 more times you may have to wait in some lines to be able to ride all you want. If your kids are okay with 30 minutes, you should be fine for the most part. Have a great trip!

 

[ErinsMommy]

Depends on age - My daughter is big into hand games - patty cake, Miss Mary Mack; etc and games like I spy.

 

[Experiment113]

Go to the dollar store or party favor store and purchase small items that could be attached to a key chain (tiny animal flashlight, tiny toy camera, tiny tick tack toe board, etc.)
I took along a springy keychain-type ring that my son & daughter could wear on their wrist. Each day when that moment came that we needed a distraction, I would give them an item to attach to their springy keychain. They loved it! At 2 1/2 my son was too small to play tick tack toe but enjoyed turning the pieces on it. My daughter was older and could play tick tack toe with other kids in line. They enjoyed having their own "camera" since I was always taking pictures, plus this one had animal picture in it (like a viewmaster).

I also took along various Disney stickers that we would put on the corresponding page of their autograph books. They couldn't read the autographs, but with the stickers, they then knew which character's autograph it was. They enjoyed just looking at their autograph book themselves.

I would always pack a bunch of dollar store items and take a few in our back pack every day. Those $1 items were priceless when you need a little distraction (in line, waiting for parade to start, waiting for Dad to get back from the counter with our food, etc.) Even a tiny pocket notebook for them to scribble in and they can give their picture to the next character you meet!

Go at your kiddo's pace & have fun!

 

[DisneyAnytime]

I can't remember where we got it but DD (6 at the time) had a little Minnie Mouse that had arms and legs attached with rubber bands, kind of like a puzzle where all the pieces are attached, that kept her entertained for hours. She would keep busy rearranging Minnie into all different shapes and contortions while waiting in lines, for buses, on shows to start, at meals, etc. Again, depending on the ages of the children we play the Disney alphabet game with several variations -- characters, rides, movie titles, etc. I Spy is another good one, discuss favorite things so far, what to do next, silliest moment, etc.

As a previous poster said, there are a LOT of things to distract a child in line at WDW so your little ones may not need much entertaining as they are surrounded the whole time with multiple stimuli.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

A lot of the queues are well themed, enough to cause a bit of a distraction. If you have a smartphone, Heads Up is a great game to play. I'd also print out some Disney trivia and play a game with that.

 

[Caseheidi]

We play a lot of I Spy, Guess what I am thinking about and Which do you like better? Uses lots of imagination.

There is also a book that was published a few years ago for DLR that was suppose to come out for WDW as well. I am not sure if it has yet, but the name is "Lots To Do In Line" by Meredith Lyn Pierce. For each ride, there is something to do that involves looking around the line. For example, Dumbo has a Treasure Hunt with things like A Baby Elephant, A Whip and a Big Basket. There are also extra points questions, like "What is being given to one of the riders in each Elephant and then taken away again? With multiple choice answers. Other rides might be full of trivial that you can find answers to in line. Just fun stuff that really makes you enjoy the details that Disney puts into its attractions. And if I remember correctly, they had this as a phone app as well.

 

[LadyLaLa]

We went a few months ago, planned well, hardly ever waited more then 15 minutes. Time was easily passed talking about the attraction we just did it was about to do. However, some things I did do:

Before I went I bought some boxes of chewy candy, and a box of ziplock snack bags. I made up a bag of candy for each child for each day we were there. There wasn't much candy in each bag, but bc they were chewy - think mike and Ike's- they took a while to chew . Didn't have to use them in the lines but they came in handy when in long lines trying to exit the park.

Another thing I did was buy a box of pipecleanrs at the dollar store. Gave a few to each kid, and they could twist them into shapes, animals, letters, etc. Again, this was meant for line ups but we didn't have any, kids enjoyed it at hotel though and I can see them liking it in line as well.

And of course, we did look for hidden mickeys

I love your pipe cleaner idea! I'm totally doing this for my little guy.

 

[Tondee]

We enjoyed having a bubble gun.

 

[ttintagel]

I don't wait in lines longer than 30 minutes, and I certainly wouldn't choose to do so if I had little kids for whom it was a problem. However, at Disney World, there's so much going on! I would talk with them about the things you;ve already done that day, the things you're going to do later on, the ride you're waiting for, the things you can see from the queue, the people around you and how excited they are. If that turns out to not be enough conversation, there are enough Disney songs to sing to fill up a music library.

 

[TwoCortWort]

Well this wouldn't help a kid, but I even put a small word search or soduku book in my bag. But 9/10 times I see kids on phones/ipads.

 

[Jennasis]

We enjoyed having a bubble gun.

 

[Kathryn777]

My kids do well with food in lines, we also avoid long ones but especially under 5, they can just snack for quite a while

 

[DG24]

when I was a kid my mom gave us pipe cleaners, that was 25 years ago. She also walked us threw the dollar store or party isle. Little things you get in grab bags can keep a kid entertained for hours. Do know the names of these things but one is a square and either has number or a picture broken up into nine pieces, and you moved them around until you solved the puzzle, easily took me a whole line to do it in. Another thing she would buy is magic trick, like the links that you undo and do, or a deck of cards that was a trick, by the end of line I usually figured it out and did it on my parents. She also use to have bingo sheets but with characters, or rides on them, don't know where she got them. But she would give us a sheet and a crayon and while walking, or waiting for parade, or whatever we would see who could get bingo first.

 

[AdamsPrincess]

I have never waited in line for more than 30 minutes, even at the busiest times.

But for my boys in line we either will give them a snack or let them play on their ipods (yep...I am that mom)

 

[jeneric997]

I kept trying to think of what we did with our kids at that age, when I realized we never really waited in lines because we used FP and child swap so the kids never waited in the roller coaster lines. If the line was too long we would skip it and come back later. We had lacing cards, I've seen bubbles, mostly kids now have phones and other devices even the little ones... really with FP+ and some line apps the rides the 2-year-old can go on shouldn't be long.

 

[isabellea]

I never waited more than 20-30 minutes, even in summer but we are a RD family. Last summer my DDs were 2 and 5 and never got whining or tantrums because of the wait and I didn't have any special games or toys with me. I make sure they are hydrated and not hungry and just go with the flow.

 

[AngiTN]

Looking for ideas to keep little kids busy while waiting in lines. We live close to Kings Island amusement park and I take them there quite often but usually the longest wait is at most 30 minutes. They are in for a rude awakening.

I've never waited more than 30 min for any ride at any Disney park. Nor have I ever needed to entertain DGD while in line. It's Disney. It's entertaining all by itself

 

[momto2js]

I have waited in line more than 30 minutes in line more than once and often at QS eateries. I have a cherades app on my phines and we play giving oral clues. It passes the time nicely.

 

[minnie mum]

We enjoyed having a bubble gun.

Brace, brace, brace!

 

[travelfearlessly]

We bring snacks to pass the time. Some of the kiddie rides at Magic Kingdom like Winnie the Pooh and Dumbo have interactive playspaces for the kids to run around and have fun while they wait in line. I've found waiting in line for character meets to be the hardest because the line moves SO SLOWLY!