Keeping Toddlers Occupied In Line for Rides

OscartheSnail

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 29, 2018
Hi Friends,

In a couple weeks we will be at Disney World with our family, a group of 10 in total. Most of the time we'll be split up here and there.

Our youngest is 3 and 40" tall, so he should be able to ride most of the rides we're interested in as well. But with long wait times (SDD), what do you use as entertainment other than electronic items? For some reason my mind is coming to a blank on what to provide him with, that he won't get upset if lost (let's be honest he'd get bored and just drop it, to want it again later.)

Also bonus question, I read that children can not be in the ride queue if not tall enough to go on the ride. If that's true how would the parent switch thing work?

Many thanks in advance!
MW
 
Hi Friends,

In a couple weeks we will be at Disney World with our family, a group of 10 in total. Most of the time we'll be split up here and there.

Our youngest is 3 and 40" tall, so he should be able to ride most of the rides we're interested in as well. But with long wait times (SDD), what do you use as entertainment other than electronic items? For some reason my mind is coming to a blank on what to provide him with, that he won't get upset if lost (let's be honest he'd get bored and just drop it, to want it again later.)

Also bonus question, I read that children can not be in the ride queue if not tall enough to go on the ride. If that's true how would the parent switch thing work?

Many thanks in advance!
MW
to use Ride Swap first parent rides gets off ride then takes child and second gets in Fast Pass line and rides. it is true no one to short may be in lines
 
Keep a small book of Disney themed stickers with you. When my kids were little our guide used to always have stickers and when things got boring those stickers entertained them (beats me why lol). A small Hot Wheels type car he can hold in his hand. I don't like them down on the ground with the cars, but my son always likes to kind of fidget with one.
 
Our kiddo is super into stickers. So we have a pack for everyday and I am hoping to have her practice her people skills and talking by trying to get her to give stickers to other people waiting because who wouldn't want a sticker from a two year old...lol. We are also going to practice colors and letters while waiting. We will have easy to eat snacks. We are also going to bring glow sticks for the evening when waiting for fireworks. I think that is all we have at the moment.
 
I have two little ones and we’re going tomorrow (first timers). I packed bubbles, play dough, small light up toys and coloring books for long waits.

Good luck!!!
 


to use Ride Swap first parent rides gets off ride then takes child and second gets in Fast Pass line and rides. it is true no one to short may be in lines
Ride swap is for children’s not riding, the poster is talking about the lines on the ones the child will be riding.
 
Hi Friends,

In a couple weeks we will be at Disney World with our family, a group of 10 in total. Most of the time we'll be split up here and there.

Our youngest is 3 and 40" tall, so he should be able to ride most of the rides we're interested in as well. But with long wait times (SDD), what do you use as entertainment other than electronic items? For some reason my mind is coming to a blank on what to provide him with, that he won't get upset if lost (let's be honest he'd get bored and just drop it, to want it again later.)

Also bonus question, I read that children can not be in the ride queue if not tall enough to go on the ride. If that's true how would the parent switch thing work?

Many thanks in advance!
MW
 
Mickey bars of course chopped up in a cup with a spoon since they are a mess in,line or a slushy drink or a cookie or treat. I like the previous posters idea of practicing colors. You can play I spy .Tell me when you see someone wearing yellow? And what is it. For example a yellow shirt yello flip flop yellow jacket. Or Disney trivia. Name all the disney cjaracters who are animals , fish birds whatever.
 
I just want to clarify that to utilize rider swap and have the second adult be able to get into the Fastpass line after the first adult rides, you MUST request the rider swap from the CM before the first adult gets in line. Everyone in the group needs to be there, including the too small child. Tell them that you'd like to get a rider swap, they may measure the child's height to ensure they are too short, then they will add the rider swap pass to the magic band of whoever is riding second.
 
We didn't really wait in many lines, but when we did the kids were really content just taking everything in. They were pretty much just in awe of everything, and also, SO many people around us wanted to talk to the kids. Like, all the time. Sometimes it was fun, but lots of time it was annoying. I think I know why, but people can be inappropriate.

Also, regarding bubbles. PLEASE don't. I don't want my family’s clothes to have bubble prints on them. Its so inconsiderate.
 
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I have a 3 and 2 year old. We don’t bring any toys or anything in line (don’t like carrying around/keeping track of extra stuff) BUT we also haven’t waited in a super long line with them like SDD.

My 3 year old really loves all the rides and character meets so just the pure anticipation is enough for her - when we wait in line she talks about all we’ve done on the trip so far, what she wants to do next, etc. If this girl sees a character she wants to meet or a ride she wants to go on, she doesn’t care how long she has to wait. Our 2 year old also just kind of goes with the flow in the lines so we haven’t had trouble. There’s usually stuff to look at, music playing, etc.

... but I do always have a few emergency lollipops in my bag for a special treat when we are at WDW, just in case :)
 
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We took a 2-year-old with us and we would just always ask him questions about what he was about to do or things that we have done, he's quite a talker. We would ask him if he's excited to go do whatever we were in line for or ask him his favorite part about the last thing that we just did. We'd just basically keep up a conversation with him. We'd also point out some things in the line, some of the small details, and he'd get so excited. He wasn't quite tall enough to go on SDD, but we did go on the Alien ride and he was so interested in the wall designs of the spaceship and wanted to press the buttons on the wall, thinking they did something. And as we got closer, all he wanted to do was watch the ride.
 
First- I think bubble are prohibited in AK ( d/t the animals). When my kids were little we made sure to use FP to our advantage, use Rope drop + EMH to ride what we wanted with shorter lines. We never waited in line over 20 minutes for anything!!! This tactic worked well for us. We also used food as “entertainment” but not sure I recommend toys because you would have to take it on the ride with you. I feel it would get lost or just be in the way. The kids are on overload anyway so the sights and sounds keep them plenty entertained
 
Our last trip (Aug 17) we had a 4yo and 2.5yo. I was surprised our kids didn't get out of hand in the lines. The longest line was our wait for Haunted Mansion and we kept them occupied by taking pictures with them in the line. Once we got later into the queue, HM has those few features that the kids could play with and that kept them occupied.

This will be difficult because of your party size, but when we went, we just hopped from fastpass to fastpass during the day. Essentially I kept booking the next fastpass as soon as we used it. So we didn't do the best "touring plan" but we sure had a great time. Didn't wait in a regular line all day except the HM.
 

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