What to do with your 2yo in line?

[NHBelle]

My son is two and we recently took him to an amusement park and he was actaully very good, but he did not like waiting in lines. He started yelling "go" every minute. Luckily most lines were short, but that will not be the case when we go in August. Also he wants me to hold him in lines and he gets very heavy. I need some good ideas to keep him busy and on the ground. Please help!

 

[ChiTownZee]

Pick up a 'bouquet' or two of Mickey lollipops on Mainstreet when you get there. They aren't two big or messy and pretty cheap.

We also spend a lot of time people watching, talking, planning. "what was your favorite ride so far" "what do you want to do next" "what did you think of xyz" kind of stuff.

 

[vald1977]

Hi NHBelle,
We went to wdw in May with our two year old and fastpass is really a lifesaver! Try and use this as much as you possibly can. We also had a rule that if a line was longer than 15 minutes, we would skip it and try the ride again later. This was during a less crowded season though so we didn't find too many rides with waits longer than 15 minutes that we couldn't use fastpass for. Another thing we did with our ds was my dh would put him up on his shoulders while waiting in lines and walking through queing (sp.?) areas. Just be sure there isn't a low doorway to walk through . My ds loved this because he could see everything and it's as good as being carried to him but much less tiring to the adult. Hope this helps. Have a great trip !

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

I always had easy to eat snacks, juice boxes and bottled water handy. Fun size M&M's, pretzels, granola bars, fruit snacks-anything that is easy to manage and not to messy. It was one of the few times I'd let them graze all day.

One thing not to do is-promise certain rides next. Say instead "we'll try that one next and see how long the wait is." We got into trouble with that in May with Winnie the Pooh and Flight of Peter Pan-the lines were always too long and the kids kept saying "YOU PROMISED!!!".

 

[travelitis]

Pipe cleaners and bubbles are activities you can do in lines. Other kids in line enjoyed our bubbles, and the other adults didn't mind. After all, what's offensive about bubbles as long as they aren't being blown right at you?

 

[WhispyPixie]

Our kids loved the small little hand held plastic animals and army men...i remember one lion that must have bounced his way over every railing in MK. We use bubbles only while waiting for shows to begin as the lines are very close and many people dont like them floating around. Also small hand held party favor type toys are good. It is probably annoying to those around us...but we sing too..lol..Good luck

 

[jlb]

Last year our daughter was 2 years old and we would talk to her and point out things that we saw while waiting in line. Some rides where easy using FastPass, others we would point out things that had to do with the ride or talk about stories or movies. She really loved just hanging on the rails and was amazed to see other children to talk to.

 

[TSWJan78]

Wesang silly songs while we waited in line and that kept our 2 2y/o and 4 y/o busy.... Also remember if you fastpass does not say "you can get another fastpass at..." You can get a second one right away... We held a jungle cruise and a peter pan FP at the same time

 

[Boo Mc]

Sometimes I'll wait in line while DH walks around with the kids - then when I get toward the front he just hands them over to me. Of course this only works on rides where you can see the front of the line.

 

[poohs4me]

Our DD is older but still doesn't like waiting in lines. We also have pipe cleaners. She absolutely loves them even asks for them in all kinds of lines, grocery store etc. But she knows they are only for WDW. I guess that makes it special. We tried bubbles but she ended up pouring them on herself and she was five.

Last year it was surprising her and some other kids ages 1 to 5 started playing ring around the rosey in line. At first it was really cute, but 45 minutes later it was getting to everybody. it was sure better then listening to them whine though.

FAST PASS!!! It is definately the way to go. Especially for the Pooh and Peter Pan ride. We had an early breakfast at CRT and did the Dumbo ride before most people got in. It was definately nice. The worst so far for us has been Buzz and that even was with a Fast Pass.

 

[disneybud]

We found that most lines we were in either moved at least slowly most of the time so it felt at least we were making progress and thus eliminated that wanting to "Go!" type feeling.. Also at Disney some of the lines have things to look at or keep you occupied. The only one I remember standing still for a long period of time was Playhouse Disney, but just talking about what was to come for our patient wait helped that situation..

 

[sandyrob]

How about taking a couple of your DS's favorite books. I know when our three DDs were that age they loved to be read to and would request the same books over and over and over...

On another board, I read about one mom who always takes a travel size MagnaDoodle, which I thought was a wonderful idea.

Both the books and travel MagnaDoodle would fit easily into a packpack or stroller pouch.