occupied in lines About This Page:

[mpwife153]

I was worried about this myself on our trip in Jan (DD was 4), but she did surprisingly well. She was so excited to be in WDW that she rarely complained about waiting in line. The only exception was when she was tired & cranky, then she wanted to be held. When we go back in Oct I am taking my Hidden Mickey book with me. DD to find them, even in everday life!! DSS is also going with us (he's 9),but can be impatient if he has to wait. This will be a good distraction for him as well.

Most of our meals for our trip in Oct are Character meals so I am not too about keeping her occupied. We eat CS meals whenever possible, but we eat out a few times a month so she is used to having to wait for her food. She is almost 5 now & likes to play tic tac toe. I make sure I have a few crayons in my bag and a small notebook & she is a happy camper!

[AngelLily03]

DD was 20 months on our trip. I got a fanny pack and filled it with necklaces, bubbles, snacks, and play doh (party size). The fanny pack also made a type of seat for her to sit on and took the pressure off my back. For older ones hand held puzzles or video games are great. Many families around us played eye spy or had the map out with the kids directing where they wanted to go next.

[Carousel96]

I Spy and Hidden Mickey hunts. We also talk about what DD will put in her trip journal for school

[jblondie1999]

I brought all sorts of things to keep my boys occupied, but we really didn't need them. They were so happy to be around their Grandparents and Aunt. I even brought toys for the resort room and those went unused. They had more fun watching the WDW station each night on TV so they could recap what they saw/did that day. When we sat down for meals we just asked the wait staff to bring some crackers or something til the meal was served. At one TS meal a waitress brought us a plate full of veggies cut up into different shapes like roses, pigs, Mickey, trees and etc. That was the coolest! Yep, I left a huge tip. I guess she could tell that we were getting a little down cuz we were in our 5th day on that trip and it hadn't stopped raining once. After that surprise we all had big smiles on our faces. I hope Disney received my letter and acknowledged that CM and kitchen staff.

[PamelaK]

DD and I played the Hidden Mickey hunt, I Spy, and the ABC game while waiting in line. If we didnt' feel like playing a game, we just talked about what we had done already or planned to do. We checked out the map and times guide to help plan our next few things to do. We also just pointed out all the cool things in the queues.

BTW the ABC game is just us tryng to spot each letter of the alphabet, in order. The catch is that once we spot it on one sign (or T-shirt) we can't use that sign (or t-shirt) again.

[staciemkg]

I brought one of those mini beach balls (5in). We had it for our son (2) to have something to do during rider swap. He had a great time, rolling, passing, kicking it and when we were done, we just let the air out and put it in backpack for next time. He made a lot of new friends who joined in too.

[Pax]

Originally Posted by Lemap760

A good game of I Spy can last a long time. There is also lots to look at in line and people watching is always fun.

A similar game, for older kids and that can entertain even adults, is one my girlfriend and I used to play a lot, while waiting for a bus or whatnot.

Essentially, it's like a verbal version of "Scrabble" - it's a word/spelling game, where a chain of letters is steadily built up. If you add a letter that doesn't allow a word to be spelled with the current chain ... you "lose" (or, you gain a point - and LOW scores are better). If the letter you add completes a word ... you also "lose".

The idea is to keep building the chain up to greater and greater lengths, without finishing off a word.

It can build vocabulary (thinking of new and clever words to aim for, but not finish), memory (remembering what letters are in the chain so far), planning (thinking AHEAD, so you can try to trap someone into finishing a word), and of course, spelling.

[Kelly66]

Ditto to everything everyone said. Plus- Disney Magic Artist has some great printables that you can take with you to color. I have begun to see short pencils and markers at the Disney store great for putting in a fanny pack.
There are many great things to see in the lines, and we even took time to notice the different materials and colors on the barriers that divide the queues. Don't forget to look up as well, Disney hides some great stuff up there.
I know that it's exhausting to carry them often, but don't forget that if they are tiny, all they can see on the ground is people's legs!
Also we look at the map and sometimes 'play' at finding the attractions. I mention one and we see who can point to it first.

[clovergirl98]

well, to keep children occupied in line you could see if there are any hidden mickeys where ever you are or you can ask how much fun they have had so far or what rides do you want to do next

[QuiltsbyNini]

My DS8 has a disability that makes waiting for ANYTHING very stressful for him and everyone around him. I have found pipe cleaners to be a good sanity saver! I usually get a pack of 250 assorted pipe cleaners and put a few in my bag each morning. If he starts getting antsy, I will pull one or two out and ask him to make me something. He may not make me anything, but it is usually good for at least 15 minutes of quiet time.

Also, while waiting for fireworks or night time parades, we get the battery operated light sticks. (the kind that look like the regular chem lights, but are battery powered and also have a small flashlight in them) I get them at Walmart and they come in a lot of colors. This gives him the power of having light where he wants it, and I don't have to shell out the money in the parks for all the glow sticks etc. Something about playing with that light can keep him occupied for 30 or 40 minutes.

I also copy the passporter maps and give him his own to play with in the park. (for some reason, the ones in the park don't seem to do the 'trick') These work really well at meal times where he can sit and 'study' where he wants to go next. Also works on helping him with his mapping skills! (we home school!)

The kids carry small writing pads and pencils with them to write in while waiting for their meals. They are required to write every night in their journals, so they make notes during meals to help them remember what they want to write about. For the ones not able to write, they draw pictures of their favorite parts of the day.

I go to the dollar store, Target, Walmart, basically anywhere that has the cheapo toys, and get a couple different small toys to distribute during the trip. There is no rhyme or reason as to when they get them. It could be a reward for waiting quietly, it could be because we see a melt down coming, or it could just be here, play with this for a while!

We have bought DS8 a Game Boy. We have found that GameStop sells the small cartridges that are actually movies. Giving him this to watch has helped with his waiting problems. The secret with him is keeping him occupied so he doesn't know he is waiting!

Sorry this is so long, but once I got started I couldn't stop!


Nini

[Jengoodaim]

We are doing one of thise ABC scrapbooks for each kid, so they will be busy looking around of anything that starts with a letter of the alphabet....

I also found an interesting activity book on Etsy...it is made based on your child and their interests in disney....cannot wait to see them.

[Kelly66]

I don't think we used them, but I printed out games and characters for each day from the 'Magic Artist' Disney online site. They have things like checkers and puppets-all sorts of fun things to print! I wonder if this link will work?: Fun & Games | Coloring Pages | Disney Magic Artist But really we talked about how brilliant the queues are (my daughter was 16 at the time though)