Queue/Waiting Games & Activities

[Joolish1313]

Hiya! I too get bored in line and while sometimes we stand silently, other times we gab. Here's what we've done & what I've seen others do:
-Pal Mickey's games & jokes
-stop watch: 2 games. 1) see who can stop it the fastest 2) before entering the line, guess how long the wait will be, closest one without going over, wins. I'm sure there are more too with a stopwatch function on a watch (guess how long the ride is)
- eye spy with a digital camera: 1 takes the camera, turns on macro & slips awat to take a pic. then everyone in the group takes a look at it before the guessing starts.
- we've also read the books on the parks in line (there's one book for each othe parks). I don;t remember their names but it has a lot of architectural and design info in it. They're small, maybe 4x8. Its cool to see what you are reading about while in the park.

 

[Ava]

We have two solutions: the Hidden Mickey book... and The Guide to the Magic for Kids Scrapbook/Journal/Sticker book thingy.

The scrapbook is AWESOME and our kids (9, 7, and 5) would read it and fill it out during long waits... especially during waits for counter service meals. They would stake out a table and fill in the information that was pertinent for the day thus far... and then Greg and I would stand in the long lines.

It also holds the Epcot Passport information and has several pages for autographs (which we then affixed the character photos to).

We are so impressed with how well the books held the kids' attention (and also got the kids excited for the trip). The only downside is their size. It is a bit much to carry around (but we had three kids = three books). They are a bit smaller than a normal 8X11 piece of paper, but the books are thick because of the large amount of content. I was able to carry them around in a mid-sized sling bag, but the bag really only held the books and our oversized autograph pens.

http://www.guidetothemagic.com/shopping.htm#kids

Wow, that does look awesome! I would've loved it as a kid - checking off those attractions with stickers would've been totally satisfying to my mild OCD, haha. I hope it's still around when my daughter is old enough for it, so I have an excuse to buy it.

 

[enchantingodin]

These are teens right? 11 and 13? Do they have cell phones? Most kids I know that age are texting away whenever they can. So I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[MadgeatMU]

I've posted this elsewhere, but it's one of my favorites-especially with middle school aged kids (camp counselor here...we're taught lots of 'time wasting games' as a part of staff training). It's called virtual hide and seek. Whoever's "it" picks a place to "hide". It doesn't have to be somewhere a person would actually fit, and it doesn't have to be necessarily hidden in real life. All of the other players then ask "it" yes/no questions to try to figure out where they're "hiding". It's fun to see people get creative with their hiding spots!

 

[christymarie]

We bought a 20Q game where you pick an object or thing and they device asks 20 questions to figure out what you picked. I used it with my 8yo and he LOVED it. Really helped because it was not loud and there was an unending amount of items.

 

[KimDis]

These are teens right? 11 and 13? Do they have cell phones? Most kids I know that age are texting away whenever they can. So I wouldn't worry too much.

I'm so not into that... and I'm admittedly a huge phone/txting person but I'm trying to figure out how to wean myself off of calling/ texting during the daytime while at WDW...

I know I can't avoid it completely, but it's just not interactive enough for a family vacation. Thankfully the 11 yr old doesn't have a txt plan (she may not even have a phone yet) and the 13 yr old is kinda the anti-social butterfly in her family, so there's only like 6 people she'll text.

In fact... I may be the worst of the bunch:

 

[Schminston-Mo]

A car game that my kids and I play is Word Association. Start with a word and the next person says what it makes them think of, then next person would say what that word makes them think of and keep going around.

For example: Dog, Dog makes me think of bones, bones make me think of a cast, a cast makes me think of a play....

After a while stop and try to backtrack to see if you can get back to the original word.

 

[MarkFL]

When I'm solo, I either text, listen to music, or take pictures of the queue. With others, I usually talk. When I was in school we used to study together in line with flashcards or review guides.

 

[buffettgirl]

one fun game we do is we find "groups" of people and make up a story for why they're all a group.

for instance we'll announce that it's Purple Shirt day at Disney and everyone wearing a purple shirt must be part of the Barney the Dinosaur fan club. the more outlandish the story the better. It's amazing all the people wearing/doing something similiar in a line....

 

[disjointed]

We like to play 'I'm going on a picnic" where you say "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring..." and you go through the letters of the alphabet. You can even use different themes like animals, countries, or Disney Characters!

 

[Joolish1313]

Oooh! I like that idea! I've also used the beginning "In my grandmother's trunk I found..."

 

[KimDis]

I say we "bump" this and keep the great ideas flowing

 

[Libbyt]

Someone tell me more about the Hidden Mickey book, please! Is this like a puzzle book? Sounds like something my daughter would like!

She also likes to do word searches - you can get smallish ones and she usually carries one of those in her back pack for times like this. She just discovered the other day that you can find word searches online - even Disney ones!

 

[KimDis]

Someone tell me more about the Hidden Mickey book, please! Is this like a puzzle book? Sounds like something my daughter would like!

She also likes to do word searches - you can get smallish ones and she usually carries one of those in her back pack for times like this. She just discovered the other day that you can find word searches online - even Disney ones!

I've decided to make a Disney newsletter for the girls and my mom (also my completely transparent way to keep the planning magic going) .

Adding Disney word searches would be a perfect addition!

I don't have it, but I believe the Hidden Mickey's book helps you find where the imagineers have placed the classic mickey image in obvious and often less than obvious places throughout WDW. I imagine it could be a fun game to see who could find the most hidden mickey's in a ride area.

 

[Mickey_for_President]

Someone tell me more about the Hidden Mickey book, please! Is this like a puzzle book? Sounds like something my daughter would like!

She also likes to do word searches - you can get smallish ones and she usually carries one of those in her back pack for times like this. She just discovered the other day that you can find word searches online - even Disney ones!

"Hidden Mickeys" by Steven M. Barrett

I bought mine on Amazon.com... just make sure you get the "Walt Disney World" one.

It isn't graphically interesting, just text mostly. It gives clues to find hidden Mickeys on rides, in the parks, etc. It is organized so that the book will guide you through the park. But... we usually just use the index in the back to locate the pages for whatever area we are at and then read the clues to the kids while waiting in line.

We have fun trying to spot our own Mickeys... and I usually confirm whatever the kids find as genuine (even though they are usually just random)...

 

[Libbyt]

Thanks for the info, all! We love looking for the hidden Mickeys - thought maybe there was a new activity book or something!

 

[Joolish1313]

You can make your own word searches & other puzzles at puzzlemaker.com I've used it to create ones for my grandmothers for mother's day & fun ones for coworkers. You could pick different themes with each one (Parks, 80s Disney Movies, resorts, etc). And you can decide how big it is & if the words can be backwards.

 

[footballmouse]

We brought along the book "Would You Rather". It was a lot of fun. We also brought the old stand-bys of ipods and gameboys. They're small enough to throw in the backpacks.

 

[KimDis]

We brought along the book "Would You Rather". It was a lot of fun. We also brought the old stand-bys of ipods and gameboys. They're small enough to throw in the backpacks.

I've never seen that book - I think the kids version would be lots of fun!

 

[mmtska]

20 Q is a great game, and it's small, so it would fit in a pocket.
Hidden Mickeys
Disney version of the alphabet game-name a character for each letter of the alphabet
Disney version of picnic-AladdiN-NemO-OliveR-Robin HooD....you get the idea