Waiting in line activities

[Bobsmom]

I am taking my 7 yo son during spring break and am trying to think of activities while we wait in line, wait for Fantasmic to start, etc. I am bringing a vacation mad libs book as well as a 'classic disney' seek and find (where's waldo type) book. He's not interested in bubbles. Any other suggestions for non-electronic entertainment during waits?

 

[HopperFan]

There is actually a cool book that is shaped to fit in your backpack just fine called "Don't Miss the Magic Before the Ride - Lots to Do in Line" by Meredith Lyn Pierce. It's broken down by every ride, has lots of quiz multi choice questions, hints to look for things, treasure hunts.

 

[Thing 1]

We never really took any extra items along for wait time past the toddler years. The lines have interesting things to see and sometimes to do and they keep moving most places. We do sometimes have a snack or a drink in a line that is a bit longer (trash cans are almost always at the entrance to the ride), but mostly just talk and look around. I have been known to hand DS my phone if a wait gets really long, but really that happens less than once a day on average. We simply hate to carry stuff and carry the bare minimum,

 

[kuhltiffany]

That's usually when I get my kids to have a snack/drink. Pipe cleaners can also be fun too

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I planned several things when DD was about your DS's age, but we really didn't end up using them because the lines are so well themed. I love the idea of the book mentioned above though - it looks like fun to me as an adult.

 

[growinupdisney]

Just ordered the book...excited most of the time we don't need anything but with going in the summer lines can get a little long so this will help!

 

[msmama]

We play the "I'm thinking of..." game. It requires absolutely nothing extra to carry.

It's like 20 questions but without the limit of 20 questions.

 

[puffkin]

We never really needed stuff to entertain them in lines (and my boys are WILD). Usually there was so much to look at, touch, play with, etc that they didn't need anything extra. Sometimes they would look through the park map or the app on my phone. Sometimes we would look at pictures on my phone. Sometimes we would talk about what we wanted to do next or where we wanted to eat. Sometimes they strike up conversations with the other kids in line. But very rarely did we ever feel that there was a need for an actual activity to keep them occupied. Now when we visit our local theme park....its a different story....but in Disney they do really well in the lines.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I used to say "avoid long lines", but I honestly don't know how likely that is with the new FastPass system.

Try: telling stories, playing I-Spy, 20 questions, charades, singing songs, talking about the trip so far or things you want to do later.

 

[Bobsmom]

There is actually a cool book that is shaped to fit in your backpack just fine called "Don't Miss the Magic Before the Ride - Lots to Do in Line" by Meredith Lyn Pierce. It's broken down by every ride, has lots of quiz multi choice questions, hints to look for things, treasure hunts.

Thank you so much! I am ever the introvert so being around large groups of people is going to exhaust me, and handing the kid a book for a little quiet time (not having to interact with anyone) is going to be vital to keeping my batteries charged.

 

[lisahoo]

I made these drawing kits from old DVD cases for our girls. http://stacyvaughnblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/dvd-coloring-case.html
We used them a few times in lines, but more often when waiting at mealtime. They're nice and compact and they went into the girls park bags and then into their backpacks for the plane.

 

[hcox31]

We kept lollipops in our park bag and gave DS one whenever he got antsy waiting in a line. No toys, books or DVDs needed.

 

[lesliekatya]

20 questions, I spy, thumb wars, Rock Paper Scissors. Little packs of goldfish crackers. These all work decently well. I'll have to try the book. I know you can look for hidden mickeys, but I don't know if you'll find any in line.

 

[DisneyCAL]

You could play the abc game. Take turns saying a word that begins with A then he has to repeat it and add on a b word and so on. I used to do this with animals or objects but you could do it with disney characters or movie titles.

 

[WhispyPixie]

When our kids were young, each of them had a fanny pack filled with a few age appropriate goodies.

Gum (Disney doesn't sell it), little hand held characters, small pad and pen, hand sanitizer and pocket game like Simon and Yahtzee. We searched for Hidden Mickeys, played the ABC game and thumb war! To be honest, they really didn't NEED any of it in the lines., they did though like it while waiting for food or others in our party to finish up. Our older kids also packed a small deck of cards and anytime we sat waiting in a cue line for a show ,they would play cards. Good luck!