Waiting in Line

[Woodmnky]

Waiting in line with my 2.5 yo for 20 minutes sounds miserable, even with things to entertain him as he is not a kid that will sit/stand in one place for long. I have heard that many of the lines have entertainment along the way, such as pictures. How true is this & any advice for making line waits easier? We are going the 1st week in Dec, so hopefully it will not be horrible.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

I have a daughter the same age who is the same way. I was shocked when we went to a local theme park a few weeks ago and she actually handled it without any meltdowns...she seemed so intrigued by everything going on around her. Disney does do a great job of having things to look at in line, but some of the more kiddie rides do not really. For example, Peter Pan and Small World...nothing to look at in line besides seeing the ride loading.

 

[maxiesmom]

Many rides do have things to keep kids occupied, but that can cause another problem. The child being so involved that they don't want to move on when the line moves!

Make good use of Fast Pass. Also, go to the parks at open. Doing both of those things will mean you wait in short to non existent lines. Be prepared to interact with your child to keep them occupied. Talk to them, play I spy. Count how many people you see with blue shirts on. Stuff like that!

Good luck!

 

[farrahalex76]

A lot of the rides have interactive queues. Peter Pan and IASWA off the top of my head don't. It's really not going to be that bad. The little ones people watch just as much as we do. I had a 7, 4 , and 2 year old last time we went and I can't think of a single time they got squirmy in line. They were more excited about what was coming up. Best advice I can give you is be there at rope drop and lines won't be as long.

 

[kt_mom]

DS was about 2 1/2 on our last trip and he did much better then I had anticipated. We got to the parks early and did our best to avoid lines. But we did wait about 20 or 30 minutes for TSMM and we were able to easily keep him busy looking around at all the stuff.

We had a bigger problem when he wouldn't want to get off a ride at the end. He loved teacups and was really upset that he couldn't just stay on the ride.

 

[spectrecat]

We went that week in '09 with a 3yo (just three weeks shy of turning 4) and a 2yo and we never had an issue. My boys were definitely not the kind of kids to sit still. We talked to them about stuff, looked around, held them here and there, etc.

We also planned fp usage, and we did skip a few attractions with long wait times, but I don't think we had a hard time. We tried to do things early, but we were off-site, and we had to drop hubby off at his conference at the convention center each morning. We'd pick him up later and go back to the parks....so not ideal in terms of touring plans, but we had an amazing time!

 

[Woodmnky]

Thanks for the reassurances. We have done 2 Disney Cruises and I couldn't even hardly get my son to stand in line (for 10 minutes or less) to meet Mickey. However, I really think that he was trying to tell us that he didn't want to stand in line to "see" Mickey when he could already see Mickey when he was walking by. We are planning RD each day because DS is an early riser, so we will keep him on his normal schedule as much as possible. Neither DH nor I have any rides that we have our hearts set on, so if the line is too long we will just move on. Hopefully, it will go better than I expect. My secondary worry is him being upset that he has to get off, but there is nothing that can be done about that.

 

[JaneSparrow]

Thanks for the reassurances. We have done 2 Disney Cruises and I couldn't even hardly get my son to stand in line (for 10 minutes or less) to meet Mickey. However, I really think that he was trying to tell us that he didn't want to stand in line to "see" Mickey when he could already see Mickey when he was walking by. We are planning RD each day because DS is an early riser, so we will keep him on his normal schedule as much as possible. Neither DH nor I have any rides that we have our hearts set on, so if the line is too long we will just move on. Hopefully, it will go better than I expect. My secondary worry is him being upset that he has to get off, but there is nothing that can be done about that.

Since you are traveling with DH, you can have just 1 of you wait in line and the other entertain your son or follow him around. Then you take turns. We were in line for more than 30 minutes in Disneyland because Mama (me) wants to have a pic with the princesses together with their princes. I rarely see the princes that I had to have photos with them. My DS was 29 months then and he will not stay still so ur not alone.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Since you are traveling with DH, you can have just 1 of you wait in line and the other entertain your son or follow him around. Then you take turns. We were in line for more than 30 minutes in Disneyland because Mama (me) wants to have a pic with the princesses together with their princes. I rarely see the princes that I had to have photos with them. My DS was 29 months then and he will not stay still so ur not alone.

This does not work well most rides and lots of people are not going to be happy with you when they are standing in line with their two year old. It really is not as bad as you think it will be. Rope drop, the lines will be very short. Hit the ones that might be longer later first. If you and DH do not plan to do the rides he can not ride, you can get FP for the ones you all want to do together. Some lines have things to do, but many do not. I have seen more melt downs in the pooh line than most lines because the kids want to keep playing and not go past the are to the ride!!! Talk to your child. Play ispy, enjoy a snack (fruit snacks are GREAT for this) and if all else fails hand him your cell phone for a few minutes....I know ...I know....not every time, but if you need it use it!!! Maybe even consider a wrap to carry him in line if that will help!

He will figure out pretty quickly there is a reward at the end of the line.

 

[McAndrew]

Disney has really transormed waiting in line in Fantasyland. Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and Belle were great. I saw some parents who had bubbles which was a blast, small snacks, a notepad with a pad, stickers (lots of time the gift shop will hand them out),postcards are fun too!! My children would draw a picture and we would send them to grandparents!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Disney has really transormed waiting in line in Fantasyland. Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and Belle were great. I saw some parents who had bubbles which was a blast, small snacks, a notepad with a pad, stickers (lots of time the gift shop will hand them out),postcards are fun too!! My children would draw a picture and we would send them to grandparents!

Please don't give kids bubbles. They hit other people who can be allergic, they can stain clothes, and make the queues (and other people) sticky.

 

[princessK30]

Please don't give kids bubbles. They hit other people who can be allergic, they can stain clothes, and make the queues (and other people) sticky.

You do know there are bubbles all over Disney right? Including in some of the shows/attractions/parades...I feel like if someone is actually allergic to bubbles they'll avoid them in the first place. That's like saying "don't give your kids a candy apple coated in peanuts" bc all of those things MIGHT happen...

 

[Luv Bunnies]

The main problem I see with bubbles is that kids naturally want to chase them. They're fine to use in areas where they can run around. But it's hard for a small child to stand still and watch bubbles. They want to run around, swat at them, jump up and pop them. Not something they can do in a line with other people close by.

 

[Gracie09]

You do know there are bubbles all over Disney right? Including in some of the shows/attractions/parades...I feel like if someone is actually allergic to bubbles they'll avoid them in the first place. That's like saying "don't give your kids a candy apple coated in peanuts" bc all of those things MIGHT happen...

You are a captive audience in a line unlike other parts of the parks. If I see a cm blowing bubbles I can walk around them to avoid being hit, I can avoid shows with bubbles in them etc. if you are behind me in line I cannot avoid them especially since you cannot control where they go. I hate bubbles personally. I even go as far as buying bubble machines for my kids so I don't have to physically blow them for them. It's just a thing of mine. Much like people hate or are allergic to perfume or spray sunscreen. Putting either on in your hotel room or away from crowds usually isn't a big deal whipping put a bottle or can in alone and subjecting those around you to it can be a big deal as they may not want to be sprays with it.

There are a million ways to entertain a child in line that don't involve bubbles - play dough (I carry small cans in my bags pretty much at all times, pipe cleaners, talk to them, stickers, sing songs, read the park map, play eye spy, hidden mickeys etc. all things that cause little to no disturbance to those around you.

 

[letsgoreds]

All of this anti-bubble talk makes me want to buy some bubbles ; )

That being said, I can't imagine blowing them in line...it is all about the chase.

Surprisingly, for our January trip, opening a new pack of SOTMK cards (free) when in line was the biggest wait-busters for my 4yo nephew. My 3yo is also a fan of the cards (thanks to his 7yo brother). We brought a card holder book with us, so for him, opening a new pack, with mom slowly revealing a new card, and him working to add them to his card book, killed a good amount of time. He also loved looking at the cards in his book.

At baseball games (we go to quite a few Reds games), playing 'guess which hand' with a snack (goldfish, M&M) also kills a lot of time. The younger ones really enjoy guessing...and I always make them get the guess right a few times before giving the treat. With the older set, rock paper scissors also goes a long way.

 

[ABCastillo]

When we were there with our then 2 yo I was surprised at how quickly the lines do move. I never really felt like I was standing still. The CMs helped when they could too. Always talking to her and getting into character. She always enjoyed that. Some of our cutest pics are of her holding hands with CMs at the hotel or while in line.

 

[ElenaRN]

We were there in June with our 2 1/2 year old DD. We too were worried about keeping her entertained while waiting in line.

Turns out she entertained herself by making friends with the other kids on line. She had a "best friend" by the time we got on each ride!

 

[Woodmnky]

When we were there with our then 2 yo I was surprised at how quickly the lines do move. I never really felt like I was standing still. The CMs helped when they could too. Always talking to her and getting into character. She always enjoyed that. Some of our cutest pics are of her holding hands with CMs at the hotel or while in line.

Moving at all is good. The rest of your statement does terrify me a bit. Someone said hello to my son at the grocery store the other day and it resulted in a full on meltdown because he is so stranger phobic. I'm thinking that our best bet will be to keep him in a carrier until we get towards the front of the line if it is going to be more than a minute or two.

Don't worry, no bubbles for us as DS is allergic. However, he loves them so it would be really hard if there were others in line blowing bubbles.

 

[becpee]

Not really sure if playdoh or pipe cleaners are that great an idea.
Can't think of anything worse than having my clothes ruined by a strangers kid whose stick his playdoh on me.
And pipe cleaners? I'm not sure i wanna lose an eye waiting in the pooh queue.

The bubbles that people are blowing is probably watered down free H2O that they've pilfered from their Disney cruise, does it stain???

 

[Mama Who]

The bubbles that people are blowing is probably watered down free H2O that they've pilfered from their Disney cruise, does it stain???

You're a rabble rouser, you are. You rouse rabble!