How Do You Entertain Little Ones

[vleeth]

With so many rides that the little ones can't do, what do you bring to keep them entertained? I'm glad for child swap, but I'm concerned my DD5 will get frustrated spending so much time waiting in line and waiting in child swap areas. Ideas???

 

[Metro West]

With so many rides that the little ones can't do, what do you bring to keep them entertained? I'm glad for child swap, but I'm concerned my DD5 will get frustrated spending so much time waiting in line and waiting in child swap areas. Ideas???

Your daughter should enjoy E.T., Curious George and Barney areas as well as the Woody Woodpecker Kidzone at the Studios and she's the perfect age for Seuss Landing at IOA. There is also Camp Jurassic, Pteranodon Flyers (with an adult) and Me Ship The Olive. There is plenty for someone of age 5 to do at both parks.

 

[2tink4u]

There's tons to do for her. The live Barney show, Suess land and which ever rides she's tall enough for. My husband and I bought Fast Pass and one found and area where our child could rest, play or eat something and the other rode then returned. Use the single rider lines and don't wait in the regular lines for switch off. Or buy Fast Pass.
Honestly this is my best advice. We only did the adult rides that were really a big deal to us. We never made him wait for a ride he couldn't get on. He would of only suffered this fate once anyway. He would have thrown a fit. She will too. Take my advice. Have a lovely time.

 

[vleeth]

The fit part is my concern. I know there are lots of fun things for her to do, the problem is when we are doing something she can't do.

We have a large group and I'm sure we'll work out a way to split up so that the adults can alternate between taking the kids to do stuff and doing non-kid stuff. Harry Potter is the issue. All of the adults (big kids) will want to go there first thing and ride and the little ones won't be able to. So I'm trying to figure out what fun (but small) things we can bring to keep the kids happy while we wait for (and ride) FJ.

 

[GingerJay]

There is plenty to see and do- my youngest was 4 when we went to US/IOA in March of this year and we had no problem entertaining him while the older kids/other parent rode. A good thing about US/IOA is that there is a lot of theming to look at/play with- also, characters are often milling about that you can have pics with.

You'll have a great time

 

[ducky_love]

I don't have kids... but I see them in Suess Landing with wide eyed delight wanting to stop and play while their parents are dragging them past to WWOHP.

I can't imagine that if you let them see Suess Landing that they would mind doing all the attractions there while the adults swap out to go ride FJ. It will also not be busy in the morning so they will get to play and explore without the crowd.

But if you just want something for her to play with while she waits you can't beat a Nintendo DS!

 

[mdb78]

The fit part is my concern. I know there are lots of fun things for her to do, the problem is when we are doing something she can't do.

We have a large group and I'm sure we'll work out a way to split up so that the adults can alternate between taking the kids to do stuff and doing non-kid stuff. Harry Potter is the issue. All of the adults (big kids) will want to go there first thing and ride and the little ones won't be able to. So I'm trying to figure out what fun (but small) things we can bring to keep the kids happy while we wait for (and ride) FJ.

Others have reported back that in the child swap waiting room in FJ, they have a Harry Potter movie playing. Maybe she'll enjoy watching that while waiting.

A pp mentioned a nintendo ds which isn't a bad idea. Or maybe one of those mini travel games.

 

[KellyWasHere]

With so many rides that the little ones can't do, what do you bring to keep them entertained? I'm glad for child swap, but I'm concerned my DD5 will get frustrated spending so much time waiting in line and waiting in child swap areas. Ideas???

How about an invisible ink book? It's only one ride so it shouldn't be too difficult, right? (Although your original post made it sound like more than one ride.) I hadn't even thought about it for mine. Whoops. If we are going to be spending 90% of the time doing their little kid stuff, they can tough it out while we ride FJ and Spider-man and MIB.

 

[vleeth]

Others have reported back that in the child swap waiting room in FJ, they have a Harry Potter movie playing. Maybe she'll enjoy watching that while waiting.
A pp mentioned a nintendo ds which isn't a bad idea. Or maybe one of those mini travel games.

She scares easily and I'm thinking there are quite a few scenes in HP movies that would scare the heck out of her, so I need to find something that she can do instead. She doesn't have a ds...she does have a Leapster. Is the DS smaller and lighter? Would you recommend getting one? Maybe that would be a good thing for Christmas.

 

[ducky_love]

I don't have a leapster- but my DSi would fit in my small belly bag. It is light enough that a carry it in my purse some days. (you never know where boredom may strike!)

As a bonus they make some great puzzle games for adults so you could play when it is time to take the kids to the playground.

 

[mdb78]

She scares easily and I'm thinking there are quite a few scenes in HP movies that would scare the heck out of her, so I need to find something that she can do instead. She doesn't have a ds...she does have a Leapster. Is the DS smaller and lighter? Would you recommend getting one? Maybe that would be a good thing for Christmas.

I don't have a leapster- but my DSi would fit in my small belly bag. It is light enough that a carry it in my purse some days. (you never know where boredom may strike!)

As a bonus they make some great puzzle games for adults so you could play when it is time to take the kids to the playground.

 

[Albytaps]

My 2 year old went on the Flight of the Hippogryph coaster and loved it! Maybe you can take her on that or maybe buy a few treats for her in WWOHP while the others go on FJ. Then you could go on the single rider line for FJ while someone else watches her?

Every time I've waited in the child swap area it was the beginning of the first HP that was playing, nothing scary happened.

 

[damo]

If you stay onsite, your waits in line will be very, very short and it really shouldn't be much of an issue. If you aren't staying onsite, I'd get a small bag and fill it with little plastic characters such as Shrek, Fiona, Doris, Diego, her favourite disney characters, etc.

 

[vleeth]

Thanks for the ideas. Now I'm waiting to see if there are any DS deals on Black Friday.

 

[momto2js]

The leapster is far to heavy to carry around all day. We have used our ipod with kids shows on it for passing line time. For the "they can't go issue" we split up. One adult takes the kids to the play area or a kids ride while the other one does the ride and then we swap.

We have never had our kids wait in line with us to ride a ride they can't do. I understand the idea but a kid swap cards the other parks offer is soooo much easier. There is no way I am asking my 1 and 4 year olds to wait in a long line just to sit in a room a the end of the line. Not to mention my 1 year old weighs 30 lbs and is heavy. In general US did a pretty good job mixing up the attractions and putting a kid friendly thing near the big attractions.

We have a great autograph book that my son colored on the pages while waiting and then the characters signed in a different color over his pictures. It is really cute. So we have used markers and let him color too.