Ideas for occupying kids in line?

[mrsklamc]

Do you have games you play or things you do in line to keep your little ones occupied?

 

[The Lion King]

I have a bottle of bubbles and a yo-yo for each child. I picked these up at Michael's in the dollar bin.

 

[jessica52877]

Nope, nothing but never had an issue. Just stand there. I tend to look around, assume he does the same.

 

[RachaelRol]

We play I spy, thumb wrestle and rock paper scissors.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Yeah, we just stand there talking. No toys etc. Oh- and please don't use bubbles. Some kids are allergic if one pops on them.

ETA- how would you play with a yo-yo in line? Couldn't someone get hurt with that?

 

[PollyannaMom]

DS sometimes likes to look at the pictures we've already taken on the digital camera. Also, I Spy is always a big hit. One line on our last trip (for characters) had a sort of Disney trivia thing going on, too.

 

[TruBlu]

We are usually just thankful for a rest. We use our fans (without misting) and try to cool off. It's also a good time for us to pull out our bottled water. (We always go in the heat of June.)

 

[sk!mom]

We always just stand, talk, look around.

My attitude- "you're at Disney World, isn't that entertaining enough?"

But then I don't have a DVD player in the car, bring distractions to restaurants, or feel in any way that I'm my child's full time entertainment.

DD is now 11 but her first trip was for her 5th birthday and I had the same attitude.

 

[sk!mom]

I have a bottle of bubbles and a yo-yo for each child. I picked these up at Michael's in the dollar bin.

How old are the kids? Yo-Yos may not be much fun for those around you. Lines tend to be pretty close quarters.

 

[Caseydilla]

Those Mickey Mouse shaped lolipops that come in a 5 pack work wonders. My daughter loves to have those at Disney and keep her happy in lines.

 

[JackJack08]

If the line is really long, we play i-spy, or would you rather...but most of the time...... we chat up the families around us! Everyone (especially the kids) is always so excited, to talk about what they have done, or where they are going next, that we usually have some great conversations! We have met great people from all over the WORLD!

 

[dimimi]

We went early and when the lines got long, used the fast pass. I am one of those parents who bring crayons/markers to restaurants and we have a DVD player in the van for long trips. At Disney, we haven't felt like we needed it. I have to say, bubbles are a mess and yoyo's are difficult for kids to use. I have seen kids use game boys or their cell phones to play games on. Have fun!

 

[becca011906]

we have never used anything to keep them occupied in lines, there is a lot to look at in lines at disney they do an awsome job of keeping it interesting.

 

[asktriplets]

Those Mickey Mouse shaped lolipops that come in a 5 pack work wonders. My daughter loves to have those at Disney and keep her happy in lines.

YES!YES!YES!

i buy 1 or 2 packs of those on the 1st day of the trip and whip them out "as needed". typically, this means on the way back to the resort when kids need a bit of a distraction (and a bit of a happy sugar buzz!), but we've also gotten them out while waiting for parades.

i'm too lazy to stand in line for more than 15 minutes tops, so i don't recall "needing" them in line, but i'll have them on this next trip if i DO need them!

in line, we typically talk about what we want to do next, look at a map, play i spy, or have a snack (granola bars or string cheese are a fav. of ours in the parks) and a drink...i'm always looking for a chance to offer them some extra water!

i, like most other posters, have been amazed at how little entertainment my kids needed from us to keep them occupied.

have fun,

 

[juliana_sd]

My son loves those little party-favor games where you have to get the little metal ball to drop in the hole. He'll play with it for an hour. I'm planning to stash a few of those somewhere for when we get stuck in a line (which I'm hoping we won't since we're using TGM!)

 

[Schmeck]

Yeah, we just stand there talking. No toys etc. Oh- and please don't use bubbles. Some kids are allergic if one pops on them.

ETA- how would you play with a yo-yo in line? Couldn't someone get hurt with that?

My daughter was one of those kids allergic to bubbles - usually the little wedding-favor ones were the worst. We lucked out that whatever WDW used in the VOTLM show seemed safe, although she did pull her arms into her shirt, and tucked her knees and chin in there too.

Bubbles also can sting when they pop in your face/eyes, and little children can get away from their parents while chasing that stray bubble - they fit right under the queue ropes, but parents can't follow that easily.

 

[Allieloopy]

I had two 8 year old girls last Feb with me and we just talked in line about what we saw, what we wanted to do next and what our favorite part of the day so far was. They and my DH also probably listened to way too many hours of me sharing my vast wisdom of Disney gleaned from the Disboards!

Pal Mickey lasted about a day before we exhausted all the jokes and he was really for me anyway.

Also even if I was sure there wasn't a hidden Mickey around I didn't tell the girls, kept 'em busy for a while. Just like when my Mom used to give me a salt shaker at the family reunions. She told me that if I could get salt on a birds tail it couldn't fly so I could catch it.

Now after our last trip my daughter is getting into planning our day at the park. She's looking at my schedules and trying to plan what to ride when! So I'm sure we won't have much time in our lines this year anyway.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

My daughter was one of those kids allergic to bubbles - usually the little wedding-favor ones were the worst. We lucked out that whatever WDW used in the VOTLM show seemed safe, although she did pull her arms into her shirt, and tucked her knees and chin in there too.

Bubbles also can sting when they pop in your face/eyes, and little children can get away from their parents while chasing that stray bubble - they fit right under the queue ropes, but parents can't follow that easily.

Sorry -OT
VOTLM!!!! My ds got a bubble that popped right in his eye! The poor kid has still not forgotten about it and it was maybe 2 years ago! I felt so bad for him and his poor little eye.

 

[retire2disney]

I started to reply yesterday about the bubbles, but decided I wouldn't. I changed my mind though since seeing others that feel the same way I do. I HATE to see the bubbles come out. Our last trip someone spilled bubble stuff all over my DS and never really even said sorry about it. Again, you can get them on people that may have an allergic reaction to them. Not a good thing. Just my opinion though.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I have a bottle of bubbles and a yo-yo for each child. I picked these up at Michael's in the dollar bin.

I ask you, please don't use bubbles in line. Not everyone like to get bubbles on them and feel nasty from the soapy feeling. Not to mention it could get in someone's eyes.