Keeping 18 month old happy in lines

goofy4wdw2

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Messages
1,334
Any suggestions for keeping our very active 18 month old DD happy while waiting in line? She loves flashcards and books, so we might bring some of them, but that will only pass so much time. She is very curious, and doesn't like to sit still or be held for long. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!
 
My son is a little older - he was just under two when we went, but little bites of food were our best bet for keeping him happy in lines. I bought small bags of crackers or pretzels at the grocery and had them in my purse at all times. When he started getting antsy that would usually do the trick. He actually surprised me though with being pretty content in the lines - he had so much fun watching the other kids in line and most lines have somethings to look at while you're waiting - when you get closer you can see people getting on the ride - that seemed to help.
 
DS (15mos and 21mos for the 2 trips) really enjoyed people- and ride- watching, too. We would also feed him smaller meals and bring snack food - like dry cereal - that we would hand him piece by piece to make it take a long time! Lastly (and there are mixed opinions about whether this appropriate or "line-cutting", but I think our version is quite harmless) occasionally one of us would walk around with DS while the other waited in line and then hand DS over right before we got to the front. Then the one walking would take pictures during the ride. This worked well for Dumbo, which gets REALLY long lines.
 
I was worried about this too, but our DS did just fine. There is so much to watch that he didn't mind waiting. (I will add that the longest line we waited in was probably only 30 minutes, anything longer than that get a FASTPASS!;) )
 

Our dd was 20 months on our first trip. One of the rides (Dumbo), Dh was able to wait in the line for us, while I walked Emily around. Then I just traded places with him and got on the ride with her. She did ok in the rest of the lines, though. I remember making faces, singing songs, pointing things out, and playing "can you find....?" a lot.
 
I have seen tips about blowing bubbles

Bubbles aren't always a good idea. Lots of people don't care to have the broken bubble solution on their clothes, in their hair and on their face. Plus bubbles can just be messy. How about pipe cleaners, little games, magnadoodle, etc.
 
DD looooved just people watching, the only time she got really antsy was at primevil Whirl which had crazy lines for some reason! we seond the little snack idea :) we bought the big bag of Mickey shaped pretzels and put them in baggies for each day! worked like a charm, she would play with it a little before nibbling it down! haha, it still takes her forever to eat!
 












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