Need tips to keep him entertained in line

[SASTACK1216]

I need tips to keep my 5-year-old son entertained while waiting in line. I don't want to shove an iPad in his lap. I've heard of the Hidden Mickey's. Do you have any other tips?

 

[mamabellefortwo]

My kids like the app "heads up" - it's like the game "headbandz" but on the phone.

 

[shm_helene]

You probably won't need much. I went with a 3 yo last time and I was very concerned about lines but they usually keep moving and most of the kid stuff have interesting enough qeues that she was fine. I didn't use a thing I brought...except maybe a snack.

 

[Mousemommy1]

When my kids were 5, talking to them was sufficient. YMMV.

 

[ajwolfe]

At that age I think your kiddo will be fine just waiting. My kids enjoy looking for the hidden mickeys and looking at what is in the queue - otherwise we just talk about what we are doing next, etc. The only queue I can think of that is usually the worst for us is the one at Jungle Cruise - for some reason it always feels like it takes forever and there is not much to see or do in that one.

 

[karatemomky]

we brought small bottles of bubbles or travel sized coloring books and few crayons (like the play packs you can get for $1). those helped my 4 yr old wait when it was more than 10-15 minutes

 

[katyjeka]

Understand your concern, but I too don't think you'll need anything. Lines keep moving. I will add, please no bubbles. As much as we(my family)enjoy bubbles, people waiting in line my not appreciate it.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Yeah, much too close quarters for bubbles! He'll probably be absolutely fine with everything going on around him. Worse comes to worse, start playing games--I Spy, name your favorite Disney villain, favorite movie, favorite ride, favorite...you get the idea. Quiz one another. Play Disney trivia.

My kids were early spellers and I can't tell you how many times we played the alphabet game--on car rides, while waiting in lines, passing time in doctor's offices, whatever it was. So it would be let's do foods of the alphabet. A is for apple. B is for banana, etc. Everybody playing takes a turn with the next letter. We'd do foods, animals, places, cartoon characters, movies/TV. This is the one I always pulled out when I wasn't prepared and we needed a distraction!

 

[DSNY4ever]

Ditto!! The lines have so much to look at and talk about there was never time (or the want) for any of the stuff I brought. If you get desperate, play I spy, or let them look at the map to decide what to do next... Oh wait Magic bands killed that fun

 

[nalajms]

If there's a rope, my kids will play on that for a while. If there's a fence or wall, they will play with that. Otherwise we try to play games or let them snack while in line.

I do, on most trips into the park, carry an ipad mini. That's partly for the kids (when we sit down to eat) and for MDE (so I don't burn out my phone battery).

 

[Habbott]

I think our worst wait was the safari at animal kingdom. The line just seemed never ending. There were several families playing heads up with their older kids. At 4.5 my son was less bothered by the wait than us adults. Always something to look at for him. And the wait really wasn't bad, but so many winding areas that all looked the same made it feel that way.

A lot of the rides are interactive and you'll have no issue. We were pleasantly surprised. He was happy just chattering away. Now, waiting for meals, that was a different story! (Actually it wasn't that bad...just the wait for breakfast at ohana)

 

[BlueHippo]

I agree with others.. you probably won't need anything. Occasionally my kids will flip through their autograph books or we might play a little game (like I say a word you guess the first letter). Mostly we just talk... what's coming next, what they loved.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

DW has changed many line queues that my kids actually were upset when we had Fastpasses and they couldn't go through the queue especially at 7DMT. Peter Pan's flight, Winnie the Pooh, etc - has fun queues. We actually let people go in front of us at Winnie the Pooh - the kids were enjoying the drums. The line wasn't that long when we were there.

 

[Pesky]

The few times we needed to distract our kids, we played "I Spy" and truth or lie (you say 3 things about yourself -- 2 are true and one is a lie and try to guess which one is the lie, like I like pizza, I like broccoli, I like brussel sprouts and you actually really don't like broccoli). Sometimes I've also done the hand puppet thing for the kids and draw two eyes and make the thumb of the fist the mouth and they have a ball playing like that. Oh and one other thing is pop quiz -- So what is your favorite ride so far today? Favorite food of the trip so far? Least favorite food? Favorite experience? Etc.

 

[mcuoghi]

My kids also liked rock paper scissors too. And they enjoyed looking through the trip pictures on my camera.

 

[DisneyCAL]

Give him a map and a marker. Have cross rides you've already done or circle what he wants to do next, maybe even map out a route to get there. Grab a map at each park for each day, then you can keep them for after to look at all the thing you accomplished. The Mouse for Less has downloadable maps for kids too.

 

[LovesTimone]

What I found worked best for my DD's at that age was something small to keep their little hands busy. The dollar store with the little games, small books, while in line. I like the dollar store finds so when they get lost or broken no big deal, always check out the area with the birthday stuff for gift bags, so they can share if there's a chance. Pick up glow in the dark necklaces and such too.

As far as table service dinning. This is were my kiddos would get bored. So I had a bag that I only would let them play with or use at meal times so that it was fresh to them. Again dollar store, or target dollar bin, clearance finds. Small puzzles, coloring books, stickers w/ book, small books. If my kiddos were little nowadays, I would use a movie or game at the table so keep them occupied, so mom and dad can have a few minute's to relax and enjoy dinner.

 

[CowgirlMama]

My DS5 is obsessed with playing I SPY, we play it literally every time we drive anywhere! Have you thought about getting him some pins? I'm thinking about maybe doing that for our trip in Nov. I wouldn't bring an ipad into the parks because I would be worried about something happening to it or it getting stolen.

 

[sprousehouse]

Another 5 year old who is obsessed with I Spy here!. Too bad we can't all stand in line together - they could entertain each other. =)

 

[HCinKC]

Our 6yo was fine. Sometimes he would just like to sit quietly and scootch along. We didn't need anything extra to entertain him. We would just talk about what we had done so far and other things we'd be doing later.