Waiting in Lines with a Toddler

[LadyNia]

Right now we are planning for a June trip. My son will be 21 months old when we travel. I worry about him waiting in a line. How do you keep little ones occupied/entertained so that they stay in line while waiting for a ride?

 

[GBRforWDW]

Right now we are planning for a June trip. My son will be 21 months old when we travel. I worry about him waiting in a line. How do you keep little ones occupied/entertained so that they stay in line while waiting for a ride?

Every kid and every queue is different. Sometimes the theming and seeing everything around is enough to keep them excited and captivated. If that doesn't work, there's the Disney Play app that lets you experience virtual games related to the queue you're in. Can also pull up a movie or TV show if the play app is too much for them.

A lot of times, lines are constantly moving, thanks to social distancing, so that also helps with preventing boredom.

 

[Feberin]

We went when my daughter was 23 months old and an ergo baby carrier was so helpful in lines. My husband or I would wear her. It made life so much easier because she couldn't try to wander off. If the line was moving she'd just hang out for short waits. Longer ones she sometimes would nap or we'd give her a book or other toy. Very rarely did she fuss. When we tried without it she would try to escape in line and fight being held.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I have taken my kids (who are 4 and 6) both every year since they were born.

Honestly we don’t ever really do anything special in lines - many of the lines are visually interesting and sometimes that’s enough. We like to only bring necessities to the park so at that age we didn’t bring anything special for entertainment. Plus, it’s so easy to lose things. At that age we’d always just talk to the kids in line, sing songs, play peekaboo, etc. Sometimes they’d fall asleep for a nap in a longer line too at that age.

My kids were very active but waiting in lines always went better than I thought they would when they were littler. Good luck!

 

[Dural]

I was at DL in 2019 with my three kids at the time (2, 5, 9) and the 2yo was fine most of the time, we had snacks and a jug of water and he really liked watching the rides. When that didn't work we would pull out a phone. Planning a trip to WDW for later this year and we now have a 6 month old that will be 12-13 months when we go, will be interesting to see how he does.

 

[Jhondy]

We only waited in lines that were short and if she got too fussy, we left line. There were many times I struggled with her to stop her from walking away. I’d try talking to her and point out things to her to try to distract her. It was easier to hold her in line in a carrier but it was a pain to take her out of the carrier to get on the ride.

 

[chaselovesnemo]

I usually have suckers and stickers for toddler line meltdowns.

 

[leannak]

We used the line time as bonding time with our kids. With the little ones we would point out things for them to see, ask them to spy something of a certain color or count things we saw. The kids would play peek-a-boo with strangers or smile and wave at other little kids... we would talk about the ride we were going on and what to expect or remind them about the story (ex. Peter Pan) and chat about the funny parts of the movie. Once we had a sticker sheet and were sticking “hidden Mickeys” on each other.. so funny! We took time to hydrate (I don’t think that’s allowed right now). I think the best thing we always did was talk about what we had done so far that day... “Did we see Tinkerbelle?!” “Remember when you hugged Pooh? Was he soft??” “Do you want to ride on Dumbo again? How high did we go?” Anything we could do to firm up those memories and make sure kids were remembering as much as they could of our very rare trips. I think little kids also just need time to relax and stare at nothing and process everything that has been happening in their little heads. Giving them a phone just takes them out of the environment and drowns out what they are experiencing. I know sometimes it can be almost a necessity but for the most part I want my kids in the moment. Especially when I’m spending that kind of money for the moment. Even in lines.

When our older kids got bigger I made a cute set of conversation starters in a little pouch and they would have fun leading our conversations with questions like, “If you could stay overnight in any park which one would you choose and what would you do?” or “If you could be any Disney character, which one would you be?” etc. They were great at sit-down restaurants too. Also, our kids used their autograph books as journals or sketchbooks and drew pictures of little things they saw or decorated around the autographs and rearranged pages or wrote memories or lists of rides they went on. One even wrote notes on rides she wanted to invent.

 

[leannak]

Oh! We also had some little tiny plush Disney characters that were super cheap. I can’t even remember where we had gotten them - cereal boxes or dollar store or something. They were a little funny looking but our kids loved them and we had a bunch and even duplicates so it didn’t matter if we lost them. I’d pull them out of the backpack at certain times depending on which attractions we were going to or whatnot. Those things kept our kids entertained for hours. Our older kids would play peek-a-boo or act out little games or conversations with the younger ones. So fun.

 

[MamaMermaid]

We honestly just talk and play with him. We do have our phones as backup but usually we don't need it!

 

[MudQueen22]

I had planned to bring out small toys, etc., but I found I didn't need these. There was a lot of eye candy in the lines, and the (then) 23-month-old was thoroughly entertained.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Keep in mind this is from a Mimi with three trips under her belt with grands under 5, so probably more indulgent. But hey, Dollar Tree little toys and figurines they have not seen that can be pulled out of the backpack, stickers, and as a last resort, yes the screens. Screens are better than screams!

 

[GamGam]

I had blank autograph books from the dollar store and the two yr olds would just doodle --big sister (5) understood about autographs. The littles just liked doing what she did. And bubbles for waiting while the adults did rider switch.

 

[sparkle78]

Before COVID : that’s when i would hand out the Cheerios ( bring from home, can’t find on property), cheesesticks and juice box/water.

stickers are great too, and a little notepad to put them in. Check out your local teacher store for books with pens you fill with water.

 

[LadyNia]

We went when my daughter was 23 months old and an ergo baby carrier was so helpful in lines. My husband or I would wear her. It made life so much easier because she couldn't try to wander off. If the line was moving she'd just hang out for short waits. Longer ones she sometimes would nap or we'd give her a book or other toy. Very rarely did she fuss. When we tried without it she would try to escape in line and fight being held.

As my trip gets closer, I am seriously considering wearing my son in my Tula carrier. At this point I think he would wander off if in a line.
I haven't worn him in a long time but the carrier is good for up to 40lbs. My question is, did it get too hot or uncomfortable wearing an almost 2 year old?

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

As my trip gets closer, I am seriously considering wearing my son in my Tula carrier. At this point I think he would wander off if in a line.
I haven't worn him in a long time but the carrier is good for up to 40lbs. My question is, did it get too hot or uncomfortable wearing an almost 2 year old?

Depends what you are used to. I wore a sleeping 2.5 year old in line for Pirates of the Caribbean one summer while 21 weeks pregnant with his sister. But we did hiking with the carrier, or if his dad was out of town for military trips and my son got clingy, I would put him in a carrier to get stuff done around the house. When he fell asleep in the stroller at the parks on his 4th birthday, I even put him in a carrier to get him on the bus back to the resort. So you may want to practice at home or on some local walking trails but it should be fine.

 

[LadyNia]

Depends what you are used to. I wore a sleeping 2.5 year old in line for Pirates of the Caribbean one summer while 21 weeks pregnant with his sister. But we did hiking with the carrier, or if his dad was out of town for military trips and my son got clingy, I would put him in a carrier to get stuff done around the house. When he fell asleep in the stroller at the parks on his 4th birthday, I even put him in a carrier to get him on the bus back to the resort. So you may want to practice at home or on some local walking trails but it should be fine.

Yes, it definitely sounds like I should go for a few walks using the carrier before our trip.

 

[BeeBopp717]

15 month old crazy walker / runner; wore her in all the long lines, & gave her my phone to watch “Cocomelon” when it got really chaotic. I love My Ergo!

 

[Feberin]

As my trip gets closer, I am seriously considering wearing my son in my Tula carrier. At this point I think he would wander off if in a line.
I haven't worn him in a long time but the carrier is good for up to 40lbs. My question is, did it get too hot or uncomfortable wearing an almost 2 year old?

We went in May and it was fairly hot overall. It definitely didn't help cool me off but I don't remember finding it unbearable. It was more pleasant standing with her on my back than holding a squirming toddler or chasing her. However this was seven years ago so I might have blocked it out.