One of my all time favorite shows at Disneyland in Anaheim was the Aladdin and Jasmine Storytelling in Adventureland. The narrator, Kazoo, sometimes with his side-kick, Barker Bob, often began the show by selecting a guest from the audience and offering to read the guest’s palm. After a bit of comedy, Kazoo would focus on the guest’s hand and say “Lines… I see… lines… I see… YOU standing in many, many lines!” And the sympathetic audience laughed as the guest returned to his seat.
I can’t help but think of that scene each time I think about this week’s topic for the Parenting Panel: Lines at Disney theme parks: How do you keep the children occupied while standing in lines?
Chris, also known as GusMan, is always planning his next family trip to the Walt Disney World Resort and loves to help others plan their trips as well through sharing his experiences. Chris writes:
One time while standing in line at Test Track, I overheard another guest say something to the extent that nothing is guaranteed in life other than death, taxes, and waiting in line at Walt Disney World. While I would have to agree about the first two items, at least we have some control over how we use that time waiting for our turn.
Over the years, and through some trial and error, my family and I came up with a list of things that we like to do to pass the time while waiting in line:
- Play “What Disney Character Am I?” Yes, the age-old guessing game where we ask yes or no questions in order to try to figure out characters. This may seem somewhat simple, but if you have family members that can come up with the obscure characters from Disney movies that you saw only once 10 years ago, it becomes quite a challenge.
- Talk to your kids about the next attraction. Since you have a few moments, and chances are you are out of the sun, break out a map and your list of must-do attractions and see where you should go next. It beats leaving the attraction without a plan and stopping to ask “where should we go next?” with everyone saying “I don’t know….”
- Take advantage of the queue scenery. Disney goes to great lengths to really theme up the queues for many of their attractions. Take Expedition Everest for example. It is almost like walking into a museum as you learn the backstory behind the quest to find the Yeti. Look at the different automotive components at Test Track. Listen to the music being played in the background. All of items set the theme of what you are about to experience. Who knows… your kids may learn a thing or two as well.
- Be interactive! Some of the queues put you into the action. Play games while waiting in line at Space Mountain. Soar with birds in the Soarin’ queue. Talk to Mr. Potato Head at Toy Story. (Yes, he does talk back at times.)
- As a last resort, consider having some sort of hand-held game available or games on your smart phone. I say last resort because I think that there is so much to see and do at Disney, as well as good family bonding opportunities, that I think that it is better to not use the same form of entertainment as what you would use at home. However, sometimes a break is necessary. If possible, choose games that are either two-player, or something where the whole family can play. On a similar note, there are different hand-held Disney games available in stores and on eBay if you would like an inexpensive option. We have a few and are a lot of fun!
Standing in line is not one of those things that we love to do, but we know it is a necessary evil. In some cases, they are great breaks from the heat while at the same time they prepare you for what is ahead. That time waiting is great for family conversations, planning the next move, or just enjoying the sites and sounds of what is around you. After all, being in a Disney queue is considered an actual part of the attraction itself.
Mary Kraemer is an avid Disney fan and travel consultant with CruisingCo/MouseEarVacations who loves to travel with her husband and children to Disney destinations as often as possible! Mary writes:
One of my key points about waiting in line at a Disney park is to not spend a lot of time there. Makes sense, doesn’t it? I usually will not stand in a line longer than 30 minutes, if at all possible. I use FastPass whenever possible, and if an attraction doesn’t have FastPass and a long line, I will usually opt to do something else and come back again. I think flexibility is really important in that regard.
My kids have been going to Disney parks since they were babies, so lines are part of the experience for us. They have learned patience and how to behave in a line (not climbing on the railings, etc.). When the kids were little, we used to take a few small bottle of bubbles, which are nice for an outdoor queue (but could be slippery inside, so we refrained from using bubbles there). We also played little games together, such as Rock, Paper, Scissors, and other games to pass the time. Fortunately, Disney theming makes waiting for a ride rather pleasant; one of my favorites is the room full of props and entertaining preshow video for Muppetvision 3-D.
And Disney has begun to take that theming to a new level at some attractions at the Walt Disney World Resort. One of my favorite queues at the Magic Kingdom is at the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which has an interactive play area to keep kids busy during the wait. Rabbit’s Garden has surprise musical instruments in the shapes of various vegetables; there’s tricky gophers to find, puzzles to keep little hands busy, and the video screen walls of oozing honey that hide Pooh and friends. (Parents; take hand sanitizer for this queue. Trust me on this.)
Space Mountain also has a video game component to part of its queue now, which triggers every few minutes and can be played by whomever is at that place in line. It’s pretty fun! I found myself wanting to go through the line slower, just so I could play it again. The Haunted Mansion has added some new interactive features to the queue to entertain guests, including a library with books that pop in and out, haunting musical instruments, and a few spooky additions that can take you by surprise!
MousePlanet columnist Chris Barry, his wife Diane, 11-year-old Samantha, and twin 8-year-olds, Casey and Alex, live on Long Island and are all major Disney and Walt Disney World fans. Chris writes:
I think my top suggestion for how to deal with the kids in long lines is going to be a little annoying. I apologize for that, but the No. 1 way to avoid problems or meltdowns in the young ones on attraction lines is…avoid the lines. Now that may certainly be easier said than done, but we’ve managed to avoid long waits over the years and we’ve gotten pretty good at it. The first way to do so is to get to the park early. We typically get to the Magic Kingdom, for example, before opening, at around 8:30 a.m. or so. We watch the opening ceremony and head straight back to Fantasyland with the kids as soon as we’re in. We can typically bang out all of the Fantasyland attractions and be at a Crystal Palace Pooh breakfast by 10:30 a.m. At that time, there’s minimal or no waiting on anything. Come back in a few hours and Peter Pan's Flight and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh can easily be 40 minutes or more.
The other way to avoid lines is to use FastPass wisely. I don’t get why so many people either don’t use it or have a problem with it. I think FastPass is the greatest thing to ever hit theme parks and we use it all the time. You have to accept the fact that there is more to see at Disney than just attractions. Once you accept that fact then the wait for a FastPass window to open up becomes quite doable. We’ll get a FastPass for Splash Mountain, for example and then go and spend some time in the Frontierland Trading Post pin shop, or on Tom Sawyer’s Island. Before you know it, our time has come and we’re heading up Chickapin Hill.
The last thing takes a little time to perfect, but we have our kids pretty trained. By that I mean the following: If the posted wait time is anything longer than 25 minutes, we’re probably not going on that attraction right now. They don’t seem to complain about passing up a long wait. I can honestly say that we have rarely waited on a long line at Disney. I know that sounds impossible, but with the exception of Toy Story Midway Mania at Hollywood Studios, which the kids seem to be able to tolerate, we just don’t wait on long lines. I mean, 50 minutes for Peter Pan? It’s one of my favorite attractions anywhere, but I’m not waiting an hour for it. If we don’t get on an attraction, we make sure to do something else to distract from the possible disappointment, but, trust me, nobody’s too upset that we skipped a 60-minute wait for Soarin’. We’ll hit it later or next time.
It's your turn—keep the discussion flowing!
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