Disney is a world of hurry up and wait. Rush through the morning to get to opening and wait at the turnstiles. Race to a ride then wait in line for 20 minutes. Head to the airport hours before your flight to learn that it is delayed. Walk to the bus stop and find your bus pulling away. The list goes on and on. Disney is a great lesson in patience for both children and adults!

I have a few tricks I use to keep the kids busy while waiting in line, for transportation or in a restaurant.

For the flight, I let each child pack a baggie full of Disney figures to bring on the plane. These come in handy for hotel as well. I also pack a bag full of surprises that they can’t open until the airport. The wonderful fallback is the iPod/iPad/iPhone/DVD movie. This will keep my kids quiet for the entire 2 hours. I usually download a new episode of a Disney show as a treat.

Target always has Disney/Star Wars/Princess themed notebooks, pens, stickers & coloring book packs in the $1 section. I will pick these up through the year and hide them. When the time comes to pack for WDW, I have a stash to use. I make a gallon bag for each kid with pens, new washable crayons, notebooks & stickers. They don’t see these until we are in the airport. A new notebook and some pens will keep them busy forever! I save the coloring book packs (you know the ones with book, crayons & stickers all in a resealable bag) and throw them in the backpack for the parks. They get pulled out while waiting at restaurants or for a bus.

We also play a game while waiting in lines called “Name that Disney Character”. Basically, it is 20 questions but you can only use Disney. My husband is really good at coming up with obscure ones! You can switch it up and change to “Name the Princess”, “Name the Star Wars”, or “Name the Pixar”. I really try not to let the kids play with the phone while they are in lines because they miss out on everything around them. Characters walking by, making new friends (which they always do), and most importantly spending time as a family. Isn’t that the reason we are at WDW in the first place?