Hi there. We are bringing our 20 month old to WDW for the first time. What are your must bring things to keep your LO occupied in lines or waiting for parades & fireworks? We don’t really do screen time but I will be buying an Amazon Fire as a back up haha. I was thinking a light up bubble wand…any recommendations on one to buy on Amazon? I believe I read they can’t have a trigger on them. I figure I can buy it cheaper ahead of time before I get to the parks.
Thanks!!! 
First, I would think twice about doing a night tome show with a toddler. Also, use your TP to avoid lines more than 20 minutes. Many of the queues are interactive. My 2 and 4 yo did ok up to 20 minutes. There are a lot of diversions. I wouldn’t bring a kindle but have Netflix on your phone of desperate. We planned on that but didn’t need to resort to that.
Also, if you watch the parade from Frontierland which is the beginning of the parade, you only need to get there about 20 minutes early.
Snacks! Save them for the lineups.
Yes. Good point! This saved us.
We took our son at 26 months. We did a lot of small snack foods while waiting (which helped since he didn’t really eat park food anyway), gave him stickers, talked about/pointed at things in line. We talked to people in line or while waiting for a show. (We also only saw 2 nighttime shows so we weren’t out late every night.) DH is really good at making it fun to be carried - tickling, putting him up on his shoulders, flipping him upside down, etc. Also he loved looking at maps and any other paper items we got for free. Before the fireworks, we took our time snapping glowsticks and putting them on. We did use screen time on our phones as a last resort.
Glow sticks to pass the time waiting for dark shows is a great idea. If you will be going after Oct 31, you can get them for practically free on Nov 1 at stores like Walmart.
This is largely dependant on when you go, but we don’t really wait in line more than 15-20 minutes and the time passes pretty qucikly. I would recommend a good baby/toddler carrier - the worst part about lines and waiting for stuff is the standing and it can be exhausting for little legs (and idk how much your 20mo weighs but it gets very tiring to hold them as well!) We do snacks, sometimes, play I Spy, play rock paper scissors,etc. Some of the non-FP lines are more interactive (Dumbo, Pooh) but we almost always just use as many FP as possible except for very short standby waits. But we also tend to go during “slower” (i.e. “not crazy busy”) times.
He will spend a lot of time sleeping in the stroller. Your stroller is also a fantastic place to store all your stuff, both kid distraction stuff and souvenirs and snacks. Don’t worry too much about having a long list of distractions. There are lots of little things here and there to distract kids, such as a place in Epcot where little shoots of water shoot up. My kids loved that for about half an hour.
Good to know! Thanks!
Good idea!! My son looooooves snacks so this will be a great idea for lines
Awesome!! Thanks for all those great ideas!!
Great idea!! Genius! I will do that!
Thanks for all the ideas! We are going during a somewhat slower period. My game plan is not to wait more than 20 min for a ride. Did TP’s to reduce waiting in line.
Love all the ideas!! Thanks! Didn’t even think about a map being something they would love but I am sure it will be.
Thanks so much! I do hope he will nap in the stroller
I agree with previous posters, no reason to really wait in line more than 15-20 minutes with a good TP. I found what I needed the most was LOTS of snacks. It was much easier to hand over an applesauce pouch or some goldfish from my backpack than try to find something when my kid got hangry.
Also my other tip is pack your diaper bag & leave it with the stroller. Then carry a small bag with you in line with diaper/wipes, backup charger, and several snacks. That way you’ve got the biggest essentials all the time but aren’t lugging spare clothes, and other “just in case@ stuff around all day.
Make sure you know where the baby care centers are. We forgot our diapers one day and had to buy some. Sure, they’re expensive but sure beats having to leave the park for some. And they are nice places to change anyway.
Agree with this completely! Snacks, snacks, snacks and having a separate clutch or purse for in-line essentials was key for us. We bought a bag of goldfish at the start of the trip and put them in Munchie Mugs (find them on amazon - perfect for easy access without spills), plus brought some individually packed teddy grahams, and some applesauce/veggie pouches.
I’d suggest bringing a drinking cup/bottle that has a closing lid (it WILL fall on the floor) for water, and a strap to attach it to the stroller.
Stickers are also awesome to have on hand. Put a few on their clothes and it gives you a few minute break. The DVC booths were very generous with giving us Mickey stickers that kept our kids happily occupied whenever we were nearby.
Good point about the water bottle with a straw. We brought our own too since they banned kids and plastic straws.