As a mom I do incredible things to avoid waiting in lines. And for good reason. Waiting in line with my kids for more than a few minutes can be painful. They quickly get either fidgety and crabby or goofy to the point that I want to hide under the nearest chair in embarrassment.

Waiting is hard. For everyone.

When we started planning our trip to Disney World how to survive all that waiting in lines was definitely on my mind.

Fortunately between some Disney Magic and careful planning our waiting experience was not bad. If you’re heading to Disney I want you to know these tricks because that fidgety, crabby, goofy, boredom that waiting in lines can create can kill a great day.

Below are our top 7 tricks and tips for surviving the inevitable lines at Disney World.

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How to Survive the Lines at Disney with Kids

1. Fast Passes

Let’s start with the best one – avoid the line all together. Fast Passes are new since I was a child but they are genius and delightful.

Fast Passes allow you to skip ahead to the front of the line – or at least into a much shorter line. You can read more about them on the Disney Site, but here are tips from our experience.

First, reserve your Fast Passes as early as possible. The when depends on whether you are staying at a resort or not. I thought this was a little insane – but do it anyways. You do reserve your fast passes on the Disney site or on their mobile app – which I recommend.

The site or app will give you great recommendations for what rides or experiences will have a long wait and therefore are best for a Fast Pass. We found those recommendations to be helpful and reliable. You can read more tips about the process here.

For our 6 year olds we just prioritized the things we thought they would love the most. Most of our character meet and greets (with our autograph books of course) were Fast Passes and also the rides that had long waits and we thought they would love – the Seven Dwarves Mine Train was our son’s favorite.

Our daughter loved the tea cups.

We all LOVED the Avator ride at Animal Kingdom and the Lion King Show – shown below. We used a Fast Pass for all of these and were glad every time that we had.

2. Disney App Wait Times

Whatever you can’t get a Fast Pass for utilize the Disney resources to help you plan. Beforehand you can enter all of your reservations and Fast Passes and preferences and get a schedule laid out for you based on Disney’s extensive research on wait times.

Again this is a little nutty. (They do research on wait times?! Yup. They do). But they do it – so use the resource. We found it incredibly helpful.

There were some exceptions – one day in particular that was busier than the site anticipated – and that’s when the having the App was huge. We could find out how long wait times were without having to run all over the park.

3. Disney Magic Hours

If you stay at a Disney World Resort you can enjoy Disney Magic Hours. I highly recommend this.

I am a HUGE promoter of predictable sleep schedules but we made an exception for this and I was so glad we did.

We stayed at the parks for the fireworks one night and then the Magic Hours that followed. We got to re-ride so many favorites in those couple of hours and try a couple of things that we hadn’t gotten to.

Plus there is something truly magical about seeing the park after dark. If you really don’t want to stay up late – you can also enjoy early Magic Hours in the morning as well.

Story Hour with Belle was one of our favorites. It was adorable. All of the kids got a little role in reenacting the story of Beauty and the Beast. Here’s my little guy playing the Dad shivering in the beast’s jail.

We also had the opportunity to get a date night another evening – thanks Grandma!! My husband and I enjoyed Magic Hours at Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

4. New Waiting Experiences

Disney World seems to experimenting with some different waiting experiences. They definitely seem to get that this is not the best part about the Disney experience.

We experienced two new waiting experiences at the Magic Kingdom and loved them both.

The first was the Dumbo Ride. You go in and are given a card. Then your kids play on this circus themed play structure in a tent until your card color is called. My kids loved it and did great.

I think the one downside of this would be convincing your kids that leaving the play area to go on the ride is a good idea.

The second is the Winnie the Pooh ride. This one had fun interactive things for kids to do all along as you wait. A small play area, a large version of those movable beads in doctor offices, interactive screens, etc. My kids enjoyed this one as well.

5. Smaller Activity Books

So despite the Fast Passes and timing our activities and those experiences, there are still times you’re going to get stuck waiting with kids. Honestly I don’t think this is bad. Waiting is a skill and learning how to occupy yourself while you wait is a good thing.

One of the ways we keep busy while we wait are small activity books – Dover has some really cute little ones on a variety of subjects/themes.

6. Eat your snacks / lunch in line

Packing your own food for snacks or sandwiches for lunches is a huge money saver at Disney World. Eating those snacks or sandwiches while you wait can also keep kiddos happy and pass the time while saving time for fun stuff.

also read: disney world with a kids dairy allergy

7. Five No-Materials-Needed Games for Waiting

I also keep waiting games in the back of my mind to pull out whenever my kids start to get antsy. At six year old they also suggest some of these when they start to get bored.

Our favorite things to do while we wait or ride trains (that require zero materials) are;

1. Sing. This is less true now, but for my twins when they were toddlers this worked better than anything. If you don’t mind feeling a little silly, singing a few interactive favorite songs can pass the time easily. 
2. One Leg timed stands. This is a current favorite. Simply say “How long can you stand on your right leg?” and then either count together or time them on your phone. Take turns. Switch legs. 
3. I-Spy. Classic and a favorite with my kids. 
4. How many ____ can you find? This is a number version of I-Spy. Just say something like “How many red things can you find?” and then have them look around and count. Other ideas include how many hats, glasses, umbrellas, strollers, etc. 
5. Circle Stories. My kids started loving this when they were about 5 (even though they are just now at almost 7 starting to get good at it). One of us starts a story. Something like “Once upon a time there was a little boy and a little girl. One day they happened upon an orange sad dragon” and then the next person adds something to the story. You can go any direction with these. My kids love ones that I start with them as characters the most and beyond that the crazier and sillier the better. Keep going around in the circle adding until you come to some sort of end. 

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Birthday parties, eating out at restaurants, even dinner at a friend’s house are all on my list of Stressful for a Parent of a Child with Food Allergies, but I learned last month that Disney World is on a different list.

Disney World is on the (very short) awesome about food allergies list.

One of my twins has a severe allergy to dairy. Like the rare Epi-Pen allergic to dairy type of allergy. Parents of a child with food allergies will understand when I say that I have got this pretty much mastered at home. It took awhile and some tears and frustration, but at home and school I have a system. I am pretty confident he is safe.

Traveling with that food allergy is a whole different thing. Traveling with a food allergy means constantly eating food that I didn’t shop for and didn’t prepare and sometimes can’t communicate very clearly about. More than anything it means putting a lot of trust in someone else to make safe food for my kid.

Disney World, however, was hands down one of the best travel experiences I have had in terms of that food allergy stress.

I had certainly heard this reputation, but we recently took our first family trip to Disney World and I was blown away by how they handled allergies, so of course I had to share.

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Disney World with Kids + a Dairy Allergy

We landed at Disney World on a Saturday. It was a long flight from California (yes, I am aware that we live about 2 hours from Disneyland but we didn’t know that would be the case when we booked the trip pre-move.) and the time change and jet lag were a little tough the first day but we handled it by switching our schedule over as quickly as possible.

also read: how to help your kids conquer jet lag fast

That day we checked in, had dinner and got to bed.

STAY.

We stayed at the Art of Animation Disney Hotel which we really liked. The kids loved the Finding Nemo themed room and pool area. The playground above was also a huge hit. Us parents enjoyed the suite with an actual door and separate bathroom for us.

We had dinner and breakfast at our hotel and were pleasantly surprised by the little ways that food allergies were considered. We found soy milk and soy chocolate milk. The menus were clear and the staff was very helpful.

Then we headed to the parks.

EAT. (even with a dairy allergy)

There are SO many places to eat and wow was I overwhelmed when we first started to figure this part out.

When you add in the additional complication of a food allergy eek. BUT Disney World pleasantly surprised me with their awesome appreciation for how difficult allergies are for families to deal with.

We did a little pre-work by investigating on the Disney World website how they deal with food allergies and reading some other blogs that share reviews of different allergy options at Disney.

These are my kiddo with the severe dairy allergy’s eating experiences.

Character Breakfast at Crystal Palace

We started off our first full day – Sunday – at the Magic Kingdom and had brunch at the Crystal Palace.

I have read other experiences where the character meals were too overwhelming for them with an allergy. I can understand this, especially with certain allergies. However, we avoided the buffet tables which always freak me out in terms of cross contamination and I felt at his age and with the spacing of the tables he was pretty safe.

My kids loved meeting the Winnie the Pooh characters and even I have to admit that I got kinda giddy when Piglet stopped by, but that was not the highlight for me.

The highlight for me were these adorable Mickey Mouse waffles. Now maybe you’re unimpressed, but let me tell you why this is such a big deal.

We have been other places that have been good about food allergies. We have tracked down alternative foods that are safe in a variety of stores. BUT here’s the thing – the “alternatives” are never cute.

Not only did the Disney chefs happily whip up some dairy-free waffles and deliver them to our table, but they got that my kid is a kid. They took the extra time to make them fun.

The vegan mac and cheese does not come in shapes.

The vegan ice cream sandwiches are always squares.

Disney’s dairy free food creators get that my kid wants to have the same fun shaped food as every other kid. Cue the mama tears.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

The next day when we got to Epcot and went to the Princess Storybook Dining meal we got the exact same treatment:

• They knew we had a food allergy from our reservation.
• We were shown the Allergy-Friendly Menu
• The server volunteered to get a chef for us to talk any concerns over with
• and the food was delicious.

The one weird thing I will say about the Allergy-Friendly Menu is that it is set up so that the menu tells you what you CAN eat. I love the positive tone of this and wish that this was the way the whole world discussed allergies, but since it’s the opposite of everywhere else I’ve been, it was a little confusing at first.

The food wasn’t as cutesy at this meal, but that was true for all of us. It was really good though and almost everything was vegan friendly (which also means no dairy) – aside from this really big plate of meat – which he loved since he’s very much not vegan.

I can’t really explain how much a stress-free restaurant dining experience meant to me.

The fact that from the hostess to the server to the cooks all got that this was a big deal and understood how to make us feel comfortable and made zero mistakes (because of course I still had to check) with our orders was huge.

It meant not only could I eat and relax, I could also enjoy moments like my daughter meeting her favorite princess and explaining to her that “I like you the very best because you love animals just like me.”

Donald’s Safari Breakfast at Tusker House

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom and had our third and final character breakfast. Three was a little much I would probably only do one or two if I was going to do it again, but all were great experiences.

This time we met Mickey and his pals which delighted my “princessed out” son. (His words.) Again the menu was clear, the staff was helpful, and the food was delicious.

On a side note, I really liked that although some food was the same (Mickey Waffles were once again procured at Animal Kingdom) a lot of it was very different depending on where you were.

Snacks

The rest of the time we ate meals away from the parks, but we did have a few snacks worth mentioning.

Epcot was definitely our favorite place for snacking.

It did make me a little nervous that not all of the staff at Epcot spoke excellent English, but we are used to trying again and again until we are sure they understand the severity of his allergy. Despite a minor language barrier everyone continued to be very helpful and friendly about our concerns.

In fact, the day we did Epcot we snacked our way through dinner instead of having a big meal somewhere.

We all loved this adorable rice and coconut panda from a cart in the China Pavilion.

My son was thrilled to eat his first big soft pretzel in the Germany Pavilion. You wouldn’t think they contain dairy but every other place we’ve checked they have said he couldn’t have it. It was enormous and he ate almost all of it and said it was the best thing ever.

We also had ice cream and sorbet at L’Artisan Des Glaces which is tucked into the French Pavilion.

Magic Kingdom Snacks

My favorite snack spot was Gaston’s Tavern at the Magic Kingdom. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie so I loved the little details and touches.

There we drank the LaFoo specialty drink which was dairy free even though it looked so delicious and silly that was very hard to believe. Again research and lots of questions ensured that yup, no dairy!

you may also like: 7 tips for surviving lines at disney

I will share more (non-food related things) about our adventures at Disney World but for now I just want to say that as an allergy kid’s mama it was a joy. Traveling with my kids is a great experience, but that one piece usually makes it so much more stressful and complicated.

Sure we still asked lots of questions and triple checked all of our menus and his food, but it was still so much easier than most travel experiences. On top of that the little magical touches that they added, even to the allergy friendly food, were incredible.

Disney World did a remarkable job with dairy free food for our little guy and I have no doubt it made our trip a million times better.

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