Some small entertainments for Disneyland queues?

January 28, 2009 2:55 PM

What should I bring in my backpack to keep my 2 friends and I entertained in the ride queues at Disneyland?

We're going on Superbowl Sunday, so I don't expect the lines to be all that bad, but it would be nice to have a few entertainments along that I could whip out to help pass the time if/when we do get stuck. I'm really only going to have some snacks and water in the backpack besides, but don't feel like lugging around a huge load, so any suggestions for compact, enthralling entertainments good for 3 persons would be appreciated.

I always carry a deck of cards in the pack.

posted by carsonb to grab bag (20 comments total)

Pay close attention to the Fastpass system to minimize your time spent in queues. With some simple planning, you can defray a lot of the time spent in lines.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:01 PM on January 28

There are a million 'pass and play' games for iPhone (or iPod Touch).
posted by rokusan at 3:01 PM on January 28

And avoid the Peter Pan ride. The line is long and it's a crap ride.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:02 PM on January 28

Disneyland trip on Superbowl Sunday = brilliant plan.

Perhaps a hacky sack? Paper/pen for playing Elegant Corpse is always good. Plus you can give each other elaborate ballpoint tattoos if you're into that.
posted by NoraReed at 3:11 PM on January 28

I don't think I'd want to be standing in line behind/in front of people playing hacky sack.
posted by OolooKitty at 3:12 PM on January 28

Joke book, crossword puzzles, video ipod with headphone splitter, nintendo ds, spare batteries
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 3:15 PM on January 28

OMG! If you are word nerds, you must (MUST!) play whole and beheaded. The way you play is one person thinks of two words where one is the first word with the first letter chopped off (say word one is ghost, word two is host). Then, you give a clue, like "Whole, it's a spirit, beheaded one that is welcoming."

That example is a bit easy, but they can get wicked hard and it's so much fun! I've spent long train trips and weekends with friendw playing it on and off.
posted by piratebowling at 3:21 PM on January 28 [7 favorites has favorites]

IMO, the lines at Disneyland really aren't long enough to necessitate games and stuff to pass the time, especially if you use your fastpasses wisely ;) . I've always just had fun people watching and talking to the people I'm with. In that vein, I would probably bring one of those question-y books if I was going to bring anything. Something like this or this. It should be noted that I've never read either of those, but they're of the sort that I mean, and you could go browse your local bookstore for one that you like.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 3:32 PM on January 28

get a 20q ball? or just pllayy 20 questions.
posted by rikschell at 3:33 PM on January 28

I brought crossword puzzles that were a hit with my group and fellows line waiters.
posted by beccaj at 3:54 PM on January 28

Hotel Rwanda Sykes is a game my friends and I made up. Essentially it's a long list of pop culture references piggy-backed on top of each other. For instance, if there are three people playing, the first couple rounds would look like this:

Person 1: "Carrot Top."
Person 2: "Carrot Top-anga Lawrence"
Person 3: "Carrot Top-anga Lawren-Samuel L Jackson"
Person 1: "Carrot Top-anga Lawren-Samuel L Jackson Pollack"

The game is won by the first person to bring the list back to its first entry. A winning move on the game above would be:

Person 2: "Carrot Top-anga Lawren-Samuel L Jackson Polla-Carrot Top"
posted by The White Hat at 4:00 PM on January 28 [4 favorites has favorites]

Two word games I play with friends to pass time while driving or... whatever.

1) The Alphabet Disease Game. Person A starts with Acne, next person says Bursitis...

This is the result of growing up in a family with a father for a doctor. Could also be changed to the Alphabet Body Parts Game.

2) Similar to the White Hat's Game. Person A says a famous person's name such as Burt Reynolds. Take the first letter of the last name - R - and the next person has to come up with another famous name whose first name starts with R (i.e. Ricky Martin). Requires a bit of thinking and it's amazing the names that will pop up from some obscure frame of reference.
posted by HeyAllie at 4:16 PM on January 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

The Book of Questions may be fun for a group of friends, and it's small enough to stick in a pocket.

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Questions-Gregory-Stock/dp/0894803204/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233189816&sr=8-2
posted by ellighi at 4:45 PM on January 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

I thought the same thing about Superbowl Sunday myself 2 years ago, and man was I wrong! The park was more crowded than it had been in the summer months. I hope you have better luck than I did.

I've found the "would you rather" style of question books fun. Sometimes the situations are just plain gross, but some are a lot of fun. It also gives you some great insight into the folks with whom you are spending the day.
posted by Palmcorder Yajna at 4:49 PM on January 28

I recommend picking up a copy of the Unofficial Guide.

My wife and I used their Guide to Walt Disney World. They've done a lot of research about what times of day which rides are busy based on surrounding rides and other factors. It saved us a lot of time standing in line. We found ourselves walking past rides with lines and waiting only moments at others.

Also, the Fastpass suggestion was a good one.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:22 PM on January 28

You could spend your time in line looking for hidden mickeys.

But, having been there in February before, even when a major sporting event wasn't going on, I think you'll have little to no lines. Usually when we go in February the most troublesome thing is walking through the huge empty mazes where lines are supposed to be. Some of the rides were so un-busy that the operators let us go on a second time without getting off.

Tip: if you wake up in the morning and it's raining, go to disneyland anyway. Often the rain stops by 10:00 am and it keeps just about everyone out of the park. (Check the forecast, though, occasionally there's a giant neverending rainstorm that you're better off staying home for.)
posted by mmoncur at 5:48 PM on January 28

The game catch phrase is really fun and easy to play- you'll probably get other people in the line wanting to play it too.
posted by Chele66 at 9:04 PM on January 28

Mad Libs.
posted by brujita at 10:46 PM on January 28

Last time I was there, we played Charades in line. There were six of us, so it was easy to split into two teams, but it always quickly turned into everyone in line around us playing as well. In fact, I remember having more fun doing that than any of the rides. You don't really need to carry anything - one team thinks of the topic and whispers it to the person on the other team to act out.
posted by procrastination at 9:22 AM on January 29

I think carsonb needs to report back about the Disneyland experience.

Did anyone's suggestions work? Throw us a bone here!
posted by Fleebnork at 6:20 PM on February 2