Help me understand ride swap

[theboos]

Planning trip Oct. 26 thru Nov.5. Staying off property with 16 people. There will be my husband and our 3 DD and their families each have two children. kids are one 7, three 4 year olds and two 2 year olds. I want to make sure I understand ride swap before we start planning, FP etc.

 

[hiroMYhero]

To utilize Rider Swap effectively for your group, split up the two 2 year-olds and assign one to Group #1 and one to Group # 2.

Some in Group #1 have FPs and show the little one to the FP CM. They receive a Swap pass and after the FP holders ride, 3 other people get to ride on the Swap by going through the FP line. The Swap people do not need FPs.

Repeat for Group #2 with the other little one.

Do this for height restricted rides and you will be able to book more rides by splitting each group and splitting the 2 year-olds.

 

[Megsmachine]

I don't understand. SO automatically 3 people get to swap??

 

[hiroMYhero]

I don't understand. SO automatically 3 people get to swap??

Automatically as long as they have a too short or not brave enough little one who needs to be attended to by an adult.

 

[BabyHabs]

Rider swaps are awesome.

Example. We have 2 older kids and 1 toddler. We have fastpass for 7DMT. We show up at the FP entrance, show the kid, and get a rider swap. I take the 2 older kids on the ride. Once we are done, DH gets to take the older kids on the ride, again through the FP entrance. Older kids get to ride twice. Each adult gets a chance to ride.

Rider swaps are good for 3 riders.

 

[Megsmachine]

Rider swaps are awesome.

Example. We have 2 older kids and 1 toddler. We have fastpass for 7DMT. We show up at the FP entrance, show the kid, and get a rider swap. I take the 2 older kids on the ride. Once we are done, DH gets to take the older kids on the ride, again through the FP entrance. Older kids get to ride twice. Each adult gets a chance to ride.

Rider swaps are good for 3 riders.

OK, I get this! lol THis makes sense. Very cool!

 

[Jawolf]

Rider swaps are awesome.

Got to agree, used this to our advantage when our son was a toddler. 3 of us including our son, so myself and my DW could get a different set of fast passes and do the child swap to get the other adult on the ride. So now you could book your 3 fast passes and then your DH could book 3 different ones. So, 6 fast pass rides booked before you travel, just ensure all of your timings fit!

 

[theboos]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a great benefit for our large bunch. Does the actual swap go pretty smoothly? Do you wait near the loading/unloading area?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a great benefit for our large bunch. Does the actual swap go pretty smoothly? Do you wait near the loading/unloading area?

After the small child is shown, you don't have to wait. The ones who are waiting can go do something else. The Swap Pass is actually good for quite a few days.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I know someone mentioned it but it's worth reiterating - it's only available at height restricted rides. (I saw a family trying to get a Pirates rider swap a couple weeks ago).

 

[leighmerz]

Got to agree, used this to our advantage when our son was a toddler. 3 of us including our son, so myself and my DW could get a different set of fast passes and do the child swap to get the other adult on the ride. So now you could book your 3 fast passes and then your DH could book 3 different ones. So, 6 fast pass rides booked before you travel, just ensure all of your timings fit!

Sweet! I had not thought of getting 6!

 

[leighmerz]

Sweet! I had not thought of getting 6!

Got to agree, used this to our advantage when our son was a toddler. 3 of us including our son, so myself and my DW could get a different set of fast passes and do the child swap to get the other adult on the ride. So now you could book your 3 fast passes and then your DH could book 3 different ones. So, 6 fast pass rides booked before you travel, just ensure all of your timings fit!

Ok, I am thinking about this. How do you actually do this? One adult and the older kids get the fast pass but how do you do the rider swap without the other adult not having the original fast pass without having to go through the long line?

 

[reddog1473]

Do you have to have FP for the ride to use ride swap?

 

[mistysue]

Do you have to have FP for the ride to use ride swap?

No.
Two different takes on this- you can get a ride swap pass and go through the stand-by line while the other parent walks around with the little one.
The other side of it, only the FIRST group going through the FP+ line needs to have FP+ for the ride.
The second group, the people going through with the pass, do NOT need FP+. They only need the little swap pass that works as a FP+ for 3 people with a much larger time window. Originally they were day of, now they can be weeks or a month long.

 

[Dvcfan55]

Got to agree, used this to our advantage when our son was a toddler. 3 of us including our son, so myself and my DW could get a different set of fast passes and do the child swap to get the other adult on the ride. So now you could book your 3 fast passes and then your DH could book 3 different ones. So, 6 fast pass rides booked before you travel, just ensure all of your timings fit!

I really want to understand this better, it's our first trip to WDW and we only get 1 day in MK! We are a family of 3 also, DH, myself, and DS5. So myself and DH have 3 different fastpasses booked for different rides, then show up and ask the CM for a rider swap pass, whoever has the fastpass for that ride uses it to get on the ride with DS while the other adult waits outside. Then When they return with the rider swap pass the person who waited outside can take ds on the ride again?? Please help!

 

[Baklava]

I really want to understand this better, it's our first trip to WDW and we only get 1 day in MK! We are a family of 3 also, DH, myself, and DS5. So myself and DH have 3 different fastpasses booked for different rides, then show up and ask the CM for a rider swap pass, whoever has the fastpass for that ride uses it to get on the ride with DS while the other adult waits outside. Then When they return with the rider swap pass the person who waited outside can take ds on the ride again?? Please help!

You show up and use your FP for Big Ride, getting a rider swap for your husband. He doesn't need his FP for that one. THEN he uses HIS FP and gets a rider swap for you, for which you do not need a FP. You each hold one FP but you each get to ride 2 times, using the FP lane. Alternatively, you get 3 FP and he gets 3 different FP and you each use a FP and a rider swap for a total of 6 different rides. (Presuming there are actually 6 rider swap eligible rides in the park. But it also works if you do it with only some of your FP- like you get Splash and Space and he gets BTMRR and Mine Train and you both get Peter Pan where there's no need to RS.)

The downside is of course that you never get to ride some stuff together. We found it handy when we had an older child and a baby, so nobody ever rode alone.

 

[Dvcfan55]

You show up and use your FP for Big Ride, getting a rider swap for your husband. He doesn't need his FP for that one. THEN he uses HIS FP and gets a rider swap for you, for which you do not need a FP. You each hold one FP but you each get to ride 2 times, using the FP lane. Alternatively, you get 3 FP and he gets 3 different FP and you each use a FP and a rider swap for a total of 6 different rides. (Presuming there are actually 6 rider swap eligible rides in the park. But it also works if you do it with only some of your FP- like you get Splash and Space and he gets BTMRR and Mine Train and you both get Peter Pan where there's no need to RS.)

The downside is of course that you never get to ride some stuff together. We found it handy when we had an older child and a baby, so nobody ever rode alone.

Oh ok! I think I get it now, I like the idea of just doing it with some fastpasses so we get to ride some rides together to. but do you happen to know which rides actually do rider swap passes so we can plan accordingly?

Thanks so much

 

[piccolopat]

I really want to understand this better, it's our first trip to WDW and we only get 1 day in MK! We are a family of 3 also, DH, myself, and DS5. So myself and DH have 3 different fastpasses booked for different rides, then show up and ask the CM for a rider swap pass, whoever has the fastpass for that ride uses it to get on the ride with DS while the other adult waits outside. Then When they return with the rider swap pass the person who waited outside can take ds on the ride again?? Please help!

I don't think this is right. I thought rider swap is for when your child can't or won't ride. With only one child, if your son wants to ride, I don't think you can do the swap. Someone better informed can confirm.

 

[hiroMYhero]

I don't think this is right. I thought rider swap is for when your child can't or won't ride. With only one child, if your son wants to ride, I don't think you can do the swap. Someone better informed can confirm.

You're correct. A family will not receive a Swap pass if the child is riding the ride with Adult #1 and Adult #2 is standing around waiting for no reason.

 

[HopperFan]

I really want to understand this better, it's our first trip to WDW and we only get 1 day in MK! We are a family of 3 also, DH, myself, and DS5. So myself and DH have 3 different fastpasses booked for different rides, then show up and ask the CM for a rider swap pass, whoever has the fastpass for that ride uses it to get on the ride with DS while the other adult waits outside. Then When they return with the rider swap pass the person who waited outside can take ds on the ride again?? Please help!

You need another child that is too small or too afraid to go on the ride. That is the point of the Swap so that the parent who stayed behind with said child can then get on the ride without a long wait while the other adult stays behind with the non-riding child. It is not for you to each get a ride sitting with your child who is riding. If your DS is going on the ride you do not qualify for rider swap.