rider swap confusion

[haven11998]

Forgive me because I'm still so darn confused about rider swap and we have been going to Disney for years. We are a family of 4 myself, husband, DS 7, DD 3.


So what we have done in the past is at the entrance of the stand-by line ask for a rider swap ticket as we present my daughter who is to small to ride. At that point my son and husband or myself enter stand-by line while one of us waits with daughter. When ride is completed son rides ride again entering via fast pass line with parent who didn't ride with him.

My confusion is that people are now saying you can get a rider swap ticket at the fast pass line. I have been told say son and husband have FP for splash that my daughter and I go with them to the fast pass line and ask for a rider swap ticket. Is this correct?

 

[Andyman33]

Correct. You can get a rider swap in either the standby or fastpass lines. We used it quite a bit last week and all we had to do was bring small kid to the fastpass entrance to get it

 

[wareagle57]

Does rider swap work the other way? Say there are 2 adults and a kid, and the kid DOESN'T want to ride? The adults take turns going solo but only one has to wait in line? That sounds easy to exploit.

 

[Andyman33]

There are a lot of ways for it to be exploited....but who goes to disney with their little kids and only go on rides that their kids can't go on....

 

[haven11998]

Wow that's awesome. So husband and son have fast passes... we go to FP line present myself and daughter who is to small to ride. They give us a rider swap card and I don't have to use one of my FP selections?

While that's great for my family I think its not right. We always use rider swap tickets but have waited in standby lines.

This trip there is 17 of us going and we have an infant and 3 little ones under 38 inches so it will help a ton for rides for the big and little kids.

 

[Andyman33]

Exactly right. In fact with your big group of 17 you will probably be able to get a rider swap for multiple families all with their own small people. They are also good for anytime prior to a certain date...ours said may 31 (we were there may 14-21)

 

[haven11998]

Thanks for the info! I'm just happy all big kids will get to ride with one another and with their aunts and uncles now!

 

[m3retired]

Tell me if this is right:

Mom with FP and Dad show up at the FP line with baby, get a rider swap card.
Mom and Aunt (with her own FP) can ride together.
Mom gets off, Dad can now use the rider swap, enter FP line, and ride with Uncle (who has his own FP)

Do I have that correct? Three FPs used, 4 riders?

 

[StuckInKS]

Tell me if this is right:

Mom with FP and Dad show up at the FP line with baby, get a rider swap card.
Mom and Aunt (with her own FP) can ride together.
Mom gets off, Dad can now use the rider swap, enter FP line, and ride with Uncle (who has his own FP)

Do I have that correct? Three FPs used, 4 riders?

Yes, but uncle doesn't need his own FP+ either, as the pass is good for up to 3 guests. So 4 riders, 2 FP used.

We never used Baby Swap before on our previous trips, even though we always had small ones. Never realized what we were missing out on.

 

[staceyeileen]

Tell me if this is right:

Mom with FP and Dad show up at the FP line with baby, get a rider swap card.
Mom and Aunt (with her own FP) can ride together.
Mom gets off, Dad can now use the rider swap, enter FP line, and ride with Uncle (who has his own FP)

Do I have that correct? Three FPs used, 4 riders?

Mostly right. You could certainly do this exact scenario.

But actually, a rider swap pass entitles 3 people to enter the FP+ line. So the Dad and uncle do not need an FP+ to enter the line AND either mom or aunt can ride a second time without using another FP+.

2 FP+ used, 5 riders.

 

[m3retired]

Thank you so much, StayEileen and StuckInks!

 

[DisneyWisher]

Does rider swap work the other way? Say there are 2 adults and a kid, and the kid DOESN'T want to ride? The adults take turns going solo but only one has to wait in line? That sounds easy to exploit.

Only way to get rider switch is if child is too small to ride. If child is too afraid it's best to get FPs for the adults.

 

[mitsybella]

Only way to get rider switch is if child is too small to ride. If child is too afraid it's best to get FPs for the adults.

That's not what the Disney site states:
"if Guests in your party don’t want to board an attraction, you don’t have to miss out. One adult can wait with the non-rider while the rest of the party experiences the attraction. The waiting adult can then board the attraction without having to wait in the regular line again when another adult in the party returns to supervise the child or children who do not ride—either because they do not meet the height requirement or simply do not wish to ride."
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/
But it also has a list of rides where they allow for Rider Switch, so it is not for all rides

 

[mesaboy2]

That's not what the Disney site states: "if Guests in your party don’t want to board an attraction, you don’t have to miss out. One adult can wait with the non-rider while the rest of the party experiences the attraction. The waiting adult can then board the attraction without having to wait in the regular line again when another adult in the party returns to supervise the child or children who do not ride—either because they do not meet the height requirement or simply do not wish to ride." https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/

This particular verbiage from the Disney site is often quoted. The bottom line is that CMs may turn away guests who are tall enough but do not wish to ride. Quoting the Disney site or even showing it to them will do no good.

 

[GretchenR]

Mostly right. You could certainly do this exact scenario.

But actually, a rider swap pass entitles 3 people to enter the FP+ line. So the Dad and uncle do not need an FP+ to enter the line AND either mom or aunt can ride a second time without using another FP+.

2 FP+ used, 5 riders.

I am not sure if it's a change, but the Disney site now says only 2 people can use the swap pass.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I am not sure if it's a change, but the Disney site now says only 2 people can use the swap pass.

The rider switch pass I received in April still said 3 people.

We were not asked to measure DD who was probably tall enough but scared and clinging to me, but experiences seem to vary when the child is clearly tall enough. I have an older child who is bother by the motion of coasters and simulators, but I also see that it's a loophole that could be exploited. I do think it's fair to give rider switch passes to families using FP who have little ones because touring with small people who have naps, early bedtimes, and meltdowns and need to be pushed or carried slows them down significantly.

 

[DisneyWisher]

This particular verbiage from the Disney site is often quoted. The bottom line is that CMs may turn away guests who are tall enough but do not wish to ride. Quoting the Disney site or even showing it to them will do no good.

This is what we personally experienced. DGS was 4 and tall enough for Space Mountain. They told us that we couldn't get a rider switch pass because he was tall enough to ride.

 

[stephwtx]

Ok so I have a question. Hope someone can help! My DD wants to ride Soaring and Test Track at Our 1 Epcot day. My plan was rope drop one and FP the other. Can't now bc of 8:30 Chef Mickey ADR not making rope drop! We are a party of 4 DH, Me, DD 5 and DS 2. I can get a FP for Soaring for myself and DD, show them DS who's to small and get ride swap for DH. He then can switch and ride W DD. Now we go to TT. He has a FP for TT. We get a ride swap and then he rides alone I'm guessing. When he comes out DD and I can ride going through the FP Lane right? She can't ride TT w him unless she has a FP. Right?

 

[dimndgal1]

FWIW, my TA passed on some info about Rider Swap and FP+

She said that some of her clients reported back that they had to have FP+ for the ride even to use rider swap... meaning that you couldn't FP+ for Mom and swap off with dad who does not have FP+. Her experience personally has been at the discretion of the CM what they decide to do and that at busier times it seems less likely they will let someone swap who does not have the FP+. That said, she did have success letting tall enough daughter ride with both mom and dad because tall enough daughter had the FP+ from the FIRST ride with parent.

I hope that makes sense!!!

 

[marypoppins81]

On here people say they are supposed to do it but in reality it is down to cm discretion as pp. we did it no problem on hollywood tower but at space mountain and star tours they insisted everyone had to enter the fp line together and at the loading part me and dd2 were shown to another area to wait. If we went via the regular line they would do it with no issue but to enter the fp line they wanted everyone having fp.
I would not count on doing that but see it as a bonus if it does happen.