baby swap at Soarin

[Jenny]

i posted about baby swap at Soarin back in oct 05 & tried in nov 05 but feel like we did it wrong or something.

this is what we did: we were 3 adult riders w/ 2 babies. earlier in the day, we got 3 fastpasses. when we brought the kids into The Land later at the return time, we received a baby swap pass or "rider switch" pass (good for up to 3 people or something like that). we didn't get one earlier b/c we didn't have the babies w/ us. my mom & i rode (30 wait min. in fastpass line) then came out to the lobby where i found my DH chasing after our 2 little ones minus their strollers. he was so stressed about everything that we left. even if he decided to stay, he would have just used the fastpass & entered the fastpass line (not using the rider switch pass). i thought we had asked the CM what to do & i'm pretty sure that he told the non-rider to wait w/ the kids in the "lobby" outside of the ride.

so my question is - what is the purpose of the pass & when or how should we have used it? should we have brought the kids into the line w/ us then swapped near the queue area?

i was looking at old responses to my questions in oct & one poster mentioned a little art center near Soarin - is this still there? could the non-rider wait there?

thanks. - Jenny

 

[cleo]

There is a waiting area near the FastPass machines at Soarin', and that's where you would wait with the tots while the other party members ride. Then, when the riders get off the ride they will exit into the lobby where the non-riders are waiting. The previous non-rider (now the rider) takes the Child Swap pass to a CM and they get right on the ride without waiting in the queue. Even with a FastPass, they would have to wait in the last part of the queue, which could add another 10 minutes or more onto their wait.

 

[dis-happy]

I wouldn't worry about it, you did fine.

I did run into an unexpected problem last month though. They are being very, very careful with those babyswap passes. I had gone and done a babyswap with fastpasses, similar to you. However, I didn't get a chance to use the babyswap that day. Not usually a big deal. We were back at Epcot the next day and I innocently (and legitimately) tried to use the babyswap (again with fp). The guy who took the pass sent me back, said it was only valid for one day and this one wasn't from today. They aren't dated, but they hand code them with colored letters in the corner I guess. Anyway, all the way back to the front, where I explained I was legitimately babyswapping and they handed me a new ticket, then I ran back to the line and barely caught up to ride with my party. Lesson learned!



ETA: in December, the week before Christmas, the babyswaps that we were given said: valid today only (although no date, just a yellow Y in the corner). Maybe they were more stringent during a high crowd time of year. Some days all fp were gone well before noon.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Whenever we used the rider switch pass on Soarin', the non-rider/s would take the little ones over the food court and buy them a snack. Anytype of food usually works like a charm for my litte ones . And, yes, there is a kidcot funstop upstairs from Soarin' next to the Garden Grill. You could always take the kids there to color. BTW, everytime we have been given a rider switch pass it has had an expiration date, sometimes even being valid until the end of the month! We have used valid rider switch passes several days after receiving them. We have even given some un-used passes away at the end of our stay. Obviously, these were all passes with expiration dates. HTH

 

[kabbie]

The fact that you have to park your strollers to go into the Land pavilion was a huge inconvience for our party. We had a 2 month old who was sleeping in her stroller so my DB and DSIL couldnt utilize the baby swap option. They would have to have to take her out of her stroller (waking her up)...take the escalator down to the lower level to show the CM in order to the pass...then try to get her back asleep in stroller outside. Needless to say we got Fastpasses to come back later for them while we waited in the 30 minute standby line.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

The fact that you have to park your strollers to go into the Land pavilion was a huge inconvience for our party. We had a 2 month old who was sleeping in her stroller so my DB and DSIL couldnt utilize the baby swap option. They would have to have to take her out of her stroller (waking her up)...take the escalator down to the lower level to show the CM in order to the pass...then try to get her back asleep in stroller outside. Needless to say we got Fastpasses to come back later for them while we waited in the 30 minute standby line.

I agree that the "no stroller" thing in the land is a drag. Quick question, why didn't you just take their passes, run inside and get FP's for your whole party and then just come back later. It would have worked the same as getting a Rider Switch (baby swap). Something to consider for next time.

 

[Windy City Heather]

When we did baby swap at Soarin, we got our fast pass, came back at the fast pass time got the baby swap ticket. The first adult waited in the fast pass line road the ride. The second adult also had to wait in the fast pass line too. There was no going to the front of the line. I think it too over an hour for both adults to ride the ride with the fast pass. Soarin is worth it but boy did it take a big chunk of time out of our day.

My daughter is 39 inches now and we leave to go again in about 5 weeks. I am praying for a growth spurt.

 

[Jenny]

cleo, do you just walk past the fastpass line to get to the front of the line after showing your rider switch pass?

 

[florida2005]

cleo, do you just walk past the fastpass line to get to the front of the line after showing your rider switch pass?

We did Soarin lots of times last Oct and used the Child Swap.The child swap ticket just lets you enter the FastPass line and you dont jump ahead of other FastPass people. At least that was the case in Oct last year - CLEO, do you have a different experience?

One good tip is to go up to the FastPass entrance (taking your child with you) as soon as you get your FastPass, tell them you have a FastPass and want to do child swap, and they will give you the Child Swap ticket right away. You can then use the Child Swap ticket any time. So for instance if your FastPass time is an hour off, use the Child swap first then the FastPass rather than waiting for the FastPass first then using the ChildSwap after that.

Simple but REALLY effective.

 

[traci]

oh my gosh that was the one ride we had our only vacation melt-down. When I got off the ride and found my husband with our 2 babies (both under the age of 2 at the time) he was a sweating nervous wreck. The kids were screaming, crying and it was a nightmare. DH said he should have just went outside and put them in their strollers and waited for me out there. Had we talked about it prior to me getting on the ride he would have done that. He was worried I wouldn't have known where they were though.

 

[Jenny]

i was looking to reduce the amount of time that the adult waiting w/ the kids would have (esp. since we'll have another 17 mo. old w/ us in addition to our 18 mo. old w/out their strollers inside of the Land). that's the big problem.

if the process isn't any quicker then we experienced in nov. 05 (i was hoping that at least the 2nd rider w/ the switch pass could bypass the fastpass line), then maybe we'll have to baby swap outside of the Land this time. i think the young ones will be better off in their strollers outside enjoying a snack or playing w/ a toy, etc.

thanks.

 

[kaytieeldr]

cleo, do you just walk past the fastpass line to get to the front of the line after showing your rider switch pass?

AFAIK, you always see the Attraction Greeter for instructions.

 

[mrzrich]

My two year old sat in a high chair in the Sunshine Seasons Food Court while we did Soarin baby swap. We bought him a big cookie from the desert area and a drink. It kept him occupied and strapped in a chair, which my husband appreciated

 

[Jenny]

AFAIK, you always see the Attraction Greeter for instructions.

i agree...what i'm wondering is if the attraction greeter is going to instruct you to bypass the fastpass line after you show you're rider switch pass. that's the news that i'm hoping for.

really, if you don't switch off closer to boarding the ride itself, you're really just going through the fastpass line two separate times like anyone could. the only perk to the rider switch pass that i can see is that it would allow you to bring some guests (up to 3) along. right?

this time around, i'm going to go in w/ 1 of the babies to get all of the fastpasses plus the rider switch pass. at that time, i'm going to ask more specific questions. unfortunately, i think it's not set up as smoothly as IOA/USF where they have baby swap rooms near the boarding area. you don't have to go back out to the beginning of the fastpass line to swap.

thank you for the tips re: keeping the kids occupied in the LAND. to save time, instead of going back outside to the babies in their strollers, maybe we could put them in high chairs in the food court area -thanks mrzrich.