Baby Swap Disappointment

[tjmw2727]

Interesteing thread and perspectives.

I actually prefer the way it works now because the child too short to ride doesn't have to wait in line, then wait for two parties to ride something they can't enjoy. The rider swap pass is good for that attraction anytime that day so there is no need to rush back and ride. The second parent can ride any time that day and older children can ride again.

I would much rather take the younger child(ren) to do another favorite attraction, have an ice cream or play at the playgrounds. We have always been able to find something fun close to all the height restricted rides. My kids also liked the 1-1 time with Mom and then Dad or vise versa.

Prior to FP you all waited in line together and then switched at the exit. Now that all the height restricted rides offer FP its easier to issue the rider swap pass. This insures that guests that don't meet the height requirement don't end up in the line and perhaps on the ride. It also means for us that the non -riders don't have to wait for nothing.

FWIW, I think any means of "rider swap" intended to shorten a wait for families with young children who can't ride is great. Lots of other parks we have visited have no such option.

 

[tinkermom23]

I think it works for some families and just not others. It worked great for us!

DS10 fav. rides were BTMR and Splash Mountain. I went on both with DS10 while DH played with the twins in Breir Rabbits play area (whatever it's called) then DH went on the rides while the twins showed me everything about the play area. They had a ball and it sure beat waiting in line!
DS10 really thought this was great!! Sometimes DS10 and I went on a ride then he went on it again with DH while I took the little ones for a Mickey bar. It wasn't until we looked at our pictures at home that DS10 & DH realized how many times we had Mickey bars without them!

 

[bumbershoot]

I was there just a month ago and had always thought the policy was no one too short to ride was allowed in line. However, in the loading area for Soarin' there was a family complaining VERY loudly about how their daughter was sooo close but too short, and she was right there with them. She was really quite small, I don't think she was as close to the height as they were claiming. But anyhow, the parents were conferring between themselves about how best they could hopefully sneak their DD past the loading CM so that she could ride. I'll totally admit to eavesdropping on them, because I was curious what was going to happen. Well anyhow, loading CM came out, explained to them that one person would walk all the way through and out the exit with the little girl, and the other parent and child would ride, and then they'd swap just outside the exit doors. So apparently there must be some variation in how Baby Swap is done because this little girl had waited in the whole line with her family and was being swapped at the exit, not out in the waiting area by the Fastpass machines where it usually seems people hang out to do Baby Swap.

Probably because they had got her past the first CM and this was the easiest way to keep a sharp eye on them. And make sure they didn't sneak on. See why I said what I said earlier? This isn't the way it is done now that there are fast passes.

I completely agree with Hannathy. They had gotten the child past the first CM, but that's going to be a lot easier than sneaking someone past the second CM, and especially when they have to see her to work out how to load the family onto the ride!

It wasn't a variation, it was a sneaky family.


I'm glad that Universal does it differently, because if DS doesn't get up past 48" I want him to at least SEE the queue for the 48" Harry Potter ride.

But I'm glad for the way Disney does it too, because in the past (before he got to the maturity level he's at now) he would NOT have understood going through the line but not riding. I'm glad that they do it the way they do it, because one of us can amuse him somewhere else while the other adult "sneaks" onto a ride. Well, we don't sneak now, because he understands that some rides he just doesn't want to go on yet, and understands the height restrictions *ahead of time*. But we used to have to seriously distract him. That would be harder in the line.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Interesteing thread and perspectives.

I actually prefer the way it works now because the child too short to ride doesn't have to wait in line, then wait for two parties to ride something they can't enjoy. The rider swap pass is good for that attraction anytime that day so there is no need to rush back and ride. The second parent can ride any time that day and older children can ride again.

I would much rather take the younger child(ren) to do another favorite attraction, have an ice cream or play at the playgrounds. We have always been able to find something fun close to all the height restricted rides. My kids also liked the 1-1 time with Mom and then Dad or vise versa.

Prior to FP you all waited in line together and then switched at the exit. Now that all the height restricted rides offer FP its easier to issue the rider swap pass. This insures that guests that don't meet the height requirement don't end up in the line and perhaps on the ride. It also means for us that the non -riders don't have to wait for nothing.

FWIW, I think any means of "rider swap" intended to shorten a wait for families with young children who can't ride is great. Lots of other parks we have visited have no such option.

My thoughts exactly!

In the past, I used rider-swap time to have a snack, do a diaper change, or take my youngest on another attraction. He got to do Living With the Land twice while my husband and I each rode Soarin' with our oldest. He also got several rides on Buzz Lightyear while his brother was on Space Mountain. We prefer to go at the less-busy times of the year, so it's not usually a very long wait.

I do have to say that on our last trip our youngest had hit the 40" mark and it was so nice to NOT have to baby-swap at Splash Mtn, Thunder Mtn, Soarin', Test Track, Star Tours and Tower of Terror. He loved riding all of them!

 

[Hannathy]

I do have to say that on our last trip our youngest had hit the 40" mark and it was so nice to NOT have to baby-swap at Splash Mtn, Thunder Mtn, Soarin', Test Track, Star Tours and Tower of Terror. He loved riding all of them!

But I bet his big brother was very sad that he grew that last inch

(no more double rides)

 

[ajjollie23]

I believe that the way that you are describing it, all walk together then one person rides while one waits, and then they just switch is the way that they do it at Universal.
At Disney, unfortunately it is what the other people have mentioned and is pretty much just a free fast pass that can be used right away instead of giving you a time to come back. For us it usually works pretty well though and we tend to get them when available.

 

[ajjollie23]

I don't mind the way disney does it..the rider swap ticket allows 3 people to ride. This way the swapped rider doesn't have to ride alone. They can ride with another memeber of the group.

I agree i found at Universal when we did this I had to go on the ride by myself, or my husband did. This way at least I can go with my older, taller son (5yo) while my husband waits and then he can go with my older son. (Bonus for my 5 yo) !!

 

[ajjollie23]

You can combine FP with Babyswap. Most (all???) of the rides that have babyswap also have FP.

1. Dad and child ride via FP. Mom waits with baby, a minimal wait usually due to using FP.

2. Dad and child exit.

3. Mom and child re-enter FP line with babyswap ticket and ride.


Minimal waits, older child gets to ride twice with each parent. There is usually something interesting to do with younger child during the minimal waits...at BTMRR and SM there's a playground; at MS there's a jungle gym; at Soarin' you could ride The Land or have a snack in the food court; etc.

Yes, this is exactly what we do... We rarely had to wait longer than 20 mins for EVERYONE to ride. And like was previously stated my older gets to go twice so it keeps him pretty happy

 

[LWatson]

The Child Swap at Goofy's Barnstormer was the only one that didnt do it like all the others. That one you get the FP from the CM and the first 2 ride. Then they come down. Then adult 2 and child1 go UP the exit area and wait. Then you are loaded on the NEXT coaster ride. It was nice. But, cant do that this time because DS2 is big enough to ride now. He hit 36in the other day at the doc's.

 

[Zeebs]

The Child Swap at Goofy's Barnstormer was the only one that didnt do it like all the others. That one you get the FP from the CM and the first 2 ride. Then they come down. Then adult 2 and child1 go UP the exit area and wait. Then you are loaded on the NEXT coaster ride. It was nice. But, cant do that this time because DS2 is big enough to ride now. He hit 36in the other day at the doc's.

We didn't even think of doing rider swap on this ride luckily it wasn't too long a wait as we did it twice in the row one time with Mummy and then with Daddy. One to remember for our next trip.

Kirsten

 

[Happiest mommy]

Once you get the FP do you automatically ask for the child swap or do you wait until your FP time then ask for it? I think I missed something so do you technically just need 1 FP for both parents if its 2 parents 1 older child or must you get 2 FP's?

 

[iheartdisney]

Once you get the FP do you automatically ask for the child swap or do you wait until your FP time then ask for it? I think I missed something so do you technically just need 1 FP for both parents if its 2 parents 1 older child or must you get 2 FP's?

You get the kidswap when you get in line.The CMs will ask who is riding now, and hand it to the other adult.

 

[Hannathy]

If the first parent wants to go thru the Fast Pass line they must have a fast pass in their possession and if an older child will be going with them they need one also. When you all get to the ride to go on-with fast pass or stand by line, you tell and show the CM you have a child too short and want a baby swap pass. They will then give you the baby swap pass. Non riding parent and non riding child skip merrily away to wait and riding parent and riding child get into what ever line they can stand by or if they have one fast pass. It really is easy and once you do it it will all fall into place.

 

[Serling126]

OIC... I was wondering how you got the baby swap pass when the too short child wasn't allowed to stand in the line, but if I am reading this correctly, the CM at the BEGINNING of the line gives you the pass? Correct?

 

[dis-happy]

OIC... I was wondering how you got the baby swap pass when the too short child wasn't allowed to stand in the line, but if I am reading this correctly, the CM at the BEGINNING of the line gives you the pass? Correct?

Yes. And the too-short child needs to be there too in order to be given the Childswap pass.

 

[iheartdisney]

OIC... I was wondering how you got the baby swap pass when the too short child wasn't allowed to stand in the line, but if I am reading this correctly, the CM at the BEGINNING of the line gives you the pass? Correct?

Correct. The CM at the entrance of the line (the one that usually checks the height or fastpass return time) will give you the swap ticket

 

[Elmo888]

You can combine FP with Babyswap. Most (all???) of the rides that have babyswap also have FP.

1. Dad and child ride via FP. Mom waits with baby, a minimal wait usually due to using FP.

2. Dad and child exit.

3. Mom and child re-enter FP line with babyswap ticket and ride.


Minimal waits, older child gets to ride twice with each parent. There is usually something interesting to do with younger child during the minimal waits...at BTMRR and SM there's a playground; at MS there's a jungle gym; at Soarin' you could ride The Land or have a snack in the food court; etc.

Exactly. We did this when younger DD was 2, 3, and 5. She never minded (honestly, it wouldn't have bothered me if she did mind). Whichever parent that was with her took her to be entertained elsewhere (on another ride, gift shop, find some characters, etc....it didn't take much, though - at DHS, while DH and older DD were riding RNRC, we just waited in a place that was sheltered from the rain!).

I thought to use FP you had to give up the other adults FP as well? We were asked to present FP for everyone who would be riding if we had then asked to have the child too short to ride brought over and measured to make sure she couldn't ride. FWIW she is STILL too short by 3 inches 6 months later.

I thought the whole process was rather odd. But I guess I can see how it could be abused.

Plus ~ no ticket for the non rider in our case since she won't be three until June.

I suppose in our case we could say:

Use DH ticket to get a FP for Mission:Space
Use MY ticket to get a FP for TT
Use DD ticket to get a FP for Soarin

Go do some other rides ~ then have DH go first alone through FP lines and get the Return FP for the rest of us?

Yes, if by Return FP you actually mean Baby Swap Pass. That is one way to do it in addition to the quote above. We preferred the first method so no one rode by themselves and older DD rode twice (she absolutely loved that part!). So, when we only had 3 tickets (younger DD was 2), we would get two FP for attraction #1 and just wait until the FP time started to get FP for attraction #2.

When your DD is still too short AND over 3, you can use her ticket to get a FP. The FP aren't tied to a particular person/ticket. So your younger DD doesn't have to use the FP that you received using her ticket. Anyone can use it (which is why I always give away FP that we haven't used as we are leaving the park, but that is another topic!). Every rider has to have a FP, but it doesn't matter whose FP it is. Every rider does not have to have a Baby Swap Pass.

 

[Serling126]

So I went to the WDW website to get a full explanation of how it works :

http://www.wdwinfo.com/childswap.htm

BUT they still list the instructions for the "old" method where everybody enters the line together and then baby and one adult wait in a special area while the first adult rides So have they changed the method but not posted instructions online yet???

ETA: Ok, that is not the official Disney website, DUH!! Went to disneyworld.com found this, not very helpful though!!
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-swap/

 

[Dowellfam]

We've always taken advantage of child swap and have been very happy with the experience. What I enjoyed, is that the older kids can ride twice- one time with each parent because the ride swap ticket includes 3 extra people! In some cases, if the child that is too short to ride also has a fast pass that they can't use becuase they are too short- the kids were able to ride 3 times using the fast pass lane! We love it!

 

[pooh4evr]

We also LOVE child swap- we use it to our advantage though-- Dh and 2 older girls get in fastpass line- I get the baby swap pass and dd#3 and I hang out, shop, have a snack play in a fountain...- they ride and then I ride with the 2 girls again while Dh stays with DD3- its good because they get to do the big rides twice without much waiting- and little one gets some down time, sanck, nap, -- her very favorite thing was palying in the fountain between Mission Space and Test Track.