Best Use of Fast Pass

ElliottsMomma

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 7, 2015
Messages
25
Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster...I have been to disney several times but this is the first with a 2 year old and with the tiered fastpasses system....my question is we have 5 adults and two kiddos under three going this thanksgiving. What is the best way to utilize fastpasses and baby swaps? I want to do a mixture of headliner is out also ride the kids will enjoy. Thanks so much.
 
I'm afraid I'm too new at this to really answer your question, however, there is a thread in "Theme Parks and Attractions" forum that might. I don't know how to link it directly, but you should be able to search for it. It's titled "Fast Pass+ Basic Info, Suggested Priorities and Strategies --Part II" by mesaboy2. It's a huge thread, but most of the info is in the first 2 posts. I didn't see much about rider swap, but it might be in one of the later pages. You may also want to pose this question in a new thread in the Theme Parks forum so more people will see it. I'm sorry I can't help with specifics and I hope you find the info you need.
 
Your question is pretty general, so without knowing what rides you want and who wants to go on what, it's hard to answer with specifics, but here are some general thoughts.

The 2 year olds won't have fast passes, since they don't have tickets. They won't need them as they're basically "along for the ride" when entering a fast pass line.

A babyswap pass is good for up to 3 people to come back later and get in the FP line.

How the first group of adults ride the ride is irrelevant to getting the babyswap - so the first group can use a FP+ and get in the FP lane or they can get into standby. Either way, you can get a babyswap assuming you have a too-small child.

For most rides, they'll give the babyswap pass to the waiting adult at the entrance, but they'll usually wait until the rider is actually in line. Some CMs will give the pass to the rider, not the waiter. And on some rides (BTM for sure), they'll give the rider a special card to turn in at the actual ride to receive the fastpass. The general goal is that the first group has to actually ride when you get a babyswap.

Given that you have two too-small kids and a ton of adults, you could - theoretically - get two baby swaps for each ride as long as you didn't do anything to indicate you were all together. I'll leave it to other Disers to determine if that makes you a horrible person or not. I will just say that, having travelled with a similar group, we really never found the need to use the kids for multiple babyswaps - we were plenty busy just trying to keep up with what we had!

So, here's an example:
3 adults get a fast pass to Test Track (group A)
2 adults get a fast pass to Soarin (group B)

One adult from Group A, one adult from Group B, and one child approach the fastpass to Test Track as a group and ask for a baby swap pass.
[If you decide to go for it] a second adult from group A, a second adult from group B, and the second child approach the fastpass to Test Track as a group and ask for baby swap pass.
Group A rides Test Track using fastpass.
Group B and the kids go ride Finding Nemo.

Later,
One adult from Group A, one adult from Group B, and one child approach the fastpass to Soarin as a group and ask for a baby swap pass.
[If you decide to go for it] a second adult from group A, a second adult from group B, and the second child approach the fastpass to Soarin as a group and ask for baby swap pass.
Group B rides Soarin using fastpass
Group A and kids go get ice cream.

Later,
Group B rides Test Track using the babyswap while Group A and the kids ride Nemo again.

Later,
Group A rides Soarin using babyswap while Group B and the kids ride Nemo (yet again)

Later, the three people you like best ride Test Track again using the second babyswap [if you did that]
while you stick the other two people with Finding Nemo for the 20th time.

Finally, the three people you like best ride Soarin again using the second babyswap [if you did that] while the other two poke their eyes out having heard Dory search for Nemo one too many times.

Hope that helps!
 
Just got back from our trip with a 2 year old and a thrill ride-loving 6 year old, and DopeyDame totally summed it all up! But I do want to add one note about TSMM - they will not give you rider swap passes since all ages can ride and there's a big demand for it. Our 2 year old was napping during our FP+ time for TSMM, and we went up and showed the CM that she was clearly asleep in her stroller and that one of the adults would be sitting out with her - but they wouldn't give us a rider swap for this one (which would have allowed each parent to ride one time with our 6 year old). Not a big deal, but just something to note if your baby is sleeping when you're scheduled to ride!
 

Thank you everyone, dopeydame those were really the two rides I was most worried about. Soarin and test track are both a must!
 


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